Manhattan Game Preview (2/9/24, 4pm)

[Powellfan]

The Orange look to keep the good times rolling against Jaspers of Manhattan. Of course the big story for this game is new Orange DC John Oderina facing off against his former team. Should be interesting to see how each team tries to use their knowledge of the other. Despite the gamesmanship, I think that Syracuse should win this one pretty comfortably.

The Jaspers return their leading scorer from last year in Kyle Gucwa (50 points) but they didn't produce the most intimidating offense last year. The second and third leading scorers had a combined 49 points and they are both graduated. They'll have three returners who notched at least 20 points last year, but that doesn't say a lot. For Syracuse, the big question is who mans the third close defense spot - does Caden Kol get his spot back after a benching against Colgate, or does Nick Caccamo get a shot? I'm pulling for Caccamo but we will see. The SSDM position is still one to watch with Landon Clary potentially being lost for the year. I imagine that Riley Figuerias will lock up against Gucwa, the rest of the matchups might be a feeling out process.

The big issues for Manhattan is that they will be breaking in a new FOGO and a new goalie against Syracuse. They had a very good FOGO last year who won 59% of his draws. He took all but 53 face-offs for the Jaspers last year and his backup who took those draws graduated as well. They brought in a transfer from Ohio State, but his winning percentage last year was only in the 30s in very limited action. Mason Kohn and Johnny Mullen could have a huge advantage here. The Jaspers have a similar issue in goal as Joseph Persico was in net for every minute of every game last year and had a save percentage of 57%. He's gone now.

Curious if Oderina will have an inkling of who will be next in line for the Jaspers, or if it will be a surprise to him. I think Manhatten will have a pretty decent defensive game plan, as they chose to stay in house with their head coaching hire, a lot of what Oderina did there probably remains. That said I think SU's talent level will win out. The clearing game of course will be something to watch for, but Manhattan doesn't strike me as a team that will ride very hard. Still, if it's still an issue after this weekend the panic button might need to be pushed.

I don't like being overconfident about any game, but I feel like this will be a pretty tough game for the Jaspers to stay competitive in. Perhaps they have a really good player waiting in the wings, or a dynamic freshman that no one knows about. But Syracuse seems to be playing really well right now and I think they will eventually overwhelm the visitors. The 12.5 spread seems a little high to me, as I don't think Coach O will want to embarrass his former team, and if subs get used in this one late, it becomes pretty hard to predict what will happen. If this goes the way SU thinks it will, they should enjoy it as it looks to be last "easy" game they will have in a good while. Take advantage while you can.

 

[Powellfan]

 

[DoctahLexus]

In the end after two games, my one big concern is man down. The unit we put out there seems guaranteed to give up a wide open shot from 12 yards. They look too packed in to prevent a serious outside shooter. Colgate went 2-8 but almost all the stops were Will Mark bailing them out with a difficult save.

Would be just as concerned about it if our starters were out there on man up playing like that, but the fact that it is an assortment of backups just makes it feel like we are not taking obvious steps to solve the problems. Dwan with his IQ and experience on man down last year, Caccamo with his ability to pick of passes, and Figueras has shown excellent decision making through two games as well. They should be out there. Not to mention most of our starters are probably better at handling the ball on a man down clear if we do get the stop. Hope the staff sees a need to make a change after looking at the tape.

There will always be guys unhappy with PT and this is not the way to make up for it. Outplay a starter in practice if you are unhappy.

 

[PhatOrange]

Syracuse will curb stomp these guys.

 

[PhatOrange]

In the end after two games, my one big concern is man down. The unit we put out there seems guaranteed to give up a wide open shot from 12 yards. They look too packed in to prevent a serious outside shooter. Colgate went 2-8 but almost all the stops were Will Mark bailing them out with a difficult save.

Would be just as concerned about it if our starters were out there on man up playing like that, but the fact that it is an assortment of backups just makes it feel like we are not taking obvious steps to solve the problems. Dwan with his IQ and experience on man down last year, Caccamo with his ability to pick of passes, and Figueras has shown excellent decision making through two games as well. They should be out there. Not to mention most of our starters are probably better at handling the ball on a man down clear if we do get the stop. Hope the staff sees a need to make a change after looking at the tape.

There will always be guys unhappy with PT and this is not the way to make up for it. Outplay a starter in practice if you are unhappy.

Two cents on the man down. Starters aren't always on man-down teams. Just like the hired gun shooter on man-up. But I assume all the kids on the man-down team played man down in HS so it's not like it's a foreign concept. I also assume they practice everyday against our man-up team. That's pretty good practice. I also think some man down units dare you (or want you) to take 12+yard shots because they are confident the goalie will make the stop.

I'd like to see it flesh out a little bit but through two game the unit is 5-13 and 38.5%. That's ok. The best thing to do would be to commit fewer penalties.

 

[JeremyCuse]

The Orange look to keep the good times rolling against Jaspers of Manhattan. Of course the big story for this game is new Orange DC John Oderina facing off against his former team. Should be interesting to see how each team tries to use their knowledge of the other. Despite the gamesmanship, I think that Syracuse should win this one pretty comfortably.

