Harvard Gameday…

[JeremyCuse]

I’m didn’t blame the coaches for English losing the ball. I’m questioning why they took the ball away from their man up unit that was en fuego. Harvard couldn’t stop it in the fourth quarter; they were 4-6 on the day before that last flag.

English was a turnover machine yesterday full of bad decisions and sloppy passing.

The man up unit were the “players that you trust the most” who demonstrated repeatedly they were “able to make good decisions.”

Gait was in a tough spot there to be honest. Teams are rarely on the man up in those spots so that added a wrinkle you don't usually see. The main issue was that with amount of time left there was no obvious answer on what to do. SU could run out the clock or if they turned it over late make it almost impossible for Harvard to score. On the other hand if they score there the game is probably over with Mullen.

Your point about not attacking the man up is a good one but again it comes down to time. If there was say just under 2 min left, I think you clearly attack like a normal man up. With just over a min left or whatever it was and only a 30 sec man up you had to attack early if your gonna play it straight, as such, if you don't score and Harvard gets the ball there gonna be able to get it back on their end with plenty of time left. If we had two TO's left I think the better gameplan would have been to run off about 20 secs of the man up and then see if you want to attack that last 10 seconds on the re-start because Princeton can't double. I don't mind English being the guy to run around but he had struggled all day with turnovers and history has shown in those scenarios teams are rarely successful in running the clock out and usually end up turning it over at some point.

Much like last week vs Duke with the amount of time left I think you get your fastest players out there and Tell English once the double comes just throw a highly looping slow pass toward the left corner (the ones you see at the end of shot clock violations) and let a scrum ensue preferably with whoever the goalie is covering. Even if it goes OOB your taking at minimum 5+ seconds off the clock from when he passes it and your gonna be able to set up defensively and force Harvard to clear from pretty much as far back as possible.

 

[36'sq.]

I’m didn’t blame the coaches for English losing the ball. I’m questioning why they took the ball away from their man up unit that was en fuego. Harvard couldn’t stop it in the fourth quarter; they were 4-6 on the day before that last flag.

English was a turnover machine yesterday full of bad decisions and sloppy passing.

The man up unit were the “players that you trust the most” who demonstrated repeatedly they were “able to make good decisions.”

That is why I'm so confused when Carcaterra hypes him up. He's incredibly talented, not many middies play first line O, faceofff wing, and even some D. But, he's a captain at Syracuse. You need a consistent A game from that guy. Tons of talent, but as you say, sloppy passing and bad decisions. In a win or go home game. When you've played four (five?) seasons of DI and thousands of club games, that just can't happen.

But maybe that is part of the issue with the team: if your captain is inconsistent, maybe the whole team follows suit.

Not trying to be a jerk, the guy has tons of talent and I enjoy watching him play. But yeah, he's inconsistent.

 

[tbonezone]

think phil ford 4 corners. give a speedy dude the pill and when the double or triple comes pass to the open corner . tick tock.

 

[cuselaxss26]

To be fair as just rewatch the game (second half only couldn’t bare watching first half). The one turnover by english will give him credit as his stick broke n he tried to pass it before anyone notice his stick was broken n go other way anyway. But he wasn’t able to get enough on pass as stick broke like 4inches from head. So would been hell of smooth move if pulled it off. But i’ll least give him pass on that.

Now running out clock not sure why we didn’t try get ball down low just before man up expired instead keep it up top whole time. Second the guy that english was running toward should have vacated down below or move up to so guy defending them couldn’t clamp down on english easier. Hottle should have followed opposite of english staying up top to prevent break and rice top of other side for same reason.

Then when did lose ball guys trying to lay hits instead just getting back n 1 slow ball carrier down. Then everyone fled towards ball leaving whole other side field wide open. Lastly i’m sorry MCcool has to make that save. It was just inside box line (believe) dude was going low whole way n showed it n mccool gets beat . Just so many things team did wrong in that final 1min. Just made worst mistake after worst mistake on top of a save that has to be made.

Now im not saying you try score on the extra man but think least press n try see what look can get. As had feeling harvard goalie was gonna try to come out on brown/deere if pass even look their way. But next time like to see is every player but 2 go on opposite side of field in corners. Keep two of our guys(one with ball) give them plenty of room to room n whoever is closet when trouble comes go to them calling for it.

