JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
- Messages
- 40,314
- Like
- 50,292
Due to the awesome weather on Saturday I wasn't able to attend in person but caught most of the game via Watch ESPN App (love today's technology) and re-watched the full game yesterday. A few thoughts.
Had a feeling SU might play well as the week went on but didn't want to jinx it by saying anything especially after the god awful Cornell loss. Good effort from the team who despite what they say were Cleary in a must win situation. Felt like I was watching the SU teams of old out there at times.
First off as I usually do I have to give credit to Ben Williams. The kid is unreal. Back to back games against other top end faceoff specialists and he dominates by winning over 70% in both games. Hard to put into words how good he has been. By the time he graduates he will be the best faceoff player every at SU if he isn't already know.
I have given a lot of heat to Coach Desko and the staff this year but I thought they hit out of the park with the changes on the wing. Schwasnick, Paduda, and Fusco have been that breath of fresh air that unit desperately needed. The first two have been the best shorts stick players on the wing that we have had since probably Kevin Drew. They seem to be near the ball on the scrum no matter where it ends up, such a nice change of pace. Getting Paduda some PT is also great, kid has worked hard lets reward him.
Thought the D was fantastic outside of the third quarter. Mellen and Mullins dominated their matchups and UNC was throwing the ball all over the place. Thought Molloy made some high quality saves including a few worm burners late they really helped to seal the victory. Ciferri struggled a bit as Tagliafferi worked him over pretty well but he and the other SSDMs are clearly giving it their all so its hard to get to down on them. Slides can still be an adventure but they seemed to get better after a shaky first quarter. Thought Mullins/Fusco did a nice job once the staff finally put a pole on Tagliafferi. UNC never looked comfortable on offense which is a compliment to the D because they were on fire the last two weeks.
Offensively it was again the Mariano and Salcido show, when those two are on man its fun to watch. Mariano is really coming into his own as a midfielder and seems to show a new wrinkle each week. Salcido was locked in after a disastrous shooting night against Cornell. He had a rip with a guy in his pocket that somehow found the upper corner that was just ridiculous. Give him credit his game has done a 180 from last year. This team will go as far as those two, Donahue and Barber can take them. Dejoe has clearly hit a wall, he's received more PT so far this year then his other 3 years combined and you wonder if the rigors of the season have worn him down. His accuracy has deserted him and he seems hesitant to dodge against a shorty. Need him to put it back together quickly.
Evans had another up and down game. Was MIA for the first 3 quarters, was again turning the ball over at an alarming rate and looked like he was about to get pulled. However, he responded with a nice goal when SU was clinging to a 2 goal lead, rode hard all game and caused at least one turnover, and then had that nice behind the back goal to really put an exclamation point on it. I think Evans is what he is at this point, reminds me a lot of former orange Bball player Paul Harris. Can be maddening at times and then make an unbelievable play. The turnovers continue to be my biggest concern, he's turning the ball over at an alarming rate and I am pretty sure he leads the team. Seems to be playing better overall though and he's clearly developing a good off ball game. Donahue was Donahue, thought he rebounded well after what was clearly his worst game of the year vs Cornell. Still think Barber should be a little more aggressive out there, kid has the skills don't be afraid to show them off.
Overall it was a great performance. Only real issues I had was the continued issues with turnovers (18) and the third mid line offensively. With the first mid line playing as well as it is I would rather see those guys more often then running out a third line that really doesn't bring much at this point. I though the second line was the most active I had seen in a while. Westin was flying all over and obviously had a huge goal late, Lane had a few dodges, drew some slides, and had a good look at a shot. McKinney seems to be struggling to find his place out there, might be worth it to try Carlin or Voight on the second line and see what happens. I think Lane would benefit from trying to move more without the ball and try to use his size to get around the crease or take a sprint down the middle of the field and look for a pass like did against Albany with great success.
7-4 with an important game on Wed. Take care of business and SU will be 8-4 going to a re-match with UNC. Hope this team comes out prepared and really takes it to Bingo early. Would be great to get up big so we can play the backups a lot and ease a guy like Piroli back in with extended minutes.
