Conn College 2010

2009 Recap: Watch out Trinity, Conn was my 2009 NESCAC sleeper and to say the least, things did not go as expected. A reasonably talented team lost three games early in the year (Trinity, McDaniel, Amherst) that crushed the Camels and it was all downhill from there. Collapsed under the weight of expectations simply doesn't do the events of 2009 justice. Conn was only soundly beaten in two games (Wesleyan and Bowdoin), hanging tight with Middlebury and Tufts but always coming up short. They suffered more than their fair share of injuries, most notably all-NESCACers Mark Moran and Jesse Stevenson, but even this does not excuse what transpired. Simply put, 2009 can only be chalked up as a lost year for a program that appeared to be on the rise.

2010 Trend: Upward

What's hot: Junior attackman Ryan Hayes quietly compiled seasons of 39 and 49 points in his first two years at Conn and could be poised to step into a leadership role on offense. Defensively, the Camels return most of their significant contributors with the exception of graduated senior captain Ben Stahl. Even with Moran gone, the goalie job appears to be in safe hands with two sophomores competing for the starting role. Both were high school all-Americans and saw some playing time last year and appear capable of providing solid goalie play as long as the defense steps up their play from the debacle that was 2009. In a nutshell, the talent is there for this team to return to respectability, but as 2009 painfully illustrated, it takes far more than talent to be successful in the NESCAC (if you're not convinced, just ask my favorite punching bag, the Middlebury Panthers).

What's not: This team has to avoid the problems that plagued it in 2009 if it is to be successful, and sometimes it is harder to identify and rectify problems that aren't talent related. It isn't as simple as recruiting better players. Attitude, motivation and determination play a huge role in who wins games between two teams with similar talent levels. Not to sound like a corny sports movie, but teams must fight for every ground ball and hustle at all times if they want to successful against teams with equal or greater talent. The onus is on the players to bring that fire. If Conn does, they could be dangerous and should fit right in with Colby and Trinity as a second tier team that is capable of challenging the elite. If not, look for another long season of losing. On a less Remember The Titans-esque note, Conn won 38% of its faceoffs in NESCAC games. This obviously needs to be improved for Conn to be successful, and that improvement can be facilitated with a change in attitude, if not personnel. Getting Dan Gallagher back from injury should help last year's primary FOGO Chuck Czerkawski, who was simply overworked taking nearly every faceoff every game, particularly in the second half of the year.

What we should be talking about: Is the Camel the most random mascot in the NESCAC; The role that team records play in all-NESCAC recognition; How Conn's grass field is the most inhospitable field this side of the Birdcage, at least on Saturday afternoons; Why every team in the NESCAC is white and blue (really guys? isn't the NESCAC all about intelligence and creativity?)