Men's Lacrosse: Long Island flavor a hit on sidelines

The Tigers’ success has been largely due to its relentless offense. Princeton has averaged 50.5 shots per game, up from 32.1 a season ago. The Tigers are also scoring 12.25 goals per game, well above their 2008 average of 8.98.

The offense has been triggered by a newfound aggression on the opposite side of the field. Princeton has knocked down passes, blocked shots and forced turnovers with regularity. The Tigers have also obliterated opponents in faceoffs.

A large part of this change has come from assistant coach Kevin Unterstein. A 2008 graduate of Hofstra, Unterstein was hired in early September. He coaches faceoffs and also assists head coach Bill Tierney in working with the Princeton defense.

Unterstein capped a brilliant career at Hofstra by winning Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year his senior season. The honor was especially impressive as Unterstein was a short-stick defensive midfielder, the position most often exploited by opposing offenses.

Unterstein caused 46 turnovers in his career and led the Pride in ground balls each of his last three seasons, finishing with 245.

Tierney became aware of Unterstein when his nephew, Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney, called and asked that he consider Unterstein for the job vacated by former second assistant Greg Raymond, who left for Drexel this past offseason.

Tierney said he had been pleased with Unterstein’s scouting report.

“I remembered how tenacious [Unterstein] was, and we needed a little bit of that,” Tierney said. “I think you’re seeing a little bit of that develop in our team, and I give Kevin a lot of credit for that … Great athleticism, gets out and pressures the ball, very solid defensively and on ground balls. That’s his whole personality. That’s what he’s brought to our program.”

Unterstein’s expertise in faceoffs is what sealed the deal. While only a part-time faceoff man in college, Unterstein had a solid understanding of the position. The Princeton coaching staff had lacked such a presence in recent years.

“[In the past] we haven’t been good facing off,” Tierney said. “Even with a good faceoff guy like [midfielder] Alex Berg ’08 was, we just haven’t been consistent facing off. We really felt that if we could get someone who had an expertise in facing off that would certainly be a plus for us.”

Unterstein’s impact has been felt immediately, as Princeton has won 54 of 88 faceoffs, good for a .614 win percentage, compared with last season’s .386. Junior faceoff man Paul Barnes, who had previously taken only 13 faceoffs in his career, has won 43 of 67 this season.

“[Unterstein] has helped me improve by teaching me aspects of facing off that I never really understood or recognized before,” Barnes said. “He’s great at scouting our opponents’ moves and giving me advice on how to be effective versus a variety of different moves.”

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Barnes was named the Ivy League Co-Player of the Week this past week after winning 13 of 15 faceoffs against UMBC, including the first 11 and the critical draw that sealed the victory for the Tigers after the Retrievers had drawn within one goal late in the game. Barnes’ .642 win percentage ranks fifth in Division I competition.

“The impact of what Kevin has done came to fruition the other night against UMBC,” Tierney said. “Paul Barnes had to go out and do it, and our wing guys had to pick up the ground balls, but it just struck me how much of an impact Kevin has had on that part of our program.”

Unterstein’s impact has come not only through his sound teaching of technique. His aggressive, physical style of play — characteristic of his native Long Island — has begun to rub off on the team, and he has already earned a reputation for giving the team “Long Island flavor.”

“Some people think ‘Long Island flavor’ is all about hair gel, fake tans and acting tough,” senior short-stick defensive midfielder and co-captain Brendan Reilly said. “But for [Unterstein], it means grit and passion for the game of lacrosse.”

That same grit and passion has already begun to translate statistically. The Tigers have improved dramatically in gathering ground balls, a statistic that is indicative of hustle and physicality. Princeton has picked up 133 ground balls in 2009, while its opponents have only picked up 93. Last season, the Tigers finished with 343 ground balls while their opponents picked up 353.

Unterstein’s most impressive accomplishment as a coach to date has been his ability to switch seamlessly from being a college player to a college coach. Despite being younger than some of the players on the team, Unterstein has commanded their respect and trust.

“I’m always amazed when these guys can come out of college and coach guys that are their age and that they’ve competed against,” Tierney said. “It has to be tough … One year out of college, I was an assistant high school coach. Even then, I was 21, and I felt like these guys were almost my age. They were 17. This is a guy where they are his age.”

“It really says a lot about him that he has been able to make such a smooth transition from player to coach in such a short period of time,” senior defenseman and co-captain Chris Peyser said.

Unterstein has managed to maintain professionalism despite the lack of an age gap.

“I think one of the best parts about [Unterstein] is that he has struck a great balance between being a friend and a coach,” Barnes said. “He is able to keep things light at practice, but we also respect him a lot, so when he tells us to do something, we do it.”

When Unterstein was first introduced to the team, Tierney made it clear that the new coach was to be respected.

“At first it was kind of weird just because some of the guys are older than me,” Unterstein said. “But [Tierney] laid down the law in the first meeting and said, ‘This is how it is: This is your coach, not your friend.’ It’s been fun.”

In addition to connecting with his players, Unterstein has also managed to fit in with a veteran coaching staff. Tierney, associate head coach David Metzbower and volunteer assistant coach Bryce Chase ’63 have coached at Princeton for a combined 79 years. The three have been here together since 1990. Unfazed, Unterstein has found his niche among the coaches.

“Having a young person on staff has really been great for us,” Tierney said. “As crazy as it sounds, he speaks their language, and they relate. My only thing with assistant coaches has always been: Have your relationship with your players, do and say whatever you want with your players, just make sure that we’re on the same page.”

Unterstein said he has relished the opportunity to work with more experienced coaches.

“Even up to now, I’ve learned so much,” Unterstein said. “[Tierney and Metzbower] are two of the greatest in the game by far. I’m truly thankful that I have this opportunity. This is the best place to be at to start out for a coaching position, so I’m very thrilled.”

The coaches’ range in ages has given the players a fresh set of perspectives.

“I honestly think that some of the sweatshirts that Coach Chase wears at practice are older than[Unterstein],” Reilly said. “That dynamic is great for the team. The mixture of youth and experience gives us a range of perspectives, and having a coach that has just been a player himself allows him to relate to the team in ways that older coaches can’t.”

Unterstein said that his eventual aspiration is to be a head coach. He played Major League Lacrosse last summer for the New Jersey Pride, but he noted that he only anticipates playing for a few more years.

“I want to keep doing it, but as you move out, you have to go out on the road more and be seen more, so if you’re trying to play every weekend travel and stuff like that, it’s going to hurt your career as a coach, so a few more years and then I’ll call it quits.”

This Saturday’s game will be an especially strange experience for Unterstein. Princeton heads to Hempstead, N.Y., to take on Hofstra, where Unterstein will be coaching against former teammates and his former coaching staff.

“It’s going to be a little weird, going back there, stepping on that field,” Unterstein said. “But that chapter of my life is over, and we’re now moving on. I’m coaching at Princeton now. I have a lot of good friendships on that team, and I love the coaching staff over there, but now it’s over and time to move on.”