1st and 2nd Team All-Americans?

[sulax]

Who are our 1st and 2nd team All-Americans (besides Scanlan, and especially if Mellen stays injured)?

There’s definitely more parity in college lacrosse nowadays, so we can’t expect to have multiple 1st and 2nd Team All Americans every year, and sorry to simplify the game way too much, but the most talent still wins in the playoffs. It’s still an arms race, and the team with the most 1st and 2nd team All-Americans wins the chip (‘19 Virginia, ‘18 Yale, ‘17 Maryland, and ‘15 Denver all had the most or were tied for the most, just in recent years). North Carolina was the exception and won in ‘16 with only 1 1st team All-American).

Also do we have an attackman that can beat the pole on the other team and either score or create offense/a slide?

Around the country, which team will have the most 1st and 2nd team All-Americans? Maryland?

Other thoughts are that I feel bad for Sowers. Possibly one of the greatest lax players ever, but he’s been stuck on just an ok team. Meanwhile Grant Ament (and Mac O’Keefe) look unstoppable to me.

Sorry for so many questions, but you guys are a really knowledgeable group of college lax fans.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Kennedy is definitely AA material whether he is at close or lsm. Very few players match his athletic ability and he looks like every bit the cover guy that mellen is. Team defense abilities at close hard to judge after two games, but I haven’t seen any glaring red flags just yet. Dearth also has potential but the ssdm spot gets crowded for AAs.

The more I watch Porter the more I view him as a truly elite goalie. Put up AA numbers in terms of save percentage last year. Maybe he had a couple of slightly off games but overall I admire his consistency. Also he is really impressive at matching the stick for shots around the crease. Good at anticipating shot locations as well.

At middie Curry and Trimboli have proven themselves as AA talent. Curry more so because of his ability to get separation and Trimboli because of his shooting ability (excellent with both hands). His dodging seems to improve every year as well. Dordevic could easily join them since he is also a serious threat to beat his man. Very few at middie have his dodging ability. The issue will be if he can get his shooting under control. He has a seriously fast shot but sometimes struggles with accuracy and seemed a little anxious the first couple games. If he gets the shooting together and also keeps looking to pass off the dodge (which he has done well in the first two games). He could join the other two as an AA. As for if any of them will reach first team AA that is a tall order with Costabile and Aitken taking two of those spots. Our starters are elite but it is hard to match the abilities of those two. Costabile in particular is one of the best middies I have ever seen.

Our Attack, despite its talent, is still below the upper echelon of teams unfortunately. I think Cook can beat a pole, but not with the consistency of a Jared Bernhardt, Sowers, Ament, Kraus among others. Rehfuss has elite QB type abilities but with the game on the line I would not count on him beating a pole. basically With the game on the line I would rather have Dordevic or curry initiating than one of our attack. With our middie production as stellar as it is I think we can still keep up with the best despite our relatively weak attack. Just don’t see any of them cracking the crowded AA spots. There is currently an insane amount of serious talent at attack in college lacrosse.

 

[sulax]

Great insight in to our team’s strengths and weaknesses. Thanks!

Maybe I’m wrong about needing the most amount of 1st or 2nd team All Americans to win a chip, but, if not, then hopefully Scanlan, Dearth, Kennedy, Curry, and Porter can have great seasons and carry our program back to the Final Four! Go cuse lax!

 

[Zack80]

On the offense, having All-Americans is important, but just as important is having six players on the starting offense that are all threats ( and I mean threats against top teams). The 5th and 6th guys get the short sticks, and dealing on the short sticks is very key against other top teams. Further having 6 potent offense players tends to mean the other team will get burned if they slide too much. This also can lead to the other team being reluctant to slide - which is good for the All-Americans.

Really the same sort of thing is true on the defense, having an All-American who can make take away checks and get ground balls, or one who can shut down the other teams top attackmen are important. But it is also important that the 3rd defenseman is competent, and that the LSMs and ssdms don't get burned much. Defense is a team game.

 

[HtownOrange]

To the OP, My candidates are:

Scanlon
Porter
Timboli (H/T to JeremyCuse, he called it first)
Phaup
Dearth (his off ball play is as important as when he has the ball, always knows where the ball is)
Mellen
Fernandez (he keeps popping up with key plays and does not get burned often)
Kennedy

Several others are in the running, but I think the above will be in contention all season.