The Jaspers return their leading scorer from last year in Kyle Gucwa (50 points) but they didn't produce the most intimidating offense last year. The second and third leading scorers had a combined 49 points and they are both graduated. They'll have three returners who notched at least 20 points last year, but that doesn't say a lot. For Syracuse, the big question is who mans the third close defense spot - does Caden Kol get his spot back after a benching against Colgate, or does Nick Caccamo get a shot? I'm pulling for Caccamo but we will see. The SSDM position is still one to watch with Landon Clary potentially being lost for the year. I imagine that Riley Figuerias will lock up against Gucwa, the rest of the matchups might be a feeling out process.

The big issues for Manhattan is that they will be breaking in a new FOGO and a new goalie against Syracuse. They had a very good FOGO last year who won 59% of his draws. He took all but 53 face-offs for the Jaspers last year and his backup who took those draws graduated as well. They brought in a transfer from Ohio State, but his winning percentage last year was only in the 30s in very limited action. Mason Kohn and Johnny Mullen could have a huge advantage here. The Jaspers have a similar issue in goal as Joseph Persico was in net for every minute of every game last year and had a save percentage of 57%. He's gone now.

Curious if Oderina will have an inkling of who will be next in line for the Jaspers, or if it will be a surprise to him. I think Manhatten will have a pretty decent defensive game plan, as they chose to stay in house with their head coaching hire, a lot of what Oderina did there probably remains. That said I think SU's talent level will win out. The clearing game of course will be something to watch for, but Manhattan doesn't strike me as a team that will ride very hard. Still, if it's still an issue after this weekend the panic button might need to be pushed.

I don't like being overconfident about any game, but I feel like this will be a pretty tough game for the Jaspers to stay competitive in. Perhaps they have a really good player waiting in the wings, or a dynamic freshman that no one knows about. But Syracuse seems to be playing really well right now and I think they will eventually overwhelm the visitors. The 12.5 spread seems a little high to me, as I don't think Coach O will want to embarrass his former team, and if subs get used in this one late, it becomes pretty hard to predict what will happen. If this goes the way SU thinks it will, they should enjoy it as it looks to be last "easy" game they will have in a good while. Take advantage while you can.

Great stuff as usual. Manhattan is one of those squads that I am not overly familiar with so your deep dive saved me a lot of time and energy, lol. When you look at what they are replacing seems very similar to Vermont, return their top scorer but lost a ton of other pieces including their FOGO and goalie.

If your Syracuse this feels like a game that if they come out and play like they are capable of this is probably a game where SU is going to the bench by the early 2nd quarter. Manhattan could try and spring a surprise defense like the 10 man or something we don't' expect but seems highly unlikely they have the ability to sustain it.

This should be a game where Spallina and Kempney are both getting extended run at SSDM and whoever we move be it Page or someone else (Titus as well) should also get extended PT. This would also be the game to scrap the full on swap for the man down unit and get a unit that at least has a few starters on it ie Caccamo and Riley or Dwan and Olexxo etc.

Offensively I want to see extended PT for Kellogg and Hottle at middie and Deere and Elijah-Brown at attack. Would be nice to get Birtwistle a few runs in advance of Maryland if he's ready.

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

Syracuse will curb stomp these guys.

It’s that kind of thinking that led to Colgate upsetting Cuse in 2019. With a new head coach and no game film from this year, Manhattan is still a mystery. That shouldn’t be taken lightly.

 

[Cuse All-In]

In the end after two games, my one big concern is man down. The unit we put out there seems guaranteed to give up a wide open shot from 12 yards. They look too packed in to prevent a serious outside shooter. Colgate went 2-8 but almost all the stops were Will Mark bailing them out with a difficult save.

Would be just as concerned about it if our starters were out there on man up playing like that, but the fact that it is an assortment of backups just makes it feel like we are not taking obvious steps to solve the problems. Dwan with his IQ and experience on man down last year, Caccamo with his ability to pick of passes, and Figueras has shown excellent decision making through two games as well. They should be out there. Not to mention most of our starters are probably better at handling the ball on a man down clear if we do get the stop. Hope the staff sees a need to make a change after looking at the tape.

There will always be guys unhappy with PT and this is not the way to make up for it. Outplay a starter in practice if you are unhappy.

I'm guessing that the coaches felt they could use the first few games for development and experiment with the man down. What we see against Maryland could be very different.

 

[Laxfanshutt]

 

[Laxfanshutt]

 

[Orangello]

Just want to see us clean up the clears in this one. Get ahead and play some of the younger guys.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Odierna will certainly have some knowledge on all of these guys as he was most likely their primary recruiter. While I think we should win without much issue, this was an impressive defensive team last season. Believe they lose some guys, maybe even quite a few, but they did manage to hold Princeton to a respectable 14 goals last season, and were consistent about keeping other opponents hardly ever over 10 goals. With Odierna having recruited the backups and new faces, I am curious to see how their defense looks against our O. No opponent should be taken lightly. If we do not match their energy anything can happen.

 

[PhatOrange]

It’s that kind of thinking that led to Colgate upsetting Cuse in 2019. With a new head coach and no game film from this year, Manhattan is still a mystery. That shouldn’t be taken lightly.

curb stomp

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

curb stomp

Hope your day improves

 

[PhatOrange]

Hope your day improves

My day is great and when you know you know.

Your nervous Nellie response is from a team 5 years ago. One has nothing to do with the other. Kids on this team were in modified or getting ready for JV.