2022 Top 10 Preview

[nyclax]

Pretty much everything outside the top 15 is a total crapshoot. I'm not going to argue much with whoever they pick 16-25. There are a bunch of teams that would seem to have quite a wide range of possibilities -- Ohio State and Penn State, Navy, Villanova, Towson. Basically the entire CAA is a mess of teams in this range.

I would expect to see Syracuse in the 10-15 range, near teams like Rutgers, Hopkins, Army, Denver, Lehigh. Although none of this truly matters.

 

[Zack80]

In the end it is just plain hard to judge when they only played big 10 teams. I guess them giving Rutgers a game late in the season is a solid sign. Not sure what could make their offense truly scary other than Mulholland exploding from day 1. Defense also looks to have given up quite a few goals, even against weak offenses.

Zawada and Boehm are pretty nice attackmen, moving into their junior and sophomore years respectively. The offensive midfield scoring needs to improve.
The defense held the other Big Ten teams, except UMd and Rutgers, to 14 or less, and held Rutgers to 13 in one the 2 games against Rutgers. Defense wtvas young and should be maturing also, fairly good talent there.
Michigan did finish with 7 votes in the coaches poll last year, tied with Hofsta for 2nd in the others receiving votes. Of course, there were no Ivy league teams last year.

When you start talking about teams out around #20, you are not exactly talking about great teams.

 

[nyclax]

Zawada and Boehm are pretty nice attackmen, moving into their junior and sophomore years respectively. The offensive midfield scoring needs to improve.
The defense held the other Big Ten teams, except UMd and Rutgers, to 14 or less, and held Rutgers to 13 in one the 2 games against Rutgers. Defense wtvas young and should be maturing also, fairly good talent there.
Michigan did finish with 7 votes in the coaches poll last year, tied with Hofsta for 2nd in the others receiving votes. Of course, there were no Ivy league teams last year.

When you start talking about teams out around #20, you are not exactly talking about great teams.

When you're talking about "holding teams to 14" as a good thing, then the defense probably isn't any good. Michigan was 63rd in defensive efficiency last season -- quite literally one of the worst in D1. Not much better was the Orange at 61.

 

[Zack80]

When you're talking about "holding teams to 14" as a good thing, then the defense probably isn't any good. Michigan was 63rd in defensive efficiency last season -- quite literally one of the worst in D1. Not much better was the Orange at 61.

Michigan played 3 games against UMD and 2 games against Rutgers, two of the best offenses in D1, in their 12 games. While you might not feel the rest of the Big 10 was that strong, still they were not creampuffs. That is why Michigan's numbers appear so bad.

 

[nyclax]

Michigan played 3 games against UMD and 2 games against Rutgers, two of the best offenses in D1, in their 12 games. While you might not feel the rest of the Big 10 was that strong, still they were not creampuffs. That is why Michigan's numbers appear so bad.

Yes it was a very tough schedule. But their numbers also appear bad because they were bad.

 

[Zack80]

Yes it was a very tough schedule. But their numbers also appear bad because they were bad.

I think the evidence tends to support Michigan being middling.

 

[Laxfanshutt]

 

[Powellfan]

T25. Michigan
T25. Towson
24. High Point
23. Villanova
22. Richmond
21. Bryant
20. Cornel
19. Ohio State
18. Penn
17. Penn State
16. Drexel

 

[DoctahLexus]

T25. Michigan
T25. Towson
24. High Point
23. Villanova
22. Richmond
21. Bryant
20. Cornel
19. Ohio State
18. Penn
17. Penn State
16. Drexel

They lost a lot of talent and are certainly rusty, but Cornell should finish the season much higher than 20. Michael Long could easily become the next great QB attack in the ivy league and I believe they still have Piatelli too.

 

[Zack80]

As I mention above. I'd probably put Michigan in the 16-20 group, and OSU and PSU in the 21-25 group. OSU and PSU were both rather middling last season also, and lost a number of key players.

