Albany Game Lookahead | Syracusefan.com

Albany Game Lookahead

Powellfan

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I thought it might be best if we stopped wallowing in the loathing of Friday night and move on to the next game. I know it may seem like the season is already over, but truth be told there are still 11 regular season games on the schedule. Syracuse does in fact have talent and they can still get their act together. I'll try and take a look at different facets of the team after one game and see how things can move forward against the Great Danes.

Defense - Certainly not a good showing, though there were some bright spots. A good amount of the early goals were scored on back up SSDMs (Murphy gave up at least two, Barlow another), and offensive middies. Bomberry no doubt had a very bad game, and on paper he matches up well with Nanticoke, but how can you trust him at this point? He remains an enigma to me after a very solid sophomore campaign (on the positive side he remains the teams' best groundball player by a wide margin). So who does cover Nanticoke? I don't know - Mellen played very well on the much larger Cleveland after being switched, but Nanticoke is much more physical. Bump Kennedy? I don't know but I think it's the biggest question of the game. Clearing the ball also was atrocious, which is bothersome because they had been practicing indoors all preseason - how does that happen? On the good side, I thought Porter played a very good game - didn't see the passing ability of Madonna or Galloway, but seemed composed and made big stops. Also the starting short stick duo of Dearth and Helmer played well. Overall unit has some concerning problems (they are still half sliding!), but also still has Mellen and Kennedy, which gives me hope for a turnaround.

Face-off - First and foremost, groundball play was really bad. Varello didn't help his cause much, but Kennedy and Dearth were just out of synch. The most maddening thing is watching the opening battle, and see Dearth bend down with one hand on his stick and completely out-run it. He did this to a maddening degree last year and I don't know why the coaches haven't gotten to him yet about this. Nice to see Phaup come in and steady to ship (especially by winning to himself). Bright side might be that the schedule might not have many truly elite FOGOS and Albany and Army look like they might be below average at this spot. Again, they can turn things around here but its frustrating to see the same issues come up again and again.

Offense - Well, what can you say after that performance? Not many good things. Offense looked like it was moving the ball early - Lipka and Voigt were set up right on the door step, but the Colgate goalie made some big stops. But then things digressed with hero ball and the "clogged toilet" motion offense, no one moved, guys took easy to save shots, or shots that weren't even close to the target. Have to hope that maybe Rhefuss was injured and that things will open up but that was rough. Frustrating to see Trimboli beleive in himself a little too much and take long distance shots that must have looked like beach balls to the Colgate keeper. Cook looked promising but stage seemed to overwhelm him. I think it might be beneficial for him to only focus on playing attack right now and not take shifts at midfield. I think Desko is too concerned about getting short stick matchups. And a year after playing too many guys, it felt like he wasn't playing enough. The second line just seemed to consist of rotating Lucas Quinn and Solomon or Cook in with members of the first line. What happened to Buttermore and Carlin? Hurt, suspended? I do think the first line should play significantly more than they did last year, but it seemed to swing too much to that side against Colgate. Hope the Orange are better prepared against Albany - they have a lot of new starters on defense - but SU needs to worry less about matchups and more on finishing plays. I also never would have imagined Syracuse to struggle with a shot clock, but they never seemed to look comfortable, either wasting time or rushing the ball. Colgate looked to have a plan whereas Syracuse seemed like they were making things up as they went along. The years of playing slowdown ball the last few years look to have taken a toll.

In conclusion I think every facet of the Orange has real issues, but the offense seems to be the most concerning thing. Better execution, better game planning, all of it needs work right now. A leader needs to emerge and make things happen. There really is no excuse for the offense to struggle like this, every player save Cook saw significant playing time last year. Things can still turn around but I think the coaches really need to step up and develop an identity. They can't rely on a game changer but if they play as a unit they can be very good - the talent is there, they just have to utilize it. If they all try and play as individuals they won't get very far.
 