When running out clock spacing matters and so does not bringing ur guy closer to guy with ball making it easier to trap or double. Either hiltz stood there as english ran towards him stead getting way to take his man or whoever it was. It just was all badly executed. Last thing right before that debacle in huddle just noticed watching replay. Thompson def seemed upset after seem what was gonna happen. Can see him roll his head n break out huddle before rest players did. To which gait notice n said something to him. Not sure if cause finn wasn’t gonna be on field or they weren’t gonna trey least look for good scoring chance as running out clock has not gone well for us.

 

[cuselaxss26]

Either way as poorly n i mean it was poorly we played for almost 3 qtrs to keep fighting n come back. Specially when harvard tied it with 6 seconds. Even my spirits were down. But to win n comeback down so much with english n hiltz playing their worst game no doubt. Rest team stepped up when needed. If not gonna get goals from second line other then bear guess our lsm are next best option. But hottle n mccarthy have to do something. As said before they don’t exactly have to be a scorer but least get assists or be reason a goal was scored.

Mcarthy deke the crap out mcquire prob one of best dmids in college for goal. Yet can’t beat any of these other ones. He also seems so scared to pull trigger. I feel bad for him as he seems be decent enough with ball n decent dmid n on wing. But was offensive guy. Where is the production ? His confidence just seems shot. Which think need to really work on his O game during practice or just make him dmid. I been rooting for him n thought him scoring vs duke maby open him up little bit. But he had nice clean line for shot at harvard buy stopped then got stick checked from behind n lost ball.

 

[ForCuseSake]

Gait was in a tough spot there to be honest. Teams are rarely on the man up in those spots so that added a wrinkle you don't usually see. The main issue was that with amount of time left there was no obvious answer on what to do. SU could run out the clock or if they turned it over late make it almost impossible for Harvard to score. On the other hand if they score there the game is probably over with Mullen.

Your point about not attacking the man up is a good one but again it comes down to time. If there was say just under 2 min left, I think you clearly attack like a normal man up. With just over a min left or whatever it was and only a 30 sec man up you had to attack early if your gonna play it straight, as such, if you don't score and Harvard gets the ball there gonna be able to get it back on their end with plenty of time left. If we had two TO's left I think the better gameplan would have been to run off about 20 secs of the man up and then see if you want to attack that last 10 seconds on the re-start because Princeton can't double. I don't mind English being the guy to run around but he had struggled all day with turnovers and history has shown in those scenarios teams are rarely successful in running the clock out and usually end up turning it over at some point.

Much like last week vs Duke with the amount of time left I think you get your fastest players out there and Tell English once the double comes just throw a highly looping slow pass toward the left corner (the ones you see at the end of shot clock violations) and let a scrum ensue preferably with whoever the goalie is covering. Even if it goes OOB your taking at minimum 5+ seconds off the clock from when he passes it and your gonna be able to set up defensively and force Harvard to clear from pretty much as far back as possible.

Great points and I agree it is a tough spot for Coach Gait as people would’ve crucified him if they turned it over before the penalty ended and they lost.

I’m more of a “dance with the gal that brought you” philosophy and the man up was cookin.

I’m thrilled it worked out. And generally agree with the “give it to our fastest, strongest ball carrier and turn him loose” approach.

I have PTSD with some of English’s head scratchers. He’s a phenomenal player and I think they ask too much of him at this level. Only natural for him to fatigue mentally or physically.

I’d love to see him end this year on a heater. I have no doubt Harvard was the closest Hiltz will come to a let down for the rest of his career. He’s been monumentally clutch this year.

 

[cusefan88]

Great points and I agree it is a tough spot for Coach Gait as people would’ve crucified him if they turned it over before the penalty ended and they lost.

I’m more of a “dance with the gal that brought you” philosophy and the man up was cookin.

I’m thrilled it worked out. And generally agree with the “give it to our fastest, strongest ball carrier and turn him loose” approach.

I have PTSD with some of English’s head scratchers. He’s a phenomenal player and I think they ask too much of him at this level. Only natural for him to fatigue mentally or physically.

I’d love to see him end this year on a heater. I have no doubt Harvard was the closest Hiltz will come to a let down for the rest of his career. He’s been monumentally clutch this year.

