JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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Been a whirlwind last couple of weeks for Syracuse. An improbable comeback and win over a Duke, an outstanding D performance against an offensively challenged ND team, a struggle but a comfortable 11-4 win over Hobart followed by a frustrating loss to an offensive powerhouse Cornell team. For last Sat's UNC game I was really dissapointed with how the offense came out and played especially in the first half. Varello had one of his best games and the D was lights out in the first half and we went into halftime tied at 4. Now I haven't had a chance to re-watch the game yet so some of these thoughts are me trying to recall from Saturday so I apologize if there slightly off. To me the biggest concern was the overall sloppy play on offense and the turnovers. Its' conerning were this far into the season against the #1 or #2 schedule in the country and yet we were turning the ball over like that last Saturday. Some of those turnovers were ones you would expect to see in the first or second scrimmage in January or the first fall ball practice, just brutal.
Three turnovers really stick out in my mind:
1. After an SU clear Simmons has the ball of GLE he looks around and doesn't see anyone to pass to immediately. He holds the ball for a minute and then tries either a shovel pass or a behind the back pass to the crease (can' remember which ) to Rehfuss which doens't reach him and easily taken away by UNC.
2. After a lengthy D possession SU comes away with the stop and has the ball behind the cage near the SU sideline. Either Dipetro or Kennedy throws a pass crossfield to a wide open Bomberry. The pass is short hopped and Bomberry doesn't bend over and the ball is promptly turned over and UNC scores.
3. After SU comes up with a GB on the last faceoff of regulation Dearth (who played well besides this) under only little pressure absolutely air mails a pass to a wide open middie and UNC nearly wins the game at the buzzer.
If Syracuse is going to make any sort of tourney run these turnovers HAVE to be cleared up or Albany, Maryland, Yale etc will dust us. Again this is just 3 examples, at least half our turnovers were unforced and made the game hard to watch. This team also has to get better on GB's. I can't tell you how many times on Saturday SU failed to scoop a GB it drove you to madness. Watching the ball get missed completely pushed ahead or fall out of the stick it was mindnumbing. We were better late but GBs have been an issue all year. Most frustrating is that SU is often in position but just can't pick the dame ball up. Offensively I thought for a good portion of the game we saw what we have seen a lot this year = inconsistency. SU came out and got a good early goal but then didn't score the rest of the quarter and had another long scoring drought. We didn't look crisp on the man up ( ball movement was way way to slow), and some of our top guys struggled. Curry obviously was a revelation late and his invert in OT was outstanding to see. It take some of the pressure of of Rehfuss and Solomon to dodge and forces teams to decide who to pole or to try double polling.
I thought Rehfuss and Trimboli were really held in check and struggled to make much of an impact. I think Rowlett may have had Rehfuss so that explains that a little bit. Trimbo played a lot but most of his shots were high to high and he seemed out of sorts. He and Rehfuss struggling in the same game is real bad news for SU. The good news was that Solomon aside from a bizarre turnover early a failed EMO was excellent and Matt Lane added 2 huge goals in the first half. Carlin and Lipka scored again as well which really helps to take some of the pressure off of the 1st mid line. I thought Simmons was a mess again and I think Lane got some of his run in the second half. Desko seemed to tighten up the lines a little bit this game as I think the third line only got one run.
I am concerned a bit about Dordevic and wonder if he has the Frosh wall. Kid looked all world against UVA but has really struggled since. Clearly he is drawing more attention since that performance but his shot accuracy has fallen of the face of the earth and he has really struggled to put shots on cage. He's only a Fresheman with an extremely bright future but it's concerning that I think he scored as many goals vs UVA as he has since that game. We gotta get him going again because with him playing at a high level the offense just goes to another level. Offense did show some flashes when we went on those two goal runs a few times in the second half led by Solomon and I believe that Seebold saw some PT on two straight runs as well both of which SU scored on. So much young offensive talent on this team and coming in its scary. Right now I think Desko needs to scrap running McKinney with the 1st line, he doesn't have 1 point since we started doing it about 6-7 games ago and its usally Curry who sits when he plays. Would like to see Dekso stay with the starters on the 1st line and then run a second line of Lipka, Carlin, and either Lane or Simmons. Personally I think Simmons should be bumped as he has 1 goal the entire season but based on his family's legacy and his dad being on the staff etc thats probably not going to happen. The third mid line seems to be Lane, Romano and Quinn but they haven't gotten much run the past few games.
