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Message: [QUOTE="Powellfan, post: 4147375, member: 4819"] I'll finish up my lineup prediction for the 2022 season with the defense. [B]Face-off: Jakob Phaup, Jack Savage, Jack Fine[/B] An area of concern for me, the FOGO group struggled mightily in big games for the Orange last year. Phaup returns, and if you didn't know any better you'd think he had a strong season with a 57% winning percentage. But in games where he didn't win the matchup, he only won 30%. That includes back to back weeks where he won only 2 of 16 combined face-offs against Duke and Notre Dame. We thought Savage might be the savior of the unit but he ended up only taking 24 total draws and won just eight of them. Gait brought in TD Ierlan, arguably the best FOGO of all time to help with the unit. The hope is that Ierlan can coach the unit up and Phaup will have a year to adjust to the new rules. The other issue is depth, the unit only has three FOGOs including one freshman. That is a very low number (last year's team had double that). Wings also need to be much better than they were last year. Phaup led the team with 70 groundballs last year, but the next closes player to him was Kennedy with just 46. He most likely will be moved to close defense so someone else will need to emerge. [B]Short stick Defensive Midfidlers: Dami Oladunmoye, Brendan Aviles, Max Rosa, Carter Rice[/B] Another big issue for the Orange last year was the SSDM position, and now the unit losses their best player in Peter Dearth. This unit was picked on again and again last year and was the victim of injuries and Covid related absences. Aviles looked like a future star at the position in 2020 but took a step back last year as he battled injuries. He is very aggressive and can cause turnovers, but too often last year was taken to the woodshed. Hopefully he's fully healthy this year and can return to his freshman year form. Dami has had a lot of playing time over his SU career but has never really taken "the leap". His footwork just has never looked right. He has good size and speed so the potential is there, but he needs to realize it. Rosa had some nice moments last year and could be a big threat in transition (see his goal from this summer where he rips the net on a shot). I don't love his size but that isn't going to change. Rice got rave reviews from the Fall Scrimmage and it sounds like he could be an early contributor. There are some other players on the roster who have experience with a short stick (Grant Murphy, Brett Barlow and Saam Olexo) but have grabbed a long stick. Might we see one of them make a move back to SSDM if this unit struggles? [B]Long Stick Midfield: Landon Clary, Nick Fraterrigo, Tommy Drago[/B] Big shoes to fill for whoever grabs this roll as Brett Kennedy moves to close. Clary looked pretty good in the limited games he saw last year (he was injured against UVM), but its hard to make a definitive evaluation based on just three games (and he's coming back from injury). Fraterrigo flies in under the radar as a DII transfer but I feel like I've read his name enough to think he might be the backup here. He has good size at 6'3 200 and comes from a strong high school (Niksy). Drago was mentioned by Desko the fall ball of his freshman year but we haven't' seen anything yet from the NJ product. There are a lot of LSMs listed on the roster (7 not including Kennedy). [B]Close Defense: Brett Kennedy, Nick Caccomo, Nick DiPietro[/B] This is a tough call. Kennedy seems poised to become the alpha defender for this group, a tall task. Syracuse really struggled against the top attackmen in the county last year with Mitch Wykoff trying to cover them. Just look at the numbers Pat Kavanaugh put up against the Orange. Kennedy has had a mixed record as a close defender, but I think he is still the best actual defender on the team. Caccomo comes in with a good deal of hype as a four-star recruit and transfer from Yale. But he hasn't played competitive lacrosse since his junior year of high school I beleive. I thought DiPietro was a decent help defender last year and the defense seemed to suffer when he was lost for the season in the Albany game. He will need to improve his stats, just four caused turnovers and 13 groundballs. Grant Murphy also comes back and was a starter last year. I picked DiPietro over Murphy for the simple fact that I thought he got beat less than the fellow fifth year. Murphy did lead the team with a humble 16 caused turnovers and DiPietro is coming off an injury so I could definitely see the Texan starting. Whoever is a starter must do a better job of communicating and sliding as last year's unit seemed all over the place. A tall order for new coach Dave Pietramala. Nick Hapney and Cole Horan also have starting experience. [B]Goalie: Bobby Gavin[/B] A tough call, and certainly not a position I think will be settled early in the season, I go with the transfer since he has game experience. Harrison Thompson should get a shot too and I wouldn't be surprised if they rotated both goalies early in the season until one of them solidifies their spot. Hopefully whoever wins the job will push transition and be a good communicator. Okay, that is my take on the 2022 Orange roster. Curious to hear what others have to think about how the Orange will line up this season. I imagine we won't get much clarity on the lineup until the Orange take the field against Holy Cross in two weeks, but it's fun to speculate! [/QUOTE]

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