The Orange are coming off a great performance against a not very good team. Up next is the first of many tough opponents. Syracuse's outing against Holy Cross gives me hope that they will give Maryland a run for their money, but it's a tall mountain to climb. In the end I think Maryland takes this one, but hey, that's why they play the game.
On paper UMD doesn't have many holes. They have a very good attack unit and their second midfield is almost as good as their very good first. They have a tough defense led by a First Team All American in Brett Makar. What was supposed to be a weakness at the beginning of the season might instead be a strength as they are facing off at over 70%. If we are nitpicking, the goaltender spot isn't what you would call elite. Logan McNaney returns for the Terps but his save percentage is under 50% (and last year it was only at 52%).
So how does the Orange beat Maryland? I think the key is Jakob Phaup. At the dot, Maryland may have impressive statistics this year, but last year neither one of the top two FOGOS finished above 50%. The key for an upset of the Terps will have to be the key to last year's upsets of the Cavs - face-offs. If SU can dominate possession, I think the offense could get to McNaney. But of course this is easier said than done.
I have to imagine that Makar will mark Dordevic this game, but SU can counter with another strong dodger in Owen Seebold. It should be interesting to see if Syracuse tries to solidifies their midfield lines or if they keep mixing and matching. UMD has very good SSDMs so Syracuse can't rely on trying to isolate against them. If the crisp ball movement and constant motions continues this week, that will be a positive.
I am much more skeptical of the SU defense matching up against UMD. The Terps have weapons everywhere. Donville, Murphy and Wisnuskas can sling it from the outside, Khan, Long and Malever are good dodgers and they share the ball really well. The SU shorties will be tested big time this week. The Orange had serious problems when it came to communications and slides last year, how much has that improved? Is this the game we see that issue fixed? We will see Caccamo inserted into the starting lineup? This side of the field will obviously be uber interesting given that this is a showdown between two long term colleagues and mentor/mentees in Petro vs Benson.
I think the chances of SU taking down the Terps is a tall one, but there is a template. Personally, I'm feeling a bit pessimistic about this game despite the strong showing Syracuse had last week. I'm just not sure the defense is quite ready for the juggernaut that is Maryland's offense.
Ultimately this isn't a make or break game for the Orange - they will have plenty of chances for quality wins and the ACC games are more important in the grand scheme of things. I am more concerned about the out of conference games against Army, Johns Hopkins and Cornell than this one in particular. Does Gait throw the kitchen sink at this one? Given the amount of players that could hopefully return from injury, I'm interested to see how much playing time guys like Caccomo, Clary Buttermore, Quinn and even Birtwistle get. Does Gait maybe hold them back so they are more healthy against UVA the following week?
Given last year's blowouts, I would be happy if the Orange stayed within five goals this week. Maybe I'm not giving the Orange enough credit, but Maryland looks very good. Of course anything can happen - after the Army loss last year I didn't think Syracuse had any chance at all against Virginia and they beat them by 10. I'm hoping for the same outcome!
