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02-10-2014
Sports
IV estate
Lacrosse assistant coach brings fresh outlook DARIAN BANKS PRINT SPORTS EDITOR
The Mason women’s lacrosse team welcomed a third coach, Kaitlyn Pasko, previously from Le Moyne University who brings with her important perspectives and coaching techniques to better the team during the offseason. She assisted the Le Moyne lacrosse team to three consecutive NCAA Division II tournament appearances and served as the offensive and recruiting coordinator. When Pasko joined the Mason team in October, the women had already started fall ball for about a month. “I went out to practice after being in the office and for the first couple of practices, I was just a fly on the wall,” Pasko said. The team quickly opened their arms to Pasko and the many ideas that she brought with her from Le Moyne. “The team welcomed her by going around in a circle and introducing ourselves by sharing our names, where we are from and one interesting fact about ourselves,” said Sarah Clark, junior. “A couple days after she joined the coaching staff, I met up with her individually to chat, which was great, because we got to know each other better and helped us form trust and a close bond.” Pasko made an effort to mesh with the team, which made it easier for her to integrate her ideas. “She fit in immediately and got right into the groove of coaching us. We welcome her by working hard and listening to what she had to say,” said Katie Mascolo, senior. “The addition of a third coach has helped us tremendously because we were able to get more one-on-one
attention.” Although Pasko focused on offense at Le Moyne, she would switch between defense and offense every few weeks to give the women a change in coaching. She now focuses on defense and draws knowledge from personal experience. In college Pasko played defence, attack and midfield. “Coach Pasko impacted the Le Moyne team in a variety of ways. She was organized, vocal, had a very high lacrosse IQ and was extremely competitive,” said Le Moyne Head Coach, Beth Hewitt. This knowledge base could benefit the Mason team for their season beginning on Feb. 19 against Longwood University. “I think a challenge for other schools will be our eight meter defense, pressure defense,” Pasko said. “It’s all about being out in your face and making it harder for the other team to pass the ball.” Pasko has drilled attack and transition for the defensive players making it second nature. “As a defender I feel that I am much better prepared because of this. The drills we do in practice really get our attack moving and are very game-like and challenging to the defenders – which I love,” Clark said. “There is a great dynamic between the team and coach Pasko. Everyone responds well to her; she is so knowledgeable,” Clark said. “She shows a lot of respect for the coaching staff and players and is very genuine when she speaks. The team really takes in everything she says, because she wants us all to succeed. The open and honest communication has really added to the dynamic.” Pasko’s coaching style is “very intense” because she expects a lot out of her players.
“She always tried to motivate them to want to play for each other,” Hewitt said. “Coach Pasko always did a great job making sure that each new player understood the game of lacrosse and was confident in the system that we were trying to run.” The players have welcomed Pasko by matching her dedication to the team to have a stronger season than their overall 5-11 finish last year. “I was really impressed when they came back from winter break. They’ve all come back in awesome shape,” Pasko said. “At the Monday and Wednesday morning workouts, we had to tell them they could slow down.” Morning workouts focus on the strength of the athletes while the addition of Pasko has allowed for more individual time with players to improve certain aspects athletically and mentally. “In the fall, Coach Pasko and I spent many consecutive individuals working on my stick skills, which I have noticed a huge improvement in,” Clark said. “Currently, she and I are working closely on building my confidence as a player.” Pasko’s attention to defense has also helped improve Mascolo’s skills close to the goal. “Coach Pasko has definitely helped me with my one on one takes and my feeds inside the eight meter,” Mascolo said. Pasko has dedicated a lot of practice time to perfecting different aspects of the defense just as she did at Le Moyne to help break down the opponents’ defense. “In the Northeast-10 Conference, we have a large number of teams that run a backer defense,” Hewitt said. “She spent a lot of time working to figure out ways to beat it. We have
been pretty successful in running some of the systems that she camp up with and we do continue to use those today.” Pasko has brought that same passion and commitment as she has spent a lot of time figuring out what the Mason women specifically need to work on. “We’ve spent a lot of time going over how to take advantage of every team with man-ups and when you’re one on one with the goalie,” Pasko said. “We’ve also worked a lot on escaping double teams on offense and my hope is that our girls will be patient enough and confident enough with the ball. There always has to be someone man up.” Despite being predicted to finish fifth in the Atlantic 10, Pasko’s coaching has made the team more confident about their performance. “I predict that this upcoming season will be much better with Coach Pasko at Mason,” Clark said. “We are fortunate to have her and coach Adam (Norton) super tuned in with the attack and midfield.” Pasko has seen the dedication of the team, but still looks to make the most of the two weeks before their season beings. “We still can improve on marking up on cutters and staying tight on cutters,” Pasko said. “We’ve been practicing crash call which is anytime a ball enters the eight meter mark, the entire team collapses so that no one can score.” Conference play begins April 6th and the team is working with five returning starters and eight newcomers. “I truly believe all of the new elements Coach Pasko has added to our team will contribute to the success we will have this season,” Clark said.