 

[Powellfan]

T25. Michigan
T25. Towson
24. High Point
23. Villanova
22. Richmond
21. Bryant
20. Cornel
19. Ohio State
18. Penn
17. Penn State
16. Drexel
15. Johns Hopkins
14. Delaware
13. Syracuse
12. Lehigh
11. Army

 

[nyclax]

Weird, does this mean Navy is going to be in the top 10? That strikes me as a stretch. Top 15 MAYBE.

Rutgers' preseason top 10 case is also a little thin to me given that they lose their entire starting attack. I'd have gone Army.

 

[wgdsr]

Weird, does this mean Navy is going to be in the top 10? That strikes me as a stretch. Top 15 MAYBE.

Rutgers' preseason top 10 case is also a little thin to me given that they lose their entire starting attack. I'd have gone Army.

no.
4 acc
2 b1g
2 big east
loyola
yale

 

[nyclax]

no.
4 acc
2 b1g
2 big east
loyola
yale

Good catch. Forgot about Yale.

In that case, it's strange that Navy isn't in the top 25 at all. They ended last year at #18 (went 6-3, beat Army and split the series with Loyola) and I haven't seen anything to suggest a major drop-off. Another good recruiting class coming in.

 

[Powellfan]

Strikes me as strange that Hopkins gets a lot of credit for going "toe to toe" with National Runner Up Maryland at the end of the year, yet Syracuse, who beat National Champion Virginia twice, gets a ho hum. I know Syracuse did not have a good year last year and under performed drastically given where they were ranked preseason, but this team does have a lot of talent (especially on offense) returning.

They need to figure out the defense and face-offs need to be more consistent, but I think a number 10 ranking is appropriate. I know Army wiped the floor with Syracuse last year, but there were a lot of caveats to that game including the fact that Army had about two extra weeks of practice (and a game in hand). Lehigh has a definite advantage at the face-off but I think Syracuse is a better overall team. I also would rank them over Yale given the Ivy League's one year absence. Anyway, it's probably better for SU to come in to the year with lower expectations and less pressure, but I have higher hopes for them than Lacrosse Magazine.

 

[Powellfan]

T25. Michigan
T25. Towson
24. High Point
23. Villanova
22. Richmond
21. Bryant
20. Cornel
19. Ohio State
18. Penn
17. Penn State
16. Drexel
15. Johns Hopkins
14. Delaware
13. Syracuse
12. Lehigh
11. Army
10. Denver
9. Yale
8. Loyola
7. Rutgers
6. Notre Dame

 

[Powellfan]

T25. Michigan
T25. Towson
24. High Point
23. Villanova
22. Richmond
21. Bryant
20. Cornel
19. Ohio State
18. Penn
17. Penn State
16. Drexel
15. Johns Hopkins
14. Delaware
13. Syracuse
12. Lehigh
11. Army
10. Denver
9. Yale
8. Loyola
7. Rutgers
6. Notre Dame
5. Georgetown
4. North Carolina
3. Virginia
2. Duke
1. Maryland

 

[nyclax]

Stevens not even mentioning Duke losing Sowers is bizarre. I get that he never really gelled in that offense, but he was still by FAR their best player and leading scorer with 81 pts. Losing him feels to me like it's worth a mention. Lulley may ultimately fit their style better but that's still a ton of production and talent to replace.

 

[Zack80]

I tend to see Maryland and Virginia as the dominant teams or frontrunners going into next season.
With UVa you have the pair of possible Tewaaraton finalists in Matt Moore and Shellenberger leading the way. Then you have another big time player in Cormier. Jeff Connor and Garno filling out the midfield. I was pretty impressed with Schutz this summer, perhaps as the 3rd attackman (could be an upgrade over Laviano), and you also have Xander Dickson. The close D is back as are some of the ssdms. Connors is a big loss at LSM, but Wayer did a nice job as #2 man. Have to replace Rode but they have the top incoming freshman in Nunes. FO look strong with LaSalla, although depth with could be a problem as Braun is the only other FO man on the roster.

