A few thoughts on Colgate tomorrow

[JeremyCuse]

Before I jump into Gate let me just say yesterday was a nice solid win. Game went about how I figured barring the real slow start but SU was able to impose its will for the most part and the Offense just has so many options it's going to be difficult for a lot of teams to match up if SU isn't throwing the ball around or getting killed at the X.

Quick turnaround obviously but clearly after Gates win over PSU this game will take on a different feel then when it was announced. Gate apparenlty had an impressive fall scrimmage vs UVA that Powell commented on and clearly they are an improved team across the board.

Tough to get concrete takeaways from 1 game but watching some of the PSU games and reviewing the stats I came away with the following:

Colgate appears to have some nice depth in scoring. Their returning leading scorer Rory Connor (26 and 11) only had 1 pt in the win over PSU. Hunter Drouin led the way with 5pts and then had 3 guys with 2 pts each including Michael Miniscus (yes another one) Drouin is listed as a middie but per the IL recap on the game he did his damager coming from behind the goal. I am unclear if he was inverting or was playing attack. Assuming he was inverting this will clearly be an Olexxo matchup. I would assume Fig on Connor and Dwan on Meniscus. The third attackmen is Jack Turner which would be Kol.

Again hard to make definitive statements off of one game but a few things to consider for tomorrow: Gate scored 13 goals, only 2 were assisted, take from that what you will. PSU's goalie is very good but from some comments on fanlax it appears Gate was getting some real good looks and he got left on an island a lot. Unclear if Gate will try and replicate a similar strategy or try would Vermont did which is go after the short sticks, Trujillo specifically. I assume they will try and pick and screen a ton to get attackmen on our short sticks. Will be a very good challenge for the SSDm crew.

From a Colgate D standpoint someone commented that they played solid D and were very physical. Similar to what SU saw a lot in the ACC schedule and against Hop last year. Also important to note PSU turned it over 25 times yesterday, that is an ungodly amount. Gate did turn it over 21 times themselves, Minimizing TO's for SU is going to be absolutely critical tomorrow, as Gate forced 15 of the 25 PSU turnovers. PSU also had a horrific time clearing yesterday finishing 17 for 25 including apparently 5 of 10 in the 4th. Clearing was pretty good yesterday save for 1 or 2 bad passes but that's an issue that has plagued SU at times under Gait. Really hope were prepared there tomorrow, wouldn't be surprised if we saw a 10 man from Gate.

Two other quick notes
Gate started out real bad at the X, PSU was winning at 80% through the early 2nd. Gate turned things around a bit in the second half but PSU still won north of 60% with a unit that had questions coming in. Kohn and Mullen have a good matchup on paper.

Man down for Gate was excellent, PSU was 0-5 on man up opportunities. On the other hand Gate was 1-4.

I am not a big fan of the wholesale pit crew change for SU's man up unit. Unlikely they scrap it for Gate but it did not look good at all yesterday, this will be something to watch for tomorrow and Friday against Manhattan.


Overall tomorrow should be a fascinating game. Clearly Colgate's offense is on a different level then Vermont and their D looks better on paper. However, PSU did turn the ball over 25 times and fail 8 clears but still scored 12 pts. Again take from what what you will. To me I think SU should be able to score but my concenrs are two fold. One is turnovers. SU had six in the first quarter yesterday and then cleaned things up for the most part. A bad day turning it over and with clears could lead to disaster. Second is defense overall. I thought the unit really played well yesterday but Vermont had a lot of new pieces and struggled at the X. The unit will be much more tested against Gate tomorrow, hoping they respond well. Offensively SU has a lot of weapons and I think can effectively attack Gate's secondary defenders but again I am interested to see how they respond if Gate plays a tough physical defense as mentioned vs PSU.

 

[cuselaxss26]

i watch the psu gate game and a lot of gates goals were from behind net. They would mostly take shorties behind n go up one side getting under their guy for door step goal. They did beat long pole or two that way also. Psu made a lot of poor turnovers also their offense was not at their best mostly matt traynor #22 as he switch from mid to attack and struggled. Psu got shots off missed a lot of open looks but gates goalie also made nice saves. Not sure what gate will try but will think least few times take our shorties behind net n push to one side. Also would go from wing with some of their speed to get under defenders also. Psu goalie struggled for most part even on one’s wasn’t hung out to dry.

