60 minute (plus) game.

[GoSU96]

Surprised there weren't some of the standard hysteria when things weren't going well early.

UNC has some great athletes out there, SU is behind most of the ACC on that score, but they got game.

They are players.

Billy Ward coming up big in the biggest games. First half against Duke last year in the NC, Hopkins this year, tonight. Clutch.

Wardwell has really come on in the second half of the year. He was great tonight.

Mullins, three straight lock down games against top end guys.

Wouldn't mind seeing more of Evans and Weston and less of Lecky. If he is going to be a "wheels" player, he doesn't bring much to the table right now.

Scott Loy almost literally threw the game away, three straight bad pass turnovers, unheard of.

Nobody hits more pipes than Maltz.

 

[cuseguy]

Surprised there weren't some of the standard hysteria when things weren't going well early. UNC has some great athletes out there, SU is behind most of the ACC on that score, but they got game. They are players. Billy Ward coming up big in the biggest games. First half against Duke last year in the NC, Hopkins this year, tonight. Clutch. Wardwell has really come on in the second half of the year. He was great tonight. Mullins, three straight lock down games against top end guys. Wouldn't mind seeing more of Evans and Weston and less of Lecky. If he is going to be a "wheels" player, he doesn't bring much to the table right now. Scott Loy almost literally threw the game away, three straight bad pass turnovers, unheard of. Nobody hits more pipes than Maltz.

Spot on, Steve.

 

[supp]

Surprised there weren't some of the standard hysteria when things weren't going well early.

UNC has some great athletes out there, SU is behind most of the ACC on that score, but they got game.

They are players.

Billy Ward coming up big in the biggest games. First half against Duke last year in the NC, Hopkins this year, tonight. Clutch.

Wardwell has really come on in the second half of the year. He was great tonight.

Mullins, three straight lock down games against top end guys.

Wouldn't mind seeing more of Evans and Weston and less of Lecky. If he is going to be a "wheels" player, he doesn't bring much to the table right now.

Scott Loy almost literally threw the game away, three straight bad pass turnovers, unheard of.

Nobody hits more pipes than Maltz.

UNC had the best close d I've seen all year. Creighton is the best LSM I've seen since Joel White.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Surprised there weren't some of the standard hysteria when things weren't going well early.

UNC has some great athletes out there, SU is behind most of the ACC on that score, but they got game.

They are players.

Billy Ward coming up big in the biggest games. First half against Duke last year in the NC, Hopkins this year, tonight. Clutch.

Wardwell has really come on in the second half of the year. He was great tonight.

Mullins, three straight lock down games against top end guys.

Wouldn't mind seeing more of Evans and Weston and less of Lecky. If he is going to be a "wheels" player, he doesn't bring much to the table right now.

Scott Loy almost literally threw the game away, three straight bad pass turnovers, unheard of.

Nobody hits more pipes than Maltz.

Daddio was winning faceoffs, there was no need for hysterics, if he is winning faceoffs Syracuse will always be in the game.

Defense played pretty well, Messina and Grimm got beat a few times but all in all another great effort by those guys. Jenkins was very good and Young, Mullins, Harris, McCartney were all excellent.

Daddio did a fantastic job but for the love of god he has got to stop throwing the ball away. He finally started to flip the ball to himself in the second half but that last turnover he had nearly cost us the game. One of the middies has got to help him out when he is being hounded like that.

A few other quick thoughts.
Desko needs to change up the first mid line, Lecky and Loy are a complete mess right now and both are turnover machines. First mid line should be Ward, Galasso, and Schoonie. Bad game for Staats, has to play within himself and not go 1-4, which almost always ends up in a turnover. Rice and Donahue both good as always, never worry about those guys. Galasso and Maltz must each hit two pipes a game, unreal. Maltz has got to finish better around the crease, misses that shot or gets stoned to much for a top end attackmen (which he is).

Great game by Ward, kid is not afraid to shoot or take a big shot. Sometimes you get a great performance like today sometimes you get him O for the century like he was against Cornell. Either way he adds that outside shot that this team needs. Love that third line of Westin, Evans, and then a mix in player usually Galasso. Wouldnt mind seeing an all frosh line of Evans, Westin, and Maltz but I dont think they want Dylan playing middie.

