 Photo by Phil Hoffman |
Richie Meade is entering his 13th season as head coach of the Midshipmen. Navy finished 9-4 last season. The Midshipmen are ranked No. 14 in Inside Lacrosse’s coaches preseason poll.
BaltimoreSun.com: How do you feel coming into the season?
Richie Meade: We played pretty well at the end of the year. We beat Army and played pretty well against Johns Hopkins, Maryland and Penn State. I thought we made a lot of improvement and we had some positive things last year. I was disappointed we didn’t make the NCAAs and we didn’t play well against some of our league opponents.
BaltimoreSun.com: How would you assess your team?
Richie Meade: We’ve always tried to be a team that plays a lot of people. We’re basically a young team. We have younger players on both sides of the field but having said that, I think they may be more skilled. We’ve got Ben Bailey on attack returning as well as three-year starter Eddy Holton. We also have junior Joe Bossi. We have six guys returning on attack, 9-11 midfielders including Greg Conklin.
BaltimoreSun.com: How did you fare in your preseason?
Richie Meade: Virginia beat us 10-4 and then last week against Syracuse we made some improvement. I thought we played OK. It was 8-8 at the end of three quarters and then 11-9 with about six minutes left and we wound up losing 13-9. I thought our offense played a lot better. Syracuse is awfully difficult to defend.
BaltimoreSun.com: The NCAA tournament has expanded the field to 16 teams this season. How does this affect the way you approach getting in the tournament?
Richie Meade: I don’t know if it changes much. Over the last several years, had there been 16 teams, we might have been in. I still think at the end of the day, you have to earn your way in.
If we win our league, obviously we go. We play an ambitious out of league schedule. I don’t think anything changes for us.
I think everybody is looking at the schedule when it comes to the NCAA tournament and that’s a lot different than four or five years ago. It almost doesn’t matter if you lose, it matters more who you beat.
BaltimoreSun.com: Are there any major rules changes this season that affect your coaching or style of play?
Richie Meade: I’m the head of the USILA (United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association) Rules and Advisory Committee to the NCAA and my goal is to not change any rules. We don’t have a shot clock. One year it was originally voted in as a rule change then everybody went crazy. It’s very difficult to define what a shot is. Is it a shot if it goes out of bounds or is it a shot if it hits someone. And who is going to run a shot clock?
Alex, Baltimore: It seems many close games are won or lost on extra man situations. How do you prepare for this important part of the game?
Richie Meade:We probably do extra man about four or five times a week. Obviously, you try to put out there a group of guys who can work together and score. You have to know what the plan is and then execute the plan. You have to be able to shut off the other team’s best player.
BaltimoreSun.com:What is your approach toward fall ball tournaments? Do you feel they give you an adequate assessment of your team, or do you get more out of spring scrimmages?
Richie Meade:Fall ball has really changed. A couple of years ago at Princeton’s fall tournament, we played Notre Dame in an hour-long game and won 6-3. We walked off the field feeling good about ourselves. The next year in a full field game, we were up 4-1 at the end of one quarter and then lost 9-8. Had that been only an hour-long game we probably would have walked off 5-2.
A lot of the tournaments have gotten away from having 30 teams at the site. You used to recruit a lot in the fall, but what we’re doing now is the juniors we are recruiting are coming to spring scrimmages before the season starts.
