2020 Schedule

[CuseAlum87]

That poster a month or so back had it nailed.

You mean Desko?

 

[Powellfan]

 

[Powellfan]

 

[SkyTopBus44]

Looking like 12-0 or Desko mustgo?

 

[Powellfan]

'Cuse Announces 2020 Men's Lacrosse Schedule - Syracuse University Athletics

Obviously no surprises in the schedule, but I think it's a pretty good one for the Orange. Not taking into account home/away advantages, I really think SU should be favored in all their games save for the UVA game. Now, do I think they'll finish the season with one loss? Absolutely not. The home scheduled is about as front loaded as it could be, and every team save maybe two, they should be pretty even. But if they manage things right they should have a good record by the end of the year. As last season showed us, Syracuse has a way of winning the games they shouldn't (Duke), and losing the ones they should (Colgate). I've ranked them as most to least likely to win below -

Binghamton- not my first choice team to add to the schedule, but SU should be heavy favorites.
Colgate - obviously this game stands out as we thought this should have been an easy win last year. I think the Raiders have a decent amount returning, but if SU plays to their potential they should run away with this.
Hobart - The Statesmen had a strong start to season but the Orange handled them pretty easily. Always a rivalry game and not one that SU can overlook.
Army - The Black Knights lose a bunch on defense but return Nictern who will probably be the best offense player on the field. This game is always close no matter what.
Albany - The big question is which version of Nanticoke are you going to get? He looked motivated in fall videos. It should be an intense atmosphere at Casey stadium, should be interesting to see how SU deals with that.
Rutgers - Never sure what to make of Rutgers, but they have a lot of offense returning, though they do lose their game changing stopper.
Cornell - The Big Red had a down year last year, but still have a great talent in Teat, and games in Ithaca are always tough.
UNC - I think having Grey on the team will be a difference maker and they return almost everyone.
JHU - Great attack that turned into a buzzsaw late in the season last year, but have serious questions at midfield and lose their best defender from a defense that wasn't very good last year.
Notre Dame - Lose Gerry Byrne but return one of the best midfielders in the country. Always recruit well, will this be the year these top recruits "breakout"?
Duke - Some of the best talent in the country, but might not be the most balanced. I wonder about their depth.
UVA - SU should have won last year but they didn't face the monster the Cavs turned into late in the year.

 

[Chip]

At this rate, they should move the Dome schedule up a month and play the Duke basketball game at CNS as well.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Obviously no surprises in the schedule, but I think it's a pretty good one for the Orange. Not taking into account home/away advantages, I really think SU should be favored in all their games save for the UVA game. Now, do I think they'll finish the season with one loss? Absolutely not. The home scheduled is about as front loaded as it could be, and every team save maybe two, they should be pretty even. But if they manage things right they should have a good record by the end of the year. As last season showed us, Syracuse has a way of winning the games they shouldn't (Duke), and losing the ones they should (Colgate). I've ranked them as most to least likely to win below -

Binghamton- not my first choice team to add to the schedule, but SU should be heavy favorites.
Colgate - obviously this game stands out as we thought this should have been an easy win last year. I think the Raiders have a decent amount returning, but if SU plays to their potential they should run away with this.
Hobart - The Statesmen had a strong start to season but the Orange handled them pretty easily. Always a rivalry game and not one that SU can overlook.
Army - The Black Knights lose a bunch on defense but return Nictern who will probably be the best offense player on the field. This game is always close no matter what.
Albany - The big question is which version of Nanticoke are you going to get? He looked motivated in fall videos. It should be an intense atmosphere at Casey stadium, should be interesting to see how SU deals with that.
Rutgers - Never sure what to make of Rutgers, but they have a lot of offense returning, though they do lose their game changing stopper.
Cornell - The Big Red had a down year last year, but still have a great talent in Teat, and games in Ithaca are always tough.
UNC - I think having Grey on the team will be a difference maker and they return almost everyone.
JHU - Great attack that turned into a buzzsaw late in the season last year, but have serious questions at midfield and lose their best defender from a defense that wasn't very good last year.
Notre Dame - Lose Gerry Byrne but return one of the best midfielders in the country. Always recruit well, will this be the year these top recruits "breakout"?
Duke - Some of the best talent in the country, but might not be the most balanced. I wonder about their depth.
UVA - SU should have won last year but they didn't face the monster the Cavs turned into late in the year.

