JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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Was hoping to due a recap of the ND and Hobart games before this game but didn't have the time. While try and incorporate some general thoughts about those performances while taking a look at Cornell.
Cornell much like Hobart is a hard team to get a read on. They started out the year a horrific 0-5 which included blowout losses to PSU, Hobart, and Albany back to back to back. They then somehow managed to score 18 goals against UVA before blowing multiple late leads and losing 19-8 in OT. After getting demolished at Yale 17-8 in Mid March the last month or so has seen them play a lot better. They blew out Colgate and Dartmouth, and last week beat a decent Harvard team by 3 goals. They did lose by a goal (10-9) to an under .500 Penn team 2 1/2 weeks ago which shows how inconsistent they are. Overall the Cornell team is very young, of there top 6 O starters only one is an upperclassmen, 3 sophs and two true Frosh.
From a Syracuse standpoint the game is going to come down to the areas where we have struggled at times this year, GB's, turnovers, faceoffs and ability to score. Cornell presents some unique challenges as they are ninth in the country in groundballs and 12th in caused turnovers. We all know about Syracuse's struggle with GB's for a large portion of this year and our tendency to throw the ball around. Going to be critical that both areas are on point tonight especially the turnovers as SU has let teams back in games twice this year as a result of turning the ball over left and right.
From a Syracuse offensive standpoint Cornell has a solid defender in Jake Pulver and the other two close defenders have a surprisingly 15 CTO each. That being said were not talking about ND or Richmonds defense here. Cornell's scoring defense is ranked 62nd and is giving up an average of 13.22 goals per game, and this is after limiting Colgate and Dartmouth to under 6 goals and not giving up more then 10 goals over the last four games. Teams with good offenses have shredded Cornell this year, the last higher end offense Cornell faced was Yale who put up 17. I am unclear how Cornell tends to match up with Syracuse defensively. I don't think they have the personnel to double pole the midfield but with Pulver being their top D guy I could see them trying to put him on Mariano. If Cornell does indeed attempt to double pole look for Desko to go Rehfuss and have him start dodging from X. Knight their senior goalie is a good player but he's under 50% for the year and is more in the mold of the Hobart goalie then Doss at ND
Evans is coming off two solid games in a row but was held in check last year against Cornell, if he could string together a multiple point game it would really help open things up. Ditto for Bomberry who broke out last week after struggling to get much going against JHU, Duke, and ND who are all shutting him off of the crease. Solomon has continued to play well and his ability to get a hat trick almost every week has really taken some of the pressure off of Mariano and Salcido. Trimboli had his first multi goal game of his young career last week and is continuing to get better each week. His continued development is enormous not only for this season but beyond. My biggest concern offensively right now is really secondary scoring and the second mid line. We need to put Bomberry in some better scoring situations, kid has a hell of a shot and is more then just a crease finisher. We need to work him off some picks/screens and get him moving off ball a little more. Evans needs to continue to play smart, was hoping for a big scoring game from him against Hobart but though he played well. If he can have more games like he did against Hobart (1,2 I believe) that will force teams to play SU straight up versus double polling the midfield.
The second mid line continues to be beyond frustrating to watch. Simmons seems to score a goal every other game but other then that there not a whole lot going on. Lane is scuffling big time and has had back to back games with a brutal turnover. Carlin just seems to be a body out there at this point. I will say that I thought Lane did an excellent job on the man up unit against Hobart, ran the point and had an assist and a hockey assist. Needs to creep up a bit and prepare to unload that cannon as he's going to get some time and room looks. Cornell's man down D is ranked 30th which is about middle of the pack, good not great. They commit a pretty good amount of penalties as well, will be key for SU to capitalize as we were 0-4 on the man up last year.
Conclusion: This is a game SU should win by a few goals. As good as Teat and Fletcher are Cornell has holes all over the place. There top end faceoff guy from last year left the team and his replacement is a Freshmen Paul Rasimowicz who is under 50% for the year (47%) Cornell was dominated at the X by both Albany and Hobart. Cornell has little in the way of high quality depth to back up their starters and they turn the ball over A LOT. They are averaging over 15 turnovers a game which is 54th in the country. With Scott Firman drawing Teat you have to believe SU will be able to at least limit him. I think Cunningham likely to draw Fletcher as he is more of a dodger and Bomberry is better with a more crease oriented attackmen. I think SU has the advantage based on how the D has played to date against outstanding offenses which Cornell is not as good as. Still it would not surprise me if this is a close game if SU is turning it over and struggling to score if Mariano and Salcido are having off games. I would like to see Ben Williams build on that second half performance against Hobart and put in a vintage Ben Williams performance as he appears to be closing in on 100%. Also would like to see Desko change up that second line and give some run to Dearth and O'Sullivan. With UNC coming up on Saturday desperate for a win this is an important game for SU as a loss tonight could have us looking at an 0-2 week which would be devastating for seeding purposes. Get it done.
