Playoff Notebook: Embracing the Moment with Confidence and Handling Pressure

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NLL Vancouver Warriors

Playoff Notebook: Embracing the Moment with Confidence and Handling Pressure

April 25, 2025 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Vancouver Warriors News Release


As the Vancouver Warriors prepare for their first-round playoff clash, the team's seasoned veterans are leaning on experience and composure to lead the charge. Defenders Brett Mydske, Matt Beers, Ryan Dilks, Jeff Cornwall, and forward Riley Loewen reflect on the high-stakes moments that define postseason lacrosse-and what it takes to rise to the occasion.

This is the second part of the playoff notebook ahead of the first round with thoughts from the players to get you primed for the game on Saturday. In the first part, the veterans with playoff experience discussed how it feels to get back to the postseason and how the team has grown its playoff mentality throughout the season. You can read the first part here.

Handling Pressure

There's a different pressure in the postseason, especially in one-and-done scenarios and the veterans love high-stakes games. They all agree that preparation is the key, playing to their identity and not changing, based on the fact that the games mean that much more.

"We're making sure that this week is full of prep - all the film is done well in advance and make sure the body's taken care of. Doing every little thing to give yourself the best chance to succeed personally and from a team perspective," Beers said.

"I think just for some of the young guys, is making sure we have that five-minutes-at-a-time mantra, but that we really stay true to ourselves throughout the game, and we don't change what we do just because the game has more magnitude."

The veterans help the younger players navigate the postseason, but Mydske says the team has played meaningful lacrosse in the second half of the last two seasons, which is similar to playoff pressure.

"It comes down to experience. I remember the first time in playoffs, obviously, the nerves are there, there's a little bit room for mistakes and stuff like that. Now, going into playoffs, it's not really nerves, it's excitement, because when you're well-prepared and ready for the opportunity," Mydske said.

"You look back to last year, we felt fell a little short of making the postseason, but we're playing those big pressure games halfway through the season. We were 5-7 at one point this season, and we had a lot of must-win games, so I think having been through those pressure games is definitely going to pay off with experience going into the playoffs."

The Warriors are coming off a six-game win streak and Loewen says they've dealt with pressure at points throughout the season but have come out the other side better for it.

"You've got to be playing your best lacrosse near the end of the year here, which I think we are. We went through the grind at the beginning of the year there, losing a lot of those one or two-goal games," Loewen said.

"Before we played San Diego, our offensive group had a meeting where we sat down with Curt and wanted to right the ship, which I think we've done. We've just been trying to get better each week. I think that's the recipe for going into playoffs, playing your best lacrosse, lay it all out on the line, and you can't be nervous."

Dilks says focusing one shift at a time is a good way to handle high-pressure moments. It's important to stay disciplined, even-keel, and focus on the small details of the game.

"The small details become pretty important at the end of the game when you look back. You want to play with emotions, but you've got to be able to control your emotions, especially in one game the first round here, it can really slip away fast if you lose focus or lose control of momentum," Dilks said.

Cornwall says that the championship mentality - and one thing he teaches when he's coaching - is 'Practice hard, game easy'. Cornwall puts that into practice from training camp, elevating everything the pressure in everything he does so when the postseason comes around it feels like any other game.

"We need to have a championship mentality, even when it's the first practice of the year, because when we get into those higher stakes games, we don't want to be changing the way that we feel or the way that we play, because then we're chasing the moment. We want to make sure that this moment, even though it is a bigger moment, feels the same as the first time you step out at training camp, like it's all just as meaningful as the previous one," Cornwall said.

It Takes Everybody

Cornwall says it takes intangibles and coming together at the right time to be able to have success when there's so much parity amongst teams in the league.

"We're starting to find our stride, we're playing really well on both ends of the floor, and more than anything, the cohesiveness in our dressing room is the best it's ever been. It's a pretty cool thing to be a part of," Cornwall said.

Loewen says things are turned up an extra notch in the postseason and he looks at it as an opportunity to alleviate the pressure from his teammates.

"Playoffs are a big time for depth scoring to step up. Obviously, Baller [Keegan Bal] is going to get keyed on quite a bit, and the same with Adam Charalambides, who will be keyed on by the better defenders. It's up to guys like myself, Marcus [Klarich], [Ryan] Martel, and the other forwards to step up and get some big goals and help get those guys open."

Loewen has scored eight goals in six games down the stretch, notching timely goals at pivotal moments in games. Drafted by the Edmonton Rush 11th overall in 2013, he credits his tough style of play to playing alongside offensive powerhouses Mark Matthews and Zack Greer as well as Dane Dobbie in Calgary, and now Bal and Charalambides in Vancouver.

"You do whatever it takes," Loewen said. "Curt preaches knowing what you need to do to make the team successful, do what you're good at, and that's what I've always done - get over top with the ball and try and swing it over to Keegan, get down the middle, get inside, and pay the price to get my teammates open."

Every player has bought into the game plan and they're ready to battle for each other, understanding that success in the postseason takes everyone. The team's ability to respond to adversity, execute under pressure, and stay true to their identity has them poised for a playoff push.

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