JeremyCuse
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Sorry it took so long to get the second part of this out but I wanted to break it up into two parts to make it a little more palatable to read.
Will touch on a few more things frome the Duke game and then look ahead moving forward.
As was mentioned in the other thread the offense really seemed to break out against Duke and the attack plus Curry really seemed to spearhead that. Curry is clearly showing well in practice but had problems putting it all together on gameday but you saw what the coaches have been seeing last Saturday. He looked confident handling the ball, had a nice assist, and scored on a lazer. Lipka was slated to start on the 1st line until his injury but after Curry's break out game against Duke I think you have to leave him on the 1st line. Lipka should be back for ND and I expect he will start on the 2nd line with Dearth and I would guess Simmons. Lane and Simmons have 3 pts each right now, to say thats dissapointing would be an understaement. Lane's been moved to the third line and Simmons seems to be hanging on by a thread. Personally I would like to see Quinn running on the second line. I know its more youth to a top 6 midfield line with only 1 upperclassmen on it currently but I think SU has to embrace the youth movement and go with him. I don't have any issue with the third mid line right now which appears to be Lane, McKinney, and Carlin and sometimes Romano. I don't recall seeing Romano the last two games, if he's not hurt you have to think he probably isn't long for the program. A former UA who can't get regular minutes on the third line is not a great sign. It was nice to see Carlin have some success he and McKinney have been here for four years now and haven't tasted much success. Kudos to them for sticking it out and holding onto a spot on the third line with so much young talent.
Speaking of young talent I have to say I am a little surprised at how liberal Desko has been in playing the true frosh this year. The last two years we have redshirted at least 75-% of the class this year were barely red-shirting anyone. Phoup played for the first time against Duke (more on that later) and Lauder played for some unknown reason against JHU. I don't understand the Lauder decision as it seemed he was going to red-shirt for sure. Right now it appears that only Schluter (LSM), Nelson (attack), Saba (LSM) and McPeak (G) will red-shirt. Everyone else has already played or is no longer with the team (Thatcher Adams).
Moving forward it seem the biggest conerns are 1. Faceoffs, 2. SSDM, 3. Offensive consistency
The Faceoff situation is as bad as I can remember it unfortunately. The good news is Syacuse at least has multiple options but at this point no clear answers. Phoup playing last game was a huge surprise but I can't blame Desko for trying something else. I thought he looked OK despite going 1-7, he lost the first faceoff badly but then rebounded to win the next one clean and scrummed up a few others. His biggest issue right now is really size. He's listed at 5'9 174lbs but both of those seem generous. I was a little surprised Delisle didn't get more run, he was 4-8 and seemed to be causing some trouble for the Duke guy. Varello right now reminds of Daddio in his Jr year, looks decent one game and then a total mess the next. He did fairly well against Rutty last game but was a disaster against Duke. Desko has to have a quick hook because he either has it or he doesn't there is really no in between. SU has to get some more consistency out of him moving forward because 2-12 isn't going to cut it especially when Duke's guy has struggled much of the year. Not a great sign. Martin came in and did a great job muching up the Draw and allowing our wings to get involved and we somehow went 5-5 late. Kennedy really picked it up in the 4th as he had struggled with Gbs earllier in the game on the wings. I like the fact we went to the double pole as the short stick guys I don't think had 1 gb beetween them all game. I don't know if they were directed to run to a spot versus to the ball after the initial draw but it was a pitiful performance. We haven't had a good Short Stick on the wings since Kevin Drew. Moving forward it seems likely Desko will stick with Varello to start but if he struggles he could look at any of the three at this point. Phoup to me is the most intriguing. Martin did great but I am not sure the muck it up strategy will work against better faceoff competition, plus he really doesn't have the ability to win a draw to himself which forces every draw he "wins" into a scrum. Not the worst thing in the world but I don't think you can ask him to take 20+ draws a game. Faceoff play is my biggest concern moving forward.
I like the fact that the staff shortened the SSDM rotation, we were playing way to many guys. Rolling with Dami, Hutchings, Murphy, and Helmer seems like our best bet at least until Schwasnick gets back. Hutchings and Dami had some significan struggles but you have to hope they can play through them and get better. Helmer seemed to do well with a short stick but with Fernandez out they don't seem to trust anyone but him as the back up LSM so its unlikely hes going to transition full time to SSDM especially with Murphy already moved to SSDM and the only true back up being Barlow who the staff doesn't think is ready at this point for primetime minutes. The play of the SSDM will really determine how far this team goes as the close defenders all continue to play well in my mind.
