Harvard Game Preview (2/22/25, 1pm)

[Powellfan]

Syracuse tries to avenge it's first loss of the season against an Ivy League opponent trying to do the same. At least for the first time this season, SU will be the team with the most rest, as Harvard lost to Colgate on Tuesday in chilly Cambridge.

When I saw the line of 5.5 in SU's favor I thought that was pretty fair. Harvard has a very good offense, and Sam King might be the best player they've faced so far this season. But Harvard has issues. They start a rookie goalie in net (47% save percentage), and they haven't seemed able to solve a years long issue of face-offs (38% on the year). If Cuse can dominate possessions, they should be able to score often and control pace of play.

I imagine Figuerias will match up with King, which should be a really good matchup. Figuerias has been really solid this year, and this will be his biggest test so far. King has been more of a feeder this year so far with three goals and eight assists. He's flanked by Jack Speidell and Teddy Malone. Speidell is coming off a five goal performance against Colgate. They have a solid starting line up of middies with Logan Ip, Andrew Perry and Miles Botkiss. They don't appear to have a ton of depth, but SU's defensive midfield will be tested.

For the Orange offense, they need a bounce back game after the stinker they had down in College Park. We don't need to re-live all the issues, but certain guys need to have big games here. Will SU make any lineup changes? I have a hard time seeing it after one bad game, but maybe some new wrinkles. I think this game will be more of a shootout than the Maryland game, so I would expect to see the third midfield get some run. Hoping that the second midfield line is more productive than they were against the Terps.

Feels strange to say, but the biggest concern I have for the face-off unit is overuse. John Mullen will be heavily favored against Harvard, and I expect a lot of goals in this one. How does he hold up? It's a lot of pressure on the sophomore's shoulders. He's done well so far, but he doesn't have a lot of help. Can he hold up?

At the start of the season, I told myself it wasn't that big of a deal if the team lost to Maryland. I still think that's the case, even though it feels like a huge missed opportunity. This game, however would be a pretty big disaster if they lost it. With a loss to Colgate already on their schedule, Harvard probably won't be a huge RPI boost. Syracuse can't afford to drop games like this if they want to compete for a final four trip. They have to take care of business here.

 

[Laxfanshutt]

 

[JeremyCuse]

Good stuff as always, almost posted a preview myself this morning, lol.

I watched most of the Harvard/Gate game. Harvard definitely has some issues most of which are on defense. Gate absolutely punished them from the midfield, Drouin and Connor both Middies for Gate had 14 pts combined. Harvard actually shut down Jack Turner Gate's top attackmen who had 1 goal on 9 shots and no assists. Their Frosh goalie Stevenson actually had a very good 1st qtr or Gate probably would have hit 25 goals (no hyperbole).

They held up decently against the 10 man but it really hurt them in the 2nd half and they started turning it over wholesale. Still this is a tricky game for SU. The conditions will obviously be perfect and SU isn't much of a riding team much less a 10 man one.

Your last point echoed what was gonna be my main point, this is a game much like Towson that SU really can't afford to lose. With Towson 0-3 and staring at 0-4 after Sat and no Army on this years schedule the OOC is a bit shaky especially after the Maryland loss. Now Hop and Cornell both look very good but you have to win those game to get the benefits and neither game will be easy. Utah and Gate are both good teams capable of beating SU but both already have multiple losses and their RPI and other #s will be hurt by their conference games. Although Gate has the chance to really do some damage. Harvard will improve as the season goes on and isn't a bad team by any stretch but a loss on Sat would be a really bad look for Cuse.

From a preview perspective I don't think it's really anything complicated. Faceoffs and Defense will decide the outcome. Harvard's under 50% at the X and their back up Henehan is actually winning more 41% then the starter who's at a ghastly 38%. Mullen should hopefully be at least 55% on Saturday. I do agree with Powell that the lack of a solid backup emerging is concerning. I hope that as we get further into the year Angelo can be that guy but so far Richiusa still seems to have the #2 job.

Harvard defensively is coming off a really bad performance and this is matchup SU should be able to exploit. Key word is "should". Harvard didn't run a 10 man from what I saw but did ride pretty aggressively, SU hasn't seen much thi syear so far in aggressive rides, something to keep an eye out for on Saturday. Harvards D did lose two players to ND and UNC respectively in the offseason but they still have a number of top 100 players seeing time. It's a bit perplexing on how much of a struggle it's been for them especially with Byrne as the HC. I agree there probably won't be much if any in the way of lineup changes but if this O is sluggish again early I hope the staff doesn't wait to make a move.

From an SU perspective this is likely the best offense they will have seen to date (no offense to Maryland). King is very good and his supporting cast is no joke. King had 6 pts against Gate and & vs Providence in the opener. Speidell had 5 goals against Gate and Malone is a very solid attackmen. They run two mid lines a lot like SU and Ip was running with the second team a lot vs Gate. Botkiss and Gaffney are the two mainstays on the first mid line. Matchups seem pretty clear, Fig on King, Dwan on Speidell and Grace on Malone. King is only 5'9 so this is more of a Fig matchup though if Riley struggles I think they will go with Dwan, hopefully we don't have to test that theory. Cuse defense has for the most part played really well this year so far and should be well rested and ready for this game. Need to make players other then King beat them for points, letting him go wild will not lead to a good outcome. Gate at times I think on Tuesday was double polling and was very quick to slide vs Harvard. I highly doubt SU is going to double pole but I am interested to see how quick they are to slide. Harvard also had a lot of issues on catching crease passes much like SU vs Maryland. Something to keep an eye one because it cost them at least 2 or 3 more goals.

Not going to get into a big write up on the offense. This is a matchup SU should have success with especially from the midfield. I really would like to see someone else get some run at that 3rd attack spot even if its just a possession or two a quarter. 2nd midfield is something I will be watching closely to. Last few games have not gone well for that crew, you wonder if any changes do come it will be there.

Lastly, I am curious to see how this team responds to the Maryland loss. Do they come out with their hair on fire or is it more of that sloppy mistake ridden play we saw in the 2nd half against Maryland. Sat's outcome may tell a lot on this teams trajectory.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[nyclax]

appreciate the analysis but all that really matters is harvard doesn't win faceoffs and cannot play defense. this is a good matchup for the orange especially at home...18-10 or thereabouts

 

[DoctahLexus]

My goodness Brett Bucktooth has to be one of the most skilled players of all time. He is the first cuse player I was inspired by as a kid. That feed in heavy traffic is insane.