Army Gameday...

[OrangeXtreme]

Attendance: 3,668.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Some observations as we’re now 6 games into the season…

Turnovers. Offense was brutal all day with passing

Hiltz and Spallina have to play better in these big games.

Decision making across the board has to be better.

Mark looks like he’s regressed.

Gait pretty clearly offers nothing on the sideline. Nice figure head for the program, but they are being out coached glaringly in these big games.

Shooting hasn’t been sharp this year. Especially from outside.

Wing play was poor.

Extra man was poor.

Biggest concern is Marks regression and EMO falling off the map.

2nd straight time an AA level goalie for SU just doesn't look right in his Sr year, baffling.

Turnover #s overall don't look that bad but again SU has these multiple stretches where they turn it over 2-3 times in a row which are just killer.

I'm not a diehard pro or anti Gait guy but part of me wonders if he's just not the answer. The CEO type of HC might work in the women's game but it's simply not working here.

Be it March or Gait they have to make some personnel changes. As a few posters have noted it's time to flip Leo and Hiltz and bump Thomson down to the 2nd line.

Joey has to play within himself. He's a really good player but he's not Mike Powell, cant force it, it's not gonna work at this level.


Recruiting needs to be better. Army's #1 defender shut down Joey ours gave up 3+ goals.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I think Gaits free flowing offensive philosophy needs to be reeled in a bit. I think that could contributing to the lackadaisical turnovers and bad decision making

Really good point

 

[orangecuse]

It would be 3 years if we didn't get in this year, not 4.

A la our hoops program. Used to be two staples of spring, hoops going ‘Dancing’ and lax’s run to Championship weekend.

Nowadays, just seemingly like running against the wind.

 

[SULAXAHOLIC]

it’s not Gaits offense it’s March and he has done nothing since arriving Gait needs to take the clipboard out of his hands. Gait is the only member of the staff who has ever had D1 success of any kind why do we hire assistants that have proved nothing . Odierna has shown promise but in reality Gary is the only person left in the program who has any experience in winning

 

[OrangeXtreme]

it’s not Gaits offense it’s March and he has done nothing since arriving Gait needs to take the clipboard out of his hands. Gait is the only member of the staff who has ever had D1 success of any kind why do we hire assistants that have proved nothing .

We hired Petro. How'd that work for us?

 

[SULAXAHOLIC]

We hired Petro.

Petro hasn’t won in a long time and that trend continues at UNC

 

[LaxAddict38]

Couple thoughts:

In top games, the opponent's top cover defenders will be elite, and none of our starting attack or top midfielders will be able to be the party starters on offense. That is common and normal. We need to be comfortable allowing our 5th or 6th guys to initiate the offense and then spin the ball around. That means move the ball and let the offense flow, not get the ball to Joey and let him big / little or isolate.

We also cannot depend on the Big/Little behind... top cover defenders and defenses as a whole are improving at working through picks and covering this look as more and more offenses have grown dependent on it in the past few years.

IMO, Will Mark will be fine, he is an elite goaltender with great instincts, has been for years. He's been above 50% in every game outside Army and MD, and above 40% in those matchups. While above 40% is not great, it is not like he's been shelled and outright losing us the game. Keep in mind, he made a phenomenal save to take us to OT, and if Mule buries the open net we would probably be remembering Mark as a hero for getting us there.

As the defense has improved (it has improved, in my opinion) he is now seeing the lowest # of shots on per game he has probably ever seen in his entire career. He was at LIU seeing intense volume and then played behind the Petro meat grinder last year and continued to see similar volume. I am not ready to give up on him yet, McNaney has had weak games for Maryland and bounced back to look phenomenal in just a couple weeks. If I could, I would bet on Mark being able to adjust to the lower volume of shots over time and winning us some important games in the latter half of the year.

Offensive depth of talent SHOULD be able to get us to 15 goals per game. Anything less is a failure, IMO. Need to let the depth initiate against the opponent's weakest SSDM then let the offense move from there, that's just how top offenses in top games against top defenses find success in today's game.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Some observations as we’re now 6 games into the season…

Turnovers. Offense was brutal all day with passing

Hiltz and Spallina have to play better in these big games.

Decision making across the board has to be better.

Mark looks like he’s regressed.

Gait pretty clearly offers nothing on the sideline. Nice figure head for the program, but they are being out coached glaringly in these big games.

Shooting hasn’t been sharp this year. Especially from outside.

Wing play was poor.

