Pitarresi: Patty Kloidt is a great coach

I think Patty Kloidt is a great coach.

 

Here’s why:

 

Well, obviously, she’s won a national championship in women’s lacrosse at Hamilton College, so the assumption is she’s a very good coach to begin with. It goes beyond that. Winning at a school like Hamilton, where the recruiting pool is reduced because of the stringent entrance requirements, isn’t easy in the first place. Winning a national title or even coming close was unheard of until Kloidt’s Continentals did it last year.

 

But, Kloidt would be a great coach whether she won that national title or not.  Case in point: Her team got horsewhipped by Union 15-4 just nine days ago, losing the right to host the Liberty League tournament to the Dutchmen. Friday, the Continentals defeated William Smith, a team they had barely beaten in overtime a few weeks ago, 14-8, then today they downed Union 4-3 in overtime to ensure another berth in the NCAA tournament.

 

To me, that’s great coaching, and no mistake. I’ll guarantee you that Kloidt didn’t let her players forget about those earlier games, and I think it is amazing how well she got them to refocus on their goals and what they had to do to achieve them. Hey, they’re very good players, but they need someone to keep them on course. Kloidt does a great job of that.