 

[Powellfan]

Good stuff as always Jeremy.

I think it's important to point out that, while both teams are coming off of just one day of rest, Colgate is coming off a road game, headed to another road game, while Cuse is coming off a home game and doesn't have to travel. Colgate just played a full end to end two hour game against a top five team, while SU was able to rest their starters for a full quarter. SU really needs to take advantage of that disparity.

Colgate has two new coordinators this year that seem to be making a difference. One is Colin Munro who seems to be the OC, he doesn't have much experience at all, but is the son of Jamie, the coach of Denver pre-Bill Tierney. Like others have pointed out they scored a bunch of "big boy" goals against Penn State, as they Nittany Lions didn't look like they had any desire to slide. Curious to see if SU deploys a different strategy. I imagine the SU SSDMs will see a lot of action. On flip side, Penn State scored a lot of assisted goals, that should be no problem for the Orange as that fits into their wheel house.

I might disagree with Jeremey about matchups - Jack Turner is a big boy, 6'4 and he scored two goals off the dodge on Saturday. Might have to stick Dwan on him and Figuerias on Minicus. I think this will still be a pretty sloppy game, it's early and both teams just played two days ago. Sounds like SU will just have a walk through prior to the game today. For SU you have to hope some of the clearing issues come down to nerves and that those are gone now. I think if it's a sloppy game that still probably favors SU as I think they should have an edge with Stevens/Dwan/Wright/Olexo patrolling the middle of the field.

I think this game will be much closer than the Vermont game and I am going with a four goal win for the Orange, something like 16-12. Go 'Cuse!

 

[JeremyCuse]

Good stuff as always Jeremy.

I think it's important to point out that, while both teams are coming off of just one day of rest, Colgate is coming off a road game, headed to another road game, while Cuse is coming off a home game and doesn't have to travel. Colgate just played a full end to end two hour game against a top five team, while SU was able to rest their starters for a full quarter. SU really needs to take advantage of that disparity.

Colgate has two new coordinators this year that seem to be making a difference. One is Colin Munro who seems to be the OC, he doesn't have much experience at all, but is the son of Jamie, the coach of Denver pre-Bill Tierney. Like others have pointed out they scored a bunch of "big boy" goals against Penn State, as they Nittany Lions didn't look like they had any desire to slide. Curious to see if SU deploys a different strategy. I imagine the SU SSDMs will see a lot of action. On flip side, Penn State scored a lot of assisted goals, that should be no problem for the Orange as that fits into their wheel house.

I might disagree with Jeremey about matchups - Jack Turner is a big boy, 6'4 and he scored two goals off the dodge on Saturday. Might have to stick Dwan on him and Figuerias on Minicus. I think this will still be a pretty sloppy game, it's early and both teams just played two days ago. Sounds like SU will just have a walk through prior to the game today. For SU you have to hope some of the clearing issues come down to nerves and that those are gone now. I think if it's a sloppy game that still probably favors SU as I think they should have an edge with Stevens/Dwan/Wright/Olexo patrolling the middle of the field.

I think this game will be much closer than the Vermont game and I am going with a four goal win for the Orange, something like 16-12. Go 'Cuse!

You maybe right about Turner, hard to see the matchups beyond Fig on Connor and Olexxo on Drouin which seems like a lock.

IL confirmed that Colgate was running a lot of 10 man on Sat which explains PSU having so many issues clearing and the 25 turnovers. Really hope SU is prepared, they have struggled mightily the last few times they ran into a 10 man. May see SU try and use Rice and Stevens as one man clears as a counter ala Matt Abbott.

Colgate also scored exclusively on 1 on1 dodges as PSU did not slide. Defensively I suspect SU may not be as aggressive and force Gate to move the ball versus pressing out and creating dodging lanes.

 

[Delmar]

I so much appreciate these posts. I know far less than many on this forum. Never played, just really enjoy a sport that is for the most part unspoiled by money. (My brother-in-law played for Hobart when they were Division 3 and winning every year.)

I lived in Syracuse from 1981-1986 and caught some games in the Dome. I went to the Final Four in the Gaits' last year. Now I live in walking distance to Franklin Field in Philadelphia and will catch some games this spring.

