MCLA’s Cream of the Crop: Arizona 2015 season preview

(Photo: Jodi Vosika/ASU Lacrosse)

The SLC is rich with potential, from top to bottom, especially in the SLC South. This year, Arizona will look to emerge from the middle of the pack and start rolling with the titans – and they have a pretty stacked roster to try pulling it off with. This is part of an ongoing series during which we will focus on one of the MCLA’s top teams each day, counting down till Christmas to the true “cream of the crop.”

Last year

Record: 10-5

Postseason finish: SLC Tournament First Round

Quick season recap: Last season was a year of missed opportunities for UA. A three-goal road loss to BYU and a one-goal loss to Simon Fraser are both games that will haunt the Laxcats, but nothing stings quite as much as the season-opener to the SLC South’s last-place finisher, San Diego. The team compiled some tough wins throughout the regular season, though, with one-goal victories over Westminster and Sonoma State. The season would come to an end in the SLC Tournament versus eventual-national-semifinalist UC Santa Barbara, 7-6, in yet another dramatic finish. Those close games defined the Laxcats’ season, and eventually cost them a shot at the MCLA Tournament.

Roster losses: The most notable loss offensively is attackman William Stanaback, who wrapped up an incredible 194-point career with a 37-goal season in 2014. Beyond that, only one other significant player on the stat sheet will be missed, as attackman Cameron Wilhite has graduated as well after a 31-point year last season. The only other significant loss is that of Sam Bradley, a long-stick midfielder who was a do-it-all type, with gaudy ground ball totals (47), time in the face-off X, and leadership as a captain of the team. However, the losses are minimal overall, especially on the defensive side of things where all three starters and the team’s starting goalie will be coming back.

This year

Who to watch for: Tanner Knego, junior goalie

While Knego is only a junior, he’s already one of the most experienced goalies in the conference after the departure of Chapman’s Warren Nielsen and UCSB’s Conrad Carlson. On a team that will be returning its entire defensive core, Knego will be asked to turn the team’s narrow losses into narrow wins. Last season he posted a solid stat line (6.62 GAA, 12.85 saves per game, .660 save percentage), and he’ll have a chance to do even more in 2015. He ended last season with one of the best games of his career, posting a 24-save performance against UCSB. “One thing Tanner (Knego) brings is a very calm demeanor,” UA head coach Derek Pedrick said. “Kids feel very confident in him as a leader. He’s a cerebral player, he knows where everyone is supposed to be.” If his confidence can inspire this returning defense enough to hold down the powerful offenses that the Laxcats will face in SLC play, such as Arizona State, Grand Canyon, and Chapman, there’s a good chance that they’ll be contending for a conference title.

They’re dangerous if the experience they’re bringing back leads to a shift in how those close games turn out. Assuming this defense continues to improve, there’s a good chance that narrow finishes will follow this team. Thinking back to the 2014 season, if those results are reversed, Arizona could have easily found itself with an at-large bid into the MCLA Tournament. “We’re getting our goalie back, our defense – they’re all coming back,” Pedrick said. “I think we’re pretty athletic, we’re pretty range-y, and they’ll be a little more experienced down there.” That experience could be an overwhelming advantage against many of the teams on the schedule – Minnesota, Texas, Texas State, Simon Fraser – which are all on the cusp of being contenders. Pedrick will be charged with the task of turning that experience into results. Now entering his second year as the head coach of a storied program, he’s going to have pressure on him to execute and turn potential into success.

Achilles’ heel: The toughness of the conference. The SLC presents a dangerous schedule for any team, and the Laxcats particularly have struggled in conference. If this team truly wants to contend, it will need to hang with the conference’s elite, meaning games against ASU, GCU, Chapman, and UCSB are games that this team should be eyeing to win. Since 2008, UA is 1-17 against the SLC’s top four teams (including a loss to GCU when the program was still an MCLA Division 2 team; the lone win was to UCSB in 2009). That will need to change if the Laxcats want to catch national attention in the polls and find a way into the MCLA Tournament.

Trey Lanthier is a lacrosse reporter and editor at WCSN, as well as a contributor for Inside Lacrosse. You can reach him at treylanthier@gmail.com or on Twitter, @TreyLanthier.

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