Photo by: Andrew Fielding
As a Kentucky native, Chase Carraro did not play the toughest competition that he could have played in high school, and it showed as he struggled in his freshman season at DU.
Carraro, the first men’s Divsion I lacrosse player from Kentucky, won 48.1 percent of his faceoffs last year, whereas this season he is winning them 59.2 percent of the time. His strong play in the faceoff circle and his play on the offensive end have proven this season to help the Pioneers.
One of his better games came against Air Force on March 26. In the game, Carraro had a career game in faceoffs, winning 18-of-23 (78 percent), while grabbing nine ground balls and recording three goals.
“Air Force for me was a little bit of a coming out party. It is hard to not get excited for a Saturday game at Peter Barton [Stadium],” said Carraro. “It was really exciting and once I got that first goal it really gave me the confidence to get my third.”
This year Carraro has added scoring to his skill set with nine goals. In addition he has already grabbed more ground balls than he did all of last season with 53 through nine games compared to 41 in 14 games.
“I don’t want to lose this confidence right now and take any steps back; I just want to keep going forward,” he said.
In the 15-11 win over Hobart, Carraro’s confidence in the faceoff circle did not seem to be the same as it was against Air Force, as he only won 11-of-29 face-off attempts.
Carraro made up for it in the scoring category, netting two goals on nine shots, making him an important part of the offense for the Pioneers throughout this year.
Last season, Carraro was able to learn from then-DU senior Dillon Roy, now with the Denver Outlaws of the Major Lacrosse League (MLL).
Roy taught Carraro an important thing about faceoffs that he has tried to remember throughout the season.
“If there is one thing that Dillon taught me I would say that it is that faceoffs are all about pride and who wants it more,” said Carraro. “The thing about me and Dillon is that we sort of had different styles and his wasn’t really applicable to what I do at all.”
According to Carraro, Roy lit a fire under him to not settle for anything but winning faceoffs.
“Just watching him go out and take them and being so intent to get the ground ball every time, it sort of put a fire under me to be the best,” he said.
Carraro says he owes his success so far this season to his work ethic during his training in the off-season.
“I like to lift a lot. As far as faceoffs go I do a lot of legs such as squats and things like that,” said Carraro. “Lifting and shooting [in the offseason] just really helps.”
All Carraro wants to do before he leaves DU is contend for a national title, and he believes that he can do that now that Tierney is here with his historic winning ways.
“With the addition of coach Tierney last year, we thought that it was a great thing to make the tournament,” said Carraro. “But now that we have one of those under our belt with coach, we are really looking to take the next step and make it to the final four [this season].
“That requires us to win two games in the tournament and if we get passed the first one who knows, maybe we can get on a roll.”
Carraro sees DU winning for years to come under Tierney.
“We have already sort of put Denver on the map, but now we are looking to make it a powerhouse,” Carraro said.
Inside Lacrosse Poll
The Division I men’s poll released Apr. 4.
1. Syracuse (12)
2. Notre Dame
3. Johns Hopkins
4. Duke
5. Maryland
6. Cornell
7. Hofstra
8. North Carolina
9. Virgina
10. Denver
11. Villanova
12. Pennsylvania
13. Stony Brook
14. Army
15. Bucknell
16. Delaware
17. Yale
18. Massachusetts
19. Colgate
20. Loyola (Md.)
Others receiving votes: Harvard, Hartford, Ohio State and Georgetown
