Published: April 19, 2007 11:12 pm            

BOYS LACROSSE: Samland more than a scorer for Grand Island

GRAND ISLAND — Ryan Samland scored 42 goals a year ago for the Grand Island boys lacrosse team and there was still something missing from his game.

“He was primarily a finisher last year, but we needed him to be able to dodge and break people down more,” GI coach Steve Steck said.

That’s not to say, though, that the junior attackman wasn’t a valuable asset to the Vikings.

“Every year we have an award for an unsung hero and Ryan was that last year,” Steck said. “He kind of went under the radar with James Rayhill and Phil Wendt getting all the attention. He’s a talented player and he showed it with the numbers that he had.”

Still, Samland put his hard hat on this offseason with the mindset of improving his all-around game.

“I played a lot over the summer and I really worked out a lot to get bigger, faster and stronger,” he said. “That really helped me with dodging and going one-on-one to the net.”

And when practice started in early March, Steck could immediately see the improvement.

“He’s a lot stronger and his quickness is much better,” the coach said. “He’s an ankle-breaker this year. And that combined with his shooting ability has really made him dangerous.”

Another thing that separates Samland is the fact that he’s left-handed, which gives the Vikings a weapon from the left attack spot.

Combine his improvements along with his raw abilities and Steck is confident he has one of the most dynamic players in Western New York.

“We’re looking for him to cause double teams, plus he has good vision, so he can find the open man, too,” Steck said. “We’re looking to run a lot of things through him this year, which is similar to what we did with Mike Blocho a few years ago.”

Speaking of Blocho, Samland plans on attending Canisius College and joining the 2004 GI grad on the lacrosse team next fall.

But before he heads off to college, Samland and his Vikings teammates have some unfinished business to take care of in Class B, including the task of reclaiming the title from perennial contender Amherst.

“We have a lot of returnees with our three attackmen, our three middies and our goalie, so nothing short of a sectional championship would be acceptable,” Samland said.