A few thoughts on ND and the rest of the schedule | Syracusefan.com

A few thoughts on ND and the rest of the schedule

JeremyCuse

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First off what a game on Saturday, two very talented teams for sure. Kudos to Syracuse on the come back but I think most of you like me knew a comeback was coming at some point, this team is just to good. Thought we were in great shape when we scored that last regulation goal but there was way to much time left for me to feel like we had it in the bag. Big shout out to Dylan Donahue who had just an amazing game. How he got those two no angle shots to go in I will never know.

I have a few thoughts/musings on the game I thought I would share:

Watching the game from a restaurant/bar TV I thought Osello was taken that faceoff when SU was up 1 late which is why I was furious when he streaked down the field and scored. I made the mistake of saying to myself right before the draw anything but a clean win and breakway here and were in business. Once I realized it was the other faceoff guy who had taken exactly zero shots on the year I understood why SU was playing for the possession there. This will be a big lesson learned moving forward. In those situations you have to hedge one of your wing men to run toward the middle of the field on the faceoff to stop any potential fastbreak. It may cost you possession but it beats giving up a goal in 6 seconds. I also agree with someone on here who mentioned that Williams completely misplayed the last draw and got outfoxed by the ND guy. Instead of trying to win it clean Ben should have just mucked it up and moved down the line to waste as much time as possible.

Speaking of Williams I thought he again was Brilliant at the X. He just got letdown by the O in the first half and by some shoddy wing play in the second half. I thought much like the Cornell game ND tried to muck up the faceoffs and then use there wings to outmuscle the syracuse wing players. I was a little surprised Desko didnt try and change up the wings a little bit or go to two poles like ND did late which they had success on. Our wings have been pretty good this year but there lack of size and strength was exposed a bit in this game.

Over at Laxpower Lecky is taking a big hit for the loss and its hard to argue against most of the comments. Lecky is a freak athletically with a cannon shot but he has the accuracy of a revoluationare war era brown bess musket. He had 9 or 10 shots Saturday and he put 2 on cage. Lecky is what he is at this point an extremely talented athelete who just couldn't put it all together as a complete lax player. Hes so talented that its frustrating watching him because you can see the potential. I think he would be better served on the second mid line at this point but this far into the season I doubt Desko makes a change. Speaking of the first mid line Schoonamker was unfortunately MIA. Coming off two great games Henry had trouble dodging from up top and was 0-3 shooting. To me one of the key reasons Syracuse lost was the difference in midfield play between the two teams. ND's middies were putting rockets on cage and beating Wardwell, Syracuse middies couldn't even put the ball on cage. Lecky and Schoonie both had at least a half dozen great looks out of those 6-8 looks they put exactly one on cage. Nicky Galasso had a nice game with 2 goals that could have easily been another 2 or 3 more as Doss had some great saves. That said his shot in the second overtime was freeking ridiculous. First of all that is a low% shot against a bad goalie, against a guy like Doss that has zero chance of going in. Second if your going to take that shot you had better A. Put it on Cage or B. Know for sure we have the backup. I know Rice was probably closer but thats what happens when you take an idiotic shot like that in Overtime. SU just had two great looks in the first OT what in the world was the rush there? Just a terrible decision from a great player.

Thought Barber did an admirable job but its clear this team needs Staats back. Randy is such a unique player who meshes so well with Rice and Donahue that you just can't replace someone like that. Really hope hes back for Albany, missing a third straight game like that would lead me to believe hes probably hurt worse then the staff is letting on. Barber tried that move he used against Duke for a goal a few times on Saturday but ND scouted well and had him shut off easily. If Randy is out for the year or for another few weeks Tim needs to get a little more creative to get himself some good looks.

Thought the Defense rebounded well after a disasterous early start and bad first half of the third quarter. Our SSDM's are playing well but there lack of size/strength does come back to haunt them at times. I think it was Messina that got leveled on a dodge and then scored on by Perkovic. Not much you can really do at that point. I thought Sean Young had a really bad game one of the worst I can remember from him. Slid way to early two or three times and in some cases he slid when no slide was necessary. Bad games happen so I am not surprised but I hope he rebounds on Thursday as he has a hell of a matchup ahead of him. Mullins was beat twice for goals that I saw one of which came on a semi fast break so all in all I thought he was again good. Held ND's best offensive player to 1 goal and 3 assists, hard to say he didnt do a good job. McDermott was finally exposed and got replaced by I believe D'agostino in the second. With the depth SU has a LSM with Firman and MaCartney I hope the staff continues to give more PT to D'agostino. He can be very effective in the right matchup. Thought this game kind of typified Wardwell's career at SU - inconsistent. Had a so/so first half followed by an awful start to the third and then caught fire the rest of the game. One thing that continues to be his achilles heel are mid range shots on target, he just doesn't appear to see the ball well especially if the shots are placed high. Nice fourth quarter for him though and he certainly made several quality saves.

