After a year lost to injury, Henderson came back with a bang in '08

It's never too early.

With the 2008 season in the books, our neuroses turn to 2009. From Division I to Division III, MCLA to WDIA, we're spanning the college lacrosse globe for a look at what's in store for coaches and players. Check back to LMO each Friday for a new Q&A feature, as our "Countdown to `09" series continues.

by Jac Coyne, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
http://laxmagazine.cstv.com/sports/s-club/spec-rel/091908aaa.html

Keith Henderson had a frustrating 2007 season, if you can even call it a season.

The New York Institute of Technology attackman had to watch his teammates head out to practice every day as the then-sophomore stayed behind and rehabbed his injured shoulder. To cap it off, Henderson looked on as the Bears fell in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II tournament to East Coast Conference rival Mercyhurst to end the year.

But as bad as 2007 was for Henderson, 2008 made up for everything.

Healthy once again, Henderson led the nation in total goals with 62, including game-winners in four of NYIT's 13 wins on the season. And, best of all, Henderson scored five goals to lift the Bears to a convincing, 16-11 triumph over Le Moyne in the national championship game. For his efforts, Henderson was named the game's Most Outstanding Player.

Henderson, along with many of the key cogs in NYIT's title run, returns for the 2009 campaign, making the Bears prohibitive favorites to repeat. Countdown caught up with Henderson earlier this summer.

NYIT is down 5-2 at the end of the first period of the championship game. Describe the mood of the team at that point? What was running through your collective heads?

Being down 5-2 is no easy task, especially against a team like Le Moyne. I was pretty nervous because I know how well Le Moyne plays when they are up; they move the ball around pretty slowly. We had a couple of games during the season where we were down and we came back and won.

It was too early in the game to be nervous because when the second quarter rolled around we outscored them, 5-2, and brought us ahead right before half. I don't think it affected the team that much. We got in trouble a little bit, but we managed to get back into it.

When did you know you had the game in hand?

Against Le Moyne I don't know if I was ever that comfortable until I saw we were up by four with two minutes left and then we had possession of the ball. That was about it. It was pretty late in the game when I figured we had won it already. Le Moyne's a good team and they are never out of it.

Before the game the conventional wisdom was NYIT's wide-open style would play right into the hands of a methodical Le Moyne team. Was there anything specific that allowed the Bears to control the tempo of the game?

Yeah, they were real slow on slides. Eleven of our 16 goals were unassisted - it was one-on-ones. Once we realized that and their slides were very late we just kept attacking their defensemen one-on-one and going to the cage. It helped us big-time in the long run.

When we hear Coach Kaley speak to the media, he seems like a fairly easy-going guy. Is always like that? What do you think is his best coaching asset?

Coach K is a funny guy, but he always has his head on straight. He knows how to pick the other teams apart and execute against them. He recognizes talent very well in regards to recruiting, which I think is one of his best assets. He's a great coach, obviously, and he does very well for us.

You had a bum shoulder, missing all of 2007. Will you be back for your senior year and if so, what should we expect from the '09 version of the Bears? Heavy favorites or do you have some holes to fill?

We do have a couple of holes to fill, but our whole offense is back besides Chris Gencorelli and Paul Flowers. We're losing our face-off guy, Jared Garcia, and two of our starting defenders, but I hear we're getting a couple of new defensemen in, which could definitely fill those two holes. I'm not sure about a face-off guy, but I think we have a good chance to get back to the playoffs this year and possibly win another championship before I graduate.

My shoulder is pretty much okay after taking the season off last year. It definitely helped; I was able to rehab and get it stronger. I'm just excited that I got through another season healthy so I can help my team again next year.

You scored 62 goals this season - including five in the championship game to earn Most Outstanding Player honors - and had just nine assists. Is that how the offense works or is it just you're always open for the shot?

The way I play, I'm a totally off-ball player. I'm not much of a one-on-one dodger. That's not my strong point. I'm not too strong on change of direction or any of that, so I rely on my other assets, and that's my off-ball movement. I can really fool defensemen that way. I rely on the middies and the other attackmen to get me the ball when I'm open and I get open quite a bit. [Rising senior midfielders] Matt Messina and Kevin Hennessy help me out big time on that.

In regards to the nine assists, I did want more than that but sometimes my friends hit the pipe and whatnot. [laughing] Most of the middies are just looking for me down low and I was getting open.

Were you getting open off-ball in the championship game?

Not really. There were only a couple of shots where I was passed to for off-ball goals. In the championship game it was different because I scored three of my goals off one-on-ones, which is not usually how I do things. I just went into the game wanting to win so badly that I figured I'd take some goals into my own hands and take some defensemen to the cage. Their late slides definitely helped me, but I wanted to win the game so badly I started going one-on-one more and scored a bunch of goals.