Each week, The Sun will publish a Q&A with an area college lacrosse player to get you more acquainted with the player and his/her team. Friday's guest is Marc Ingerman, a senior defenseman for No. 20 Towson.
Question: What is your best attribute as a defenseman?
Answer: I'd have to say it's my one-on-one matchup ability. At times, that's worked out well for me in my career. Second to that, I think, is my communication. It's come a long way.
Q: What's an aspect of playing defense that fans tend to overlook or underestimate?
A: I've seen guys like [former Virginia All American] Ken Clausen and some other great defenders, and the kids tend to see his stick work and how he could really get up on guys and cause turnovers. But younger players should be more concerned about body position and footwork, and playing hard-nosed defense at times can pay off and be almost more advantageous in the long run.
Q: Do you worry about personal statistics like ground balls and caused turnovers?
A: Yeah, those have been pretty low for me in years past. That's an area that I want to improve on this season. Maybe causing a couple more turnovers and picking up a couple more ground balls will help us even more.
Q: Saturday's contest against No. 11 Johns Hopkins is the season opener. Is it fair to call it a "statement game" for Towson?
A: Yeah, I would think so, but it's no more of a statement game for us as it is for them. We want to put out the best product we can on Saturday and just show everyone what we've been doing over here at Towson. We sometimes don't get the notoriety that other teams down the street get.
Q: If redshirt sophomore goalie Andrew Wascavage gets the start in the cage against the Blue Jays because of Travis Love's illness, does that put more pressure on you and the defense to help him get his footing?
A: Andrew's been hanging around in the balance for a couple of years now, and if anyone's ever been to some of our practices, he makes incredible saves day in and day out. He's right on the doorstep, and he gets his shot on Saturday, I guess. I don't really think there's too much pressure on us defensively because we practiced with him and Travis — I don't want to say equally — but we feel pretty comfortable with anyone in the goal. If Coach gives him the nod, then that's who we're going with. He has all of our confidence, and he knows that. The big thing for him would be to make that first save and then the second and the third. I think that would really solidify him. It would help if we gave up an outside shot or a bad-angled shot. We have all the confidence in the world that he's going to come up with those saves.