JeremyCuse
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Hard to take a ton away from two closed to the public scrimmages that weren't full games time wise but based on the two scrimmages and some additional information that came out I do have a few thoughts.
The Offense staring lineup at this point appears to be as follows:
Attack - Evans, Solomon, Bomberry with Voight at the 4th attackmen
Midfield - Salcido, Mariano, Lane
2nd Midfield - Unknown at this point but appears to be some combo of Simmons, McKinney, Trimboli, Burt, Westin and Romano.
From a defensive standpoint things appear to be in pretty good shape. They played well despite Mellen being held out and from another source appears neither Ciferri or Gillis played either. This bodes well for the season especially with an offense that may struggle to score points at least in the beginning of the season. Firman, Cunningham, Bomberry, and obviously Mellen appear to be the 4 close defenders. That's a pretty good young Core with some Veteran leadership with Firman. Fusco/Swigart/Helmer should hold down LSM which should be in good shape as well. Lots of young talented D players at the long poles right now and that's not taking into accout Kennedy who the staff was high on prior to his injury in the fall ( would be shocked if he didn't redshirt).
Goalie and X play are clearly in good hands with two seniors leading the way. Paduda is a great weapon to have in case of injury to Ben. Varello went 6 of 8 in his first game which is a nice sign as well.
Based on what we know to date and the first scrimmage it appears the main question mark for this team will be offense especially the attack and 2nd mid line. The D appears to be in really good hands barring injury. There are some young poles out there so there could some growing pains but still think the unit as a whole is in for a strong year.
From as offensive standpoint the main concern is clearly attack. The fact Desko had to move Bomberry to attack speaks volumes to the current state of the position. Losing Thorpe I think will be a bigger blow to the man up team then the offense itself as he is an excellent finisher but is not much a dodger and would have struggled without a QB type attackmen to complement him a la Stephen Keough. Bomberry may take a few game to get his legs under him attack similar to Mariano at middie last year. To me its concerning that for the second straight year in a row we had to bring in a transfer to play attack due to the lack of in house options/talent (Brown transfer last year). The loss of Dylan Maltz to transfer hurt more then was apparent when he initially left.
It appears Desko is going to have a long leash with Jordan Evans but it's unclear if he can have that breakout senior season like the last #22. Evans did have 3 assists yesterday but only one of them came against Hofstra. If Evans struggles the pressure will build on Solomon to be that dodger who can set up his teammates and also score. Solomon showed flashes of it late in the season last year and in the fall, he could be headed toward a breakout year if he can put it all together. Tough to know what to expect from Bomberry at attack. A great shooter he isn't known as much of a dodger, I envision a role for him similar to Tim Barber last year, also expect a big year out of him on the man up. Ford appears to be a total wild card at this point. Interesting that he did play in the Hofstra game , he could be the 5th attackmen at this point. Curiously no stats for Shewell in either game, wonder if he played an or is healthy. Based on the question marks at attack I expect s0me teams (who have the personnel) will double pole the midfield like Maryland did last year in the tournament. I expect Mariano to invert a lot to take advantage of his skills as an attackmen. There should also be a mismatch most games for Matt Lane as the 3rd midfielder who will almost certainly draw a short stick. He had a nice game yesterday vs Hofstra and appears to have taken that next step forward. Key for Lane will be his ability to contribute consistently as the midfield will need to carry the offense.
Will be interested to see who ultimately ends up on the second mid line. Simmons and McKinney appear to be securely in the mix. Nothing stat wise for Westin yesterday but I would assume he along with Trimboli are also being considered. Simmons and Westin struggled mightily last season which was confounding as Simmons showed well as a Frosh. I expect Trimboli to be on the second line as SU desperately needs some new blood there. Will be interesting to see if SU moves Forkin to middie which he played in high school and could make an immediate impact. Staff also appears very high on Peter Dearth. Assuming SU plays a full 4 quarters and a running 5th against Harvard will be fascinating to see who does or doesn't play at middie.