"When the Orange opens its 2019 season Friday against visiting Colgate, it will mark the first of seven straight games SU will play in the Carrier Dome. The Orange then closes with four of five on the road."

what ? this makes sense. how ?
 
"When the Orange opens its 2019 season Friday against visiting Colgate, it will mark the first of seven straight games SU will play in the Carrier Dome. The Orange then closes with four of five on the road."

what ? this makes sense. how ?

Hopkins game would have been away. But Cuse went there two years in a row, so Hopkins is in its second year of going to Syracuse. Balance.

As for much of the rest of the early schedule — would you rather play where it’s 70 and “sunny” or in the wind/cold/snow? Army and Albany agree with you
 
hey i don't want to play outside this winter . but seven straight is absurd.
 
Agree Powell, On your comments.
Prefer close defender to first and foremost provide defense as best as possible. Naniv=coke tough matchup for anyone. Other options include strong body DiPietro in middle or Cunnigham shifting over though that means new assignments. Dearth may have overran a few but more importantly had strong defensive game , actually like to see him more involved n offensive . Just one game, he and Schwas are good ss wing players . Colgate seals well but fact is our wings grabbed more gbs if one checks, Kennedy lifting a ball in air amongst sticks is smart not a mistake. You lift, kick , head butt ball to space when needed n run to it.. Most fogos wins clean or went deep into field. Phaup was great with eight clean wins and getting out. No one mentioned his caused turnover but it resulted in Solomon goal. He is emerging nicely. Varello performance vs TD not a fluke. Fogo matchups are weird. Colgate mids got to some gbs that could have been ours with right bounce. DM Helmer was great . Barlow is learning position , work in progress but athletic and long . Going to be some growing pains with Cook as with Rice. Payoff coming down road. Any offense needs movement, disappointed in flow but little reason to doubt Refhus and others because they have done it against some good D's . Dordevic obviously missed but we gave away too many possessions with low percentage shots as noted by you and R. Powell. That is mental and correctable .Expect rotation to be expanded some . Still made it a one goal game due to some individual plays but team has to more disciplined. Please leave Curry at mid, his dodges from up top are needed. Porter was impressive .
 
I thought it might be best if we stopped wallowing in the loathing of Friday night and move on to the next game. I know it may seem like the season is already over, but truth be told there are still 11 regular season games on the schedule. Syracuse does in fact have talent and they can still get their act together. I'll try and take a look at different facets of the team after one game and see how things can move forward against the Great Danes.

Defense - Certainly not a good showing, though there were some bright spots. A good amount of the early goals were scored on back up SSDMs (Murphy gave up at least two, Barlow another), and offensive middies. Bomberry no doubt had a very bad game, and on paper he matches up well with Nanticoke, but how can you trust him at this point? He remains an enigma to me after a very solid sophomore campaign (on the positive side he remains the teams' best groundball player by a wide margin). So who does cover Nanticoke? I don't know - Mellen played very well on the much larger Cleveland after being switched, but Nanticoke is much more physical. Bump Kennedy? I don't know but I think it's the biggest question of the game. Clearing the ball also was atrocious, which is bothersome because they had been practicing indoors all preseason - how does that happen? On the good side, I thought Porter played a very good game - didn't see the passing ability of Madonna or Galloway, but seemed composed and made big stops. Also the starting short stick duo of Dearth and Helmer played well. Overall unit has some concerning problems (they are still half sliding!), but also still has Mellen and Kennedy, which gives me hope for a turnaround.

Face-off - First and foremost, groundball play was really bad. Varello didn't help his cause much, but Kennedy and Dearth were just out of synch. The most maddening thing is watching the opening battle, and see Dearth bend down with one hand on his stick and completely out-run it. He did this to a maddening degree last year and I don't know why the coaches haven't gotten to him yet about this. Nice to see Phaup come in and steady to ship (especially by winning to himself). Bright side might be that the schedule might not have many truly elite FOGOS and Albany and Army look like they might be below average at this spot. Again, they can turn things around here but its frustrating to see the same issues come up again and again.

Offense - Well, what can you say after that performance? Not many good things. Offense looked like it was moving the ball early - Lipka and Voigt were set up right on the door step, but the Colgate goalie made some big stops. But then things digressed with hero ball and the "clogged toilet" motion offense, no one moved, guys took easy to save shots, or shots that weren't even close to the target. Have to hope that maybe Rhefuss was injured and that things will open up but that was rough. Frustrating to see Trimboli beleive in himself a little too much and take long distance shots that must have looked like beach balls to the Colgate keeper. Cook looked promising but stage seemed to overwhelm him. I think it might be beneficial for him to only focus on playing attack right now and not take shifts at midfield. I think Desko is too concerned about getting short stick matchups. And a year after playing too many guys, it felt like he wasn't playing enough. The second line just seemed to consist of rotating Lucas Quinn and Solomon or Cook in with members of the first line. What happened to Buttermore and Carlin? Hurt, suspended? I do think the first line should play significantly more than they did last year, but it seemed to swing too much to that side against Colgate. Hope the Orange are better prepared against Albany - they have a lot of new starters on defense - but SU needs to worry less about matchups and more on finishing plays. I also never would have imagined Syracuse to struggle with a shot clock, but they never seemed to look comfortable, either wasting time or rushing the ball. Colgate looked to have a plan whereas Syracuse seemed like they were making things up as they went along. The years of playing slowdown ball the last few years look to have taken a toll.

In conclusion I think every facet of the Orange has real issues, but the offense seems to be the most concerning thing. Better execution, better game planning, all of it needs work right now. A leader needs to emerge and make things happen. There really is no excuse for the offense to struggle like this, every player save Cook saw significant playing time last year. Things can still turn around but I think the coaches really need to step up and develop an identity. They can't rely on a game changer but if they play as a unit they can be very good - the talent is there, they just have to utilize it. If they all try and play as individuals they won't get very far.

Great assessment - agree all around
 
I thought it might be best if we stopped wallowing in the loathing of Friday night and move on to the next game. I know it may seem like the season is already over, but truth be told there are still 11 regular season games on the schedule. Syracuse does in fact have talent and they can still get their act together. I'll try and take a look at different facets of the team after one game and see how things can move forward against the Great Danes.

Defense - Certainly not a good showing, though there were some bright spots. A good amount of the early goals were scored on back up SSDMs (Murphy gave up at least two, Barlow another), and offensive middies. Bomberry no doubt had a very bad game, and on paper he matches up well with Nanticoke, but how can you trust him at this point? He remains an enigma to me after a very solid sophomore campaign (on the positive side he remains the teams' best groundball player by a wide margin). So who does cover Nanticoke? I don't know - Mellen played very well on the much larger Cleveland after being switched, but Nanticoke is much more physical. Bump Kennedy? I don't know but I think it's the biggest question of the game. Clearing the ball also was atrocious, which is bothersome because they had been practicing indoors all preseason - how does that happen? On the good side, I thought Porter played a very good game - didn't see the passing ability of Madonna or Galloway, but seemed composed and made big stops. Also the starting short stick duo of Dearth and Helmer played well. Overall unit has some concerning problems (they are still half sliding!), but also still has Mellen and Kennedy, which gives me hope for a turnaround.

Face-off - First and foremost, groundball play was really bad. Varello didn't help his cause much, but Kennedy and Dearth were just out of synch. The most maddening thing is watching the opening battle, and see Dearth bend down with one hand on his stick and completely out-run it. He did this to a maddening degree last year and I don't know why the coaches haven't gotten to him yet about this. Nice to see Phaup come in and steady to ship (especially by winning to himself). Bright side might be that the schedule might not have many truly elite FOGOS and Albany and Army look like they might be below average at this spot. Again, they can turn things around here but its frustrating to see the same issues come up again and again.

Offense - Well, what can you say after that performance? Not many good things. Offense looked like it was moving the ball early - Lipka and Voigt were set up right on the door step, but the Colgate goalie made some big stops. But then things digressed with hero ball and the "clogged toilet" motion offense, no one moved, guys took easy to save shots, or shots that weren't even close to the target. Have to hope that maybe Rhefuss was injured and that things will open up but that was rough. Frustrating to see Trimboli beleive in himself a little too much and take long distance shots that must have looked like beach balls to the Colgate keeper. Cook looked promising but stage seemed to overwhelm him. I think it might be beneficial for him to only focus on playing attack right now and not take shifts at midfield. I think Desko is too concerned about getting short stick matchups. And a year after playing too many guys, it felt like he wasn't playing enough. The second line just seemed to consist of rotating Lucas Quinn and Solomon or Cook in with members of the first line. What happened to Buttermore and Carlin? Hurt, suspended? I do think the first line should play significantly more than they did last year, but it seemed to swing too much to that side against Colgate. Hope the Orange are better prepared against Albany - they have a lot of new starters on defense - but SU needs to worry less about matchups and more on finishing plays. I also never would have imagined Syracuse to struggle with a shot clock, but they never seemed to look comfortable, either wasting time or rushing the ball. Colgate looked to have a plan whereas Syracuse seemed like they were making things up as they went along. The years of playing slowdown ball the last few years look to have taken a toll.

In conclusion I think every facet of the Orange has real issues, but the offense seems to be the most concerning thing. Better execution, better game planning, all of it needs work right now. A leader needs to emerge and make things happen. There really is no excuse for the offense to struggle like this, every player save Cook saw significant playing time last year. Things can still turn around but I think the coaches really need to step up and develop an identity. They can't rely on a game changer but if they play as a unit they can be very good - the talent is there, they just have to utilize it. If they all try and play as individuals they won't get very far.
I did not post over the last couple days because I only would have jumped on doom train. If I read you right Powell fan, you might have written this analysis after last year's albany, JU, games and maybe some the year year before. These are the areas I believe you are describing: first, preparation, the team seems not to understand what the other team is doing on offense or defense. Second, adaptation from one half to the other. It seems to take SU the first half of every game to acclimate to the other team's tactics. Desko seems to reassure himself that the team is improving in the second half of every game. I think he is reassuring himself. Third, player development: potentially good players with a few exceptions do not seem to make the leaps expected from frosh to soph to junior years. Fourth: fundamentals. Slides, ground balls, passes, cuts, picks, all the stuff necessary to play basic lacrosse seems to be missing. Are the players in shape?

Were I the coach, I would ignore Albany and spend the next four or five days on practicing fundamentals. With close instruction and constant correction of small and large mistakes. Demand that the players commit to avoiding unforced errors. Force the other team to beat them without orange help.
 
Third week in a row with no 2019 opponent film to look at. Makes it tough to prepare for the other team. Hope they had some spies at Albany’s scrimmage s couple weeks ago.
 
I think Phaup should get the starting nod at FOGO against the Danes. I don't care if Varello owns him in practice, he earned it with his performance against Colgate. He scoops with two hands and made good decisions when he came up with the ball. As Ivorytower mentioned, he created a turnover that led to a Solomon goal after he lost the draw and hounded the other FOGO.
 
Third week in a row with no 2019 opponent film to look at. Makes it tough to prepare for the other team. Hope they had some spies at Albany’s scrimmage s couple weeks ago.

Somehow I doubt this. The last time they lost a season opener was against Albany in Lyle Thompson's sophomore year. Desko blamed the loss on not knowing that Lyle had moved to attack, even though there were reports of it on laxpower.
 
I think Phaup should get the starting nod at FOGO against the Danes. I don't care if Varello owns him in practice, he earned it with his performance against Colgate. He scoops with two hands and made good decisions when he came up with the ball. As Ivorytower mentioned, he created a turnover that led to a Solomon goal after he lost the draw and hounded the other FOGO.

Totally agree. The difference in athleticism/3 v 3 groundballs is night and day, and the difference in their skill on the clamp actually seemed pretty insignificant. At times I thought Phaup actually outperformed Varello on the clamp, let alone on ground balls and running away from pressure where he was miles better. Desko made some solid coaching decisions against Colgate (Putting Melon on their big attackmen who was beating Bomberry, keeping Curry in the game as much as possible) but the worst one was going to Varello too much in the second half.
 
Somehow I doubt this. The last time they lost a season opener was against Albany in Lyle Thompson's sophomore year. Desko blamed the loss on not knowing that Lyle had moved to attack, even though there were reports of it on laxpower.

Enjoyed watching ex Cuse Jeremy Thompson in World Games as much as Lyle and Miles. Like his feistiness . Is he and Jerome still playing professionally? Spilt milk but always wondered if his experience here led his brothers to go to Albany. Would hope he enjoyed time here, cuse won big in his two years though both years finished with tough overtime losses in NCAA.
 
Enjoyed watching ex Cuse Jeremy Thompson in World Games as much as Lyle and Miles. Like his feistiness . Is he and Jerome still playing professionally? Spilt milk but always wondered if his experience here led his brothers to go to Albany. Would hope he enjoyed time here, cuse won big in his two years though both years finished with tough overtime losses in NCAA.

There always were competing narratives as to why they didn't choose Syracuse. Either they weren't recruited too hard or they wanted to leave their own marks.

Albany's Lyle Thompson: 'Syracuse honestly didn't recruit us too hard'

Miles Thompson is glad he picked Albany lacrosse over Syracuse
 
This game is a pretty simple measuring stick for me. Albany lost a boat load of talent as well as their DCoordinator (Liam Gleason Siena) and with a 'normal' Syracuse team we should win this game.

If Albany comes out and beats us on our home field then stick a fork in the season. Desko's seat should be hot.

There is no excuse to lose to Albany this weekend with the pieces they're trying to replace in their first game.

*regarding FOGO wings. I'd love to know what Desko says to these kids who one hand it and miss. I would tell you not to do that again and if you do you're coming out. If you do it and miss, you're being replaced.

I had heard last year that Albany's backup FOGO was really good and would give Irland all he could handle in practice. I'm sort of anxious to see how this kid does. I only mention it because if he handles our guys it might not be because our guys are bad.

Wing play can be crucial how can a team go so long having such bad wing play?
 
This game is a pretty simple measuring stick for me. Albany lost a boat load of talent as well as their DCoordinator (Liam Gleason Siena) and with a 'normal' Syracuse team we should win this game.

If Albany comes out and beats us on our home field then stick a fork in the season. Desko's seat should be hot.

There is no excuse to lose to Albany this weekend with the pieces they're trying to replace in their first game.

*regarding FOGO wings. I'd love to know what Desko says to these kids who one hand it and miss. I would tell you not to do that again and if you do you're coming out. If you do it and miss, you're being replaced.

I had heard last year that Albany's backup FOGO was really good and would give Irland all he could handle in practice. I'm sort of anxious to see how this kid does. I only mention it because if he handles our guys it might not be because our guys are bad.

Wing play can be crucial how can a team go so long having such bad wing play?

Good Lawdy

Desko says use two hands, from watching the sidelines

Backup Ornstein transferred to Villanova this year

Research and math, wings were over 50% last year
 
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This game is a pretty simple measuring stick for me. Albany lost a boat load of talent as well as their DCoordinator (Liam Gleason Siena) and with a 'normal' Syracuse team we should win this game.

If Albany comes out and beats us on our home field then stick a fork in the season. Desko's seat should be hot.

There is no excuse to lose to Albany this weekend with the pieces they're trying to replace in their first game.

*regarding FOGO wings. I'd love to know what Desko says to these kids who one hand it and miss. I would tell you not to do that again and if you do you're coming out. If you do it and miss, you're being replaced.

I had heard last year that Albany's backup FOGO was really good and would give Irland all he could handle in practice. I'm sort of anxious to see how this kid does. I only mention it because if he handles our guys it might not be because our guys are bad.

Wing play can be crucial how can a team go so long having such bad wing play?

I believe last years backup left as well, Albany was dominated at the X by Colgate last weekend. Per a Dane fan they lost 75-80% of the draws. Obviously it was only a scrimmage but thats a really good sign for us.

As for the wing play, Dearth and Kennedy were pretty good last year but they were both god awful against Colgate. The most disheartening was that on multiple occasions they got the ball first and couldn't scoop it for anything. Dearth over ran it at least 2-3 times and Kennedy kept popping it forward or a million miles in the air. It was abysmal.
 
I believe last years backup left as well, Albany was dominated at the X by Colgate last weekend. Per a Dane fan they lost 75-80% of the draws. Obviously it was only a scrimmage but thats a really good sign for us.

As for the wing play, Dearth and Kennedy were pretty good last year but they were both god awful against Colgate. The most disheartening was that on multiple occasions they got the ball first and couldn't scoop it for anything. Dearth over ran it at least 2-3 times and Kennedy kept popping it forward or a million miles in the air. It was abysmal.

Always appreciate your analysis of wing play. One of the great things about the board is the level of detail our posters notice.
 
Always appreciate your analysis of wing play. One of the great things about the board is the level of detail our posters notice.
Sorry Jeremy , That is incorrect , I rewatch the game . Gate actually was gathering ball in on opening face-off before Kennedy scrapped back and then lifted high to sideline when Dearth flubbed one hander before bodies flew. One play. One lift not numerous. If opening face-off with action and heavy hitting by our players competing is abysmal then I dont know what to say, ball was jarred out by hit and would have been ours if questionable whistle hadn't blown on contact. Yeh, Dearth had some other plays in heavy traffic where he didn't come away with it but he has been a darn good wing player. Nonsense gets ridiculous after awhile, Dearth is a preseason all acc because of his body of work not just one play or game.
 
Correct on Colgate-Albany face-off results , Gate fogo came away clean with most. Varello and Phaup should have advantage butany face-off matchup can differ because of contrasts. Colgate fogo did well against Varello in 18 and 19 but faltered against Phaup both years. Reverse can be true in any contest
 
This game is a pretty simple measuring stick for me. Albany lost a boat load of talent as well as their DCoordinator (Liam Gleason Siena) and with a 'normal' Syracuse team we should win this game.

If Albany comes out and beats us on our home field then stick a fork in the season. Desko's seat should be hot.

There is no excuse to lose to Albany this weekend with the pieces they're trying to replace in their first game.

*regarding FOGO wings. I'd love to know what Desko says to these kids who one hand it and miss. I would tell you not to do that again and if you do you're coming out. If you do it and miss, you're being replaced.

I had heard last year that Albany's backup FOGO was really good and would give Irland all he could handle in practice. I'm sort of anxious to see how this kid does. I only mention it because if he handles our guys it might not be because our guys are bad.

Wing play can be crucial how can a team go so long having such bad wing play?

It was a scrimmage but there are a few things you can take from the Colgate/Albany scrimamge last week.

1. Albany and Colgate tied at 14 after 3 quarters before they both went to their benches. That can be spun any number of ways but it tells me Albany still has a pretty potent offense despite massive graduation losses and getting little of the faceoff in that agme.

2. Colgate dominated big time at the X apparently and Albany's wing play was not good. Despite this it appears they were up 8-4 in the 2nd quarter before Colgate went on a run. Again take from that what you will.

3. Albany's D lost a lot to graduation and is relatively young. I expect Tanner Hay the true frosh to start at close. I believe their best returning defender Dluhy has played little so far due to injury. Will be something to keep an eye on as ALbany is replacing their top two close defenders plus all 3 LSM's.

4. Mellen should be on Nanticoke from the word go. I don't care about the height difference there's no way Dekso and staff should let Bomberry anywhere near him after last year.

5. Nanticoke, Patterson and Laffin look like the starters at attack but it appear Marr may go with Patterson at middie some and bring in another attackmen - two frosh are getting run McComber a Native player from six nations and a kid name Yunker from down south. Don't know much about Yunker.

6. Albany's midfield has some shooters in the Eccles and Burgmaster brothers ( how many kids did these two familys have) but they are pretty much straight up shooters and no real threat to dodge. I think the third middie is Kyle Casey but I am not 100% on that. Key is to simply stay on these guys hands as the only real dodging threat from the midfield is Casey and thats not saying a lot. Albany's an attack driven offense, slow that down and they will struggle to score.

7. SU should I repeat should have an advantage at the X and hopefully on D. I would bump down Kennedy for this game to close to go with Mellen and Cunningham as I think they match up better. Bomberry should not be marking Nanticoke.
 
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Sorry Jeremy , That is incorrect , I rewatch the game . Gate actually was gathering ball in on opening face-off before Kennedy scrapped back and then lifted high to sideline when Dearth flubbed one hander before bodies flew. One play. One lift not numerous. If opening face-off with action and heavy hitting by our players competing is abysmal then I dont know what to say, ball was jarred out by hit and would have been ours if questionable whistle hadn't blown on contact. Yeh, Dearth had some other plays in heavy traffic where he didn't come away with it but he has been a darn good wing player. Nonsense gets ridiculous after awhile, Dearth is a preseason all acc because of his body of work not just one play or game.

I would have to go back and watch it again but off the top of my head I can think of several instances where both Dearth and Kennedy had a chance to win the gb off the faceoff and failed outside of the initial draw. My "abysmal" comment was regarding the wing play overall that game and simply that game alone. I like both Dearth and Kennedy but I don't think they had 2 gbs between them on Fri night from playing the wing. As I mentioned in that same post I noted both players were good on the wings last year (you left that part out ;)) but they both struggled on Fri night. Dearth is a good player but all-preseason ACC was a bit of a stretch but I think he can become an excellent SSDM especially in pushing transition and I thought he was darn good on the wings late last year as I mentioned.
 
It was a scrimmage but there are a few things you can take from the Colgate/Albany scrimamge last week.

1. Albany and Colgate tied at 14 after 3 quarters before they both went to their benches. That can be spun any number of ways but it tells me Albany still has a pretty potent offense despite massive graduation losses and getting little of the faceoff in that agme.

2. Colgate dominated big time at the X apparently and Albany's wing play was not good. Despite this it appears they were up 8-4 in the 2nd quarter before Colgate went on a run. Again take from that what you will.

3. Albany's D lost a lot to graduation and is relatively young. I expect Tanner Hay the true frosh to start at close. I believe their best returning defender Dluhy has played little so far due to injury. Will be something to keep an eye on as ALbany is replacing their top two close defenders plus all 3 LSM's.

4. Mellen should be on Nanticoke from the word go. I don't care about the height difference there's no way Dekso and staff should let Bomberry anywhere near him after last year.

5. Nanticoke, Patterson and Laffin look like the starters at attack but it appear Marr may go with Patterson at middie some and bring in another attackmen - two frosh are getting run McComber a Native player from six nations and a kid name Yunker from down south. Don't know much about Yunker.

6. Albany's midfield has some shooters in the Eccles and Burgmaster brothers ( how many kids did these two familys have) but they are pretty much straight up shooters and no real threat to dodge. I think the third middie is Kyle Casey but I am not 100% on that. Key is to simply stay on these guys hands as the only real dodging thread from the midfield is Casey and thats not saying a lot. Albany' an attack driven offense, slow that down and they will struggle to score.

7. SU should I repeat should have an advantage at the X and hopefully on D. I would bump down Kennedy for this game to close to go with Mellen and Cunningham as I think they match up better. Bomberry should not be marking Nanticoke.
Good summary. Albany was up 8-4 at one point according to a tweet. Marr seems very optimistic on his team and annoyed about talk of departures. Patterson is a star as well as Nanicoke and had 4g last year. Now Nanikoke had 5 g last but not sure Desko benchches Bomberry since he is still the most physically comparable if not turning to 225 per DiPietro. Mellen has great feet and tree legs but still be given up close to 50 pounds . Eccles and Burgmaster brothers are good players and will make us pay if left . Key to me is , Cuse valuing possessions more. I though we played fairly well in 2nd half
 
Good summary. Albany was up 8-4 at one point according to a tweet. Marr seems very optimistic on his team and annoyed about talk of departures. Patterson is a star as well as Nanicoke and had 4g last year. Now Nanikoke had 5 g last but not sure Desko benchches Bomberry since he is still the most physically comparable if not turning to 225 per DiPietro. Mellen has great feet and tree legs but still be given up close to 50 pounds . Eccles and Burgmaster brothers are good players and will make us pay if left . Key to me is , Cuse valuing possessions more. I though we played fairly well in 2nd half

Albany's offense is definitely talented despite the graduation losses. They have middies who can sling it and good young attackmen who can play off of Nanticoke. Key to beating Albany the last few years in my opinion has been through the midfield on both sides. Albany usually struggles to slow down good midfields (see SU every year but last year) and teams have tried to slow down Albany from the attack spot and force their middies to try and beat them which has produced mixed results. i agree about Dekso not benching Bomberry but I hope we at least dont put him on Nanticoke as I don't think he can mark him 1 on 1.

Porter seems to see long range shots well so that could help us against ALbany as their middies prefer to dial it from deep versus dodging. To me the key is going to be the Syracuse offense the attack unit especially. We have to play light years better or were going to be in major trouble again. This Albany D has major questions marks and is breaking in a new goalie. If we struggle again is not a red flag its Defcon 5.
 
I would have to go back and watch it again but off the top of my head I can think of several instances where both Dearth and Kennedy had a chance to win the gb off the faceoff and failed outside of the initial draw. My "abysmal" comment was regarding the wing play overall that game and simply that game alone. I like both Dearth and Kennedy but I don't think they had 2 gbs between them on Fri night from playing the wing. As I mentioned in that same post I noted both players were good on the wings last year (you left that part out ;)) but they both struggled on Fri night. Dearth is a good player but all-preseason ACC was a bit of a stretch but I think he can become an excellent SSDM especially in pushing transition and I thought he was darn good on the wings late last year as I mentioned.
First time I can recall Dearth coming up empty but unusual. Gate did fairly good job sealing off Kennedy who still got three including kicking one a few times to himself. Gate ss Blumenberg is good wing player , he had 66 gbs last year. ..Most wins by Gate and Phaup were clean. Really like what Jacob showed, such a big plus to have two capable fogs no matter in what peking order. I do agree with poster that sthought Coach should have rode Phaup in 2h who was getting the better. All good, I get defensive on Cuse kids
 
Good Lawdy

Desko says use two hands, from watching the sidelines

Backup Ornstein transferred to Villanova this year

Research and math, wings were over 50% last year

Research and math lol. This is really simple then. IF he's telling them to use two hands and they don't, then he should be benching them. There's no accountability and it sure appears that with Desko players just freelance and do whatever they want. You think Boeheim has that problem? You think Andy Shay has that problem? Carc said Yale's recent practice wasn't for the faint of heart. When you see Syracuse players making the same boneheaded mistakes over and over again it really makes me question what Desko is doing to hold kids accountable.
 

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