Had a feeling SU might play well as the week went on but didn't want to jinx it by saying anything especially after the god awful Cornell loss. Good effort from the team who despite what they say were Cleary in a must win situation. Felt like I was watching the SU teams of old out there at times.
First off as I usually do I have to give credit to Ben Williams. The kid is unreal. Back to back games against other top end faceoff specialists and he dominates by winning over 70% in both games. Hard to put into words how good he has been. By the time he graduates he will be the best faceoff player every at SU if he isn't already know.
I have given a lot of heat to Coach Desko and the staff this year but I thought they hit out of the park with the changes on the wing. Schwasnick, Paduda, and Fusco have been that breath of fresh air that unit desperately needed. The first two have been the best shorts stick players on the wing that we have had since probably Kevin Drew. They seem to be near the ball on the scrum no matter where it ends up, such a nice change of pace. Getting Paduda some PT is also great, kid has worked hard lets reward him.
Thought the D was fantastic outside of the third quarter. Mellen and Mullins dominated their matchups and UNC was throwing the ball all over the place. Thought Molloy made some high quality saves including a few worm burners late they really helped to seal the victory. Ciferri struggled a bit as Tagliafferi worked him over pretty well but he and the other SSDMs are clearly giving it their all so its hard to get to down on them. Slides can still be an adventure but they seemed to get better after a shaky first quarter. Thought Mullins/Fusco did a nice job once the staff finally put a pole on Tagliafferi. UNC never looked comfortable on offense which is a compliment to the D because they were on fire the last two weeks.
Offensively it was again the Mariano and Salcido show, when those two are on man its fun to watch. Mariano is really coming into his own as a midfielder and seems to show a new wrinkle each week. Salcido was locked in after a disastrous shooting night against Cornell. He had a rip with a guy in his pocket that somehow found the upper corner that was just ridiculous. Give him credit his game has done a 180 from last year. This team will go as far as those two, Donahue and Barber can take them. Dejoe has clearly hit a wall, he's received more PT so far this year then his other 3 years combined and you wonder if the rigors of the season have worn him down. His accuracy has deserted him and he seems hesitant to dodge against a shorty. Need him to put it back together quickly.
Evans had another up and down game. Was MIA for the first 3 quarters, was again turning the ball over at an alarming rate and looked like he was about to get pulled. However, he responded with a nice goal when SU was clinging to a 2 goal lead, rode hard all game and caused at least one turnover, and then had that nice behind the back goal to really put an exclamation point on it. I think Evans is what he is at this point, reminds me a lot of former orange Bball player Paul Harris. Can be maddening at times and then make an unbelievable play. The turnovers continue to be my biggest concern, he's turning the ball over at an alarming rate and I am pretty sure he leads the team. Seems to be playing better overall though and he's clearly developing a good off ball game. Donahue was Donahue, thought he rebounded well after what was clearly his worst game of the year vs Cornell. Still think Barber should be a little more aggressive out there, kid has the skills don't be afraid to show them off.
Overall it was a great performance. Only real issues I had was the continued issues with turnovers (18) and the third mid line offensively. With the first mid line playing as well as it is I would rather see those guys more often then running out a third line that really doesn't bring much at this point. I though the second line was the most active I had seen in a while. Westin was flying all over and obviously had a huge goal late, Lane had a few dodges, drew some slides, and had a good look at a shot. McKinney seems to be struggling to find his place out there, might be worth it to try Carlin or Voight on the second line and see what happens. I think Lane would benefit from trying to move more without the ball and try to use his size to get around the crease or take a sprint down the middle of the field and look for a pass like did against Albany with great success.
7-4 with an important game on Wed. Take care of business and SU will be 8-4 going to a re-match with UNC. Hope this team comes out prepared and really takes it to Bingo early. Would be great to get up big so we can play the backups a lot and ease a guy like Piroli back in with extended minutes.