Hiltz had a bad day but in the fourth quarter did all his damage. Assisted Leo's go-ahead goal and bagged the GWG in overtime.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Great points and I agree it is a tough spot for Coach Gait as people would’ve crucified him if they turned it over before the penalty ended and they lost.

I’m more of a “dance with the gal that brought you” philosophy and the man up was cookin.

I’m thrilled it worked out. And generally agree with the “give it to our fastest, strongest ball carrier and turn him loose” approach.

I have PTSD with some of English’s head scratchers. He’s a phenomenal player and I think they ask too much of him at this level. Only natural for him to fatigue mentally or physically.

I’d love to see him end this year on a heater. I have no doubt Harvard was the closest Hiltz will come to a let down for the rest of his career. He’s been monumentally clutch this year.

I am of the opinion in that scenario take the open goal shot as most times your gonna score. Teams get to concerned about the one time a team did that and the opponent scored 2 goals in like 11 seconds because they won 2 faceoffs in a row to tie or something crazy so their hesitant to score versus keeping possession. I think that's overblown, yes that has happened but it's beyond rare. I would rather take the goal and go up 2 or 3 etc.

I'd like to see Gait do what he did vs ND, take the TO above GLE and in a position where a guy like Hiltz can score of the restart or even Joey. That forces teams to either give up an empty net and hope SU misses (Hiltz buried it and effectively ended the ND game) or they have to wait until after the re-start to pull the goalie out which wastes precious seconds.

 

[GoSU96]

Either way as poorly n i mean it was poorly we played for almost 3 qtrs to keep fighting n come back. Specially when harvard tied it with 6 seconds. Even my spirits were down. But to win n comeback down so much with english n hiltz playing their worst game no doubt. Rest team stepped up when needed. If not gonna get goals from second line other then bear guess our lsm are next best option. But hottle n mccarthy have to do something. As said before they don’t exactly have to be a scorer but least get assists or be reason a goal was scored.

Mcarthy deke the crap out mcquire prob one of best dmids in college for goal. Yet can’t beat any of these other ones. He also seems so scared to pull trigger. I feel bad for him as he seems be decent enough with ball n decent dmid n on wing. But was offensive guy. Where is the production ? His confidence just seems shot. Which think need to really work on his O game during practice or just make him dmid. I been rooting for him n thought him scoring vs duke maby open him up little bit. But he had nice clean line for shot at harvard buy stopped then got stick checked from behind n lost ball.

McCarthy was bad

 

[DomeHolmes]

I’m not trying to argue with you, seriously, but if the face-offs are equal and if both teams have the same amount of penalties, then you really think we win that game? I definitely don’t. I don’t think it would even have been close. We couldn’t stop them, at all, and we had a very hard time scoring in our non-man up (6v6) offense. McCool had some ridiculous saves, too. Regardless, exciting game and great win

No, we probably don’t, but if their goalie doesn’t stand on his head and we don’t hit pipes, they lose by 5+. They clearly played better in the first 40 minutes though.

We had 12 unforced turnovers, and they had I believe 7 more saves than us, so they made up 19 of the possessions we gained (by dominating face offs), between their goalie and our sloppiness. (Those 19 lost possessions for us had very little to do with Harvard’s other nine guys on the field out playing us). They also only had two more forced turnovers than us, so it was as much us beating ourselves as it was them beating us.

They clearly won three things. The first 40 minutes, ground balls (not including face offs) and goalkeeping. We clearly won face offs, shots, shots on goal, dominated the last 20 minutes, and made better adjustments. So in my eyes, we played fairly evenly, but we just made one more play than them.

We have also fought uphill battles with penalties all year, and were overdue to have a game where we were less penalized.

I read the three pages of the Harvard lacrosse forum. (They obviously don’t care about lacrosse as much as we do). There was not one post in three pages where someone felt that “they dominated the game but lost”. Quite the opposite, it seems like they expected it and gave us credit for being more clutch than them.

 

[JeremyCuse]

No, we probably don’t, but if their goalie doesn’t stand on his head and we don’t hit pipes, they lose by 5+. They clearly played better in the first 40 minutes though.

We had 12 unforced turnovers, and they had I believe 7 more saves than us, so they made up 19 of the possessions we gained (by dominating face offs), between their goalie and our sloppiness. (Those 19 lost possessions for us had very little to do with Harvard’s other nine guys on the field out playing us). They also only had two more forced turnovers than us, so it was as much us beating ourselves as it was them beating us.

