April 9, 2011

Lacrosse Travels to Presbyterian for Sunday Bout

CLINTON, S.C. – You'll have to excuse Mercer University head lacrosse coach Jason Childs if he has some mixed emotions entering Sunday's (3 p.m.) game at Presbyterian College.

Childs – who is guiding the Bears' (1-10) inaugural men's lacrosse team in 2011 – was also the architect of Presbyterian's venture into men's lacrosse, starting that program in 2006 and coaching the Blue Hose for three seasons, with many of Childs' recruits remaining on the Presbyterian roster. Included in Childs' time at PU was the program's transition from competition in NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I.

But the "reunion" on Sunday is going to be tainted by the fact that Presbyterian announced midway through the 2011 campaign that it is discontinuing lacrosse as an intercollegiate sport effective at the end of the current season. The contest versus MU is the Blue Hose's final home game in program history and, ironically, versus the man who first gave it life.

"It's bittersweet," Childs said of Sunday's return to the Presbyterian campus. "I guess that would be for anyone - you don't want to see them cancel their program – but especially when it's (a program) you put in a lot of blood, sweat, tears, effort and time into its building. It was not for nothing, because those kids got an education and to experience college lacrosse, but it's frustrating not to see it run its course.

"But I'm glad I'm going to see some of those kids I recruited get to play their last home game there. Anytime you leave a school, you always think about wanting to see those kids through…so in a way, I'm going to actually get to see them finish.  That's a good feeling for me, because I do care about those kids."

But make no mistake about it, as much as Childs feels for his former charges, he would like nothing more than to leave Clinton, S.C., on Sunday evening with a victory tucked away for his fledgling Bears' team.

"We are going in there knowing Presbyterian's going to be revved up," Childs said. "I told our guys that we're going into a 'lion's den'. And when you go into a 'lion's den', you can tip-toe in or run in there and announce your presence with a little bit of force. I think we need to do the latter."

Both clubs have many similarities beyond the association with Childs. Like Mercer, the Blue Hose are a fairly young team. Both squads have a single win to their credit and both have a "go-to" guy on offense. Statistically, the clubs are virtually indistinguishable, with PU averaging 6.25 goals per game and Mercer at 6.27 (with most of the other percentages and numbers being comparable).

The teams have five common opponents in 2011. Both teams have already lost to Yale, VMI, and Bellarmine, thus far. Mercer has lost to defending NCAA champion Duke and to Air Force a week ago, while the Blue Hose will face those teams to close out their season. 

Presbyterian's "main man" has been Tyler Melnyk. In eight games, Melnyk has a team-leading 15 goals and 23 points. Andrew Athens is the only other PU player with double-figure point totals at 12 (9 goals/3 assists).

Mercer has received a banner season from freshman Cole Branch. Branch has a team-leading 17 goals and rolled up 21 points (thanks to his four assists). But beyond Branch, the Bears have some demonstrated "pop" from other offensive sources.

John Avent has 11 goals and three assists, god for 14 points, while Brett Eisenmann has 13 points (thanks to 7 goals and a team-high six assists). Eoin Collins five goals and five assists gives him 10 total points.

"We've done a good job with working with our spacing, our movement and trying to create for other people," Childs said of his team's ability to find other ways to score. "Cole is drawing a lot of attention right now. When the defense moves laterally to (cover) him, that opens up some other people and opens up some things on the backside for him, as well.

"Plus, I think we are getting a little bit older and a little bit more mature. The guys are figuring out how to take 'collegiate' lacrosse shots. (During scrimmages) we were just shooting and the balls were going in. Then we played better competition and all of a sudden we weren't scoring because we weren't taking collegiate shots. But that's part of (the team's) growth."