Matt Kinnear

  (3:00 PM)

Welcome to the Inside Lacrosse/ESPN live chat for this week. We've got UMass attackman Will Manny coming on shortly to answer questions.

Matt Kinnear

  (3:01 PM)

Will's started out the season in stellar fashion with seven goals in a win against Army, and seven points in a win against Bucknell.

Matt Kinnear

  (3:01 PM)

His Minutemen take on Ohio State this Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, in a matchup of two hot teams. Be sure to check that game out. Will will be on the line in a few minutes and start answering questions.

Matt Kinnear

  (3:07 PM)

And Will's here. Let's get this started.

boris (auburn ma)

you are now a marked man...are you ready for potentialdouble teams? go umass!

Will Manny

  (3:09 PM)

double teams to me are just a slide package for the defense, we always watch film and know tendencies of defense so I will know when they look to double team and not, but I try to think that I am always ready for one if they approach me that way

Ben W. (Lehigh Valley, PA)

Mr. Manny I was wondering how busy your school life (classes,studies,homework,etc.) is compared to your lacrosse life (weightlifting,practice,film,etc.) at UMass?

Will Manny

  (3:10 PM)

here at UMass there are different schedules on different days for class lengths and practice times, but I would have say it is split even, class takes up a good amount of time with studying and group work if needed, and then lacrosse practice, watching film, lifting and doing extra work takes up more time than you think. After being here for 2 1/2 years now, i find it easier to manage

Joey Appio (Ocean, New Jersey)

After the first week of college lacrosse, who surprised you the most?

Will Manny

  (3:12 PM)

team wise, I would have to go with either Ohio State with a big win over Denver who was top 5 at the time, that was a great game for them and we are lucky to head to Ohio tomorrow to take on the Buckeyes on saturday afternoon, or Jacksonville, i watched their game after the Ohio game and they were able to beat Navy and i really like how that team is coming together and getting some good players to head south.

Jonathan (Providence, Rhode Island)

Coming off a big game vs. Army and Bucknell, how do you think Ohio State who just came off a big program win, will adjust their defense to you?

Will Manny

  (3:16 PM)

after watching film from ohio state's previous games, i know where they like to slide from and how their defensemen like to approach and play 1 on 1 defense but, the only thing i can think of would be them maybe sliding a little earlier if i am dodging and maybe off ball put a little more pressure and push out to deny a pass or two. I always look to distribute the ball to my teammates and our team has done a good job of making extra passes and getting the assisted goals, and we will continue that into Saturday

Oswald (Dallas)

How do you describe your style of play?

Will Manny

  (3:17 PM)

i love to play an up tempo game, getting my teammates involved and riding hard when we are on defense. I have been working on slowing down when i need to and working on shooting better, and just doing the little things will make myself and my teammates better

Lee (SC)

How as a team do you and the other leaders motivate the guys to play each game as it were the biggest of the year?

Will Manny

  (3:20 PM)

This year it doesn't seem to be that difficult. We have a great group of younger guys and a tremendous leadership group in our juniors and seniors. We get together as a team weekly discussing what we want to work on and our goals for the week, and that gets everyone's mindset for our practices. Preaching to work harder than your opponent in every drill seems to get the guys going, and come saturday we just love putting on the same color either white or maroon and going out playing for eachother and hopefully coming out with a rewarding win

Bill NA/OH (Ohio)

Will Manny, Your a successful smaller player. What strength training can you suggest for the younger smaller high players, to better their game. thank you

Will Manny

  (3:23 PM)

I never did any strength or speed training until this past winter, when i was home for several weeks and went to Dominant Natural Athletics (DNA) on long island ran by Marc Andreassi a former player from C.W. Post. I went 5 days a week, and was able to do some workouts and push myself to do some things i was not aware i could do. I definitely suggest people getting some sort of trainer because having someone push you to your limits when no one else is watching will help you when you come back for season in the so called "spring"

Patrick (Ct)

What do you think you guys as a team need to most improve on?

jim jones (wilton, ct)

how do you and the rest of the minuteman stay grounded and focused after two big wins? Do you feel more pressure on scoring goals after having two big games? Where do you see the minuteman in May?

Will Manny

  (3:27 PM)

We always stress on being consistent. Throughout a game week, we can have a slower practice or more sloppy than we would like, and then the next day have a great one. We just want to get better and better every day so when saturday comes, we can have fun and enjoy doing what we have practiced and waited for all week.

Matt Kinnear

  (3:27 PM)

That last response was the answer to Patrick (Ct) question.

Will Manny

  (3:28 PM)

this year has been about one day at a time, one game at a time. We go quarter by quarter when we are in our games and doing the little things we will be successful. Coach Cannella always tells us "dont be satisified", this is a marathon of a season and we are only 2 games in. We have a big one this weekend so we need to continue our success. I dont feel any pressure in having to score, I am not that type of player, if we come out on top I dont care what the points show but our team knows that moving the ball will lead to our success. I see our team having a great year and hopefully doing some big things in May.

Chris (CT)

Will congrats on a great start.I hear nothing but good things about the program there - can you talk a bit about the UMass program?