They clearly won three things. The first 40 minutes, ground balls (not including face offs) and goalkeeping. We clearly won face offs, shots, shots on goal, dominated the last 20 minutes, and made better adjustments. So in my eyes, we played fairly evenly, but we just made one more play than them.

We have also fought uphill battles with penalties all year, and were overdue to have a game where we were less penalized.

I read the three pages of the Harvard lacrosse forum. (They obviously don’t care about lacrosse as much as we do). There was not one post in three pages where someone felt that “they dominated the game but lost”. Quite the opposite, it seems like they expected it and gave us credit for being more clutch than them.

Can you link to the Harvard site? Thanks

 

[ForCuseSake]

That is why I'm so confused when Carcaterra hypes him up. He's incredibly talented, not many middies play first line O, faceofff wing, and even some D. But, he's a captain at Syracuse. You need a consistent A game from that guy. Tons of talent, but as you say, sloppy passing and bad decisions. In a win or go home game. When you've played four (five?) seasons of DI and thousands of club games, that just can't happen.

But maybe that is part of the issue with the team: if your captain is inconsistent, maybe the whole team follows suit.

Not trying to be a jerk, the guy has tons of talent and I enjoy watching him play. But yeah, he's inconsistent.

I think you have to have superhuman athleticism to do everything they ask English to do any better than he does.

Matt Abbott, one of the original Human Clears, was fast AF. Even he didn’t run first line middie, first team SSDM, FO wing and designated clock killer.

English is a top flight dodger, SSDM and clock killer. Asking him to also be the go-to wing shorty on face offs in this age of parity is cray cray to me.

The fact that he performs all of those roles at an elite level, with some inconsistency, is a testament to how talented he is.

I wish the staff had a reasonable alternative for one or two of those roles to give him a breather.

 

[cuselaxss26]

McCarthy was bad

He isn’t that bad tho. What mean is for how much he plays he doesn’t turn it over a ton. Will he make mistake of course but our seniors have made more then him. Why say bad cause he just doesn’t produce anything. I get that i really do. But he isn’t so bad can’t be fixed or so bad he shouldn’t even touch field. He has shown some nice moves n even feeds at times. Just think kid to scared to be himself or try ANYTHING. He has been mugged few times n got thru it. He can handle the ball not saying he’s a sticktictian. But he isn’t totally terrible. Think coaches just need to work with mostly on his confidence. He has pick up some tough gbs. He also only sophomore seeing extensive time. But he doesn’t produce anything on O.

Think you least gotta work with him as i see potential in him but who’s to say coaches work on the things he lacks as much as they could or should. Clearly they think he better then other as haven’t switched him yet. I’m not basing him just off production tho i think he does need to produce. But he hasn’t cost us to where ur like why. He really doesn’t change the game or help but he also doesn’t hurt either. Think he had better chance then hottle (mostly his size).

I just see kid who at times shown flashes of skill but just to dam scared to try to be that guy. As seems most of 2nd line besides bear all their trying to do is draw slide n feed attack. That hottle / mccarthy arnt dodging to score but to only look for attack. Which could be what they’re told i don’t know. They both just seem to not want to be a go getter or wanna please upper class men or told to do so. They’re both just very shy with ball when comes to shooting.

 

[orange79]

He isn’t that bad tho. What mean is for how much he plays he doesn’t turn it over a ton. Will he make mistake of course but our seniors have made more then him. Why say bad cause he just doesn’t produce anything. I get that i really do. But he isn’t so bad can’t be fixed or so bad he shouldn’t even touch field. He has shown some nice moves n even feeds at times. Just think kid to scared to be himself or try ANYTHING. He has been mugged few times n got thru it. He can handle the ball not saying he’s a sticktictian. But he isn’t totally terrible. Think coaches just need to work with mostly on his confidence. He has pick up some tough gbs. He also only sophomore seeing extensive time. But he doesn’t produce anything on O.

Think you least gotta work with him as i see potential in him but who’s to say coaches work on the things he lacks as much as they could or should. Clearly they think he better then other as haven’t switched him yet. I’m not basing him just off production tho i think he does need to produce. But he hasn’t cost us to where ur like why. He really doesn’t change the game or help but he also doesn’t hurt either. Think he had better chance then hottle (mostly his size).