Good post a few additional thoughts.

Bingo is going to be historically bad this year, they were blown out by Lemoyne in the fall.

Colgate lost their big attackmen I believe and were pretty awful in the second half of the season last year, if this game is remotely close were in big trouble.

Hobart - They were a good offensive team last year but were very susceptible on defense and their shooting % was putrid. This is definitely a game where SU cant mail it in or they will be in major trouble. That said they lose their best FOGO in years to graduation and their goalie I believe. They also lost their #1 attackmen that Mellen blanked in back to back years. SU is a bad matchup for Hobart but as you noted we need to be careful here and their offense should again be very good.

Army - I know a lot of people are high on them but I think there going to take a step back. They will potentially have their best offense in a long time with Nictern but they lost 2 AA defenders who just happened to be their goalie and #1 cover guy and they lost their #2 cover guy to graduation as well as Nate Jones who led the attack unit with 36 goals. Its Army so they will be a pain in the ass but this is a game SU should win.

Albany - Tough to tell what we will see here. Usually we benefit from seeing them early in the year but now were looking at April so who knows what both teams will look like. Albany's main issue will again be defense and midfield. The attack unit will be potent as always and they have a lot of young guys back but its hard to tell if last year was a blip or if its going to take Marr a few years to build it back up. Midfield and closed D will again be a major issue for them and some of their higher end guys like Hay don't get on campus till the fall of 2020.

Rutgers - They will be a very very good offensive team. That attack unit will be skilled to say the least. Mullins and Charalambides are a deadly combo and Charalambides is still rounding back into form from his back to back ACL tears. They also have that jitterbug attack dude Gallagher. Their issue is that a bad defense lost by far their two best players in the goalie in Edelman and Pless. They also lost the only half decent FOGO on the roster and by far their best SSDM in Christiano. They brought in several goalie and FOGO transfers but I think there going to be in for another long year defensively. Still there a dangerous team if your not winning faceoffs and the shot clock is a huge help for them. A bit surprised SU decided to sign another home and home with them to be honest as they are a bit of an enigma as a team.

Cornell - Will be a real challenge. They got a high end Frosh FOGO and have a deadly attack unit with Teat and crew. A lot like Rutty their issues are on Defense though they have an excellent goalie in Ierlan who will make up for a lot of that. Peterson will be a big loss as their finisher but they have plenty of options with returning guys and another good recruiting class. Midfield is good but not great, they need more consistency there. Playing them later in the year could be beneficial though as you figure Teat maybe worn down a bit and Colgate's depth while good offensively is less then great defensively.

UNC - Is a bit of an unknown. I know you mentioned they returned almost everyone but thats actually incorrect. They lost their #1 attack in Timmy Kelly and their #2 Middie in Andy Matthews who played more midfield after moving from attack and was the leading assist guy. They also lost their entire starting close defense in Rowlett, Peden, and Nathan. Now they do bring in an elite talent in Grey and bring back the young attack core the was up and down last year including Nicky Solomon. They also have Perry back and the two enigmas Cook and Justin Anderson and a goalie that really came on late. The key for them is how much does Grey elevate the entire team and can they take that next step with a mix of young attackmen and older middies. I think they will be good but Kelly Matthews and Rowlett are enormous losses especially Rowlett in what was a so so defense to begin with. They do get that highly touted frosh kid Egan back after a season ending injury last year but he's likely to take a bit to round back into form. There the most unknown on our schedule, all the pieces are there but I think they maybe a lot like the last few years, look great one week and then MIA the next.
Will review the rest of the teams tomorrow hopefully.