Keep these coming, please. Your posts greatly enhance my appreciation of the Creator's game.

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

Never played, just really enjoy a sport that is for the most part unspoiled by money.

Shh, no one tell Delmar about the high school club circuit.

 

[Delmar]

Shh, no one tell Delmar about the high school club circuit.

Whatever that is, I'm sure it's missing a few zeros compared to football and basketball.

 

[BillSU]

Before I jump into Gate let me just say yesterday was a nice solid win. Game went about how I figured barring the real slow start but SU was able to impose its will for the most part and the Offense just has so many options it's going to be difficult for a lot of teams to match up if SU isn't throwing the ball around or getting killed at the X.

Quick turnaround obviously but clearly after Gates win over PSU this game will take on a different feel then when it was announced. Gate apparenlty had an impressive fall scrimmage vs UVA that Powell commented on and clearly they are an improved team across the board.

Tough to get concrete takeaways from 1 game but watching some of the PSU games and reviewing the stats I came away with the following:

Colgate appears to have some nice depth in scoring. Their returning leading scorer Rory Connor (26 and 11) only had 1 pt in the win over PSU. Hunter Drouin led the way with 5pts and then had 3 guys with 2 pts each including Michael Miniscus (yes another one) Drouin is listed as a middie but per the IL recap on the game he did his damager coming from behind the goal. I am unclear if he was inverting or was playing attack. Assuming he was inverting this will clearly be an Olexxo matchup. I would assume Fig on Connor and Dwan on Meniscus. The third attackmen is Jack Turner which would be Kol.

Again hard to make definitive statements off of one game but a few things to consider for tomorrow: Gate scored 13 goals, only 2 were assisted, take from that what you will. PSU's goalie is very good but from some comments on fanlax it appears Gate was getting some real good looks and he got left on an island a lot. Unclear if Gate will try and replicate a similar strategy or try would Vermont did which is go after the short sticks, Trujillo specifically. I assume they will try and pick and screen a ton to get attackmen on our short sticks. Will be a very good challenge for the SSDm crew.

From a Colgate D standpoint someone commented that they played solid D and were very physical. Similar to what SU saw a lot in the ACC schedule and against Hop last year. Also important to note PSU turned it over 25 times yesterday, that is an ungodly amount. Gate did turn it over 21 times themselves, Minimizing TO's for SU is going to be absolutely critical tomorrow, as Gate forced 15 of the 25 PSU turnovers. PSU also had a horrific time clearing yesterday finishing 17 for 25 including apparently 5 of 10 in the 4th. Clearing was pretty good yesterday save for 1 or 2 bad passes but that's an issue that has plagued SU at times under Gait. Really hope were prepared there tomorrow, wouldn't be surprised if we saw a 10 man from Gate.

Two other quick notes
Gate started out real bad at the X, PSU was winning at 80% through the early 2nd. Gate turned things around a bit in the second half but PSU still won north of 60% with a unit that had questions coming in. Kohn and Mullen have a good matchup on paper.

Man down for Gate was excellent, PSU was 0-5 on man up opportunities. On the other hand Gate was 1-4.

I am not a big fan of the wholesale pit crew change for SU's man up unit. Unlikely they scrap it for Gate but it did not look good at all yesterday, this will be something to watch for tomorrow and Friday against Manhattan.


Overall tomorrow should be a fascinating game. Clearly Colgate's offense is on a different level then Vermont and their D looks better on paper. However, PSU did turn the ball over 25 times and fail 8 clears but still scored 12 pts. Again take from what what you will. To me I think SU should be able to score but my concenrs are two fold. One is turnovers. SU had six in the first quarter yesterday and then cleaned things up for the most part. A bad day turning it over and with clears could lead to disaster. Second is defense overall. I thought the unit really played well yesterday but Vermont had a lot of new pieces and struggled at the X. The unit will be much more tested against Gate tomorrow, hoping they respond well. Offensively SU has a lot of weapons and I think can effectively attack Gate's secondary defenders but again I am interested to see how they respond if Gate plays a tough physical defense as mentioned vs PSU.

We won - hope you weren't still worried when it was 17 - 9?

 

[JeremyCuse]

We won - hope you weren't still worried when it was 17 - 9?

Um where did you get that I was worried in that Preview?