Extra man was poor.

One other good point wing play has to be light years better. I like Hottles potential but putting him on the wing is absurd. He's 5'7 160, expecting him to win a gb against army is nuts. Put Levine or Titus out there

 

[OttosDad]

I was at the game. Was Mulè’s decision to shoot from 30 yards a sound one? It seemed like he should’ve ran with the ball for a good 10 yards, make army commit to him or dish

 

[OrangeXtreme]

One other good point wing play has to be mjght years better. I like Hottles potential but putting him on the wing is absurd. He's 5'7 160, expecting him to win a gb against army is nuts. Put Levine or Titus out there

He was matched up on a guy who's 6-3, 210#.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

I was at the game. Was Mulè’s decision to shoot from 30 yards a sound one? It seemed like he should’ve ran with the ball for a good 10 yards, make army commit to him or dish

He could have closed the gap a little bit and still had a open net.

Or we might of had numbers if a few guys went with him (I'll have to see the replay).

Or he could have waited.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I was at the game. Was Mulè’s decision to shoot from 30 yards a sound one? It seemed like he should’ve ran with the ball for a good 10 yards, make army commit to him or dish

Honestly I had gotten up in disgust after the lack of backup and turned around just in time to see him shoot it. I don't have a huge issue with the shot itself but again if your letting that fly it better go in. In retrospect he probably should have kept going.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[JeremyCuse]

He could have closed the gap a little bit and still had a open net.

Or we might of had numbers if a few guys went with him (I'll have to see the replay).

Or he could have waited.

I think the Last option was probably the answer

 

[OrangeXtreme]

At least he didn't take his hat off to Army.

 

[JeremyCuse]

One of Gaits better pressers. Good to hear him acknowledge mistakes and EMO is an issue.

 

[SULAXAHOLIC]

I like Gait’s attitude in the post game and I loved Mule sticking up for Joey these 2 OT loses may very well be just tuition payments towards a degree in winning. I definitely would rather this team have struggles in February then May

 

[AD31]

i like cuse's chances against cornell...their defense is bad and they just lost their fogo for the season. cuse will score a ton

Cornell has a great offense tho. Def should be a high scoring game. Have to win that one for sure.

 

[Laxfanshutt]

One of Gaits better pressers. Good to hear him acknowledge mistakes and EMO is an issue.

Just a thought but why don’t they put English in and sit Kellogg.. love the kid and he’s going to be a stud but last years unit was better with Simmons in.. think English might be better suited

 

[Lukeyloo]

faceoffs and goalie play. Not good enough.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Just a thought but why don’t they put English in and sit Kellogg.. love the kid and he’s going to be a stud but last years unit was better with Simmons in.. think English might be better suited

I think Kellogg has gotten hesitant to let it rip, he passed up a couple of opportunities to let it fly. The bigger issue is that SU isn't spinning the ball fast enough. Last year the ball would move quickly and SU would reverse it on a dime and really get Defenses moving. This year their moving it around the perimeter to slowly allowing teams to pack the inside and then stretch out when necessary when it looks like Kellogg or someone else will take a shot. Thomson is sticking out like sore thumb on the unit. He's playing that middle position, that's where maybe English could be more effective.

 

[AD31]

He could have closed the gap a little bit and still had a open net.

Or we might of had numbers if a few guys went with him (I'll have to see the replay).

Or he could have waited.

Did seem like he could have closed the gap and still had an open net. Man he's not gonna be able to sleep all week seeing that open net in front of him. Ughh everything is different if he buries that.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Did seem like he could have closed the gap and still had an open net. Man he's not gonna be able to sleep all week seeing that open net in front of him. Ughh everything is different if he buries that.

Was the classic rush to shoot when he had more time. Almost like a guy with a wide open crease look who shoots into the goalies chest. Thought it looked good at first but it sailed on him a bit. He would have been better off running a few more yards or re-setting. Hindsight is 20/20 but you can't miss that shot if you take it.

 

[AD31]

faceoffs and goalie play. Not good enough.

Not having Stevens on the wing hurt. I can't blame this game on Will Mark. He made some big saves. I think JeremyCuse said it right he needs to adjust to lower volume of shots on goal. He's used to getting peppered all game and maybe has to adjust something to keep his mind mentally focused. The kid has proved he's capable of making big time saves. He seems to make them at the biggest moments which is why I think he falls a sleep a little not facing the volume of shots he's used to. He lets up goals during the game that he normally makes.