 

[CuseAlum87]

I haven't heard anything about the tarheels all fall. Chris Grey was great at BU, but how does that translate to the ACC? UVA has talent no doubt and the defending champs, but let's not forget the phantom goal that tied it up against Maryland. It gave them life and deflated the terps. My point is: they have flaws, everyone does. I think the Orange match up well with them.
Cornell has a great offense, but Mellen wins the match up against Teat. They scored 2 or 3 unsettled goals to keep it close and still lost by 5. Also, defense not included with this unit(they gave up 16 to Hobart and Albany and 15 or more 6 times).
Colgate came in and punched the Orange in the mouth last year, it was the Raiders high water mark. I don't think the Orange will overlook them this year. Phaup didn't start taking draws until later in the game and was 8 for 13. I expect the Orange shooters to change levels and not play catch with the goalie.
My big take away is that the Orange can beat anyone on this schedule IF they play up to their potential and don't suffer too many brain cramps. I am looking forward to the season.

 

[laxsummit]

Enjoyed the very insightful writeups,well informed content ..Only a scrimmage but Lehigh exposed some vulnerabilities that need to be ironed out. As learned from Colgate last year, no game other than Bingy can be taken for granted including the opener again. Wary of Rutgers, no clue on goalie position but see their d unit being solid and that offense has given us fits the last two years. Every game vs acc n other top tens will be challenging . At least one game will be swung by officials, one by a last minute play, one by a hot goaltender, my guess is thus wide, 8 - 10 wins vs this regular season schedule

 

[Powellfan]

Good points by all, thanks for insight. Just a few more things I'd like to mention ... Jeremy, thanks for the correct take on UNC, I guess I was only thinking of their attack, and of players like Justin Anderson and Tanner Cook, who it feels like, have been playing college lacrosse for 10 years now. Also they return their goalie Johnson who was a game changer for them late in the season. To me they are the most mysterious team on the SU schedule, could finish with a losing record or could win the ACC. I just don't know.

As for the Teat-Mellen match-up, last year indeed Mellen took control, but two years ago in Ithaca Teat made the game look easy as he scored two goals and four assists in an easy Cornell win. So, important for SU not to take that match-up for granted this year.

Good points by Laxsummit as well. My two biggest concerns for this season are, 1) chemistry of the offense and 2) close defense. The offense has all the pieces, but you have a player like Scanlan coming in with big expectations, and a player like Dordevic trying to reestablish himself (not to mention taking away a starting spot from one of his teammates). There is only one ball to go around and, while every player is really good, there is no "super star" that will stir the drink per se. That can be both a good thing since SU has multiple ways to beat a defense, and also can make the offense disjointed if no one knows who is supposed to "take over" at a given time. Maybe someone will emerge, or the system will take care of itself.

As for the defense, it feels like SU hasn't had all phases of the unit clicking for an entire season since Galloway/White left. Something has always been off, for a long time it was the midfielders. On paper this unit looks to have all the pieces, but the fall was not very convincing, and I can't help but wonder if picking a backup short stick midfielder and a guy who redshirted not in his freshmen year is a good sign the close defense will be in good hands. Lots of time before the season starts, but also, not much time at all.

 

[DoctahLexus]

With games like Rutgers, Hopkins, Cornell, and UNC, it seems like the only shot they have at beating us is if they get into a shoot out with us and win 17-15 or something like that. All had poor defense last year and that defense is even further depleted. Rutgers loses Garrett Michaeli, Kyle Pless (probably their best cover guy), and of course Max Edelmann. Hopkins loses Danny Jones, Pat Foley, and Robert Kuhn, all the best respectively at SSDM, LSM, and close, and all of them didn't impress me much already. Cornell loses Fleet Wallace, who already couldn't stay with Rehfuss, and longtime SSDM Kason Tarbell. UNC, as Jeremy pointed out, loses their entire close D lineup, including the absolute monster Jack Rowlett who is impossible to replace.

Lehigh/Denver scrimmages do make me think we took Bomberry and Cunningham for granted on some level. Not only did they own their matchups all year but they were 3 year starters, which lead to excellent team defense skills. Murphy and DePietro will definitely make more mistakes on the team defense side of things than they did, and that is already a slight weakness in Mellen's game, at least when compared to his 1 v 1 skills.
Offense should be one of the best in the country. Too much talent to be denied.

