JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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Obviously Binghamton is not a great team, they are 4-7 and winless on the road this year. Still based on everything we have seen this year form SU we all know this game could end up being closer then it should be. A few random thoughts about tonight:
This mid week games are really a challenge for the favored team especially later in the season when the weather is usually better and obviously it stays light out later and players can be looking ahead to a variety of things. I know that sounds odd but imagine this game being played on a Wed at the end of February versus now with the ACC and NCAA tourneys right around the corner, finals, graduations its a big difference. Also these games have No real hype, small crowds (usually), little prep time, no win situations etc. These factors have led to many underwhelming performances this year and several upsets including losses by teams like Duke, Brown, UVA, our own Orange, amongst others.
Having already fallen victim to a midweek loss and being at home I like to think SU won't fall into that trap again. Like any matchup involving a clearly superior team the key is to jump out and quickly and put the hammer down. SU did this to an extent vs Hobart getting up 5 or 6 goals to zero but then kind of relaxed. I think a 5 or 6 goal lead in this game early will be enough to coast but SU needs to come out and earn it versus coming and going through the motions which is a recipe for a repeat of the 2014 game vs this team.
Bingo's over 50% at the X but not by much and I expect Ben Williams to continue the incredible roll he is on. Due to his unfamiliarity with the Binghamton faceoff specialist it may take him a few draws to get going but I expect him to be over 60%.
Defensively this looks like a game SU should dominate. The bearcats do not have anything close to a strong offense and their best offensive player is a midfielder. Will be interesting to see if Desko puts Firman/Fusco Zach Scaduto or if he tries to let Mullins or Mellen guard the midfielder. Obviously Mellen and Mullins never draw midfielders but in this instance I wonder if the staff would give it a whirl. Obviously if they just go with the normal matchups its hard to see how SU doesn't have a strong performance especially with Mullins and Mellen playing so well right now. Molloy continuing to look strong would be a good sign as well. Good opportunity for SU to tinker with the SSDM a bit as well, I expect a lot of PT for Schwasnick as he is excelling at the wing on faceoffs and seems to be earning more PT at SSDM as well. His continued development is key for this season and obviously beyond.
Offensively again on paper this looks like a total mismatch. Bingo does have a quality defender who went to W.Genny who I am sure will draw Donahue but after that things should be wide open. Would like to see productive games from Dejoe and Evans for different reasons. Evans has been playing better obviously the last month or so but continues to struggle with turnovers. Him having a 2-1 type of game with zero to's would be great. Dejoe obviously has struggled since Mariano and Salcido have exploded and he's been really scuffing the last few weeks. Important for him to try and get some positive momentum here as we approach crunch time. He should get some good looks tonight and he needs to capitalize. Assuming their shots are on I see no reason why Salcido and Mariano both wont have good game, Bingo will have to put a shorty on one of them which should create a huge mismatch.
Would like to see the second mid line have a positive game. Westin looked good against UNC and Lane was more active. There is the potential for a lot of PT tonight, someone needs to take advantage.
Hoping for a repeat of the St. Johns and Siena games tonight. SU clearly has the more talented team and they know they can't afford any sort of letdown based on where they are at. For Binghamton to make this game I believe SU would have to play like they did vs Cornell where the offense is just dreadful and can't get out of its own way. Turnovers and long scoring droughts have plagued this offense the entire year if this game is close in the second half those two issues will have had to rear their heads once again. To me that is the only potential concern, in that our offense keeps the game much closer then it should be and SU is forced to play out the game for a full 60 min versus getting the backups a lot of PT. Defensively it's hard to see how SU would give up double digit goals barring just a terrible performance from Molloy and or the D as a whole.
Lets go with SU 17 Bingo 7
This mid week games are really a challenge for the favored team especially later in the season when the weather is usually better and obviously it stays light out later and players can be looking ahead to a variety of things. I know that sounds odd but imagine this game being played on a Wed at the end of February versus now with the ACC and NCAA tourneys right around the corner, finals, graduations its a big difference. Also these games have No real hype, small crowds (usually), little prep time, no win situations etc. These factors have led to many underwhelming performances this year and several upsets including losses by teams like Duke, Brown, UVA, our own Orange, amongst others.
Having already fallen victim to a midweek loss and being at home I like to think SU won't fall into that trap again. Like any matchup involving a clearly superior team the key is to jump out and quickly and put the hammer down. SU did this to an extent vs Hobart getting up 5 or 6 goals to zero but then kind of relaxed. I think a 5 or 6 goal lead in this game early will be enough to coast but SU needs to come out and earn it versus coming and going through the motions which is a recipe for a repeat of the 2014 game vs this team.
Bingo's over 50% at the X but not by much and I expect Ben Williams to continue the incredible roll he is on. Due to his unfamiliarity with the Binghamton faceoff specialist it may take him a few draws to get going but I expect him to be over 60%.
Defensively this looks like a game SU should dominate. The bearcats do not have anything close to a strong offense and their best offensive player is a midfielder. Will be interesting to see if Desko puts Firman/Fusco Zach Scaduto or if he tries to let Mullins or Mellen guard the midfielder. Obviously Mellen and Mullins never draw midfielders but in this instance I wonder if the staff would give it a whirl. Obviously if they just go with the normal matchups its hard to see how SU doesn't have a strong performance especially with Mullins and Mellen playing so well right now. Molloy continuing to look strong would be a good sign as well. Good opportunity for SU to tinker with the SSDM a bit as well, I expect a lot of PT for Schwasnick as he is excelling at the wing on faceoffs and seems to be earning more PT at SSDM as well. His continued development is key for this season and obviously beyond.
Offensively again on paper this looks like a total mismatch. Bingo does have a quality defender who went to W.Genny who I am sure will draw Donahue but after that things should be wide open. Would like to see productive games from Dejoe and Evans for different reasons. Evans has been playing better obviously the last month or so but continues to struggle with turnovers. Him having a 2-1 type of game with zero to's would be great. Dejoe obviously has struggled since Mariano and Salcido have exploded and he's been really scuffing the last few weeks. Important for him to try and get some positive momentum here as we approach crunch time. He should get some good looks tonight and he needs to capitalize. Assuming their shots are on I see no reason why Salcido and Mariano both wont have good game, Bingo will have to put a shorty on one of them which should create a huge mismatch.
Would like to see the second mid line have a positive game. Westin looked good against UNC and Lane was more active. There is the potential for a lot of PT tonight, someone needs to take advantage.
Hoping for a repeat of the St. Johns and Siena games tonight. SU clearly has the more talented team and they know they can't afford any sort of letdown based on where they are at. For Binghamton to make this game I believe SU would have to play like they did vs Cornell where the offense is just dreadful and can't get out of its own way. Turnovers and long scoring droughts have plagued this offense the entire year if this game is close in the second half those two issues will have had to rear their heads once again. To me that is the only potential concern, in that our offense keeps the game much closer then it should be and SU is forced to play out the game for a full 60 min versus getting the backups a lot of PT. Defensively it's hard to see how SU would give up double digit goals barring just a terrible performance from Molloy and or the D as a whole.
Lets go with SU 17 Bingo 7
