A 15-3 loss to Skidmore in the Liberty League Tournament Finals on May 8 was not how Rensselaer men’s lacrosse coach Tom Korrie envisioned his team ending their season. Korrie hoped his young team could muster the effort to shock the Liberty League regular season champions, but the Thoroughbreds quickly doused any fire in the Red Hawks’ hearts.
After RPI junior Chris Sherman scored the game’s first goal less than two minutes into the first quarter, Skidmore ran off a string of six straight goals in the game’s opening period to virtually bury any optimism the Red Hawks might be fostering.
The Thoroughbreds, who led 8-2 at halftime, repeated their first quarter display in the third period outscoring Rensselaer 6-1 and pushing the margin to 11 entering the fourth quarter.
“They proved they were the better team,” a humble Korrie said of Skidmore, who went undefeated in league play and earned the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament with the win. The Thoroughbreds dominated in the face off circle taking 13 of the 22 face offs. Korrie also noted the Skidmore defense did an excellent job limiting Rensselaer to just one shot per possession while they managed multiple scoring opportunities against RPI goaltender Ryan Michels. The Thoroughbreds out shot RPI 39-22 in the game.
Skidmore finished the season with a 14-3 record after losing to Cortland in the NCAA Tournament while RPI wrapped up its season with an average 7-7 mark. Four of Rensselaer’s wins came in Liberty League competition.
“We were fortunate to get to that point,” Korrie said of his team, which boasted only four seniors and had freshmen and sophomores playing major roles. “I’m happy with the overall outcome.”
At times RPI had six freshmen on the offensive side of the field in the Skidmore game and often had freshmen in the face off circle as well.
“They had to play,” Korrie said of his freshmen. “Our young players did well in some very difficult positions and all the experienced they gained will help us next season.”
The Red Hawks were supposed to be going through a rebuilding year after losing a handful of All-Conference and All-Americans in the nine seniors who were part of, and played vital roles on the 2004 squad that reached the conference finals. However, Korrie refused to lower his goals for this year’s squad, at least openly.
“We showed a lot of character throughout the season,” Korrie said. “Our goals are always very clear: Win the conference and make the NCAA Tournament. I think we did pretty well in what some considered a rebuilding year for us.”
The reconstruction effort for the Red Hawks did not stop with the entrance of so many freshmen into the line up, but also included role changes for Rensselaer’s returning stars. Sherman, Ryan Frisch and Adam LoGuidice were not only forced to play more minutes, but also had to focus their attention in the midfield. LoGuidice, who played attack in 2004 and led RPI with 48 goals, was forced to move back to midfielder and his offensive production suffered. The junior managed just 30 goals while Frisch, who scored 25 goals in 2004, scored only 17 and Sherman, who scored 28 goals last season, found the net only 12 times in the season.
“Roles change every year,” Korrie said. “These guys understand that and they were willing to do whatever I asked them for the betterment of the team.” Korrie also noted that next year will be a different team where returning players will have to prepare again for changing positions and responsibilities.
Despite his failure to match his previous offensive numbers Frisch was named an All-American honorable mention, and he, along with four year starters Joe Panniello and Rob Messner, will be sorely missed. The Red Hawks over the last two seasons have graduated 13 players all of which have played key roles in the team’s success.
Korrie is still very excited about next year’s squad. The majority of his team will return with a year of experience under its belt and with only six quality recruits joining the team this fall the Red Hawks should have plenty of time to gel, something they had to do on the fly last season.
“There is always a transition period,” Korrie said. “We have had time to develop together as a team which will help with team unity.” Korrie, who just completed his third season at the helm for RPI, admitted team chemistry was at times as much a problem as face offs for the Red Hawks.
“We just have to keep growing and keep improving,” Korrie said. “The guys never faltered in effort, but they have to keep working hard and improve if we want to complete our goals next year.”
