Shay says instead of taking any moral victories from a one-goal loss at Cornell, his team instituted a symbol for the detail-oriented work to which they were recommitting themselves. "We started adding pennies to a water jug. For a little play, being diligent about a detail in practice. One-hand groundball, we take a penny away; two-handed groundball, put one in. We wanted a symbol for the seemingly insignificant things — a penny, the smallest piece of currency out there."

It added up.

"We probably have $150 in the water jug, it's over 50 pounds now. It’s absurd."