Defensive Player Of The Week- Grant Zimmerman (UNC) Redshirt Junior Grant Zimmerman has played like a first-team All-American goaltender during the first three games of the season, which included a solid 13-8 victory last week against Cornell. Saturday against fifth ranked Notre Dame was a big test for the Tar Heels, and Zimmerman provided the defensive spark UNC needed. He was brilliant all day long, posting 18 saves and not allowing a goal until the third quarter. The Gilman High School product was one of the most sought after recruits in the nation four years ago, and after a shaky ’07 season(51% save percentage), many thought Zimmerman would have to fight for his job with sophomore Chris Madalon. The goalie debate is over, and Zimmerman has a saving more than 70%, a staggering number (60% is considered strong) for a goaltender who plays a Top 10 schedule. UNC is off to its best start in years, and much of that can be attributed to the play of Zimmerman. Many feel this may be the year UNC rejoins the national elite. If that is the case, it will be on the back of Zimmerman. Offensive Player Of The Week-Curtis Dickson (Delaware) Delaware is off to a 5-0 start this season, and a big reason for their success is the emergence of sophomore attackman Curtis Dickson. Against Albany this past weekend, the 6’2”, rangy attackman had a game high four goals and chipped in with an assist. Dickson, who hails from British Columbia (Canada) played a big role during the Blue Hens’ Final Four run a year ago, however, it took him time to get acclimated to the field game. Consider the transition period done. He has totaled seventeen goals and eight assists, and we are only in the second week of March. The lacrosse world felt Delaware had its magical run a year ago because of the Herculean effort of senior faceoff man Alex Smith. Minus Jordan Hall, the Blue Hens have better players on offense than a year ago. This is a team that has the skill and playoff experience to make noise in 2008. They are also doing a nice job of handling success, and the key component to all of this is Curtis Dickson. Rookie Of The Week-Jay Card (Hofstra) The Pride rookie netted four goals, including the game winner in the 8-7 overtime victory against the top team in the nation, Johns Hopkins. Prior to the contest, the first-year attackman had one assist in two games for Hofstra. On Saturday against the defending national champions, the Ontario, Canada product was opportunistic, cashing in on some short-range, high percentage shots. In the collegiate game, if a team can find a sure handed Canadian style player, the results are often the same…. success in the short-range game. With the exposure high school lacrosse recruits often get today in the U.S., great recruiters will continue to head north of the border to find less heralded finishing attackman. During Hofstra’s ’06 run, Athan Ianucci was the Canadian product who made goal scoring look easy. If this past weekend was any indication of the future, Hofstra has a player who will do much of the same and could dominate the inside. One-Timers One player who continues to fly under the radar is Virginia’s sophomore midfielder Brian Carroll. Playing alongside line-mates who brought much more hype into the ’08 season, Carroll has emerged to become the Cavs’ most consistent midfielder. He currently is third on the team in scoring, first amongst midfielders. The second-year player from Towson, Md. brought some great credentials to Charlottesville, but few thought he would be a steady force at the midfield for Virginia this early in his career. He has scored in every game this season, including the game winner in OT against Syracuse on March 1. On Saturday against Princeton, he sparked a four-goal third quarter run with two tallies and hit the back of the net one other time during the game, giving him 14 goals on the season already. For Virginia, Lamade and the Brattons will most likely continue to get the attention. That would probably be fine with Coach Starsia and the Cavs. Just do not be surprised if Carroll continues to rip through the opposition. If you were a betting man, when regulation expired at Hofstra (Hempstead, N.Y.) on Saturday, you would have put your money on Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays were 13-2 in OT since Dave Pietramala took the head-coaching job in 2001. More remarkable were the nine-straight OT wins the Jays have posted since 2004. All great runs come to an end, and Hopkins finally dropped an OT game. Credit Coach Petro, Coach Bill Dwan, and Coach Seth Tierney (now the Hofstra head coach…but roamed the sideline as a JHU assistant from 2001-2006) for creating the necessary overtime edge. One-goal victories more times than not are won by teams that can execute under pressure and pay attention to detail. At Hopkins they have been masterful in those situations and will continue to be as long as Pietramala and Dwan are at Homewood. However, this past weekend, they ran into an opposing coach who had something to do with the last six years of success in one-goal games. People are quick to jump on the UNC train. Granted they are off to a nice start, but for the Tar Heels to become a Final Four contender, they will need steady dodging production from their midfield. Their attack unit is highly skilled, and all are strong space shooters but not great dodgers (outside of freshman Billy Bitter). For UNC to get offensive production down the stretch, the midfield will have to initiate the offense and break down the defense, which in turn will create opportunities for the sure-handed attackman Wagner and Petracca. On Saturday against the Fighting Irish, junior midfielder Ben Hunt was lethal, scoring five goals. Continued midfield success could lead to big things in 2008. Before you pencil in UNC for the Final Four, stay put, and see if the midfield continues to cause concern for the opposition on a consistent basis, as well as how the team responds to the ACC schedule with Hopkins sandwiched in. Senior leadership is always a huge factor in close games, and often times its the difference between a winning and a losing season. Consider Syracuse’s 8-7 double-overtime win on Sunday in the Dome. Senior Brendan Loftus scored the game winner on an unassisted right-handed dodge. With two seconds left in regulation, senior Mike Leveille found fifth-year senior Steven Brooks, who beat Georgetown goalie Miles Kass with a lefty cannon shot. The biggest factor in the game was a fifth-year senior who dominated the faceoff X. Danny Brennan was spectacular all day, keeping Syracuse in the game, winning 16-21 draws. Last week I mentioned that the Georgetown match-up was huge for the Orange. They played well in defeat against UVA, and the way they responded at home against the Hoyas would play a major factor in the rest of the season. If the seniors continue to show leadership and come up with clutch plays, consider the Orange a threat to contend.