Army game is massive on a number of levels

[JeremyCuse]

Quick disclaimer this isnt a game preview, I will do a preview later in this thread or after Powellfan if he starts another thread.

Wednesdays matchup with Army is huge for SU and one they really need to find away to win. Before I get into why, I have to admit I don't love this game from a matchup perspective for Syracuse. Army presents a number of challenges and this is probably their best Offensive team that I can remember under Alberici. SU will almost certainly need to double pole the midfield for the first time this year so that alone will be interesting. Army does have a few potential weaknesses and I'll dive more into that in a separate post.

For the game overall, for Maryland loss puts SU in a tough spot. If they lose this game they likely need to run the table in the remaining OOC to have a realistic shot at the tourney barring multiple wins over the Big ACC 3. A loss wouldn't hurt #s wise as Army could realistically run the table (most likely wont) but at worst is probably losing 1-2 games tops. The issue for SU is that a loss here put enormous pressure on the Hop and Cornell games and also leads to the creeping thoughts of last year and the inability to finish a big win.


It's also big from an RPI standpoint as despite Gaits best effort I'm not sure the scheduling for RPI purposes is going to pan out. Utah looks poised to go on a run but Vermont is 1-3 and likely to be 1-5 after the next two games, Manhattan is 0-4 and looks like a 3 or 4 win team, Gate appears to be coming back to earth (they're schedule does lessen up a bit and that PSU win will carry), and Hobart has some significant struggles and will likely have issues winning more them 1 or 2 conf games. High Point should beat most of the non power teams on its schedule and Delaware is very solid so assuming SU can win both (no guarantee for Delaware for sure sure) those should be decent wins again especially Delaware.

SU needs to grab a Top 10 win prior to the ACC portion of the schedule, this would be a great place to start.

 

[Powellfan]

Good stuff Jeremy.

Would point out that Delaware lost to Penn yesterday which doesn’t help things. They only play Syracuse and Michigan as difficult opponents this year (depending on how you view Towson).

I feel like Gait didn’t do the best job of projecting where some of the teams on the schedule this year would end up. Obviously that’s hard to do but I think Vermont, Utah, Manhattan, perhaps Delaware and High Point will all end up further down the RPI rankings than last year. Win the big games and this doesn’t matter, and hindsight is 20/20 of course.

I wonder where Army will be ranked in the RPI by the end of the season. Their schedule is really not very strong. The fifth or sixth best team in the big 10 (Rutgers) and the two lowest ranked ACC teams are their top competition this year. That’s pretty lacking especially when compared to other top 10 teams.

After getting out to a hot start, the Patriot looks like it will be pretty mediocre again this season. Navy Lehigh and Loyola already look cooked, Colgate is scrappy but having no fogos will keep them out of things. BU is a good team but already has a loss against Bryant on their schedule. If you are Army and see a pretty manageable road to an AQ, why not challenge yourself more in the regular season? Feels like something Alberci might regret.

Anyways not sure how that will affect things for the Orange this year. Obviously a win is better than a loss but at the end of the day I’m not sure a win is going to vault them into the playoffs. A lot more work will need to be done. This does feel like a situation where they need to go at least 2-2 against the grouping of Army, Cornell, Hopkins and UNC (definitely can’t have a losing record against them).

That UNC game will probably be a default ACC tournament game and will be all sorts of important (I find it hard to imagine the committee will take the fifth best ACC team in the tournament). If they only beat UNC and say Cornell, that might look a lot like their resume last year, which wasn’t enough to get in. Obviously getting a head of myself but this game has big time implications.

 

[cuselaxss26]

beat army cornell hopkins and unc n win all the other games not named duke uva notre dame no doubt their in so say we just do that lol

 

[JeremyCuse]

Good stuff Jeremy.

Would point out that Delaware lost to Penn yesterday which doesn’t help things. They only play Syracuse and Michigan as difficult opponents this year (depending on how you view Towson).

I feel like Gait didn’t do the best job of projecting where some of the teams on the schedule this year would end up. Obviously that’s hard to do but I think Vermont, Utah, Manhattan, perhaps Delaware and High Point will all end up further down the RPI rankings than last year. Win the big games and this doesn’t matter, and hindsight is 20/20 of course.

I wonder where Army will be ranked in the RPI by the end of the season. Their schedule is really not very strong. The fifth or sixth best team in the big 10 (Rutgers) and the two lowest ranked ACC teams are their top competition this year. That’s pretty lacking especially when compared to other top 10 teams.

After getting out to a hot start, the Patriot looks like it will be pretty mediocre again this season. Navy Lehigh and Loyola already look cooked, Colgate is scrappy but having no fogos will keep them out of things. BU is a good team but already has a loss against Bryant on their schedule. If you are Army and see a pretty manageable road to an AQ, why not challenge yourself more in the regular season? Feels like something Alberci might regret.

Anyways not sure how that will affect things for the Orange this year. Obviously a win is better than a loss but at the end of the day I’m not sure a win is going to vault them into the playoffs. A lot more work will need to be done. This does feel like a situation where they need to go at least 2-2 against the grouping of Army, Cornell, Hopkins and UNC (definitely can’t have a losing record against them).

That UNC game will probably be a default ACC tournament game and will be all sorts of important (I find it hard to imagine the committee will take the fifth best ACC team in the tournament). If they only beat UNC and say Cornell, that might look a lot like their resume last year, which wasn’t enough to get in. Obviously getting a head of myself but this game has big time implications.

I agree on Army's schedule, really thought they should have added a ND or Cornell or a PSU to their schedule. UNC was a good add but one of the top 3 ACC squads especially Duke (there schedule is a bit light) would have made much more sense. Alberici always seems to play a light schedule for some reason maybe by design by this year they really should have upgraded.

That said while their RPI and SOS may not be in the top 10, if SU can hand them potentially their only regular season loss that will give SU a boost just from the eye test. As you noted the Patriot appears to be down and potentially way down again this year as Loyola and Navy are both hot messes. Bu Gate and Army look likely to carry the load but again as you noted Gates lack of a fogo is continuing to plague them.

I hope Gait learns from this current schedule that trying to schedule to boost or to game the RPI (see Rutgers), it's usually gonna backfire. What I will say in Gaits Defense is that trying to schedule beyond the power conferences can be a total crapshoot. Richmond is very good and Towson looks like the Hop game may have been a bad performance but beyond them look at how many expected solid middle of the pack teams are struggling.

St. Joe's was supposed to be a dangerous team their 0-3. Navy is 2-2 but has been obliterated by the 2 teams with a pulse they've played. Loyola is 1-3 after 3 straight ass whoopings, Jaxville can't score, Albany was supposed to be improved being so young last year and their 0-3 and soon to be 0-4. Hobart the same thing, supposed to be improved and their 1-2 with Cornell on Tuesday and conf matchups yet with Richmond, High Point, and Bryant.

One thing to me that's clear that you also noted is that Gait or whoever else is involved with making the schedule isn't doing great forecasting teams I think it was clear that Vermont and Manhattan were both gonna take a step back with all the grad and transfer losses. I get the Utah game and they should reel off a number of wins after the tough start. High Point and Delaware shouldn't be drags on the #s assuming SU doesn't slip up but in the end SU needs to beat peer teams which is why coming up short against Maryland stung so much.

I think this team really needs a solid win to prep them for the meat of the schedule. The Princeton win last year really seemed to help them and I think if they can find away on Wed it will do wonders moving forward. A loss I think gives more of that dejavu feeling that it's last year all over again even though I think this team is better defensively and at the X for sure. A loss also makes the Hopkins game a must win and probably forces SU to win one agaisnt the Big 3.


Agree with you about UNC and that matchup, I don't want to sound to over the top but if SU doesn't make the ACC tourney, it would be a disaster of epic proportions for Gait and the program.

 

[LaxAddict38]

This, unfortunately, should be a close matchup. Army, as always, appears to be stout defensively, especially at the SSDM position. Their new goalie has also come into his own after a shaky start against UMass to open the year, he sits at 55%. Their offensive midfielders are producing at a level not seen from Army in many years.

Where Syracuse has traditionally had the edge against Army, the face-off X, should be an interesting story on Wednesday. Colletti has been 65% + against two quality FO men from UMass and Rutgers, and took care of business against a weaker opponent on Mercer. He has not faced off against an opponent like Kohn, but this is not your typical Army team that is going to effectively forfeit the X.

Ultimately, the midfield will tell the tale on Wednesday. Army is going to make our 2nd and 3rd offensive midfielders beat their SSDMs, and our young SSDMs will have to stand up to Army's athletic depth in the offensive midfield positions. If we can do both of those things, we should have success as we have the definite edge in goal and in overall team skill level. But if the midfield scale tilts towards Army, including at the aforementioned face-off X, this one could get away from us.

I am excited to watch this matchup unfold, I'm expecting a lot of settled 6v6 action from two sets of coordinators with something to prove.

 

[cuselaxss26]

Cuse better come out hungry and with a lot of hustle. Army is one of the short few teams no matter how they’re doing or look always scare me. As they always play cuse tough and just never give up. They scrap and hustle for every ball and are usually very well disciplined. Cuse has to bury their shots limit turnovers(boneheaded ones especially) and need to win ground ball game and second chances game. I do worry tho army does has some speed players which some of our defense seems to struggle with rightfully so. Can’t come out sloppy or low energy. Besides joey leo n roha everyone else has to step up too. English ,stevens(if he’s back or playing) mule and of course thompson have to start pulling their weight more. Mark also will have to make saves double digits is a must. Think faceoff battle will be interesting but we do use 2 at the x and both are more than capable holding their own so far. Def should ware down colletti hopefully lol. A win will def be big boost for this team.

 

[GeauxSU]

John Deskos least favorite game always

Army… gives me the heeby jeebys

 

[UrbanaOrange]

The Kohn and Colletti matchup is intriguing to me. They are both great athletes. Kohn has the size advantage, but Colletti is likely a tad quicker. Will be interesting to see Kohn's counter. Both are scoring threats too.

It will be interesting to see who Army poles. I can't see Leo drawing the shorty (and Rhoa) for that matter.

Would love to see a sizable crowd for this game. Army always travels well.

 

[Powellfan]

This will be a big test for the Orange. Syracuse has had a bad run against the Knights the last few times out. Frankly, Army treats this game as their Super Bowl, and the last couple outings the Orange have looked like the '85 New England Patriots. I do think there is a way forward with this game.

The Knights are very good all over the field, but I still have some questions about their goalie. Like LaxAddict38 pointed out, he is indeed at 55% right now, but that's largely based on an eight save, one goal against outing against Mercer. He has yet to make more than nine saves in a game (vs UMass) and was below 50% before the Mercer game (Seven saves and seven goals against vs Rutgers). The Army defense frankly hasn't been tested much this year due to their very good FOGO. If (very big if) Kohn and Mullen can battle to about even (Weirman was 18-35 vs Colletti last year) I think the SU offense can put up points.

On defense, Mark needs to make double digit saves. Matthew Knote had 16 saves against Army to keep that one close, though Army won 21-29 face-offs. It feels like Mark needs to make at least 12 saves this game to make sure Syracuse is in this one till the end, assuming SU can win more than a couple face-offs.
As for matchups, I have to imagine Dwan will take Jackson Eicher, Army's leading scorer who stands over 6'4 (because, of course). That leaves Figuerias on Reese Burek who leads the team in assists with seven (though he also has eight turnovers in just three games). The tricky part is the midfield, where Army has two very good players, Evan Plunkett and Jacob Morin (both have seven points this year). Personally, I might put Olexo down on close and tell him to pump up to Morin when he is on the field, and have Matt Wright mark Plunkett. That leaves a shorty on Gunnar Fellows (6'2, because of course). Not sure what Oderina might do this game, but it seems he will have to get creative. As good as Army's offense is, they are not incredily deep, the five guys listed above to the bulk of the lifting (no other player has more than three points, outside of Colletti). SU has to take care of the knowns for this game if they want to win.

On offense, I'll be curious to see how SU attacks the Army defense. AJ Pillate will certainly take Spallina, he's very good. If Spallina gets bottled up again, someone else from the starting attack needs to step up. That means Mule or Hiltz needs to have a big game here - somewhere in the neighborhood of a five point game here. They can't allow the second or third option on defense get the better of them for a second consecutive big game. Pressure is on.

Perhaps the UMass game was just first game jitters for the Black Knights, but that game gives me hope that SU has a chance here. They need to play extremely well, but this team has the talent to beat Army. Additionally, they need this to be a good home environment and Syracuse needs to take advantage of this home schedule, especially with games against Hopkins, Cornell and UNC being either neutral or away games. I'm picking a 14-12 score line in favor of the home team for this one. Go Orange.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Colletti is definitely legit. Also beat out Sisselberger at Lehigh last season.

Not really much comfort since Army always seems to find another gear when they play us, but they barely beat UMass week one, and UMass went on to only beat a horrendous UMass Lowell team 10-7. Lowell lost to Holy Cross and Siena by greater margins. Worth reading into? Probably not.

Army had an easy schedule last season. Got in the tournament barely beating a struggling Loyola team in the patriot league finals. They did not beat a tournament team last season before the 1st round MD game. Along with the close one to Loyola, they had scares against Lehigh and Colgate. Their level of respect in the poles is based almost entirely on that MD 1st round game, a win against a team that was also dealing with injuries at the time, and struggling hard before the tourney began. All this to say if the name of this team was not Army, I would be a lot less scared about the opponent.

This is a very winnable game for us. We have been tested in a way they have not this season with our game against MD. Full week of prep. Unless Stevens is out (unlikely) we are fairly healthy. They rely more on face off than most teams and we have an answer there. I think Nate Levine can help with the bigger middie match ups. With our schedule it ain’t over til it’s over, but it’s time to step up and win a damn game!

 

[SkyTopBus44]

Has there been any chatter on expanding the field for the NCAAs? I personally think that too much of the field is predetermined by automatic qualifier conferences. If we added a few more play in games it would balance off this slanted field towards leagues that rarely make any noise in the tournament.

 

[cuselaxss26]

is there any word on stevens? I am assuming plus hoping he sat out the utah game just as precautionary as they shouldn’t have needed him to win that game saving him for this game. Cause could def need him on wing and for the groundball game. English mule hiltz and stevens if plays along with birt(grant he missed couple games shaking rust off ) need to step up and be the players we know they can and have shown. But man do i hate playing army even if clearly are better n more talented they are just hard team to play and always always play us tough. This be big win for cuse n as of now be top 10 win they desperately need.

 

[wgdsr]

Has there been any chatter on expanding the field for the NCAAs? I personally think that too much of the field is predetermined by automatic qualifier conferences. If we added a few more play in games it would balance off this slanted field towards leagues that rarely make any noise in the tournament.

nc$$ inside the last year put up initiatives (to be more user friendly as indiv schools and big conferences threaten to gain more power). one was to increase size of nc$$ tournaments, with bball front and center.

long story short... bend toward ~25% ish participation will be more acceptable, and each sport maybe sets up their own rulemaking (outside the lines) body to address playoffs and other stuff. think if it still has legs you'll see something this year formalized. and probably 2-4 more at larges.

 

[CusefanATL]

Quick disclaimer this isnt a game preview, I will do a preview later in this thread or after Powellfan if he starts another thread.

Wednesdays matchup with Army is huge for SU and one they really need to find away to win. Before I get into why, I have to admit I don't love this game from a matchup perspective for Syracuse. Army presents a number of challenges and this is probably their best Offensive team that I can remember under Alberici. SU will almost certainly need to double pole the midfield for the first time this year so that alone will be interesting. Army does have a few potential weaknesses and I'll dive more into that in a separate post.

For the game overall, for Maryland loss puts SU in a tough spot. If they lose this game they likely need to run the table in the remaining OOC to have a realistic shot at the tourney barring multiple wins over the Big ACC 3. A loss wouldn't hurt #s wise as Army could realistically run the table (most likely wont) but at worst is probably losing 1-2 games tops. The issue for SU is that a loss here put enormous pressure on the Hop and Cornell games and also leads to the creeping thoughts of last year and the inability to finish a big win.


It's also big from an RPI standpoint as despite Gaits best effort I'm not sure the scheduling for RPI purposes is going to pan out. Utah looks poised to go on a run but Vermont is 1-3 and likely to be 1-5 after the next two games, Manhattan is 0-4 and looks like a 3 or 4 win team, Gate appears to be coming back to earth (they're schedule does lessen up a bit and that PSU win will carry), and Hobart has some significant struggles and will likely have issues winning more them 1 or 2 conf games. High Point should beat most of the non power teams on its schedule and Delaware is very solid so assuming SU can win both (no guarantee for Delaware for sure sure) those should be decent wins again especially Delaware.

SU needs to grab a Top 10 win prior to the ACC portion of the schedule, this would be a great place to start

100% agree. that Maryland game was way more than just a heartbreaker. it put us behind the 8 ball in the tournament. and even worse... 1 more in a long line of we cant win a big 1.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

I know the game is on ACC Network Extra, but will it be on ESPN+?

 

[JeremyCuse]

I know the game is on ACC Network Extra, but will it be on ESPN+?

No I don't believe so. ACCNx games have never been available via ESPN+ as far as I can remember.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

No I don't believe so. ACCNx games have never been available via ESPN+ as far as I can remember.

So, how does one get it? Will YouTube TV have it?

 

[JeremyCuse]

So, how does one get it? Will YouTube TV have it?

Do you have access to the ACC network currently? If you do you can watch it via the ESPN app.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

Do you have access to the ACC network currently? If you do you can watch it via the ESPN app.

Only if YouTube TV picks it up.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Only if YouTube TV picks it up.

If you have Youtube TV I believe the ACC network is a regular channel so you should he access to ACCNx games.

 

[GoSU96]

No I don't believe so. ACCNx games have never been available via ESPN+ as far as I can remember.

Depends how you get it. My ESPN account is through Amazon fire using my Verizon log in. Get everything in one place.

All the ESPN network, ESPN +, and Accn extra.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Depends how you get it. My ESPN account is through Amazon fire using my Verizon log in. Get everything in one place.

All the ESPN network, ESPN +, and Accn extra.

Right that make sense but I think he was asking if the game would be available for those that just have ESPN+. I have the ESPN app on all of my devices as well so I can get any programz be it thr cable channels, online only or espn+ when I subscribe during lax season

 

[OrangeinBoston]

Right that make sense but I think he was asking if the game would be available for those that just have ESPN+. I have the ESPN app on all of my devices as well so I can get any programz be it thr cable channels, online only or espn+ when I subscribe during lax season

Well, I signed up for Sling TV so I could get ESPN+. What did I get? "Content is not available in your region." Bye bye Sling TV.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Well, I signed up for Sling TV so I could get ESPN+. What did I get? "Content is not available in your region." Bye bye Sling TV.

You should be able to access any ESPN+ content. Keep in mind not all online only content is available via ESPN+.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

You should be able to access any ESPN+ content. Keep in mind not all online only content is available via ESPN+.

This was a Syracuse game that SHOULD have been available. I contacted the Broadcast Director in the Athletic Department. He said they had nationwide distribution. Apparently not. He said that I should provide feedback if it occurs again and that he would pursue with their partners.

I have little faith that I will be able to see the Army game.