 

[CuseAlum87]

I have never put much importance on fall scrimmages. Desko has always maintained that fall ball was about learning, teaching the new players and getting returning players back up to speed. That said, I am concerned about the 2 other close defense spots. I think Depietro plays the middle like Cunningham and Murphy takes T Bomb's spot. I think Murphy is much better as a long pole than short stick.

 

[ivorytower]

Teat indeed won that matchup handily in Ithaca but lean to latest so more concerned about others such as Piatelli and Ierlan when facing Big Red.

Close defense however comprised will take some time to jell. Fortunately have Mellen anchoring, one of the best Rope units in game and playing first third of schedule at home.

Refhuss as primary distributor will be one key to offense flowing . Need him to elevate game to next level for offense to realize full potential. March's ability to identify and adjust to any stagnation is another

 

[ivorytower]

I have never put much importance on fall scrimmages. Desko has always maintained that fall ball was about learning, teaching the new players and getting returning players back up to speed. That said, I am concerned about the 2 other close defense spots. I think Depietro plays the middle like Cunningham and Murphy takes T Bomb's spot. I think Murphy is much better as a long pole than short stick.

D agaisnt larger attackman should be solid. Dipietro played them well in relief of Bomberry in 18 while Murphy played Army big well. Defenders at any position gotta be able to open hips and change directions quickly on shifty players. Of the two rather have DiPietro pursuing out and Murphy nearer crease .DiPietro has a rounded skillset that has bits of both Bomberry and Cunningham . Helmer not mentioned much but his flexibility presents various options and certain matchups might require a shift or two at times.

 

[CuseAlum87]

D agaisnt larger attackman should be solid. Dipietro played them well in relief of Bomberry in 18 while Murphy played Army big well. Defenders at any position gotta be able to open hips and change directions quickly on shifty players. Of the two rather have DiPietro pursuing out and Murphy nearer crease .DiPietro has a rounded skillset that has bits of both Bomberry and Cunningham . Helmer not mentioned much but his flexibility presents various options and certain matchups might require a shift or two at times.

probably recency bias on my part since Dipietro didn't play last year and Murphy did.

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

Does the University usually sell away game tickets? I was just on the UAlbany website and there is no current (or proposed way) or purchasing a single game ticket for Syracuse. You can buy a season package (which is substantially more expensive than Syracuse's package) and then on Feb. 3, all other home games are available as single game purchases except for Syracuse.

Anyone with any insight?

 

[Hoo's That]

Does the University usually sell away game tickets? I was just on the UAlbany website and there is no current (or proposed way) or purchasing a single game ticket for Syracuse. You can buy a season package (which is substantially more expensive than Syracuse's package) and then on Feb. 3, all other home games are available as single game purchases except for Syracuse.

Anyone with any insight?

I can tell you that right now UVa is only selling season ticket packages. I'm not sure whether there is any advance sale for single games.

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

So it's looking like my sons' youth lacrosse program will be doing a group buy. We have several coaches/parents that are pretty locked into UAlbany lacrosse, so that probably helps.

 

[Powellfan]

I imagine as the season gets closer they will sell single game tickets. Syracuse just started offering single game tickets yesterday. A little strange that they would not sell single game tickets for one team, but have to imagine they'll open it up at a later date. Knowing that its a big game (their first game against SU in Albany), it sounds like a marketing ploy.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I imagine as the season gets closer they will sell single game tickets. Syracuse just started offering single game tickets yesterday. A little strange that they would not sell single game tickets for one team, but have to imagine they'll open it up at a later date.

Albany is doing what we did in football for the Clemson game. If you wanna ticket your going to need to buy seasons and they may release some single game tickets after they have milked that as far as it will go. Albany has been dreaming about this game for decades it's going to sell out extremely quickly.

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

I imagine as the season gets closer they will sell single game tickets. Syracuse just started offering single game tickets yesterday. A little strange that they would not sell single game tickets for one team, but have to imagine they'll open it up at a later date. Knowing that its a big game (their first game against SU in Albany), it sounds like a marketing ploy.

