2024 Preseason Top 20 Lookahead

[Powellfan]

 

[DoctahLexus]

When!

The team I would leave out of the top 5 would probably be UVa.
They lost 3 of their top 6 scorers: Dickson, McConvey, and Conner. LaSalla at FO, Zinn and Salade at ssdm, and their top cover d-man in Sausted.
They look a little weak in the middle of the field, and much of their offensive potential is in attackmen - how can they utilize them all. It seems like a challenging year for Tiffany. If he can get them back to the final four, I think it would be a nice accomplishment - and not just something automatic.

Agree they will need to find some answers at ssdm and fogo, but at least on offense I think they will still be one of the best if not the best in the country. They had the best offense last year efficiency-wise. Boyden from Tufts is a high level transfer who should be able to replicate a good deal of what Dickson did for them. Yes it is DIII but his talent is apparent and there have been several recent success stories with guys making the transition. They lose McConvey and Conner but they have some players with potential waiting in the wings like Truitt Sunderland and Joey Terenzi, as well as high level recruits like Millon. Shell, Shutz and Cormier are their best dodgers and they all return.

Would argue Kaestner and Saustad are considered about even as top cover guy. He is a loss not too different from MD losing Makar while keeping Zappitello.

 

[Powellfan]

Agree they will need to find some answers at ssdm and fogo, but at least on offense I think they will still be one of the best if not the best in the country. They had the best offense last year efficiency-wise. Boyden from Tufts is a high level transfer who should be able to replicate a good deal of what Dickson did for them. Yes it is DIII but his talent is apparent and there have been several recent success stories with guys making the transition. They lose McConvey and Conner but they have some players with potential waiting in the wings like Truitt Sunderland and Joey Terenzi, as well as high level recruits like Millon. Shell, Shutz and Cormier are their best dodgers and they all return.

Would argue Kaestner and Saustad are considered about even as top cover guy. He is a loss not too different from MD losing Makar while keeping Zappitello.

Is it true that Shellenberger was playing hurt last year? If he was, and he still was named to the Tewaaraton finalist that is really impressive. If he's 100% this year then I'm sure UVA won't have many problems on offense. I agree Boyden seems like a pretty obvious replacement for Dickson, although Shellenberger and him had four years of history together. Not sure he'll put up the same goal totals, but Shellenberger might add more unassisted goals to his column that it might not matter much.

LaSalla will be missed but the Cavs brought in three guys to compete who I believe face-ed off at above 55% last year. I don't think that will be a problem area for Virginia.

My pick for a team that might regress from last year is Penn State. They had some not so good losses last year, against Marquette and Villanova. They obviously finished the season really strong, and got robbed in the Final Four, but they aren't the most consistent program out there, and they also haven't really addressed their face-off issues (didn't win over 50% last year). I could definitely see them fail to live up to expectations next year.

 

[Zack80]

UVa's 3 face-off transfers
Anthony Ghobriel Navy 185-306, .605 , 0g - 3a
Matthew DeSouza Binghamton 138-222, .622, 3g - 1a
Thomas Colucci Colgate 84-172, .488 , 6g - 1a
The competition for these guys wasn't that strong though.

 

[wgdsr]

UVa's 3 face-off transfers
Anthony Ghobriel Navy 185-306, .605 , 0g - 3a
Matthew DeSouza Binghamton 138-222, .622, 3g - 1a
Thomas Colucci Colgate 84-172, .488 , 6g - 1a
The competition for these guys wasn't that strong though.

hoo were the schools after ghobriel and desouza?

 

[Zack80]

hoo were the schools after ghobriel and desouza?

I meant that the competition that they played against wasn't that strong.

 

[wgdsr]

I meant that the competition that they played against wasn't that strong.

ahh.

 

[wgdsr]

Maryland was without Zappitello, and Geppert was hobbled with an injury ar the end of last season.
Getting McNaney and Malever back will be akin to adding 2 top transfers with respect to last year's team, except that they know UMd's system.
The defensive transfers from Vermont seem fairly good, and should add some nice experienced depth.
Maryland will also have a number of red-shirt freshmen stepping in like AJ Larkin, Aiden Aitken, Trace Davidson and George Stamos.

So overall I think the +- for the Terps from last year is a +. This would be especially true when compared with the Terps at the end of the year with Zappitello out.

the $64,000 question is if the terps are a 12-13 goal team like '19 and '23 or the 16-18 goal team as in '21-'22.

i'd lean toward the former at this point. we know they'll have a good d. if they're a 12-13 goal squad in the shot clock era... no bueno.

 

[Zack80]

the $64,000 question is if the terps are a 12-13 goal team like '19 and '23 or the 16-18 goal team as in '21-'22.

i'd lean toward the former at this point. we know they'll have a good d. if they're a 12-13 goal squad in the shot clock era... no bueno.

The Terps were going along pretty well, until the end of the season when Zappitello and Geppert got injured.

I also think it is unlikely that the Terps will score in the 16-18 goal range, but I think if the Terps can push it out to 14 gpg, they will do very well given their style.