The Offense staring lineup at this point appears to be as follows:
Attack - Evans, Solomon, Bomberry with Voight at the 4th attackmen
Midfield - Salcido, Mariano, Lane
2nd Midfield - Unknown at this point but appears to be some combo of Simmons, McKinney, Trimboli, Burt, Westin and Romano.
From a defensive standpoint things appear to be in pretty good shape. They played well despite Mellen being held out and from another source appears neither Ciferri or Gillis played either. This bodes well for the season especially with an offense that may struggle to score points at least in the beginning of the season. Firman, Cunningham, Bomberry, and obviously Mellen appear to be the 4 close defenders. That's a pretty good young Core with some Veteran leadership with Firman. Fusco/Swigart/Helmer should hold down LSM which should be in good shape as well. Lots of young talented D players at the long poles right now and that's not taking into accout Kennedy who the staff was high on prior to his injury in the fall ( would be shocked if he didn't redshirt).
Goalie and X play are clearly in good hands with two seniors leading the way. Paduda is a great weapon to have in case of injury to Ben. Varello went 6 of 8 in his first game which is a nice sign as well.
Based on what we know to date and the first scrimmage it appears the main question mark for this team will be offense especially the attack and 2nd mid line. The D appears to be in really good hands barring injury. There are some young poles out there so there could some growing pains but still think the unit as a whole is in for a strong year.
From as offensive standpoint the main concern is clearly attack. The fact Desko had to move Bomberry to attack speaks volumes to the current state of the position. Losing Thorpe I think will be a bigger blow to the man up team then the offense itself as he is an excellent finisher but is not much a dodger and would have struggled without a QB type attackmen to complement him a la Stephen Keough. Bomberry may take a few game to get his legs under him attack similar to Mariano at middie last year. To me its concerning that for the second straight year in a row we had to bring in a transfer to play attack due to the lack of in house options/talent (Brown transfer last year). The loss of Dylan Maltz to transfer hurt more then was apparent when he initially left.
It appears Desko is going to have a long leash with Jordan Evans but it's unclear if he can have that breakout senior season like the last #22. Evans did have 3 assists yesterday but only one of them came against Hofstra. If Evans struggles the pressure will build on Solomon to be that dodger who can set up his teammates and also score. Solomon showed flashes of it late in the season last year and in the fall, he could be headed toward a breakout year if he can put it all together. Tough to know what to expect from Bomberry at attack. A great shooter he isn't known as much of a dodger, I envision a role for him similar to Tim Barber last year, also expect a big year out of him on the man up. Ford appears to be a total wild card at this point. Interesting that he did play in the Hofstra game , he could be the 5th attackmen at this point. Curiously no stats for Shewell in either game, wonder if he played an or is healthy. Based on the question marks at attack I expect s0me teams (who have the personnel) will double pole the midfield like Maryland did last year in the tournament. I expect Mariano to invert a lot to take advantage of his skills as an attackmen. There should also be a mismatch most games for Matt Lane as the 3rd midfielder who will almost certainly draw a short stick. He had a nice game yesterday vs Hofstra and appears to have taken that next step forward. Key for Lane will be his ability to contribute consistently as the midfield will need to carry the offense.
Will be interested to see who ultimately ends up on the second mid line. Simmons and McKinney appear to be securely in the mix. Nothing stat wise for Westin yesterday but I would assume he along with Trimboli are also being considered. Simmons and Westin struggled mightily last season which was confounding as Simmons showed well as a Frosh. I expect Trimboli to be on the second line as SU desperately needs some new blood there. Will be interesting to see if SU moves Forkin to middie which he played in high school and could make an immediate impact. Staff also appears very high on Peter Dearth. Assuming SU plays a full 4 quarters and a running 5th against Harvard will be fascinating to see who does or doesn't play at middie.