Offensively its all about not turning it over and getting all that we can from the attack unit. I believe we only turned it over 8 times on Saturday which was a monumental improvement form the last two games. I like that Seebold and Quinn got runs but again after an early appearance both dissapeared again. If were going to play them at least give them a run a quarter, having them play one series seems pointless.
Liked that Bombery was more active this game and took that outside shot. He played middie at Denver and excelled on man up situations (led the nation his Soph year) with shots like that. Solomon and Rehfuss need to continue to force slides to give him opportunities but they don't necessarily need to be on the crease. One downside form the attack performance against Duke was to many doorstep misses. Bombberry twice and Rehufss once got stoned all alone on the crease. We have to finish those opporunities, 2 of those 3 should have been goals, those guys are to talented to get stopped that close in.
Adding Lipka back on Saturday should be a nice boost and he can rotate in on the 1st line with Curry if need be. Dordevic has been a little quiet the past few games but thats to be expected of a True frosh. Like that he and Trimbo don't seem to be forcing the envelope. As creaserat noted only the 1st mid line seems to be set as the 2nd and 3rd lines have seen a mash up of guys with some different combinations. I don't have an issue with this but I woud like to have a concrete second line for crunch time that we can give a good amount of run to try and get some chemistry for down the stretch.
As we look forward here we have a tough upcoming schedule. ND is alwasys good and there faceoff guy is coming off the best game of his career (they double pole all the time). Defensively I don't think there as strong as they have been in the past but still above average with good offensive players in Garnsey, Wynne, Costabile etc. Our first mid-week game is Hobart on Tuesday which will definitely be a non pushover. There record isn't great but they have talent on that team and an up and down faceoff guy like Varello. Archer is the third leading scorer I think and they just got their top middie back yesterday in a blowout of Canisius. SU will need to come to play on Tuesday as a loss would be absolutely devestating. Hobart is also off this weekend so they have a week to prepare.
Will touch on a few more things frome the Duke game and then look ahead moving forward.
As was mentioned in the other thread the offense really seemed to break out against Duke and the attack plus Curry really seemed to spearhead that. Curry is clearly showing well in practice but had problems putting it all together on gameday but you saw what the coaches have been seeing last Saturday. He looked confident handling the ball, had a nice assist, and scored on a lazer. Lipka was slated to start on the 1st line until his injury but after Curry's break out game against Duke I think you have to leave him on the 1st line. Lipka should be back for ND and I expect he will start on the 2nd line with Dearth and I would guess Simmons. Lane and Simmons have 3 pts each right now, to say thats dissapointing would be an understaement. Lane's been moved to the third line and Simmons seems to be hanging on by a thread. Personally I would like to see Quinn running on the second line. I know its more youth to a top 6 midfield line with only 1 upperclassmen on it currently but I think SU has to embrace the youth movement and go with him. I don't have any issue with the third mid line right now which appears to be Lane, McKinney, and Carlin and sometimes Romano. I don't recall seeing Romano the last two games, if he's not hurt you have to think he probably isn't long for the program. A former UA who can't get regular minutes on the third line is not a great sign. It was nice to see Carlin have some success he and McKinney have been here for four years now and haven't tasted much success. Kudos to them for sticking it out and holding onto a spot on the third line with so much young talent.
Speaking of young talent I have to say I am a little surprised at how liberal Desko has been in playing the true frosh this year. The last two years we have redshirted at least 75-% of the class this year were barely red-shirting anyone. Phoup played for the first time against Duke (more on that later) and Lauder played for some unknown reason against JHU. I don't understand the Lauder decision as it seemed he was going to red-shirt for sure. Right now it appears that only Schluter (LSM), Nelson (attack), Saba (LSM) and McPeak (G) will red-shirt. Everyone else has already played or is no longer with the team (Thatcher Adams).
