2009 Men's Lacrosse Media Day
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Carrier Dome/Syracuse, N.Y.
Matt Abbott, Sr., Midfield
On defending the national championship:
“You have to put it behind you. Last season was great and we accomplished our goal, but it’s a whole new team this year and we have a lot to prove. We have to take it one day at a time and try and get better every day and hope for similar results as last year.”
On starting over again in 2009:
“If you look back to years ago, we went 5-8 and missed the playoffs and we used that as motivation to come back last year and that worked for us. We have to look at the work we put in last year and know that we have to work ever harder this year to get the same results as last year because everybody will be gunning for this season.”
On having 10 home games:
“It's always nice to play at the Dome in front of the home crowd. We’ll definitely try and use that to our advantage this year.”
On his personal goals:
“Personal goals aren’t all that important to me as long as the team does well. That’s all I'm really looking for. Another national championship is obviously the ultimate goal. As for individual things, if they come, than that’s great. If not, it’s no big deal. It’s all about the team.”
On playing a variety of roles:
“Whatever helps the team the most is what I want to do. Whether it’s offense, defense, clearing the ball or scoring goals, whatever it’s going to take. I know we have a lot of guys on this team that are going to have to fill some big shoes from last year. We’re just going to have to fill in those voids and we’ll see what happens as the season goes on.”
Kenny Nims, Sr., Attack
On his getting ready for this year:
“Coach (Desko) was telling us today that last year is over with and it will be a great memory for us to have, but we have to approach this year like we did last year. You know, we came off a 5-8 season then, so we have to stay hungry and work twice as hard this year."
On how he spent the summer:
“I was actually abroad this summer, so I wasn’t around too much. But, I know a lot of the guys had fun at the White House and other cool things like that. It was just nice to come back to school when they put the banner up and stuff like that.”
On having 10 games at home this season:
“It’s great. It’ll give our fans a little bit more time to watch us more and we won’t have to travel and go on long bus rides and stuff like that.” We want to use the Dome to our advantage and make other teams a little bit nervous to come up here and play, so we’re excited for it.”
On the freshmen from Central New York:
“Yeah, a lot of those local guys, they’re playing with a lot of energy and lot of enthusiasm. We have so many people at all different positions, so everyone’s pushing each other to get better every day, so it’ll be a tough spring.”
Jovan Miller, So., Midfield
On how good the 2009 Orange can be:
"Our guys have been working so hard. I actually think we’ve been working harder than we did last year. I really think the desire is there; we just have to piece together some things and I can definitely see us being a better team than last year.”
On his role:
“Hopefully, I can get a more increased role, but personally, I’d love to be all over the place. As you can see, whenever I go in, I like to be all over the place. I’d like to just try and maximize my athleticism on the field.”
Steve Ianzito, Fr., Midfield
On why he chose Syracuse:
“I’ve always wanted to come play for Syracuse, whether it was football or lacrosse. I made the right choice by playing lacrosse. I love it here. I love the campus so far. I love life and it’s just so great being close to home.”
On recovering from his high school knee injury:
“The knee’s doing well. Today was my first practice back and there weren’t any problems. I just have to work on my stick skills and get back out there with the team and catch up with everyone else. All the therapy and stuff is done. I took care of it all before Christmas.”
On being compared to Brendan Loftus:
“Yeah, I mean Brendan Loftus is a great lacrosse player. Just wearing his jersey, hopefully I can fill his shoes and not disappoint him and not disappoint the team, but right now, I have a lot of work to do to catch up to everybody else.”
On Matt Abbott's leadership:
“Abbott is definitely not outspoken, but just the way he goes about himself and presents himself with the team. I mean, he holds down a job, he gets great grades, he’s a motivation to the team the way he plays and he’s always pushing people to be better.”