My biggest concerns moving forward are consistent scoring from the midfield and prolonged defensive lapses. The lack of a pure shooter continues to haunt the orange offensively and I fear it may cost us in the tournament. The second midfield at this point is a disaster. With so much depth and talent on the team this is inexcusable. I know several people on here are big fans of Jordan Evans but right now hes a non factor out there. Against ND the second mid line took zero shot attempts, ZERO. The only point was an assist by Salcido on a nice move to the cage. With Syracuse redshirting 4 midfielders and McGinley in limbo Desko's options are limited, but at this point he needs to try and change things up. Simmons, Dejoe, heck even Jeff Dekso should get a look on the second mid line. Syracuse desperately needs to get some production from the second mid line.

While most teams can't replicate what ND did you saw the blueprint teams will try to slow down the Orange offense. ND slid extremely quickly on any move from X by Rice and Donahue and played almost a box and one with 2-3 guys hovering around the front of the crease to not allow anything in close. This why Lecky and Schoonie had so many great looks from the outside. I know hes no longer on the team but a Sr. Matt Walters would be the perfect anecdote for this type of defense. If Lecky and Schoonie aren't showing accuracy that day the staff has to get Dejoe out there and hope he can put at least a few on cage to opening things up a bit. Getting Barber back to the mid line will help with this as well.

Lastly I am looking forward to hopefully seeing a rebound against Albany. Albany clearly has one of the best players and offenses in the country but there Defense has been carved up against decent opponents and there not very strong at the X or depth wise. Truth be told I think Syracuse would have been better served going with Hobart, or another local team here besides Albany. Its asking a lot of a team to put Albany between road trips to ND and UNC. Not smart scheduling at all. One thing I would really like to see Thursday is Syracuse come out and make a statement in the first quarter and get a 4-0 5-1 type of lead. Spot Ben Williams a lead and then let him go work. We really need to avoid letting Albany get out to a big lead early and turn this into another scenario where SU is forced to make a big comeback. A lot of pressure on Mullins and the D this thursday.
 
We made the trip to ND from Madison to watch the game and your points are right on. I think a huge part of the loss has to be put on Lecky, as I was watching it became apparent that the whole game plan revolved around getting him matched up 1 v 1 on a shorty. There were three or four separate possessions that they got the match-up they wanted with Lecky dodging from the top and he got a step on the defender and he unleashed a shot that did not come close to hitting the net. I think part of it is that he has just never progressed from terrific athlete who plays lacrosse into a player who understands different situations. They talk about how Myles Jones has become a student of the game this year, Hakeem is still making the same mistakes he has been making for the past three years which is frustrating.
 
We made the trip to ND from Madison to watch the game and your points are right on. I think a huge part of the loss has to be put on Lecky, as I was watching it became apparent that the whole game plan revolved around getting him matched up 1 v 1 on a shorty. There were three or four separate possessions that they got the match-up they wanted with Lecky dodging from the top and he got a step on the defender and he unleashed a shot that did not come close to hitting the net. I think part of it is that he has just never progressed from terrific athlete who plays lacrosse into a player who understands different situations. They talk about how Myles Jones has become a student of the game this year, Hakeem is still making the same mistakes he has been making for the past three years which is frustrating.

Unfortunately your correct on Lecky, hes still pretty much the same player we saw as a redshirt frosh. He will have one game where his shot is on and everyone gets there hopes up but then he turns back into the player who cant hit a barn with a boozaka. Syracuse lacks that athletic dodger who also brings a shot ala Dan Hardy or Steven Brooks to a lesser extent. I thought not bringing in a highly rated class this past year wasn't big deal based on the depth we have and the fact the 2013 class was ranked #2 but a highly ranked frosh middie playing on the second line wouldnt be the worst thing right now for this team. I wonder if Simmons or one of the guys redshirting is the answer but its to late in the season to find out.
 
Speaking of Williams...

he is winning a number of face-offs but being stripped and beat by the wings. give the dude a little help !
 

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