Powellfan
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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The Orange are looking to bounce back from their worst game of the season. They get a favorable matchup against the Danes of Albany, who are just 3-5 on the season with an eight goal loss to Binghamton on their resume. They are coming off just a one goal victory over UMass-Lowell, whose only win of the season was over NJIT. That said, this has all the makings of a trap game. This is basically the Super Bowl for Albany (seriously, just go look at their website). They've been waiting years to host the Orange at Casey Stadium. The game is on a Thursday night, and the Orange have a massive game just four nights later against Cornell. It's probably good that this game is on short rest for Syracuse, as I am sure they'll want to over their dreadful performance against the Irish.
Nothing went well for Syracuse last week, pretty much every part of the team needs to see improvement this week. The offense reverted to an ISO heavy strategy after showing improved ball movement against Duke. Dordevic and Curry accounted for 55% of the shots last week, and not a lot of them were good ones. Mateo Corsi and Tyler Cordes, two first line middies combined for just one shot all game. It is clear that the Orange are putting all their eggs in the Dordevic and Curry basket, but there needs to be at least at attempt at balance. The top two guys on the team are the Orange's best chance at scoring, but there needs to be some attempt to get other guys involved. I am almost positive that the Dordvic/Curry show can take down Albany, but it simply wont be enough to beat other top teams. Especially with Cornell coming up on short rest. Bottom line is that Albany's predicted goal tender is saving below 50% and they are also below 50% on face-offs. Syracuse should have plenty of possessions to wear down the Danes and get a win.
On offense Albany looks to be unsettled, the attack especially seems to have a different lineup every week. I am not sure if that is due to performance or injuries. They rely on their top 5 scorers to carry most of load, but the leading guy is Graydon Hogg who has just 20 points in 8 games. Former Syracuse commit Cam Hay is second on the team 19 points and has a 48% shooting percentage (but just has 12 goals). The SU defense was all over the place last week and didn't seem to understand the game plan. Slides when they weren't needed, not sliding when they were. It looked like last year's defense. Prior to that they had looked more in synch. Albany definitely doesn't have a Thompson or Tehoka or Fields on the team that will dominate the ball, so all defenders will have to have their heads on straight. I am hoping to see the defense play like they did in the three previous games to ND, when they were letting in an average of just 10 goals a game. The big question is who start at goalie? Gavin had looked strong against Stony Brook and Duke and looked to be turning a corner. Then he was blitzed on Saturday and saved just two shots and let in eight. Thompson didn't look much better though. I'd say go back to Gavin and see if you stick with one goaltender.
Another question is injuries - the Orange are of course down Lucas Quinn, Griffin Cook, Owen Hiltz, Max Rosa and presumably Brett Tenaglia and Jackson Birstwistle. I doubt of course we see Cook or Hiltz, but Dami did return last week. Getting Quinn or Rosa back would be big as things heat up. This should be an easy win for the Orange this year, but of course nothing has come easy for the Orange this year. Can they bounce back and start to build something here? A sloppy an unimpressive win here would not bode well for the rest of the year. A loss would certainly mean the end of it. Lets see how much fight this group has.
Nothing went well for Syracuse last week, pretty much every part of the team needs to see improvement this week. The offense reverted to an ISO heavy strategy after showing improved ball movement against Duke. Dordevic and Curry accounted for 55% of the shots last week, and not a lot of them were good ones. Mateo Corsi and Tyler Cordes, two first line middies combined for just one shot all game. It is clear that the Orange are putting all their eggs in the Dordevic and Curry basket, but there needs to be at least at attempt at balance. The top two guys on the team are the Orange's best chance at scoring, but there needs to be some attempt to get other guys involved. I am almost positive that the Dordvic/Curry show can take down Albany, but it simply wont be enough to beat other top teams. Especially with Cornell coming up on short rest. Bottom line is that Albany's predicted goal tender is saving below 50% and they are also below 50% on face-offs. Syracuse should have plenty of possessions to wear down the Danes and get a win.
On offense Albany looks to be unsettled, the attack especially seems to have a different lineup every week. I am not sure if that is due to performance or injuries. They rely on their top 5 scorers to carry most of load, but the leading guy is Graydon Hogg who has just 20 points in 8 games. Former Syracuse commit Cam Hay is second on the team 19 points and has a 48% shooting percentage (but just has 12 goals). The SU defense was all over the place last week and didn't seem to understand the game plan. Slides when they weren't needed, not sliding when they were. It looked like last year's defense. Prior to that they had looked more in synch. Albany definitely doesn't have a Thompson or Tehoka or Fields on the team that will dominate the ball, so all defenders will have to have their heads on straight. I am hoping to see the defense play like they did in the three previous games to ND, when they were letting in an average of just 10 goals a game. The big question is who start at goalie? Gavin had looked strong against Stony Brook and Duke and looked to be turning a corner. Then he was blitzed on Saturday and saved just two shots and let in eight. Thompson didn't look much better though. I'd say go back to Gavin and see if you stick with one goaltender.
Another question is injuries - the Orange are of course down Lucas Quinn, Griffin Cook, Owen Hiltz, Max Rosa and presumably Brett Tenaglia and Jackson Birstwistle. I doubt of course we see Cook or Hiltz, but Dami did return last week. Getting Quinn or Rosa back would be big as things heat up. This should be an easy win for the Orange this year, but of course nothing has come easy for the Orange this year. Can they bounce back and start to build something here? A sloppy an unimpressive win here would not bode well for the rest of the year. A loss would certainly mean the end of it. Lets see how much fight this group has.
) Hope the weather holds out.