Great win by the team, 100% locks in a tourney birth no matter what happens the next three games.
Duke is a bad matchup for this team, hope if things go South this team doesn't let it affect it against Colgate and the tourney. Huge matchups in two weeks for Daddio, the SSDM's and the goalies.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Late in the game I thought I saw Evans instead of Lecky on the 1st mid line.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Late in the game I thought I saw Evans instead of Lecky on the 1st mid line.

He was out there but not on the first line, was there with Galasso and I believe Westin

 

[longtimefan]

UNC had the best close d I've seen all year. Creighton is the best LSM I've seen since Joel White.

UNC had the best close d I've seen all year. Creighton is the best LSM I've seen since Joel White.

I believe Creighton plays with a short stick.

 

[Whitey23]

I believe Creighton plays with a short stick.

yup, SSDM

 

[DaveR52]

Evans did indeed take one run with first midfield line near the end with Lecky on the sideline. Lecky and Loy had very tough games imo. Second midfield line was much better than first in forcing slides and making quick dishes to X and also in shooting the ball when their defenders slid down to help on attack, leaving them open with space. Loy's lack of a left hand this late in his career is a liability. Also liked how John noticed UNC employed same d-middie pairing the entire game (they were great, btw) and ran Evans and Weston out there to wear them down with fresh legs. It was hot in there, UNC played a lot of D and I think it worked.

 

[GoSU96]

Evans did indeed take one run with first midfield line near the end with Lecky on the sideline. Lecky and Loy had very tough games imo. Second midfield line was much better than first in forcing slides and making quick dishes to X and also in shooting the ball when their defenders slid down to help on attack, leaving them open with space. Loy's lack of a left hand this late in his career is a liability. Also liked how John noticed UNC employed same d-middie pairing the entire game (they were great, btw) and ran Evans and Weston out there to wear them down with fresh legs. It was hot in there, UNC played a lot of D and I think it worked.

Dave,

Good to see you here. I've been saying for weeks that when the second unit is out there it's a much more potent group. Liability if caught in transition, but I bet if you look at scoring, they are scoring more when the second group is on the field.

Do you have any idea why they moved the start time of the spring game to 1pm this year? Makes it impossible to attend both that and the Hobart game without leaving the spring game mid way through.

 

[DaveR52]

No idea, Steve. Conflict will leave me in Geneva and out of football loop.

 

[Orangello]

I agree with shuffling the first mid line as Lecky and Loy were terrible with the turnovers. Maltz's nickname should be "Clang". Got to keep working on clears as well. UNC was very good at getting to the clearing man fast and harassing. BTW, their clearing man who ran the sideline route all game had some wheels. Impressive. Galasso looked really good today.

 

[kcsu]

I thought that Desk has one of his better coaching games. He really showed his stuff yesterday. Great great TO in the 1st OT. Stayed Calm and completely set up both of our last two goals.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

UNC was very good at getting to the clearing man fast and harassing. BTW, their clearing man who ran the sideline route all game had some wheels. Impressive.

That #43 for UNC is Mark McNeill. He was a back-up WR on the football team.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Evans did indeed take one run with first midfield line near the end with Lecky on the sideline. Lecky and Loy had very tough games imo. Second midfield line was much better than first in forcing slides and making quick dishes to X and also in shooting the ball when their defenders slid down to help on attack, leaving them open with space. Loy's lack of a left hand this late in his career is a liability. Also liked how John noticed UNC employed same d-middie pairing the entire game (they were great, btw) and ran Evans and Weston out there to wear them down with fresh legs. It was hot in there, UNC played a lot of D and I think it worked.

Thanks Dave, I saw Evans out there late with the Galasso line but didnt see him with the first line, good catch. Loy seems to have really regressed from a few years ago, turns it over a ton and rarely if ever takes an outside shot, the only key element Syracuse really lacks and what he is supposed to be known for. I would like to see a first mid line of Galasso, Ward, Schoonie and a second of Lecky, Loy, Evans/Westin. Curious to get your take on the mid lines.

Also seems Desko and the staff may have finally abandonded Maltz playing middie ( a disaster) and will use him to rotate in at attack, good call in your mind? Thoughts on Hobart? - Going to be a much harder game then it looks on paper in my opinion.

Thanks!

 

[orange79]

Evans did indeed take one run with first midfield line near the end with Lecky on the sideline. Lecky and Loy had very tough games imo. Second midfield line was much better than first in forcing slides and making quick dishes to X and also in shooting the ball when their defenders slid down to help on attack, leaving them open with space. Loy's lack of a left hand this late in his career is a liability. Also liked how John noticed UNC employed same d-middie pairing the entire game (they were great, btw) and ran Evans and Weston out there to wear them down with fresh legs. It was hot in there, UNC played a lot of D and I think it worked.