If you assume the Donville would have been an AA in 2020 (he was named an IL AA on the shortened season), then UMd has 6 former AAs on the offense: Wisnauskas, Long, DeMaio, Fairman, Khan and Donville along with Maltz who scored 50pts last season and Malever, who had 20 on the 2nd midfield. Then you still have guys like Brennan, J.Koras, D.Kelly,... The Terps only lose Grill off the starting defense, but pull in a nice transfer in Owen Prybylski to go with talented young guys like the Burlaces and Jack Shirtzer. McNaney is back in goal, and Drew Morris has returned for a 5th year giving the Terps depth. FOs is a weak point for the Terps, Wiermann did a decent job last year and the Terps added Tygh.

For me Duke is a step behind. Losing Sowers was big. I think if you are putting Duke up there, you perhaps have to predict O'Neill moving up to being a Tewaraaton finalist type player.

 

[Zack80]

Here are some Griffin Schutz highlights.
You can decide for yourself whether he starts for UVA. What do you think wgdsr?

 

[Powellfan]

I tend to see Maryland and Virginia as the dominant teams or frontrunners going into next season.
With UVa you have the pair of possible Tewaaraton finalists in Matt Moore and Shellenberger leading the way. Then you have another big time player in Cormier. Jeff Connor and Garno filling out the midfield. I was pretty impressed with Schutz this summer, perhaps as the 3rd attackman (could be an upgrade over Laviano), and you also have Xander Dickson. The close D is back as are some of the ssdms. Connors is a big loss at LSM, but Wayer did a nice job as #2 man. Have to replace Rode but they have the top incoming freshman in Nunes. FO look strong with LaSalla, although depth with could be a problem as Braun is the only other FO man on the roster.

If you assume the Donville would have been an AA in 2020 (he was named an IL AA on the shortened season), then UMd has 6 former AAs on the offense: Wisnauskas, Long, DeMaio, Fairman, Khan and Donville along with Maltz who scored 50pts last season and Malever, who had 20 on the 2nd midfield. Then you still have guys like Brennan, J.Koras, D.Kelly,... The Terps only lose Grill off the starting defense, but pull in a nice transfer in Owen Prybylski to go with talented young guys like the Burlaces and Jack Shirtzer. McNaney is back in goal, and Drew Morris has returned for a 5th year giving the Terps depth. FOs is a weak point for the Terps, Wiermann did a decent job last year and the Terps added Tygh.

For me Duke is a step behind. Losing Sowers was big. I think if you are putting Duke up there, you perhaps have to predict O'Neill moving up to being a Tewaraaton finalist type player.

Agree that Maryland and UVA seem to be the clear cut top two teams. UVA has a way of stumbling throughout the regular season though. I still imagine they will be in the mix on Memorial Day. If they do lose Rhode, they looked pretty well set with Gavin in goal and it can't hurt to bring in the number one recruit. Still, Rhode had a way of playing the best at the end of the season. The offense is really scary and they alway seem to have a bunch of super athletic defensemen. Syracuse exposed them at the face-off dot twice last year, and that could be their weak spot if they don't have a counter to LaSalla.

Maryland should be interesting, it felt like so much of their offense went through Bernhardt last year - when things break down next year do they have a guy they can just give the ball to? UVA has two. Wisnauskas is very good but doesn't strike me as a guy who can score like that. They do seem to be deeper on offense though so maybe they just play a little differently. Face-off does make them look vulnerable. The Big 10 though does not look very good next year.

I think Duke might be flying under the radar a bit (hard to imagine that ever being the case with the endless love the lax media loves to give them) - but less might be more next year. They always seem like a better team when they are initiating out the midfield. Sowers never felt like the right fit for them, and with Lulley they may have a guy who fills more of a need. They don't really do well with ball dominate attackmen. Their midfield has talent with Montgomery, Caputo and an out of place Williams and they bring in the number one recruit. The attack should still be very good with O'Neil and Roberston. They look strong at the face-off and have Adler coming back in goal. For me, in my mind I thought they were losing a lot more than they are given that they brought in so many grad transfers last year. But they really aren't losing that much and have a ton of young players.

