No one ever quite knows what new beginnings will bring about, but senior attackman Michael Reilly has a pretty good sense of what the Liam Gleason era could mean for Siena lacrosse.
“When your coach is saying, ‘let’s have a lot of fun,’ everyone is flying around,” Reilly said. “From my experience, this is the best we’ve ever played.”
The buzzword “fun” gets tossed around a lot nowadays with the Saints, especially in the early portions of Gleason’s first year in charge. He’s taken over for John Svec after four consecutive losing seasons, returning to where he began his college coaching experience as an assistant and defensive coordinator from 2008-10.
Most recently, Gleason was with Albany, where he helped that program to six straight NCAA tournaments. It’s those Albany days under Scott Marr and his high school coach, Tom Rotanz, that shaped this upbeat, energetic coaching style. Now, Gleason is cracking jokes and getting to know his players as people and student-athletes, much like his mentors did.
“We’re going to hold them to a standard and accountable, but I’m not a drill sergeant,” Gleason said. “When you’re a coach, the best and most genuine ones are themselves. When you try to be someone you’re not, people see through it. I’m having fun coaching the game. When I’m not having fun, I’m not being the best coach I can be.”
That’s not all Gleason is changing, though. He’s implemented new schemes, a two-way midfielder system and a set of new clears. The Saints even read “The Energy Bus” by Jon Gordon, a self-help book that outlines 10 steps to living a positive life, and held weekly discussions about different chapters.
But can that Albany-esque style work at Siena? Time will tell, Gleason said.
“It’s taking off some of the tension and stress away from guys,” Gleason said. “For me, that’s when you play your best lacrosse. When you’re nervous of making mistakes and what the response from the coach will be, you’re not playing your best lacrosse. Then again, do we have three preseason All-American attackmen like last year [at Albany]? No, but we don’t need to.”
Instead, Gleason inherits a program that finished second to last in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference last year and is a long ways from three NCAA tournament appearances between 2009 and 2014.
Leading scorer Chris Robertson, a Second Team All-MAAC player in 2018, has graduated, and three of six double-digit scorers return. Gleason said “three or four” freshmen from a 15-player class he inherited should contribute right away. Meanwhile, his first true recruiting class won’t come until 2020, with the Class of 2019 in flux upon Svec’s departure. Gleason said he plans to increase recruiting efforts on Long Island and re-open that Catholic school pipeline.
Reilly will have graduated by the time those labors come to fruition, but he feels this new, youthful coaching staff (including former Albany assistant Derrick Eccles and Robert Morris assistant Tim Cox) will go a long way in reviving the program.
“It makes a difference with a younger [coaching] group leading the way,” Reilly said. “It really does make a big difference because they can relate to us and aren’t that far removed from their own playing careers either.”
As Gleason’s style takes root, the reality is Siena has a small senior class. The current seniors entered as 11 freshmen, but only five remain, with a sixth transferring in from Assumption College. They’ve gone 9-30 across their first three seasons, and entered the program two years removed from an NCAA tournament appearance and MAAC title.
Things, simply, haven’t panned out.
“When you have a senior class that’s stuck through it all together and wants to do well, it says a lot,” Reilly said. “It goes from the juniors to the sophomores to the freshmen. When they see that leadership, especially with this new coach and staff and style of play, I think we can do a lot. We’ve had the talent over the years.”
So what’s a realistic aim for Siena during its first year under Gleason? That’s the million-dollar question — one where he points to how no team has dominated the MAAC. In fact, the last repeat champion was Providence College in 2006 and 2007, but it’s now in the Big East.
That means making the playoffs and seeing what happens from there. It’s not a program in need of an overhaul, Gleason stressed, but perhaps just a new outlook and approach.
“Once you get to the playoffs it’s anyone’s game,” Gleason said. “Our first goal is to make the MAAC playoffs. That’s something that we’re capable of and maybe going far. That’s yet to be done with this group of guys.”
Fall Focus
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
The MAAC was dominated by Quinnipiac last season, but the top seed failed to make the conference title game — where Canisius shocked Detroit Mercy in overtime. Since then, Quinnipiac had its program suspended through 2018 for a violation of student conduct policy. It's a wide open conference as we head into 2019. Who can rise to the top of the MAAC next season?
Quinnipiac
6-0 MAAC, 9-6 overall
A dark cloud surrounds Quinnipiac, which is suspended through 2018 after violating student conduct policy. In the wake of the scandal, head coach Eric Fekete was fired, with Mason Poli taking over on an interim basis. However matters play out, Quinnipiac is coming off its best season since 2016 and third winning campaign of this decade. But two key pieces are gone in long stick midfield Adam Bellamy and faceoff specialist Will Vitelli, both MAAC Players of the Year at their respective positions. One big-name player is back, though, in sophomore attack Jake Tomsik, the reigning MAAC Rookie of the Year.
Detroit Mercy
5-1 MAAC, 9-7 overall
Last year brought about the Titans’ best-ever season, their 10th in program history. That speaks to the broader project Chris Kolon has built since taking over as head coach in 2014, one that could be boosted by a 16-player incoming class that spans eight states. Key returners include First Team All-MAAC defender Alex Akins and the Titan’s top three scorers from 2018: attackmen Matthew Vangelen, Brett Erskine and Seth Mendell. It also helps that faceoff specialist Alex Jarzembowski and goalie Logan Shamblin are back. That all builds towards Detroit Mercy trying to avenge last year’s loss in the MAAC title game, a 10-9 overtime defeat to Canisius.
Monmouth
4-2 MAAC, 7-8 overall
Monmouth entered the 2018 season as defending MAAC champions, but fell short of repeating, losing in the conference semifinals to Detroit Mercy. The Hawks won two games in a row just once, and that inconsistency plagued them when it mattered most. They now have to cope with losing three All-MAAC First Team players to graduation — attackman Bryce Wasserman, midfielder Dylan Schulte and defenseman Garrett Pfeifer — though all-league goalie Noah Lode is back for his sophomore campaign.
Canisius
3-3 MAAC, 8-9 overall
Call it life without Connor Kearnan. The two-time MAAC Offensive Player of the Year has since graduated and so have his 180 career points (89 goals, 91 assists) across 44 games. But there’s also the pressing matter of the Golden Griffins trying to defend their MAAC tournament title, which was quickly followed by an NCAA tournament first-round exit at the hands of Robert Morris. That marked the program’s first appearance in the national tournament since 2012, and the first for head coach Mark Miyashita, who took over for 2018.
Marist
2-4 MAAC, 3-12 overall
It’s time for the Red Foxes to reboot after their worst-ever record under Keegan Wilkinson. Head coach since 2012, Wilkinson previously led Marist to its first NCAA tournament win back in 2015. But they struggled mightily last year, recording one non-conference win and then two MAAC victories against a pair of clubs — Siena and Manhattan — below them in the standings. The loss of three-time First Team All-MAAC attackmen Gannon Morrison to graduation presents a big hole. Another area of need is goalie, with MAAC Defensive Player of the Year and goalie Brian Corrigan also departing.
Manhattan
0-6 MAAC, 4-10 overall
Winless in conference play for the third time in the last four years, the Jaspers have struggled to get off the schneid under coach Drew Kelleher. He’s found success in previous coaching stops at Hamilton (Div. III), MAAC rival Siena and Boston University, but hasn’t discovered the winning formula at Manhattan. The return of Second Team All-MAAC attackmen Parker Giarratana and his team-leading 46 points (23 goals, 23 assists) should go a long way, while the same goes for junior midfielder Luke Hanson and his 38 points (20 goals, 18 assists). Still, the clock is ticking on turning Manhattan lacrosse around.