Any team that wants to be successful during the course of a season must be able to rely on one or two high-profile playmakers. Those playmakers can change the composure and confidence of a team in a matter of seconds. They step up at both the best and worst times of the game.

This season, the men’s lacrosse team doesn’t just have one or two of those prominent athletes — they have four.

Amid a preseason highlighted by lofty team expectations, the individual prominence of four of the Bombers have gotten lost in the shuffle.

Seniors Craig Lepiane, Matt Nelligan and Brandon Rose and junior Neth Wiedemann were all named Inside Lacrosse preseason All-Americans. Each Bomber was also named an All-American at the end of the 2007 season.

The recent success by both the team and the individual athletes has turned heads around Division III lacrosse. After flying below the radar for the last few years, the Blue and Gold (10–2 overall) are on the verge of being a perennial power.

“Ithaca’s [lacrosse program] is finally getting recognized for something,” Rose said, in reference to the Bombers’ four preseason All-Americans.

While the athletes were recognized as a few of the best players in the nation, getting that kind of recognition meant something different for each of them.

“It’s nice to be recognized for the hard work put in the offseason,” Wiedemann said. “It was a big honor.”

Last year Wiedemann was Ithaca’s first sophomore All-American since 2005 and has anchored the Bombers’ defensive front this year. In 12 games for Ithaca this season, Wiedemann has picked up 44 groundballs and caused 12 turnovers.

But when individual excellence is acknowledged, it can sometimes lead to jealously and team dissension. That wasn’t the case for this year’s squad, though Rose said a little joking was hardly off limits.

“I got some of the usual jokes from my teammates,” Rose said. “But I am still expected to produce the same way I have in the past.”

Rose and his teammates have produced so far, as only four of the Bombers’ 12 opponents have scored double digits this season. Rose himself has put up big numbers in his senior season, leading the team with 85 groundballs and 18 caused turnovers.

On the offensive side, Lepiane has tallied 23 goals and eight assists. The senior said he knew there would be extra pressure on the foursome to produce this season.

“I knew that all eyes would be on the four of us,” he said. “We had a lot to prove to people.”

Nelligan is also proving that he was worth the spot as an All-American, as he leads the Bombers with 33 goals on the season.

Each athlete recognizes, however, that they have more than one role on this team. Head Coach Jeff Long is looking for leadership instead of star power. Statistics or flashy plays aren’t always the ingredients to having a successful season.

“I wouldn’t be a preseason All-American if it weren’t for the guys next to me,” Wiedemann said.

Role players, or those not recognized as much, don’t get as much publicity as the four All-Americans. Seniors Logan Bobzien and Mike Nowak help the dynamic of the team with their leadership as team captains.

When there is a letdown during the course of the game, such as when the Bombers fell behind 7–2 in the third quarter against Nazareth College this past Saturday, they become just as important as the All-Americans. Their stats are nothing to scoff at either. Bobzien leads the team in assists with 34, while Nowak has picked up 26 groundballs this season for the Bombers, who scored six fourth-quarter goals to tally a 10–9 come-from-behind win against the Golden Flyers.

Being named a preseason All-American can do a lot for the mindset of an athlete. Some get complacent or lazy, while others work to prove their worth. The Bombers remain focused solely on bringing a National Championship to the South Hill.

With four regular season games remaining, the sixth-ranked Blue and Gold are in position to do so.