The one team I go back and forth on is Notre Dame - they lose their two headed monster at face-off and their best defenseman. But they bring back Kavanaugh and add his brother and a bunch of other really good offensive pieces. They always seem to reload on defense, but Byrne is gone it strikes me as odd that they would bring in a number of defensive transfers. I kind of wonder if they will be vulnerable next year.

 

[wgdsr]

Here are some Griffin Schutz highlights.
You can decide for yourself whether he starts for UVA. What do you think wgdsr?

saw him live for a quarter at the ua game and he was different than the others. will be tough to keep him off the field if he's doing half as well against college guys.
anyone will need to play fast, i expect the hoos to play a little faster this year. get braun out there more.

at attack without knowing hoos doing what, my best guess would be some sort of rotation around moore for 2 spots. shellenberger, cormier and shutz maybe like they did with bertrand. 3rd guy goes to mid. bertrand was eventually full time mid and it worked out.
bienkowski and maybe mcintosh could be guys that get runs out of the midfield.

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

Agree that Maryland and UVA seem to be the clear cut top two teams. UVA has a way of stumbling throughout the regular season though. I still imagine they will be in the mix on Memorial Day. If they do lose Rhode, they looked pretty well set with Gavin in goal and it can't hurt to bring in the number one recruit. Still, Rhode had a way of playing the best at the end of the season. The offense is really scary and they alway seem to have a bunch of super athletic defensemen. Syracuse exposed them at the face-off dot twice last year, and that could be their weak spot if they don't have a counter to LaSalla.

Maryland should be interesting, it felt like so much of their offense went through Bernhardt last year - when things break down next year do they have a guy they can just give the ball to? UVA has two. Wisnauskas is very good but doesn't strike me as a guy who can score like that. They do seem to be deeper on offense though so maybe they just play a little differently. Face-off does make them look vulnerable. The Big 10 though does not look very good next year.

I think Duke might be flying under the radar a bit (hard to imagine that ever being the case with the endless love the lax media loves to give them) - but less might be more next year. They always seem like a better team when they are initiating out the midfield. Sowers never felt like the right fit for them, and with Lulley they may have a guy who fills more of a need. They don't really do well with ball dominate attackmen. Their midfield has talent with Montgomery, Caputo and an out of place Williams and they bring in the number one recruit. The attack should still be very good with O'Neil and Roberston. They look strong at the face-off and have Adler coming back in goal. For me, in my mind I thought they were losing a lot more than they are given that they brought in so many grad transfers last year. But they really aren't losing that much and have a ton of young players.

The one team I go back and forth on is Notre Dame - they lose their two headed monster at face-off and their best defenseman. But they bring back Kavanaugh and add his brother and a bunch of other really good offensive pieces. They always seem to reload on defense, but Byrne is gone it strikes me as odd that they would bring in a number of defensive transfers. I kind of wonder if they will be vulnerable next year.

Was Jordan Wolf not a ball-dominant attackman? Sure seemed like it in 2013 and 2014.

 

[Powellfan]

Was Jordan Wolf not a ball-dominant attackman? Sure seemed like it in 2013 and 2014.

He was, and Danowksi was too. I should have mentioned them. I still think Duke likes to move the ball mostly through the midfield, though there are exceptions to the rule!

 

[Zack80]

Logan Wisnauskas can score like that, if he is 1-on-1, but if he is double-teamed he usually has to pass out of it.
Kyle Long has a really quick first step, and developed a nice shot on the run. Further Long is also an excellent passer, and when the slide comes can find finishers like Maltz, A.DeMaio or Wisnauskas for open looks.

Fairman is actually a really good dodger, but has struggled with his shot the last 2 seasons. If he finds his shot, watch out.

I am not to sure about Donville's and Khan's game, and how they fit into this, but both seem pretty good.

Another guy one wouldn't want to forget about is Eric Malever. He scored 20 points on the 2nd midfield as a freshman. A fairly good dodger from behind the goal.