 

[wgdsr]

The Terps were going along pretty well, until the end of the season when Zappitello and Geppert got injured.

I also think it is unlikely that the Terps will score in the 16-18 goal range, but I think if the Terps can push it out to 14 gpg, they will do very well given their style.

obviously, the terps got it right in 21 and 22. the right mix of personnel and coaching. maybe tillman will continue to be more hands off or amenable to terps and offense.

not for nothing, but those 2 years also included benson. they've yet to be anything more than a defense first team without him. and that includes 2019 when they had 2 future tewaaraton winners. it's now the shot clock era and by all indications, you need to be able to score.

from muzzarah on their offense until proven otherwise. i like malever's game a lot and hope he can be all the way back and have the keys. but that seems like it comes with a lot of questions.

 

[Zack80]

My Early Rankings
1. Duke - The addition of talented attackman Josh Zawada seems like a big plus to go with Brennan O'Neill.
2.. Notre Dame - Lose Fake and Tevlin, but have the Kavanaghs and company returning.
3. Penn State - Get a lot back, except for 2nd and 3rd leading scorers: Jack Traynor and Winkoff, but have some good stuff to fill in that hole including #7 recruit Kyle Lehman and transfer Sean Donnelly. Have TJ Malone and Fracyon(g) back.
4. Maryland - have almost everything back on offense, but have to replace Makar and Geppert on defense. Have 2 top recruits as sophomores: Larkin and Schaller along with grad transfers from Vermont to fill in. Strong speciallists with McNaney (g) and Wierman (FO)
5. Cornell - Need to replace top D-man Adler, but get M.Long back from injury to team with CJ Kirst on attack.
6) Virginia - Lose quite a bit: 3 of top 6 scorers, LaSalla at FO, Sausted on D, and 2 top ssdms. Still, loaded with talent, including Shellenberger and Cormier on attack, and Kastner on the defense.
7) Syracuse - Lose former transfers Kirst and Simmons but bring in a stronger group with Sammy English, Christian Mule, and Jake Stevens on offense, also Matt Wright (LSM). Strong freshman class last year lead by Joey Spallina and Finn Thompson become sophomores. Mark returns in goal.
8) Hopkins - Return almost everything from last year's team, except D-man Mazzone. Need to step up their play against top teams.
9) Army - return a lot from their NCAA tmt team last year
10) Yale - Matt Brandau is supposedly back to lead the offense.
11) Michigan - loss of Zawada to transfer takes a little wind out of their sails.

 

[nyclax]

My Early Rankings
1. Duke - The addition of talented attackman Josh Zawada seems like a big plus to go with Brennan O'Neill.
2.. Notre Dame - Lose Fake and Tevlin, but have the Kavanaghs and company returning.
3. Penn State - Get a lot back, except for 2nd and 3rd leading scorers: Jack Traynor and Winkoff, but have some good stuff to fill in that hole including #7 recruit Kyle Lehman and transfer Sean Donnelly. Have TJ Malone and Fracyon(g) back.
4. Maryland - have almost everything back on offense, but have to replace Makar and Geppert on defense. Have 2 top recruits as sophomores: Larkin and Schaller along with grad transfers from Vermont to fill in. Strong speciallists with McNaney (g) and Wierman (FO)
5. Cornell - Need to replace top D-man Adler, but get M.Long back from injury to team with CJ Kirst on attack.
6) Virginia - Lose quite a bit: 3 of top 6 scorers, LaSalla at FO, Sausted on D, and 2 top ssdms. Still, loaded with talent, including Shellenberger and Cormier on attack, and Kastner on the defense.
7) Syracuse - Lose former transfers Kirst and Simmons but bring in a stronger group with Sammy English, Christian Mule, and Jake Stevens on offense, also Matt Wright (LSM). Strong freshman class last year lead by Joey Spallina and Finn Thompson become sophomores. Mark returns in goal.
8) Hopkins - Return almost everything from last year's team, except D-man Mazzone. Need to step up their play against top teams.
9) Army - return a lot from their NCAA tmt team last year
10) Yale - Matt Brandau is supposedly back to lead the offense.
11) Michigan - loss of Zawada to transfer takes a little wind out of their sails.

cornell too high. i dont see how theyre better than last year after losing adler and ierlan. a full season of long helps but offense wasnt the issue. they also lose billy coyle, who had a great year. so thats sort of a wash with Long coming back. good team, like i mentioned in a previous post they should prob be favorites in the Ivy league but dont believe they should be ahead of virginia, hopkins, and maybe army but thats debatable. remember this is a team that lost to harvard and also lost first round at home

ive come around on yale a little bit since my last post. i still would say the defense is a major issue but they return a ton of firepower on offense and get brad sharp back from injury and paquette comes back in goal aaand i love the moynihan kid out of taft. lyons brandau johnson is a hell of an attack. experience, skill, dodging, finishing ability. it has everything. if shay can't fix the D this year ill start to genuinely question his coaching ability. its been mediocre or worse for too long, even dating back to those very good teams when faceoff dominance masked how shaky the D was. they got to figure it out already

 