Dave - thanks for the insight. Also, I just wanted to tell you I thoroughly enjoy the IL pieces, whether about SU or not. We really appreciate you dropping by here!

http://www.insidelacrosse.com/news/2014/04/12/ward-leads-syracuse-past-unc-double-ot-acc-tournament

 

[retro44]

Galasso is starting to hit his game stride now and at a perfect time for that to happen. The kid has very hard accurate shot. He has earned his keep to more playing time.

Lecky is good at breaking down his man, but the kid almost always shoots high and wide of the cage. He really has a cannon of a shot and when he shoots low it is usually on cage and in, but it is rare for him to do it.

 

[Orangello]

That #43 for UNC is Mark McNeill. He was a back-up WR on the football team.

My very first thought watching that kid was that he should be a FB WR !!!

 

[DaveR52]

Jeremy, I think those are SU's best three middies right now. Just not sure Desko wants to break up his lines at this point. I do think he'll do it at crunch time now, though, as he did last night. No idea what's going on with Lecky. I want to be a fan, I really do, but his flashes are few and far between and as noted above he only seems to want to shoot on that left alley drive and 90 percent of the time it's high and right into the goalie's stick. It almost seems that Loy is afraid to shoot these days, as the offense has "evolved" into a much more control/high percentage shot scheme. I yearn for the old days but realize they are probably gone forever now that it's a coaches game like hoops (notice all the timeouts at the end of the half and regulation?; ugh). Feel bad for Maltz, a great kid and true team player. He has to get the black cat award for hitting pipes. I see limited runs on second mid line and spelling Staats as his career-ending role barring an injury to Staats. Also, I'll never get why some kids try to shoot high over goalies from in close. That's where the stick and arms are, and they are much quicker than the feet, but what do I know? Derek does that too much imo. As for Hobart in Geneva, you know they'll play way, way over their heads. I looked at Friday's box score and saw Alex Love has yet to return from that abdominal injury, but I wouldn't be surprised if he returned for this one. He has killed SU with that lefty hockey-type sidewinder of his. I think SU will be motivated, though, after what happened last season. Ward was already talking about it after the game last night. We'll see.

 

[GoSU96]

The UNC coach has made a career of overcoaching. He should have let his kids go at the end, they probably win. Fire and back it up. To run around into a stall and give up the ball with 30 secs left was stupid.

 

[PhatOrange]

Lecky has All American ability but not the decision making. Perplexing that he can't put it together. There's really no reason he shouldn't a top mid.

 

[Orangello]

The kid has jets and can give the D fits but his decision making, passing and shooting are highly questionable

 

[kirbivore]

Surprised there weren't some of the standard hysteria when things weren't going well early.

UNC has some great athletes out there, SU is behind most of the ACC on that score, but they got game.

They are players.

I don't have the lacrosse knowledge of many on here, so this is a serious question. It's been my understanding that SU is a selector school in lax, so how are they behind most of the ACC in the great athlete category?

 

[longtimefan]

I don't have the lacrosse knowledge of many on here, so this is a serious question. It's been my understanding that SU is a selector school in lax, so how are they behind most of the ACC in the great athlete category?

Two points--

• SU has a number of excellent athletes--Lecky, McCartney, Messina, etc. Some of the other ACC teams might be more athletic over all, but not by much.

• Lacrosse is as much a technique (skill) sport as it is a pure athletic contest. Stick handling, shooting accuracy, understanding the geometry of the game are all big deals. Rice and Donahue are not blow-your-socks-off athletes, but they know the game, and their scoring totals reflect that.

 

[wvlax]

Two points--

• SU has a number of excellent athletes--Lecky, McCartney, Messina, etc. Some of the other ACC teams might be more athletic over all, but not by much.

• Lacrosse is as much a technique (skill) sport as it is a pure athletic contest. Stick handling, shooting accuracy, understanding the geometry of the game are all big deals. Rice and Donahue are not blow-your-socks-off athletes, but they know the game, and their scoring totals reflect that.

Mostly agree with what you're saying here, but with respect to short stick D midfielders I think SU players are athletic but definitely smaller compared to other ACC teams. Going forward I'm concerned that certain teams will try/continue to exploit this size advantage especially Duke and Maryland.That said I think our team defense has improved so the duke will be an interesting challenge.