Despite the continued issues this team has found away to go 4-0 in the ACC which is quite impressive even beating a desperate UNC team despite there losing streak is definitely a good sign. Varello has played much better since his struggle vs Hobart which has been great to see. He has a tough matchup coming up this week against his brother but more on that in another post. Defensively I thought Madonna didn't play well and the SSDMs while not awful weren't great. The D got hung out to dry on at least 3 or 4 goals due to bad turnovers by the offense but they struggled late on ISO dodges giving up some good looks to UNC attackmen. Individually I though the close defense was again pretty good, Mellen locked down Cloutier and Kelly only had two goals. I thought the LSMs did a great job on Cook as I don't think he registered a point. Gotta clean up the D on fast breaks and keep looking for the right SSDM combo, though it appeared Dearth got some extended run there and did well. Interesting matchups this weekend for the D and staff.
Will have some thoughts on Navy later in the week but wanted to post some general musing about the D 1 landscape
- Ivy league seems a lock for two bids wtih Yale and Cornell both of whom should be a difficult out this year. I think Penn has to make the Ivy title game now after last nights loss.
- Interesting that Umass seems like a favorite in their conference for the first time in a while, been lean times up that way for several years so good to see them get something going.
_ On the other hand Alberici at Army needs to overhaul that offensive system. Good defense with a high end goalie and faceoff guy but they're just abysmal offensively. I know Alberici is highly respected and beat ND and SU last year but its hard to see them making the tourney less having success there anytime soon without an overhaul. They also lose a bunch of what good offensive players they have to graduation - ouch.
- I am no maryland fan but I watched most of there game against Rutty and they were impressive. D isn't as good as it has been the last few years and they dont' have much in the way of offensive depth but there solid everywhere. They are machines on Gb's and just don't make the sloppy mistakes that have plagued us.
- Interesting to see if UNC shows up this weekend despite their season effectively being over. ND's offense has completely dissapeared so if they bring it I wouldn't be shocked if they won but there D has to play a lot better then it did late against SU.
Three turnovers really stick out in my mind:
1. After an SU clear Simmons has the ball of GLE he looks around and doesn't see anyone to pass to immediately. He holds the ball for a minute and then tries either a shovel pass or a behind the back pass to the crease (can' remember which ) to Rehfuss which doens't reach him and easily taken away by UNC.
2. After a lengthy D possession SU comes away with the stop and has the ball behind the cage near the SU sideline. Either Dipetro or Kennedy throws a pass crossfield to a wide open Bomberry. The pass is short hopped and Bomberry doesn't bend over and the ball is promptly turned over and UNC scores.
3. After SU comes up with a GB on the last faceoff of regulation Dearth (who played well besides this) under only little pressure absolutely air mails a pass to a wide open middie and UNC nearly wins the game at the buzzer.
If Syracuse is going to make any sort of tourney run these turnovers HAVE to be cleared up or Albany, Maryland, Yale etc will dust us. Again this is just 3 examples, at least half our turnovers were unforced and made the game hard to watch. This team also has to get better on GB's. I can't tell you how many times on Saturday SU failed to scoop a GB it drove you to madness. Watching the ball get missed completely pushed ahead or fall out of the stick it was mindnumbing. We were better late but GBs have been an issue all year. Most frustrating is that SU is often in position but just can't pick the dame ball up. Offensively I thought for a good portion of the game we saw what we have seen a lot this year = inconsistency. SU came out and got a good early goal but then didn't score the rest of the quarter and had another long scoring drought. We didn't look crisp on the man up ( ball movement was way way to slow), and some of our top guys struggled. Curry obviously was a revelation late and his invert in OT was outstanding to see. It take some of the pressure of of Rehfuss and Solomon to dodge and forces teams to decide who to pole or to try double polling.
