Master motivator

Joe Alberici didn't like what he saw. Sure, it was only September, but the Army lacrosse coach wasn't going to buy that as an excuse. No way. His Black Knights simply weren't playing well enough.

About midway through the 25-practice fall schedule, Alberici gazed at his Black Knights and found a way to fire them up. He posed a challenge to his senior class - a class that includes Auburn native Adam Hansinger, a starting defender - to step it up both on and off the field. Slowly but surely, everything clicked for the upperclassmen, and Alberici found the results he was looking for. The energy level surged on the practice field, and the chemistry flourished off the field.

“It wasn't anything that hadn't been said before,” said Alberici, who is in his third year at the helm of the Black Knights. “It was just a realization for (the seniors) that this is their last go-around, and even though it's September, this is the last fall practice we're going to go through; they started treating it that way.”