Moving forward it seem the biggest conerns are 1. Faceoffs, 2. SSDM, 3. Offensive consistency
The Faceoff situation is as bad as I can remember it unfortunately. The good news is Syacuse at least has multiple options but at this point no clear answers. Phoup playing last game was a huge surprise but I can't blame Desko for trying something else. I thought he looked OK despite going 1-7, he lost the first faceoff badly but then rebounded to win the next one clean and scrummed up a few others. His biggest issue right now is really size. He's listed at 5'9 174lbs but both of those seem generous. I was a little surprised Delisle didn't get more run, he was 4-8 and seemed to be causing some trouble for the Duke guy. Varello right now reminds of Daddio in his Jr year, looks decent one game and then a total mess the next. He did fairly well against Rutty last game but was a disaster against Duke. Desko has to have a quick hook because he either has it or he doesn't there is really no in between. SU has to get some more consistency out of him moving forward because 2-12 isn't going to cut it especially when Duke's guy has struggled much of the year. Not a great sign. Martin came in and did a great job muching up the Draw and allowing our wings to get involved and we somehow went 5-5 late. Kennedy really picked it up in the 4th as he had struggled with Gbs earllier in the game on the wings. I like the fact we went to the double pole as the short stick guys I don't think had 1 gb beetween them all game. I don't know if they were directed to run to a spot versus to the ball after the initial draw but it was a pitiful performance. We haven't had a good Short Stick on the wings since Kevin Drew. Moving forward it seems likely Desko will stick with Varello to start but if he struggles he could look at any of the three at this point. Phoup to me is the most intriguing. Martin did great but I am not sure the muck it up strategy will work against better faceoff competition, plus he really doesn't have the ability to win a draw to himself which forces every draw he "wins" into a scrum. Not the worst thing in the world but I don't think you can ask him to take 20+ draws a game. Faceoff play is my biggest concern moving forward.
I like the fact that the staff shortened the SSDM rotation, we were playing way to many guys. Rolling with Dami, Hutchings, Murphy, and Helmer seems like our best bet at least until Schwasnick gets back. Hutchings and Dami had some significan struggles but you have to hope they can play through them and get better. Helmer seemed to do well with a short stick but with Fernandez out they don't seem to trust anyone but him as the back up LSM so its unlikely hes going to transition full time to SSDM especially with Murphy already moved to SSDM and the only true back up being Barlow who the staff doesn't think is ready at this point for primetime minutes. The play of the SSDM will really determine how far this team goes as the close defenders all continue to play well in my mind.
Offensively its all about not turning it over and getting all that we can from the attack unit. I believe we only turned it over 8 times on Saturday which was a monumental improvement form the last two games. I like that Seebold and Quinn got runs but again after an early appearance both dissapeared again. If were going to play them at least give them a run a quarter, having them play one series seems pointless.
Liked that Bombery was more active this game and took that outside shot. He played middie at Denver and excelled on man up situations (led the nation his Soph year) with shots like that. Solomon and Rehfuss need to continue to force slides to give him opportunities but they don't necessarily need to be on the crease. One downside form the attack performance against Duke was to many doorstep misses. Bombberry twice and Rehufss once got stoned all alone on the crease. We have to finish those opporunities, 2 of those 3 should have been goals, those guys are to talented to get stopped that close in.
Adding Lipka back on Saturday should be a nice boost and he can rotate in on the 1st line with Curry if need be. Dordevic has been a little quiet the past few games but thats to be expected of a True frosh. Like that he and Trimbo don't seem to be forcing the envelope. As creaserat noted only the 1st mid line seems to be set as the 2nd and 3rd lines have seen a mash up of guys with some different combinations. I don't have an issue with this but I woud like to have a concrete second line for crunch time that we can give a good amount of run to try and get some chemistry for down the stretch.
As we look forward here we have a tough upcoming schedule. ND is alwasys good and there faceoff guy is coming off the best game of his career (they double pole all the time). Defensively I don't think there as strong as they have been in the past but still above average with good offensive players in Garnsey, Wynne, Costabile etc. Our first mid-week game is Hobart on Tuesday which will definitely be a non pushover. There record isn't great but they have talent on that team and an up and down faceoff guy like Varello. Archer is the third leading scorer I think and they just got their top middie back yesterday in a blowout of Canisius. SU will need to come to play on Tuesday as a loss would be absolutely devestating. Hobart is also off this weekend so they have a week to prepare.
