Yeah, Will Mark HM. SMHWill Mark only HM?
We'll see about that.
Olexo might have had a better shot at making this if he stayed exclusively at LSM or Close. Not sure what position he plays this season, but he is an elite talent without question.Pretty surprised Olexo wasn’t named at all. You’re telling me he’s not a top 20 Close D or LSM in the country? Maybe I don’t follow the sport as a whole enough, but seems to me he would be.
Anyone know where he’s playing this year? Is it Close again or is he moving back to LSM?
Pretty surprised Olexo wasn’t named at all. You’re telling me he’s not a top 20 Close D or LSM in the country? Maybe I don’t follow the sport as a whole enough, but seems to me he would be.
Anyone know where he’s playing this year? Is it Close again or is he moving back to LSM?
Thanks for the insight. Any word on how Fig has looked leading up to his first college season? I know Spallina dropped a quote with some praise for him in the Fall.I've heard both spots but I think ultimately he ends up at close. I think in a perfect world for SU he plays at LSM as he can be a terror in transition and has the ability to play 1 on 1 with elite middies. He also played a lot of LSM this fall ( I know because he told me). However, SU brought in two excellent LSM's via the portal in Wright and Schmitt, neither projects to play close and neither came to sit when both were starters and in Schmitt's case I believe was the conferences LSM of the year. I can't see trying a 3 man rotation there, someone is barely gonna see the field.
I believe the lure of being able to pair him with Figuerias and have two potential lock down defenders at close along with likely Dwan will prove to much to resist.
I believe the lure of being able to pair him with Figuerias and have two potential lock down defenders at close along with likely Dwan will prove to much to resist.
This is the lineup I am rooting for. I think Dwan would be a good complimentary defender who could also match up with the bigger bodies out there. Figuerias and Olexo could both potentially take away other teams top dodging threats. And it may just be me, but it seems like most teams these days are initiating most of their offense through the attack, and not the midfield. I'd rather have Olexo and Figuerias on say Shellenberger and Cormier, or O'Neil and Zawada (assuming he plays attack) or the Kavanaugh Brothers than I would have one of them on Shutz or McAdory or Dobson coming out of the box. If you are worried about transition offense, Schmitt from Mt. St. Mary's should have that department covered.
It would be pretty remarkable if SU had their entire close defense that started last year (Clary, Kol and Caccamo) return this year and none of them retained their starting spot. Clary was hurt a lot of last year and then was benched in the season finale vs Duke. Caccamo moved to LSM when Clary was hurt and Olexo had to guard the #1 attackman, but looked out of place. Kol struggled down the stretch. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Kol does keep his spot and Olexo starts at LSM, but maybe I am putting to much into him being a captain.
I haven't seen any tape of Schmitt but he is coming from playing in the MAAC which is a very weak conference. Just look at what Deleware did to Marist in the NCAA play in game. Marist won the MAAC and got blown off the field. I'm sure he a really good player but his stats u would think would be much different playing in the ACC. Getting CTs from guys on Sienna or Wagner is different then doing it to guys on Duke and ND. Again he might be just as good don't know until he's on the field. Some guys are just good and do it against whatever level of comp. Me personally I just love Olexos game as an LSM. I get it's probably best with him at close unless Clary was just injured last yr and is ready to go this yr. I also wonder is you guys did see Caccamo with a short stick in that pic? I mean if that's his way to get the most PT he might have been open to it and would really help solidify the SSDM groupThink it will come down to who of Clary Caccamo and Kol can prove that their team defense errors last season were more a result of trying to play within Petros complex scheme, and not a result of their own bad decision making. They all made plenty of errors in team defense last season. I think if we are talking strictly 1v1 cover ability then Clary is the best of the three, but he may have been most likely to make an error in team play. Going in and out of the lineup due to injury did him no favors, but there were some seeerious head scratchers from him if you look at even just highlight tapes from our games last season.
There are a couple dark horse options on close D as well. Puckhaber the Gettysburgh transfer and Fratterigo (played in '22 but injured last year) could also push for time. Depth and competition is needed there. Our list of substitute options we could trust was a lot thinner last season.
Think that Caccamo photo is just a weird angle and he is holding a long stick. I highly doubt he gets moved to ssdm at this stage. He is a very solid cover guy too, but had some trouble with strait up speed dodgers last season. Did a great job covering Coulter Mackesy in the Princeton game but got burned by Lance Tillman a couple times in the UNC game. Dont think his game would translate to short stick.I haven't seen any tape of Schmitt but he is coming from playing in the MAAC which is a very weak conference. Just look at what Deleware did to Marist in the NCAA play in game. Marist won the MAAC and got blown off the field. I'm sure he a really good player but his stats u would think would be much different playing in the ACC. Getting CTs from guys on Sienna or Wagner is different then doing it to guys on Duke and ND. Again he might be just as good don't know until he's on the field. Some guys are just good and do it against whatever level of comp. Me personally I just love Olexos game as an LSM. I get it's probably best with him at close unless Clary was just injured last yr and is ready to go this yr. I also wonder is you guys did see Caccamo with a short stick in that pic? I mean if that's his way to get the most PT he might have been open to it and would really help solidify the SSDM group