It wouldnt surprise me if the game was a sell out. Syracuse has never played at Albany. Syracuse is the premier college sports program in the Capital District and it's my understanding that pre-Albany's emergence as a solid D-1 program, Syracuse was (and still is for some), the lacrosse program to follow. The Stadium only holds 8500 fans (not sure if that includes the grassy hill).

 

[OrangeXtreme]

It wouldnt surprise me if the game was a sell out. Syracuse has never played at Albany. Syracuse is the premier college sports program in the Capital District and it's my understanding that pre-Albany's emergency as a solid D-1 program, Syracuse was (and still is for some), the lacrosse program to follow. The Stadium only holds 8500 fans (not sure if that includes the grassy hill).

"The 8,500-seats, including 629 chair-backs, bleachers, and a natural grass berm."

They drew 6,470 when they hosted UNC a few years ago in the 1st round of the NCAAs.

 

[CuseAlum87]

"The 8,500-seats, including 629 chair-backs, bleachers, and a natural grass berm."

They drew 6,470 when they hosted UNC a few years ago in the 1st round of the NCAAs.

Yep, and it rained buckets all game.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Finally getting back to the rest of the schedule and giving some thoughts. Due to the amount of time will likely go team by team starting with Hop:

JHU - Hopkins has looked a lot like UNC the last few years in that one week they look like a top 5 team and the next your wondering how Petro still has a job. A lot like UNC this year its hard to get a feel on where they will ultimately end up. They came on late last year beating Maryland twice and taking PSU to OT. Epstein will obviously be the main guy and he looked impressive last year especially toward the year. Question is does he take that next step again or does he hit a bit of a sophmore slump? Some Hopkins players have developed a bad habit/trait of taking a step back when it appears there ready to break out. Look no further then Cole Williams who after a breakout Sophmore season took a big step back last year, though he did flash a bit late in the year when he started playing up top more. Then you have Desimone who scored 16 goals as a Frosh middie but was a disaster last year finishing with only six goals and a god awful shooting percentage. Hopkins offense seemed to really miss Joel Tinney and they never really figured out until later in the year when Epstein really took over and Williams started to play more like his Soph year but even they reverted back in the NCAA tourney when ND hammered them. That said they should have enough offensively especially at attack to do damage. Epstein and Williams are a good combo but the 3rd attackmen might be a true frosh or a bumped middie. Midfield is where they have enormous question marks. Evan Zinn looked decent in limited time but he didn't get a lot of run for some reason and played mostly SSDM when he did. Desimone was a disaster as noted, Concannon there most productive middie does return but he is a smaller guy at 5'5 and struggled in big games. I believe Forry Smith played both spots so they may run him at middie to get some experience and scoring ability there as he had 26 pts last year tied with Concannon. Owen Murphy is a touted frosh who could get some run at attack especially if they have to keep Smith at middie as Keogh another upper class guy is injured I believe and his status for 2020 is murky at best.

Defensively Hopkins would appear to be in a world of trouble. There defense was historically bad last year by Hopkins standards and Foley their AA cover guy did not come back as there was a question of whether he had one final year of eligibility. They also lost their starting LSM Kuhn who was a decent defender who almost never came off the field and their top SSDM Danny Jones who while admittedly struggled at times was their top SSDM as noted. I suspect Hubler will be one of their SSDMs but god only knows on the second guy. I assume Rapine and Colwell will start at close but neither is really an elite defender. Hopkins may/will likely struggle to cover elite offensive players. Hop does return both of their top two specialists at FOGO and Goalie but the FOGO situation is in a much better spot then in Goal. Darby was under 50% for the year and Giacolone the Sr may get first crack at it for the Jays. Goalie, LSM, Second SSDM and that third close defender are the major question marks for the Jays on a defense that struggled mightily for most of the year last season. Petro has put together a couple of real nice recruiting classess for 2020 and 2021, especially D players for 2021, but that won't help them at all this season. Faceoffs should be good though for them.

Hopkins has potential as shown by their play down the stretch last year but to me they have enormous question marks defensively and at middie. This is a game I think SU should win.

 

[ivorytower]

Countdown

8 days to Christmas,
14 to New Years Eve,
20 days to season restart,
52 to Colgate opener.

Just sayin