Lasell鈥檚 Ryan Stone off to incredible start in rookie campaign
NEWTON, Mass. (BVM) — Lasell University men鈥檚 lacrosse freshman, Ryan Stone, was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week on Monday. Stone is the Lasers鈥� leading point scorer overall with 26, assist leader with 10, and tied for first in goals with 16.
The early success has been a shock to Stone himself.聽
鈥淚 think it just kind of came out of nowhere. In high school, I wasn’t the biggest goal scorer, I was more of an assist guy,鈥� the freshman said. 鈥淏ut now I have more goals than assists, which is kind of crazy to me. But I think most of it stems from my teammates and their success.鈥�
Stone may have not seen his success coming, but head coach Dieter Treusdell said Stone鈥檚 success has been in the works.聽
鈥淗e has been consistent each day and that stood out right away,鈥� Treusdell said. 鈥淗is success is a testament to the work he puts in during the offseason as well as practice. Those things have been compounding for many months, and it shows on gameday.鈥�.聽
Despite leading the Lasers in goals, Stone said scoring is not what he considers to be the biggest strength of his game.聽
鈥淚 played hockey and lacrosse and in both sports, I’ve been more of a pass first kind of guy,鈥� the Lasers鈥� assist leader said. 鈥�In lacrosse, I play behind the crease mostly and I’m a guy that looks to just feed inside or look for skip passes or that kind of thing. So my game is kind of a pass first mentality.鈥�
The Lasers are the reigning GNAC champions, but their top three goal scorers from last season have all graduated. Stone鈥檚 emergence and his pass-first mentality has been a massive boost for the Lasers offensively.
鈥淎 lot of guys have stepped up into new roles and we are starting to develop some real continuity. We are focused on having production as a unit. Our mentality is to make the guys around you better by the way you play individually,鈥� Treusdell said. 鈥淩yan has surely been a great example of that, he plays assertively but unselfishly at the same time.鈥�
Despite the early success, Stone is not putting any pressure on himself as he is focused on continuing to help the team.
鈥淚’m not putting any expectations on myself either. I could stop scoring now, but you know, keep assisting and I’ll be happy. I’m just gonna keep playing the way I’ve been playing,鈥� Stone said. 鈥�And then for the team, I think we could probably win every single game this year. That’s the goal, at least because I know we can do it. But it’s just a matter of if we do it or not. So yeah, I’m definitely looking forward to getting on the line and playing in the GNAC tournament, hopefully, the NCAA Tournament.鈥�
Stone鈥檚 team-first attitude and his humbleness is something that Truesdell believes contributes to his ability to be a special player.聽
鈥淗umble, hardworking and extremely coachable. He picks things up very quickly and implements them into his game. He wants to be a complete player and takes pride in riding and picking up ground balls to compliment his ability on offense,鈥� the Lasers鈥� coach said.聽
Stone鈥檚 early success led to him being named the GNAC Rookie of the Week.聽
鈥淢onday after practice, I just checked my phone in the locker room and I saw someone put [the news] on their story on Instagram and that’s how I saw it. It felt cool, because I did play really well in the Dean game, and then not really well in the Rivier game on that Saturday, so I wasn’t expecting anything,鈥� Stone said. 鈥淎nd so I did get it. That was really, really cool. It really boosted my confidence. I think I felt really good in practice this week. I want to get after it today. But I am proud of it. I think I can still play better, though. So I’m looking forward to keeping the GNAC play going.鈥�
Truesdell is looking forward to hopefully seeing more of the same from Stone as the season goes on.聽
鈥淸I鈥檓 looking for Stone to] continue to bring a great attitude and work ethic and great things will happen for our team,鈥� Truesdell said.聽
As the season moves forward, Stone is looking to help the team continue its early success in GNAC play.聽
鈥淚 think we’re really just focusing on GNAC play right now. But everyone kind of just has that want, because we know that we want the GNAC win so bad,鈥� the star freshman said. 鈥�And if we get that obviously we will be going to the NCAA tournament. So I think we’re really just focusing on the GNAC play right now.鈥�
