Fallball Holes to Fill (IL)

[OrangeXtreme]

With fallball underway, IL takes its annual look at five teams have the biggest holes to fill at each position; check back this week as we continue each position. Check out the fallball schedule for the list of big-time events where you can see teams in action.

Fallball Holes to Fill: Midfield

Syracuse
Key losses: Lecky, Schoonmaker, Galasso

The Orange graduated their entire first midfield of Nicky Galasso, Hakeem Lecky and Henry Schoonmaker. Lost to graduation are starting attackmen Kevin Rice and Randy Staats.

Tim Barber was the next man up at both attack and midfield this past season, and Jordan Evans enters his third year adorned in the fabled No. 22. But, one or both of them are probably going to join lefty Dylan Donahue at attack.

UMass transfer Nick Mariano brings the most experience, but none of it has been with Syracuse.

Juniors Nick Weston and Sergio Salcido saw time in nearly every game with the second midfield last season as sophomores, but Weston had just five goals and no assists while Salcido had five assists and no goals.

Lefty gunslinger Derek DeJoe had a balanced four goals and four assists last season, but he was deployed primarily as a man-up specialist.

The Orange bring in IL's No. 6 and 23 ranked midfielders in Sam Romano and Riley O'Sullivan along with the No. 17 attackman in Nate Solomon.

There are so many players to replace and so many possibilities that it is virtually impossible have any idea how coach John Desko and his staff will try to fit them together next spring.

 

[ThruWayWest]

Are there any true freshmen that might fit into the first middie line?

 

[Mareiniss]

Are there any true freshmen that might fit into the first middie line?

Not a frosh, but how about moving Tom Grimm up?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Not a frosh, but how about moving Tom Grimm up?

Most experienced D Middie.

 

[JeremyCuse]

This isn't nearly as hard as IL is making it out to be.

Mariano is likely to play attack, hes not a classic Cuse midfielder and SU actually needs his scoring punch more at attack.
Evans will be moved to attack and Barber will be the #1 midfielder.

Simmons really came on late in the year in limited time and at the very least will be on the second line but has a great shot to make the first. How IL could leave him off is beyond me.

Its unlikely Salcido will crack the first midfield line hes better suited for the second line hes extremely raw. Westin has a chance but needs to show a big jump. Ditto for Dejoe, he is just to inconsistent. He should see time on the second line and if SU is struggling against the zone he could see some minutes with the starters.

McGinley transferring opens up a spot for one of the four offensive middies who all redshirted last year plus true frosh Romano.

If I had to guess the starting mid line right now I would say were looking at Barber, Simmons, and undetermined. Desko may go with a veteran like Westin but I think its likely on of the mids who redshirted and or Romano break out. SU is also log jammed at attack right now and could move someone especially if Thorpe or one of the Frosh make an impact.

 

[ThruWayWest]

Simmons is an excellent choice for the first midfield. We seem to be confident in moving Evans down to attack. I agree that Mariano is likely to fit in there as well. We have spoken about Barber as a midfielder.

Westin/Sergio have nice games and as you state he is likely up there as well. I know that we are not sold on Lane but his size is so damn intriguing. I would love it if he could make the leap and find his way onto the field as a midfielder. Hopefully he has been eating a lot of protein and crushing weights all summer. I am jealous of what Duke has in Myles Jones. It is a leap but I hope he turns into that kind of player.

Still smarting from what happened last year. I want us back at the final four and to contend for a title. I have always felt that midfield depth is truly what separates the elite teams. I also like how we have had some attackmen types up there in space. Perhaps Forkin could be a midfielder. Are there other attackmen who can play midfield?

Our first line was far from transcendent last season. Without any real statistical evidence to back it up it just didn't feel like the line I was hoping for going into the 2015 campaign. Lecky was a disappointment and Schoonmaker had his moments but was not really a force. Perhaps injuries hindered him. Galasso was very solid but barber should be able to fit into a similar type role this year. Yet he seems to be hot and cold.

DeJoe is also an enigma. He had some moves and looked really solid at times. If he can improve his accuracy he could be a nice gunner on our man up. Our second line was really a nonfactor in the Hopkins loss.

The recruiting appears to be up and this will be an interesting year for Desko and Donahue with running this offense. This fall we will likely be using a lot of different combinations and it is going to be wide open.

This post is all over the place. still fun to have a place to talk lax in September

 

[JeremyCuse]

Simmons is an excellent choice for the first midfield. We seem to be confident in moving Evans down to attack. I agree that Mariano is likely to fit in there as well. We have spoken about Barber as a midfielder.

Westin/Sergio have nice games and as you state he is likely up there as well. I know that we are not sold on Lane but his size is so damn intriguing. I would love it if he could make the leap and find his way onto the field as a midfielder. Hopefully he has been eating a lot of protein and crushing weights all summer. I am jealous of what Duke has in Myles Jones. It is a leap but I hope he turns into that kind of player.

Still smarting from what happened last year. I want us back at the final four and to contend for a title. I have always felt that midfield depth is truly what separates the elite teams. I also like how we have had some attackmen types up there in space. Perhaps Forkin could be a midfielder. Are there other attackmen who can play midfield?

Our first line was far from transcendent last season. Without any real statistical evidence to back it up it just didn't feel like the line I was hoping for going into the 2015 campaign. Lecky was a disappointment and Schoonmaker had his moments but was not really a force. Perhaps injuries hindered him. Galasso was very solid but barber should be able to fit into a similar type role this year. Yet he seems to be hot and cold.

DeJoe is also an enigma. He had some moves and looked really solid at times. If he can improve his accuracy he could be a nice gunner on our man up. Our second line was really a nonfactor in the Hopkins loss.

The recruiting appears to be up and this will be an interesting year for Desko and Donahue with running this offense. This fall we will likely be using a lot of different combinations and it is going to be wide open.

This post is all over the place. still fun to have a place to talk lax in September

The middie line last year was a bit overrated in my mind outside of Galasso who in the last half of the season appeared to be 100% healthy for the first time ever on the Hill. I think we should have went to him more down the stretch.

As for Lane I think hes a guy without a position right now. His size is very intriguing but he doesn't have anywhere near the athleticisim(spelling?) that Myles Jones has, I mean not even close. Secondly Desko tried him on the second mid line and the man up unit the last few games and it was a disaster for the most part. With all of those middies coming off a redshirt plus all the incoming offensive recruits its going to be hard for Lane to find PT in non blowout situations.

Forkin played Middie in HS and I think could easily make the transiton back. The issue is that Forkin right now has a chance to crack the starting lineup at attack if he outplays Evans and even if he doesn't he is likely the 4th attackmen who should see significant PT. Would be a gamble to have him start practicing at middie for weeks on end then need him to jump back to attack if there is an injury or someone is strugglin.

Also there are a lot of unknowns who could make an impact. Two guys Voight and Hutchings (spelling?) are coming in off prep years what kind of impact can they make? What about Thorpe? What about the grad transfer from Brown? Lot of potential options.

 

[ThruWayWest]

Forkin played Middie in HS and I think could easily make the transiton back. The issue is that Forkin right now has a chance to crack the starting lineup at attack if he outplays Evans and even if he doesn't he is likely the 4th attackmen who should see significant PT. Would be a gamble to have him start practicing at middie for weeks on end then need him to jump back to attack if there is an injury or someone is strugglin.
.

Evans seemed so good down at attack. I know it was Marist but what a performance. Then he was a complete nonfactor against Hop. In fact he was negative as he lost the ball at midfield in a crucial moment. I just don't think he has the speed to play midfield. Especially coming off the knee injury. He might have had it when he was a d middie during his true freshman year.

Since we have been so "settled" the past few years it is kind of fun to go in with some questions about the state of the lineup!

 

[jr4750]

Evans seemed so good down at attack. I know it was Marist but what a performance. Then he was a complete nonfactor against Hop. In fact he was negative as he lost the ball at midfield in a crucial moment. I just don't think he has the speed to play midfield. Especially coming off the knee injury. He might have had it when he was a d middie during his true freshman year.

Since we have been so "settled" the past few years it is kind of fun to go in with some questions about the state of the lineup!

Agree, although it still stings to not win the title last year with those seniors, I am excited about the new blood. Rice, Schoonie, Lecky, etc, played a ton of lacrosse for SU. Time for a change in the guard. See what the young kids bring!

 

[ThruWayWest]

Agree, although it still stings to not win the title last year with those seniors, I am excited about the new blood. Rice, Schoonie, Lecky, etc, played a ton of lacrosse for SU. Time for a change in the guard. See what the young kids bring!

Agree completely. We were a face off guy away from winning the title a couple of years ago. It definitely still hurts that we didn't get it done last year. I am not discounting what that group brought to Syracuse but am very interested in entering a season like this one with so much up in the air!

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Fallball Holes to Fill: Attack

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Fallball Holes to Fill: Defense

Syracuse

The Syracuse defense is in a very similar situation to Denver’s in that they return a All-American lockdown cover defender, but graduate their second close defender, LSM, goalie and one of their top SSDMs.

The close defense will be without Sean Young, but features a trio of seniors as the likely starters. Brandon Mullins headlines the group. Jay McDermott was the third starter last season. Ralph D'Agostino saw time in 2015 and made two starts as the fourth defender.

Sophomore Scott Firman saw significant time during the 2015 season as the second LSM and figures to take over the primary job with the graduation of Peter Macartney. However, a pair of IL's top 10 incoming freshman defenders in Nick Mellen (No. 8) and Tyson Bomberry (No. 10) could challenge for playing time as well. Particularly considering his ability to be a transition threat, Bomberry could see time at LSM.

Senior Warren Hill is the front-runner to replace Bobby Wardwell in net; he was Wardwell’s backup last year after transferring from OCC.

Gone is SSDM Mike Messina, who was second on the team in groundballs in 2015, but redshirt senior Tom Grimm and redshirt junior Paolo Ciferri are back and figure to be the top SSDM pair for 2016.