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Message: [QUOTE="Powellfan, post: 4132365, member: 4819"] Your first line looks spot on, just as long as Buttermore is healthy. I think the starters have a lot of potential, not just because of their talent but also because I think they will compliment each other well. Curry obviously leads the line, but his passing and dodging ability should set up the other two for easy scoring opportunities. Also defenses can't pack the middle as both Quinn and Buttermore can shoot well from outside. Quinn cut down on the mental mistakes last year and put up decent numbers on the second line. Buttermore has had a rough two seasons, although neither one was a full season as 2020 ended early and he sustained a season ending injury last year. Still, he's a former 20 goal scorer (as a second liner no less), who will most likely draw a short stick every game. The second line is a total mystery to me. I can't remember a season where there was this this much uncertainty about who would play on that line. I think Birtwistle is the closest thing we have to a sure thing, but even that isn't a sure thing. There are a lot of names though. I would add Tyler Cordes and Brett Tenaglia to your list as well. I am rooting for Fiorini since he has size and is a pass first midfielder, but he has hardly seen the field in his time at SU. I really liked Cordes' high school tape, he has a ton of energy. I hope they don't put Cook at midfield, but given that Dordevic will be at attack, maybe they could invert the two to try and draw mismatches. Cook could handle the ball behind the cage on a short stick defender, and Dordevic could draw his defender away from the goal where they are more likely to be uncomfortable. Of course SU could do this strategy with a lot of other attackmen turned middies, so it doesn't need to just be Cook. One aspect I think that needs to come in to play is defensive ability. The midfielders last year did not play good transition defense. It felt like they were responsible for a good two to three goals a game and that might be conservative. A lot of the players in line for a midfield spot are natural attackmen (Cook, Corsi, Birtwistle and Tenaglia). I would be a little nervous about putting too many attackmen at midfield, but this is something SU has done before (Gallaso, Maltz and Ward). One potential wrinkle is that they have a number of defensive midfielders who have pretty good offensive abilities. If Gait is serious about playing uptempo, I would think/hope that players like Aviles, Rosa and Rice not only get a chance to take shots in transition, but also stay on the field and try and create mismatches. [/QUOTE]

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