Vyse getting a grip on the pro game
By Tom Borrelli
Updated: 05/08/08 7:01 AM
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- Roger Vyse has been a key contributor for the Bandits.
At this time last season, Roger Vyse was living in lacrosse purgatory.
He was 20 pounds heavier, a lot less confident and unsure of whether he’d be dressing for the Buffalo Bandits from game to game.
One year later, Vyse is one of the key cogs in a team just one step away from getting back to the National Lacrosse League Champion’s Cup final. He and the Bandits will take on the New York Titans at 7:30 p. m. Saturday in the East Division championship game.
“I had to take it with a grain of salt and just hope for my next chance,” said the 26-year-old forward, who was the 12th overall pick in the 2005 draft following a record-setting college career at Limestone (S. C.). “It’s a tough decision when anybody has to sit out in this league. I knew I had to work on some things in order to become a bigger part of the team.”
The first thing the left-handed shooting Vyse did after sitting out last year’s playoff loss to the Rochester Knighthawks was shed some weight. He went from 220 pounds to 200, which he carries solidly aboard his 5- foot-11 frame.
“Some guys take it the wrong way, put on 20 pounds and then they’re off the team in two years,” said Bandits captain and 17-year veteran Rich Kilgour. “Roger took it the right way and proved that hard work pays off.”
Next, Vyse worked on conditioning rather than just jumping into summer lacrosse.
The result: “I can move a lot better, I feel more comfortable and don’t get tired as much.”
All that has translated into a third-year professional who is finding his niche on the league’s second-highest scoring team.
“He knew he had to do better to play more and be in the lineup every night,” said forward Cory Bomberry, who is also Vyse’s uncle. “He’s a grown man and he just did it all himself. I’m very proud of him.”
In college, Vyse’s job was clear: Find rope every time you get the ball.
He broke a 34-year-old NCAA record by scoring 71 times in leading Limestone to the Division II championship game in 2005. In two years he scored 112 times, helping the Saints go 30-3.
But when he shuffled off to Buffalo to begin his pro career he found himself playing with veterans who had been through the wars, including NLL career scoring leader John Tavares.
Vyse wasn’t going to be the go-to guy in black and orange, at least not right away.
“The first couple years your mind is just go to the net,” Tavares said. “Then you start to see the whole floor and that comes with experience. When he’s playing well it takes a lot of pressure off all of us. That’s why we’ve been so successful in the past, because we’ve had a lot of guys contributing. And he’s played very well this year.”
Vyse, who tallied 19 goals and 20 assists in 18 games during his first two seasons, surpassed that total in just 14 games this year with 21 goals and 27 assists.
He’s become a much better distributor, especially lately. He tallied five helpers in last Friday’s 14-12 playoff win over Philadelphia and has 13 assists in his last three games.
“Every offensive player knows an assist is just as good as a goal because it’s working toward the same objective,” Vyse said. “Some of that is getting used to the guys and knowing their tendencies, where they’ll be in certain situations. I’m starting to see the floor a lot better though I’m still trying to get better at it.”
Even when Bandits coach Darris Kilgour wasn’t playing Vyse last year, he never doubted the forward’s future.
“I felt we needed the experience going into the playoffs and that’s why [Jason] Crosbie played instead of him,” Kilgour said. “But it was also done with the understanding that in the offseason he was the one I was going to protect in the expansion draft. Roger knew he was going to be the guy this year and he came in with a completely different mind-set.”
Not to mention a better overall game.
“Every time you talk to a guy about having to sit there are two ways you can take it,” Kilgour said. “You can say ‘woe is me, the coach doesn’t like me and this and that.’ Or you can say ‘I can do better.’ Any player in any league can always work harder.
“Roger knew that if he wanted to be a starter he had to show me in practice and by working hard. He’s done that and it really shows.”