[Zack80]

cornell too high. i dont see how theyre better than last year after losing adler and ierlan. a full season of long helps but offense wasnt the issue. they also lose billy coyle, who had a great year. so thats sort of a wash with Long coming back. good team, like i mentioned in a previous post they should prob be favorites in the Ivy league but dont believe they should be ahead of virginia, hopkins, and maybe army but thats debatable. remember this is a team that lost to harvard and also lost first round at home

Cornell and Hopkins both return a lot on offense, but I like the fact that Cornell has a Tewaaraton finalist in CJ Kirst on attack. I don't know if Cornell needs to go with a freshman in goal, but I thought Matthew Tully looked pretty good in the NB All-American game. Cornell's attack recruit Willem Firth seemed to be burning things up in the Box League this summer. Cornell also has a 5-star midfield recruit showing up in AJ Nikolic

 

[Powellfan]

Anyone have surprise teams that might jump into the top 20? Top 10? Hopkins obviously went from unranked and people assuming Milliman might be fired to making the second round of the playoffs.

Obviously the Top 20 now, won't be what things look like by the end of the season. I think Bryant might be a team that surprises, they are a team I had in my top 20 that US Lacrosse did not. They were a playoff team last year so maybe that's not such a huge surprise. Loyola and Harvard are other teams that could make a leap as well. Navy maybe gets their ship straightened? Anyone else have teams that might surprise?

 

[DoctahLexus]

Anyone have surprise teams that might jump into the top 20? Top 10? Hopkins obviously went from unranked and people assuming Milliman might be fired to making the second round of the playoffs.

Obviously the Top 20 now, won't be what things look like by the end of the season. I think Bryant might be a team that surprises, they are a team I had in my top 20 that US Lacrosse did not. They were a playoff team last year so maybe that's not such a huge surprise. Loyola and Harvard are other teams that could make a leap as well. Navy maybe gets their ship straightened? Anyone else have teams that might surprise?

It's a big maybe but Denver has some solid younger guys in their offense who can actually dodge fairly well in Noah Manning and Mic Kelly. A jump from one of them plus hopefully some creative wrinkles or chance taking with the O now that Tierney is gone and mayyybe they surprise a little. They have a good defense and one of the best fogos in the country. Dont have full faith in that happening but who knows.

Richmond was recovering from losing 3 of their top 4 scorers in 2022, including the great Ryan Lanchburry, still had a solid season and return a lot of their talent. Chemotti is a good coach and often finds some underrated talent in his classes. They probably will be able to win their conference again, but with enough development of younger talent they could potentially get somewhere in the tourney. They have one of the best local products out there in Lance Madonna. Often they give good teams a hard time.

 

[Zack80]

UNC could be a bit of a surprise if D.Pietramala, jr, and Owen Duffy can make an impact as freshmen. UNC also brings in a top FO recruit in Brady Wambach.

 

[Powellfan]

Official on Dr. Degnon (I kid, I kid). Hopkins now returns their starting attack from last year. Believe they are set to lose all three after this season. Interesting given they brought in two similar players at lefty attack in freshmen Sorchetti and Chauvette. Plus their fourth and fifth leading scorers from last year are lefties in Collison and Grimes.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Official on Dr. Degnon (I kid, I kid). Hopkins now returns their starting attack from last year. Believe they are set to lose all three after this season. Interesting given they brought in two similar players at lefty attack in freshmen Sorchetti and Chauvette. Plus their fourth and fifth leading scorers from last year are lefties in Collison and Grimes.

A bit surprised the NCAA gave a waiver but good for them I guess. Interesting season for Hop, chance to make a deep run but they have some younger guys like you noted in Sorchetti and Chauvette that they probably have to try and find PT for to prepare for 2025 as they lose a bunch to graduation in Angelus, Grimes, Degnon, Melendez (unless he gets a waiver) plus Scott Smith (again unless he gets a waiver), Szuluk, Martin, Raposo, Ierlan obviously etc.

Could see them try and go all in this year assuming they can get enough at the X without Narewski

 

[wgdsr]

melendez played his 1st 3 games as a soph and then definitely had a season ending injury. he'll get a medical redshirt if he wants it.

 

[Laxfanshutt]

 

[Zack80]

malever tore two ligaments and broke his leg. it was a catastrophic injury. it is far far far from a guarantee he's the same player he was. you can't count on that being akin to adding a top transfer

mcnaney will help. ruppel had his moments for sure but it was clear as the season went on that he was not mcnaney.

makar could be a bigger loss in the locker room than on the field. zaps was the better cover guy. he steps up to be the No. 1 and they may not miss a beat with larkin or schaller moving in

Malever is looking good so far.

 

[Powellfan]

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

Oh no, whatever will UVA do for midfield depth.

 

[DMVCuseLax]

Oh no, whatever will UVA do for midfield depth.

Time for a job. How old are these guys?

 

[DoctahLexus]

Oh no, whatever will UVA do for midfield depth.

They are also losing Zinn and some of their other middle of the field guys. Think Jeff Connor also graduates but not sure. Im sure they would have wanted him back. Could look a little less imposing on D and middle of the field/transition next year, offense however...will be more than just fine.