I thought Rehfuss and Trimboli were really held in check and struggled to make much of an impact. I think Rowlett may have had Rehfuss so that explains that a little bit. Trimbo played a lot but most of his shots were high to high and he seemed out of sorts. He and Rehfuss struggling in the same game is real bad news for SU. The good news was that Solomon aside from a bizarre turnover early a failed EMO was excellent and Matt Lane added 2 huge goals in the first half. Carlin and Lipka scored again as well which really helps to take some of the pressure off of the 1st mid line. I thought Simmons was a mess again and I think Lane got some of his run in the second half. Desko seemed to tighten up the lines a little bit this game as I think the third line only got one run.
I am concerned a bit about Dordevic and wonder if he has the Frosh wall. Kid looked all world against UVA but has really struggled since. Clearly he is drawing more attention since that performance but his shot accuracy has fallen of the face of the earth and he has really struggled to put shots on cage. He's only a Fresheman with an extremely bright future but it's concerning that I think he scored as many goals vs UVA as he has since that game. We gotta get him going again because with him playing at a high level the offense just goes to another level. Offense did show some flashes when we went on those two goal runs a few times in the second half led by Solomon and I believe that Seebold saw some PT on two straight runs as well both of which SU scored on. So much young offensive talent on this team and coming in its scary. Right now I think Desko needs to scrap running McKinney with the 1st line, he doesn't have 1 point since we started doing it about 6-7 games ago and its usally Curry who sits when he plays. Would like to see Dekso stay with the starters on the 1st line and then run a second line of Lipka, Carlin, and either Lane or Simmons. Personally I think Simmons should be bumped as he has 1 goal the entire season but based on his family's legacy and his dad being on the staff etc thats probably not going to happen. The third mid line seems to be Lane, Romano and Quinn but they haven't gotten much run the past few games.
Despite the continued issues this team has found away to go 4-0 in the ACC which is quite impressive even beating a desperate UNC team despite there losing streak is definitely a good sign. Varello has played much better since his struggle vs Hobart which has been great to see. He has a tough matchup coming up this week against his brother but more on that in another post. Defensively I thought Madonna didn't play well and the SSDMs while not awful weren't great. The D got hung out to dry on at least 3 or 4 goals due to bad turnovers by the offense but they struggled late on ISO dodges giving up some good looks to UNC attackmen. Individually I though the close defense was again pretty good, Mellen locked down Cloutier and Kelly only had two goals. I thought the LSMs did a great job on Cook as I don't think he registered a point. Gotta clean up the D on fast breaks and keep looking for the right SSDM combo, though it appeared Dearth got some extended run there and did well. Interesting matchups this weekend for the D and staff.
Will have some thoughts on Navy later in the week but wanted to post some general musing about the D 1 landscape
- Ivy league seems a lock for two bids wtih Yale and Cornell both of whom should be a difficult out this year. I think Penn has to make the Ivy title game now after last nights loss.
- Interesting that Umass seems like a favorite in their conference for the first time in a while, been lean times up that way for several years so good to see them get something going.
_ On the other hand Alberici at Army needs to overhaul that offensive system. Good defense with a high end goalie and faceoff guy but they're just abysmal offensively. I know Alberici is highly respected and beat ND and SU last year but its hard to see them making the tourney less having success there anytime soon without an overhaul. They also lose a bunch of what good offensive players they have to graduation - ouch.
- I am no maryland fan but I watched most of there game against Rutty and they were impressive. D isn't as good as it has been the last few years and they dont' have much in the way of offensive depth but there solid everywhere. They are machines on Gb's and just don't make the sloppy mistakes that have plagued us.
- Interesting to see if UNC shows up this weekend despite their season effectively being over. ND's offense has completely dissapeared so if they bring it I wouldn't be shocked if they won but there D has to play a lot better then it did late against SU.
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