JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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Its been mentioned already but again what a terrible job by Cornell and the Ivy League to not get this game some sort of television broadcast. Its 2016 not 1992, embarrassingly bad.
As for the game itself, to me it feels like the keys are the same last week - goalie play, offensive depth, play of the SSDM, and play down the stretch. Obviously this year one of the biggest issues has been the play of Syracuse late and its inability to finish out games. Blowing leads late vs Duke and JHU and then nearly blowing a 5 goal lead to an offensively challenged Hobart team last week. Outside of perhaps the Albany game this team has struggled to put together a 60 minute performance all year, doing it tonight would go along way to securing an NCAA tournament birth.
Cornell in a lot of ways is like Hobart, young on the offensive end (they graduated 5 of 6 starters like we did), inconsistent defense, but with a good goalie. Unlike Hobart though Cornell has an excellent faceoff man in Dominic Massamiliian (sp). Williams had a lot of issues with him last year and I wouldn't be surprised if he was under 50% again this game. Another big factor is that Cornell is excellent on the wings where we have been somewhere between OK to abysmal. The wing players really really need to hold their own tonight or things could get very ugly.
The good news is that Cornell turns the ball over and turns it over A LOT. Assuming that trend continues Cornell's potential advantage at the X will be nullified. Look no further then their last game vs Harvard this past Saturday. Cornell won 20-24 at the X and lost 12-8.
For SU this is a game that on paper they should win but will they, tough to say. Cornell has a pretty good goalie who is capable of standing on his head, SU needs to try and strike early like they did against Hobart last week. Offensively I will again be looking to see what kind of impact Nick Piroli will have, if he's back getting significant minutes he strengthens both the attack and midfield units. Hoping another 6 days off after the Hobart game has him in position to play some meaningful minutes for the first time since the opener.
This game is also a good chance for Evans to continue to his mini hot streak. Cornell doesn't have a shut down defender like ND or JHU or even Duke so they will be paying a lot of attention to Dylan and will likely be sliding early and often. I would like to see Mariano and Dejoe get back on track as well. Dejoe has been scuffling since the first half of the Hopkins game and Mariano while still scoring goals hasn't made as big an impact as you thought he might know that Salcido is drawing the pole regularly. Would love to see multiple point nights out of both these guys. I think the second mid line has a chance to really make an impact this game as well. They have scored a goal in each of the last two games (Simmons vs ND and Lane vs Hobart). SU desperately needs help form outside the starting 6 when they go into that 10 minute scoring lull they seem to have every game. Cornell is not a deep team so if SU can get possessions I think they can wear them down. Would love to see one of them have a multiple point night out there.
Defensively I think its all about the SSDM's and Molloy. You know what your getting with Mullins, Mellen, Firman, and Fusco. Those guys might let in a goal now and then but more most of the game they are solid. The SSDM played fairly well last week but Cornell could have the ball significantly more this week due to their prowess at the X. The SU D has crumbled this year when Williams hasn't been dominating possessions, they really need a marquee performance this year and this could be it. Cornell is more of a balanced type of team so the particular matchups will be interesting. Obviously the biggest concern is the SSDM play especially if Grimm is still out and can Molloy turn in another positive performance. If he struggles in the 1st half I think Desko will turn to Hill quickly.
Tough game to predict, I think Syracuse is the better overall team and if this game were at the Dome I think they would win by a few goals but with it being on the road and the ? marks on D it's more of a crap shoot. Cornell's strength Faceoffs and goalie play are the two areas where SU has the biggest question marks (Ben Williams prowess not withstanding). We saw Ben struggle against Rowe for Duke and the wing play vs ND. Can he be at least 50% this game? Will the wings provide any help? To me I worry this game unfolds a lot like the Hopkins game, both teams sloppy but SU with a small lead for most of the game that is in Jeopardy late. Really need a strong performance from our veterans as this is a key game for the tourney.
Lots of questions going into tonight, really hope we answer them with a win.
As for the game itself, to me it feels like the keys are the same last week - goalie play, offensive depth, play of the SSDM, and play down the stretch. Obviously this year one of the biggest issues has been the play of Syracuse late and its inability to finish out games. Blowing leads late vs Duke and JHU and then nearly blowing a 5 goal lead to an offensively challenged Hobart team last week. Outside of perhaps the Albany game this team has struggled to put together a 60 minute performance all year, doing it tonight would go along way to securing an NCAA tournament birth.
Cornell in a lot of ways is like Hobart, young on the offensive end (they graduated 5 of 6 starters like we did), inconsistent defense, but with a good goalie. Unlike Hobart though Cornell has an excellent faceoff man in Dominic Massamiliian (sp). Williams had a lot of issues with him last year and I wouldn't be surprised if he was under 50% again this game. Another big factor is that Cornell is excellent on the wings where we have been somewhere between OK to abysmal. The wing players really really need to hold their own tonight or things could get very ugly.
The good news is that Cornell turns the ball over and turns it over A LOT. Assuming that trend continues Cornell's potential advantage at the X will be nullified. Look no further then their last game vs Harvard this past Saturday. Cornell won 20-24 at the X and lost 12-8.
For SU this is a game that on paper they should win but will they, tough to say. Cornell has a pretty good goalie who is capable of standing on his head, SU needs to try and strike early like they did against Hobart last week. Offensively I will again be looking to see what kind of impact Nick Piroli will have, if he's back getting significant minutes he strengthens both the attack and midfield units. Hoping another 6 days off after the Hobart game has him in position to play some meaningful minutes for the first time since the opener.
This game is also a good chance for Evans to continue to his mini hot streak. Cornell doesn't have a shut down defender like ND or JHU or even Duke so they will be paying a lot of attention to Dylan and will likely be sliding early and often. I would like to see Mariano and Dejoe get back on track as well. Dejoe has been scuffling since the first half of the Hopkins game and Mariano while still scoring goals hasn't made as big an impact as you thought he might know that Salcido is drawing the pole regularly. Would love to see multiple point nights out of both these guys. I think the second mid line has a chance to really make an impact this game as well. They have scored a goal in each of the last two games (Simmons vs ND and Lane vs Hobart). SU desperately needs help form outside the starting 6 when they go into that 10 minute scoring lull they seem to have every game. Cornell is not a deep team so if SU can get possessions I think they can wear them down. Would love to see one of them have a multiple point night out there.
Defensively I think its all about the SSDM's and Molloy. You know what your getting with Mullins, Mellen, Firman, and Fusco. Those guys might let in a goal now and then but more most of the game they are solid. The SSDM played fairly well last week but Cornell could have the ball significantly more this week due to their prowess at the X. The SU D has crumbled this year when Williams hasn't been dominating possessions, they really need a marquee performance this year and this could be it. Cornell is more of a balanced type of team so the particular matchups will be interesting. Obviously the biggest concern is the SSDM play especially if Grimm is still out and can Molloy turn in another positive performance. If he struggles in the 1st half I think Desko will turn to Hill quickly.
Tough game to predict, I think Syracuse is the better overall team and if this game were at the Dome I think they would win by a few goals but with it being on the road and the ? marks on D it's more of a crap shoot. Cornell's strength Faceoffs and goalie play are the two areas where SU has the biggest question marks (Ben Williams prowess not withstanding). We saw Ben struggle against Rowe for Duke and the wing play vs ND. Can he be at least 50% this game? Will the wings provide any help? To me I worry this game unfolds a lot like the Hopkins game, both teams sloppy but SU with a small lead for most of the game that is in Jeopardy late. Really need a strong performance from our veterans as this is a key game for the tourney.
Lots of questions going into tonight, really hope we answer them with a win.
