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When the phone call came to freshman goalie Ryan LaPlante’s Fort Collins home during spring break, it was head coach Bill Tierney on the other line with an important message – he needed the redshirt freshman to fly to New York to replace the injured Jamie Faus. LaPlante did not have much time to do anything except get on a plane.
“[I was] surprised,” LaPlante said about receiving the call. “It happened really fast, so I didn’t really have too much time to think about it. I just went with it, and I was really excited that I was getting my opportunity.”
LaPlante, who was not supposed to play at all this season, had his redshirt pulled after Faus was injured in the Notre Dame game on March 18.
Faus was walking onto the field for the second overtime period in the Notre Dame game when he ruptured his Achilles tendon. He underwent surgery to repair the tendon on March 24 and will miss the remainder of the season, as the recovery time for this type of injury is around six months.
LaPlante, who has been playing lacrosse since third grade and goalie since fifth grade, earned his first collegiate start on March 20 in the Pioneers’ 9-8 overtime loss to then-No. 3-ranked Cornell. He has started the past four games for the Pioneers, earning three wins since his first start. He has also earned two Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week honors on March 26 and Monday.
Since his first start, LaPlante has been improving and adjusting to the collegiate game pace and has racked up 41 saves and a 0.569 save percentage as a Pioneer. In Saturday’s game against Bellarmine, LaPlante stopped 16 shots, 11 of which were in the first half.
“I had to adjust, especially from the high school game to the college game, because everybody can shoot so well,” said LaPlante. “So, I just had to get used to the ball moving a lot faster and the offenses moving faster, too.”
The team has adjusted quickly to playing in front of a new goalie mid-season as well.
“The team has done a great job playing in front of Ryan, and vice versa,” Tierney in last week’s press conference.
Tierney notes that LaPlante has been instrumental in the team’s ability to clear the ball in recent games.
“He stepped up at half-time the other day, knew he hadn’t played his best first half, talked to the guys on the team, talked to the coaches and said, ‘I’ll be better.’ For an 18-year-old freshman to do that and then follow up with it was really pretty inspirational,” said Tierney. So, we’re pretty comfortable with Ryan LaPlante in there, and we know he will give us his best effort each day.”
In addition to adjusting to playing in front of a new goalie, the team has also shown support.
“It’s been great; the guys have all been very supportive. We’re hopefully going on a run here, and I really think that we can do it. The guys have just been supporting me throughout the whole way,” said LaPlante.
The Colorado native went to Fort Collins High School, where the team lost in the state finals his freshman year and made it to the quarterfinals the following three years. He also played on a club lacrosse team with Tierney’s son, Trevor, before he was recruited to Denver.
Coming from Colorado, he has been allowed more support as he begins his collegiate lacrosse career.
“It’s been great. Like this Saturday [agaisnt Hobart], I just knew a bunch of people here, which was really cool having their support,” said LaPlante of the game against Hobart. “It’s just been a great experience coming up through the Colorado lacrosse program and getting to stay here.”
Like all athletes, LaPlante and Faus are drastically different athletes, but LaPlante has fit nicely into the Pioneer team, according to Tierney.
“Ryan is a very different kid than Jamie. Jamie is your typical goalie with all sorts of superstitions; everything’s got to be right – all the little things from the way his socks are, to the way he practices and all that stuff. Ryan is just this loose guy who just laughs, has a good time and plays a great game,” said Tierney.
