Even though it was his first time, Arends was unrelentless with himself. He would accept nothing less than perfection.

"The first half I set the clock at 20 minutes instead of 25 minutes," Arends confessed. "I also got the wrong set of game balls, and before the game started I had to run back and get different ones."

He keeps listing.

"There were little glitches with the clock here and there, and with the score. I was a little slow on the score a couple of times."

But, with the Crimson scoring practically every other minute, and with a frenzy of substitution every other play, a few harmless blunders are expected.

And the stats are the least of it. The job of manager entails much more than keeping the time, taking down goals, saves, assists, and engineering substitutions with a ear-blasting, really annoying horn.

It involves intricate financial knowledge.

"When they go away, I take care of the money--meal money and travel money and stuff," Arends said.

It also takes culinary ingenuity.

"I carry out water, ice, and cut oranges for each team and set up the tables," Arends said.

As a man without much lacrossemanaging experience, Arends has come a long way in one game. And will go much further.

"I'm from Iowa and this is the first game I've ever seen in my life," Arends said. "Hopefully, the next game will go better. I'll know more what I'm doing."

Until that time, Arends is proving that the pen can be mightier than the stick.