Air Academy boys lacrosse team leaves a Trilogy Lacrosse camp outside Phoenix, Ariz., March 25, 2016. (Denver Post handout)
coach John Mandico and his Kadets went on a spring break trip to Arizona with plans of improving their offense. What the team actually got was a complete offensive awakening.
After returning from the intense five-day training camp through , the Kadets’ new 1-4-1 offense has taken major form, and (7-4 overall, 4-1 Pikes Peak) now sits top five in (139).
“Our offense is just a production machine right now,” first-year head coach Mandico said.
Mandico and his staff are defense-oriented and went to the March training camp seeking someone with an offensive mindset to help with their attack. Not only did Air Academy get the offensive guidance it wanted, the Kadets received arguably the best instruction out there — from , who is considered one of the smartest players in the sport’s history.
The four time All-American attackman , winning the 2001 NCAA national championship under , who impressively led the Denver Pioneers in 2015 to the . Boyle left his name etched across pages of the before having standout careers in , , as well as being a .
Boyle co-founded his lacrosse education and event management company in 2005, predominantly holding clinics and camps that allow “players to train and get better as individuals, and build more cohesive teams,” he said. Air Academy attended the spring training camp just outside Phoenix at a world class training facility called , and Boyle, an offensive genius, was able to sink his teeth into the unique flavor of the West and provide the means and tools for the Kadets to dramatically improve their offense.
During the six-team camp, Boyle evaluated Air Academy — the only Western team in attendance — and implemented a couple different offensive sets that would optimize the Kadets’ personnel. Playing off Air Academy’s style and strength, Boyle also added in a couple plays that would compliment the set as well.
“Ryan gave us the blueprint, but we still had to execute,” Mandico said. “The only way to execute effectively is just to keeping practicing.”
Mandico’s coaching philosophy stresses teaching life lessons through the sport; the flow of life is comparable through the contact, emotion, gracefulness and give and take of lacrosse. On top of the foundation Mandico is laying for the culture of Air Academy lacrosse, Boyle’s inspirational and knowledgeable leadership is a perfect complement. Boyle really struck a chord with the Kadets, and the team has gelled emotionally and mentally after going through Trilogy training together.
“We’ve taken some of his set plays and created a few derivatives of our own to address the different kinds of defenses we run into,” Mandico said. “No doubt our success all started with Ryan.”
Saying the camp paid off is an understatement. In the Kadets’ last four games, the team has offensively exploded, torching opponents on 66 goals while allowing 14.
“We call it the Ryan Boyle Offense — the RBO,” Mandico said.
is one of seven senior leaders on the team, and has done a phenomenal job taking on duties as the field commander. contributes equal distribution of scoring (35 goals) and playmaking (34 assists), and is tied as a and in 4A — but his points (69) put him at , regardless of classification.
“Jake was really affected in a positive way by Ryan and he’s really come alive and is directing things like a quarterback would,” Mandico said. “Sometimes we don’t even need to send in the play.”
Although Thornally directs his teammates, he doesn’t take the team upon his back by any means. The and the team delivers a balanced attack. The Kadets have additional scoring help from Austin Konnath (24 goals), Chapman Cox (18), August Scott (17), Noah Thornally (16) and Edward MacGuire (11).
“We’re peaking and it’s because of the hard work we put in at Trilogy,” Mandico said. “We just had incredible direction and instruction from Ryan.”
The Kadets head into a huge rivalry game — their biggest game of the season– Wednesday night against that could .
