November 9, 2007

College Notebook: Coyle Works to Move Forward

The following article on Union forward Josh Coyle appeared in the November 9 issue of The Schenectady Gazette.

By Ken Schott
The Schenectady Gazette 

While his teammates will be at Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend, Union senior forward Josh Coyle will be inside the Messa Rink workout room, riding a stationary bike.

Coyle wishes the bike would take him away from Messa Rink and transport him to Dartmouth and Harvard. But Coyle's sprained knee is keeping him home.

Coyle played in last weekend's games against Brown and Yale, but his knee still feels sore. He did record an assist on Stephane Boileau's game-tying goal in the 3-3 tie with Yale.

"I didn't give it 100 percent last weekend," Coyle said. "I didn't help the team. I need this weekend off to get better."

This wasn't what Coyle envisioned for his final season. He was the team's top returning scorer from last season with 14 goals and 17 assists. A 20-goal season wasn't out of the question.

But that dream was shattered in the opening game of the season last month against Ferris State. Coyle said he was hurt after taking a shot on goal in the first period. He said one Ferris State player was hitting him low, and another one caught him high at the same time.

Coyle missed the next three games, hoping the additional time off would help his knee. But after playing twice last weekend, Coyle feels pain and frustration.

"It's all mental right now," Coyle said. "If I can mentally get back into it, stay on the bike every day and try to stay in shape while they're gone over the weekend, it's a mental battle I have to battle through."

Coyle didn't practice Monday and Tuesday, but returned Wednesday. He wasn't wearing the non-contact red jersey like he did a couple of weeks ago.

Union coach Nate Leaman is hoping that by taking this weekend off and not having another game again until Nov. 25 at Massachusetts will help Coyle get the knee back in shape.

"I think he tried to come back a little too early," Leaman said. "It talks about what type of kid he [is], that he wanted to get back to the team. But he wasn't quite himself this past weekend."