Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 4, 1990 TAG: 9005040127
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Instead, Stagnitta watched the team scrimmage for a couple of weeks. He then determined that Mastrogiovanni could be a prolific scorer.
"I told him before the season, `I think you could score 50 goals,' " Stagnitta said. "But, I don't think he believed me."
After all, Mastrogiovanni had scored only seven goals as a junior, when he played midfield for W&L. Still, Stagnitta pictured Mastrogiovanni as an attackman.
"Having watched Chris in practice, I could see he had the knack for putting the ball in the net," Stagnitta said. "He's been the beneficiary of some good play by his teammates, but he can get open and he can put the ball away."
Mastrogiovanni moved forward to a position he had not played since high school and has responded with a team-high 36 goals for the Generals, who play host to VMI at 3 p.m. Saturday in the fourth annual Lee-Jackson Classic.
VMI (7-4) enters the game with a high-scoring attackman of its own. Junior Tim Nolan has scored 22 of his team-high 35 goals during the Keydets' current five-game winning streak.
Junior attackman Coleman Lawrence from Roanoke is the Keydets' second-leading scorer with 35 points, including 18 goals.
VMI will attempt to avenge a 10-9 overtime loss to W&L in 1989, when the Generals were 4-9 under Dennis Daly, who will be on the VMI sideline Saturday as a volunteer assistant.
Stagnitta, a former University of Pennsylvania player and assistant, was not hired as W&L coach until mid-November but has guided the Generals to an 8-4 record and the No. 13 ranking in the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division III poll.
A big reason for the turnaround has been offensive productivity. After scoring fewer than six goals per game in 1989, the Generals have 127 through 12 games this year.
"Every time we've scored 10 goals, we've won," Stagnitta said. "I could tell early in the year that we'd have a strong defense, but it didn't look like we'd be a very good shooting team. That's where Chris stood out."
Mastrogiovanni needed only two games this season to match his goal production from 1989, and, after nine games, he had exceeded his total of 26 for the first three years.
It was only natural that Mastrogiovanni's output would increase because attackmen frequently play an entire game, whereas teams often use three or four midfield units.
"I came down here [from high school] thinking I'd play attack," Mastrogiovanni said, "but after the coach saw me play, he thought I could help in transition. I was excited about playing midfield because I thought that's where I'd play more."
After scoring two goals as a freshman, Mastrogiovanni underwent knee surgery before his sophomore season, but he came back to score 17 goals. That was his career high until this season.
"We're still trying to figure out what happened last year," he said. "We always felt we had talent, but we weren't generating any offense."
Senior John Ware led the Generals with 21 goals, and nobody else had more than 10.
"There was always consideration given to moving him to attack before," Daly said of Mastrogiovanni. "He always scored a lot from the crease for a middie, but at that point we were deeper at attack."
Although he admits to some frustration, Mastrogiovanni said he does not regret his decision to go to Washington and Lee. He was recruited by perennial Division III national champion Hobart, which is a few blocks from his home in Geneva, N.Y.
"I would have loved to go there," Mastrogiovanni said, "but I knew all along that I wouldn't go there. I didn't want to play in my hometown."
The Generals finished 11-4 and reached the Division III championship game in Mastrogiovanni's freshman season. They dropped to 2-11 and 4-9 the past two seasons, resulting in Daly's reassignment.
"At the end of last year, we weren't sure what would happen," Mastrogiovanni said. "When we didn't hear anything, a lot of us expected [Daly] back.
"I think the timing disappointed a lot of people. Other teams were going through fall ball and we didn't have a coach."
Mastrogiovanni said W&L's offense has been less structured under Stagnitta, but, more than anything, the change has been helpful if only for change's sake.
The Generals have six players with more than 10 goals each this season, but Mastrogiovanni is the primary sharpshooter, scoring on nearly half of his 79 shots.
"That's practically unheard of," Stagnitta said.
Nolan is shooting 50.7 percent for the Keydets, who have scored 128 goals in 11 games and will try to force a transition game Saturday. After losing starting goalie Eric Olsen, who enlisted in the Navy after the first semester, VMI will count on former third-stringer Matt Ott to stop Mastrogiovanni and Co.
"Even though [Mastrogiovanni] had seven goals last year, we knew who he was," said Doug Bartlett, VMI's coach. "What separates a good player from a great player is what he does without the ball. If you can't do anything with the ball, you belong in another sport, but he's downright lethal off the ball."
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on May 5, 1990\ Correction
Andrew Lawrence, a junior attackman for VMI's lacrosse team, was mistakenly referred to as Coleman Lawrence in Friday's edition.
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Memo: correction