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Message: [QUOTE="Powellfan, post: 5104344, member: 4819"] I'd say the same areas of concern that existed before the off season began are still there. But like you said, no other "real" issues have popped up, so that is a win, in and of itself. And all things considered, compared to other teams, the areas of concern that Syracuse has are a lot easier to deal with. Most other contending teams lost a LOT more than SU did. Syracuse will have their core players entering their junior season. That's a huge advantage. The biggest areas of concern for Syracuse, to me, are still as follows: 1. SSDM play - They supplemented a bit with Ryder Ochoa, and lost Vincent Trujilio to Loyola. All in all it seems like a wash. Perhaps someone like Jake Spallina or Nate LaVine takes a huge step forward like Carter Rice did last year. Fingers crossed Nick Turrini from Lehigh wants to follow in the lineage of Cole Kirst and Christian Mule. 2. Offensive dodging - I'm not sure how to classify this one. I feel like SU would be helped by adding one more guy on offense, but the transfer portal doesn't seem to have many obvious options. And all things considered, the Orange are in a good spot with seven of their top nine returning, and they are adding a five star recruit to the mix in Payton Anderson. And there might just be something said for sticking to your own guys and developing them. SU has been recruiting well these last few years and they have a decent amount of young players to pull from. If they can't find a surefire attackman, they are looking at filling a second line midfield role. It's hard to recruit a grad transfer to that role. They are probably better off filing that role naturally and hoping a young player can take the reins. Matt McIntee, Tucker Kellogg, Tyler McCartney, Wyatt Hottle, Carter Kempney are all names that seem worth investing in. 3. Goalie - Things seems to be pointing in Jimmy McCool's direction. A lot of pressure on the youngster, but if you want a guy to replace your starting All American goalie, it's good to have a five star recruit waiting in the wings. If it's true that SU didn't go after local grad transfer Luke Staudt because they were confident in McCool, that would be a great sign. 4. The Joey Spallina "Divide" - This can't be "fixed" in the portal, but one thing that needs to be addressed next year is the way Spallina plays against Top 10 teams vs the way he plays against everyone else. I think a lot of this got blown way out of proportion last year (lots players struggle against better competition). That said, it seemed like the team played one way when Spallina was "on", vs the way he was off. I think the coaches need to try and get him more involved in the bigger games, whether with picks, or off-ball stuff, and not leave him to dodge 1v1 against All Americans (or playing decoy). He's a great player, but it always seemed very strange to me how different they played, based on Spallina's match-up. I think the coaches need to prepare better next season. [/QUOTE]

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