Will Manny

  (3:32 PM)

Our program we like to say is a "blue collar" mentality, we like to work for what we get. Coach Cannella has been here for 18 years and has had an effect on every person who has put on the uniform. This year we are lucky to have a complete UMass coaching stafff in Doc Schneider and Brian Jacovina who both played here. Being around them everyday you can just tell they went through this system and sat in our locker room. We look at our team as a brotherhood that have common goals and have to meet in the middle and be stronger than any challenge we face. There really is no other place i would rather be

S Deezy ((West Babylon, NY))

What was the hardest thing about playing Bucknell?

Will Manny

  (3:34 PM)

Bucknell was a team we never played before so that was hard to begin with. We knew they were a great team and will have a successful season. I would have to say how their defense plays. We have never played a defense who have slid so fast before and were that good at it. They are athletic and good at what they do, but we were well prepared through scout and practiced hard against fast slides all week and were able to beat their slide packages with ball movement

rooney (saint anthony)

who was you favroite players to play with in high school? Do you think this Ohio State game will give you the same emotions of a Friars v. Flyers match up?

Will Manny

  (3:38 PM)

High school seems so long ago but you can see how succesful players from St. Anthony's have done in college in, Dante Fantoni, Mike Chanenchuk, Will Koshansky, Tom Schreiber and no one can forget Sean Roons who was the stick doctor back in the good days. The Ohio state game can be looked at as a big game like the rivalry in high school, and the team who works harder and does the little things will be successful, it will be a great game to watch for sure.

Andy (STL)

What has been the most important factors that developed your style of play as an attackman and lacrosse player?

Will Manny

  (3:42 PM)

When i was younger, my dad was never a lacrosse player but he would always play with a baseball mit and throw me the ball back when we played pushing me to always practice. In high school Coach Schreiber who is one of the best players to ever play was a big help in my success and he knows i appreciate that, and now I have one of the best coaches in the country around me for 3 hours a day supporting me on and off the field. Being surrounded by great players and now coaches have been a lucky part of my lacrosse career.

Will Manny

  (3:45 PM)

to be honest, i really am not sure right now, I had an internship with an insurance company this past summer and that was a great experience being able to go into NYC and meeting new people. I was one of 15 interns throughout the country so I only got to meet the ones that were some what close to the city on several occasions. I dont know if that is what I want to do when I am done with college, but that is one of my goals, to try and focus on what I really want to do when this year and a half is up

suzie carmichal (amherst, ma)

What do you plan on doing later in life?

Jason Yellin (Knoxville, Tenn.)

What's up Wlll Great start to the season with the Minutemen! Can you talk about how having so many returning starters back to 2012 has helped the team get off to a great start.

Will Manny

  (3:50 PM)

Thanks Jason! This year having everyone on our offense back but one midfielder is actually unbelievable. Our captain Anthony Biscardi leads the first midfield with Colin Fleming and Connor Mooney while we have Mike Fetterly, Steve D'Amario and Bobby Tyler are on the second. Having such leadership there is so key then with Jake Smith, Tom Celentani and Greg Anderson at close defense with Tim McCormack in net, i believe is one of the nations top defensive units. Then running attack with me is Art Kell and Kyle Smith who I have built strong confidence in and love going out to play with them every day. Our seniority and returners know what we have to do to be successful this year and we have done that so far.

Will Manny

  (3:51 PM)

Along with Greg Rushing and Anthony Toresco leading the charge at the faceoff x is a great duo.

Brett Costantine (Apopka, Florida)

What are some of the rituals that you go through before taking the field?

Will Manny

  (3:56 PM)

pre game rituals are pretty simple for me. Get to the locker room 2 hours before the game, throw on the headphones and go stretch and get loosened up, re tape my stick, go shoot around for 10 minutes or so and then just listen to my music. Lastly I will say a quick prayer to my grandpa before we team stretch and take the field. ... pretty easy and common routine nothing to special

larry (NY)

is it really true that brett tobin is a capable goalie as well as a stellar long pole mid fielder?

Will Manny

  (3:58 PM)

Brett Tobin i believe is the number 3 goalie on our depth chart as of now. He always volunteers to hop in the net over summer and over winter when we are out of season with the coaches. I am sure with some instruction from Doc he could make some saves come gametime, but I think we like him and Holly (Ryan Hollenbaugh) as our two poles for the next 2 seasons.

Matt Kinnear

  (3:59 PM)

We're about to wrap it up with Will, folks. One last question coming....

Matt Kinnear

  (3:59 PM)

What was it about the Army game? Was there something specific on the field that allowed you to have such a great, high-scoring game, or just one of those days that things went your way?

Will Manny

  (4:02 PM)

The Army game to be completely honest was a blur until I heard the last whistle. I knew i was shooting well at a high percentage and I guess it was just one of those days where the ball was just going in for me. I have been working on my shooting and getting to the net and I was happy that it paid off in that game. I was getting great opportunities from my teammates and cashing in on the close shots is what our attack is told to do and Kyle was able to do that as well. We thank our middies for being feeders and doing the dirty work, that is why we put so much emphasis on finishing the ball as an attack unit

Matt Kinnear

  (4:05 PM)

That's all the time we have with Will Manny. Make sure to check out the Minutemen vs. Ohio State on Saturday in what's become one of the big games of this early part of the season.