The Lakers were manhandled both nights? Did you even go to the games?
They were right in the thick of things until the last few minutes of Saturday's game. Tonight, Tech pulled away at the half-way point.
These kids had a grand total of six hours practice time with their coaches, and start the season against a Tech team that returns 85% of its scoring from last year while the Lakers iced 14 underclassmen, and the Lakers were "manhandled"?
They were as you would expect: green at times, good at times, not good enough to beat Tech, but not embarrassed,either.
Diefeil (sp?) had a good outing overall. He made some impressive stops, and looked confident. At least four of the goals against him this weekend were because his defense lost coverage below the hash-marks, leaving him exposed.
Perfetto had a good weekend, he made good rushes and created some opportunities.
The most glaring weak spot, to me, was defensive coverage down low. Assignments were missed. When you're a young team that's not surprising. You can learn the game at a higher level in relative anonymity if you're a forward; as defensemen,not so much. The key is to eliminate those missed assignments as the season goes on.
Brand new coaching staff, three goalies in which a sophomore is considered the seasoned vet, with seven freshmen and seven sophomores,how is there NOT going to be growing pains?
I saw a Laker team that skated hard and played until the end. It is already apparent this team will be much better condition-wise, and this will pay dividends as the season progresses.