Cornell much like Hobart is a hard team to get a read on. They started out the year a horrific 0-5 which included blowout losses to PSU, Hobart, and Albany back to back to back. They then somehow managed to score 18 goals against UVA before blowing multiple late leads and losing 19-8 in OT. After getting demolished at Yale 17-8 in Mid March the last month or so has seen them play a lot better. They blew out Colgate and Dartmouth, and last week beat a decent Harvard team by 3 goals. They did lose by a goal (10-9) to an under .500 Penn team 2 1/2 weeks ago which shows how inconsistent they are. Overall the Cornell team is very young, of there top 6 O starters only one is an upperclassmen, 3 sophs and two true Frosh.
From a Syracuse standpoint the game is going to come down to the areas where we have struggled at times this year, GB's, turnovers, faceoffs and ability to score. Cornell presents some unique challenges as they are ninth in the country in groundballs and 12th in caused turnovers. We all know about Syracuse's struggle with GB's for a large portion of this year and our tendency to throw the ball around. Going to be critical that both areas are on point tonight especially the turnovers as SU has let teams back in games twice this year as a result of turning the ball over left and right.
From a Syracuse offensive standpoint Cornell has a solid defender in Jake Pulver and the other two close defenders have a surprisingly 15 CTO each. That being said were not talking about ND or Richmonds defense here. Cornell's scoring defense is ranked 62nd and is giving up an average of 13.22 goals per game, and this is after limiting Colgate and Dartmouth to under 6 goals and not giving up more then 10 goals over the last four games. Teams with good offenses have shredded Cornell this year, the last higher end offense Cornell faced was Yale who put up 17. I am unclear how Cornell tends to match up with Syracuse defensively. I don't think they have the personnel to double pole the midfield but with Pulver being their top D guy I could see them trying to put him on Mariano. If Cornell does indeed attempt to double pole look for Desko to go Rehfuss and have him start dodging from X. Knight their senior goalie is a good player but he's under 50% for the year and is more in the mold of the Hobart goalie then Doss at ND
Evans is coming off two solid games in a row but was held in check last year against Cornell, if he could string together a multiple point game it would really help open things up. Ditto for Bomberry who broke out last week after struggling to get much going against JHU, Duke, and ND who are all shutting him off of the crease. Solomon has continued to play well and his ability to get a hat trick almost every week has really taken some of the pressure off of Mariano and Salcido. Trimboli had his first multi goal game of his young career last week and is continuing to get better each week. His continued development is enormous not only for this season but beyond. My biggest concern offensively right now is really secondary scoring and the second mid line. We need to put Bomberry in some better scoring situations, kid has a hell of a shot and is more then just a crease finisher. We need to work him off some picks/screens and get him moving off ball a little more. Evans needs to continue to play smart, was hoping for a big scoring game from him against Hobart but though he played well. If he can have more games like he did against Hobart (1,2 I believe) that will force teams to play SU straight up versus double polling the midfield.
The second mid line continues to be beyond frustrating to watch. Simmons seems to score a goal every other game but other then that there not a whole lot going on. Lane is scuffling big time and has had back to back games with a brutal turnover. Carlin just seems to be a body out there at this point. I will say that I thought Lane did an excellent job on the man up unit against Hobart, ran the point and had an assist and a hockey assist. Needs to creep up a bit and prepare to unload that cannon as he's going to get some time and room looks. Cornell's man down D is ranked 30th which is about middle of the pack, good not great. They commit a pretty good amount of penalties as well, will be key for SU to capitalize as we were 0-4 on the man up last year.
Conclusion: This is a game SU should win by a few goals. As good as Teat and Fletcher are Cornell has holes all over the place. There top end faceoff guy from last year left the team and his replacement is a Freshmen Paul Rasimowicz who is under 50% for the year (47%) Cornell was dominated at the X by both Albany and Hobart. Cornell has little in the way of high quality depth to back up their starters and they turn the ball over A LOT. They are averaging over 15 turnovers a game which is 54th in the country. With Scott Firman drawing Teat you have to believe SU will be able to at least limit him. I think Cunningham likely to draw Fletcher as he is more of a dodger and Bomberry is better with a more crease oriented attackmen. I think SU has the advantage based on how the D has played to date against outstanding offenses which Cornell is not as good as. Still it would not surprise me if this is a close game if SU is turning it over and struggling to score if Mariano and Salcido are having off games. I would like to see Ben Williams build on that second half performance against Hobart and put in a vintage Ben Williams performance as he appears to be closing in on 100%. Also would like to see Desko change up that second line and give some run to Dearth and O'Sullivan. With UNC coming up on Saturday desperate for a win this is an important game for SU as a loss tonight could have us looking at an 0-2 week which would be devastating for seeding purposes. Get it done.