I just see kid who at times shown flashes of skill but just to dam scared to try to be that guy. As seems most of 2nd line besides bear all their trying to do is draw slide n feed attack. That hottle / mccarthy arnt dodging to score but to only look for attack. Which could be what they’re told i don’t know. They both just seem to not want to be a go getter or wanna please upper class men or told to do so. They’re both just very shy with ball when comes to shooting.

I expect him to make 'the leap' next year.

 

[GoSU96]

He isn’t that bad tho. What mean is for how much he plays he doesn’t turn it over a ton. Will he make mistake of course but our seniors have made more then him. Why say bad cause he just doesn’t produce anything. I get that i really do. But he isn’t so bad can’t be fixed or so bad he shouldn’t even touch field. He has shown some nice moves n even feeds at times. Just think kid to scared to be himself or try ANYTHING. He has been mugged few times n got thru it. He can handle the ball not saying he’s a sticktictian. But he isn’t totally terrible. Think coaches just need to work with mostly on his confidence. He has pick up some tough gbs. He also only sophomore seeing extensive time. But he doesn’t produce anything on O.

Think you least gotta work with him as i see potential in him but who’s to say coaches work on the things he lacks as much as they could or should. Clearly they think he better then other as haven’t switched him yet. I’m not basing him just off production tho i think he does need to produce. But he hasn’t cost us to where ur like why. He really doesn’t change the game or help but he also doesn’t hurt either. Think he had better chance then hottle (mostly his size).

I just see kid who at times shown flashes of skill but just to dam scared to try to be that guy. As seems most of 2nd line besides bear all their trying to do is draw slide n feed attack. That hottle / mccarthy arnt dodging to score but to only look for attack. Which could be what they’re told i don’t know. They both just seem to not want to be a go getter or wanna please upper class men or told to do so. They’re both just very shy with ball when comes to shooting.

He was really bad on Sunday

 

[MD Cuse Fan]

Anyone in the know aware if Harvard is on the schedule next year or if it was a one off? Not sure I want to see them again right now but they made for 2 crazy games this year.

 

[cuselaxss26]

He was really bad on Sunday

Why? cause he had 2 turnovers ? which is most he has had in single game. Only 8 turnovers all year from a sophomore ? who logs wings O n D . Think that’s not bad really. English had 7 this pass game hiltz had 4-5maby. Point is ur expecting a sophomore to be better then two seniors who made more mistakes n played terrible for most of it. Point being he isn’t that bad just young not enough experience. He isn’t gonna win ya the game but he also isn’t gonna lose it for you either. Wish he could produce more on O. But with all the other studs we have don’t think they ask him to be another. Think for what his role has been he is solid n had potential. Also the whole team was bad sunday for most of it. Why was it only him ?

 

[cuselaxss26]

All i’m saying is the kid besides not being Offensive production threat he has had a decent year for sophomore starting for first season of high D 1 lacrosse. He isn’t flashy or highly smart or least his plays. But he’s least trust worthy to play n not make or break it. Which prob what they want with all the other guys. Last thing i’ll say is i just think kid in the times he has flashed when he tries actually he has potential. Maby isn’t gonna be a hiltz or even a rhoa. But think he can be a very solid maby even little weaker O of person english for us.

 

[cuselaxss26]

All i’m saying is the kid besides not being Offensive production threat he has had a decent year for sophomore starting for first season of high D 1 lacrosse. He isn’t flashy or highly smart or least his plays. But he’s least trust worthy to play n not make or break it. Which prob what they want with all the other guys. Last thing i’ll say is i just think kid in the times he has flashed when he tries actually he has potential. Maby isn’t gonna be a hiltz or even a rhoa. But think he can be a very solid maby even little weaker O of person english for us.

What i mean by not flashy or highly smart in his play is he isn’t making these crazy plays or high iq plays. He makes the basic or simple play which is totally fine specially someone so new to this level. Making the simple or basic play isn’t always a bad thing. N what ment weaker o person english, is can be like english play wing O n D just might not have the production of english but could be better then him on the D side. To say he was bad don’t think is true. Specially sunday when half team was bad. 8 turnovers for whole year from a 2nd line mid (sophomore) who’s on the wings n plays D think is pretty good. Think every guy that’s not the top guys have a certain role n their playing that role.

i just don’t think the kid has cost us to warrant being called bad. Could he do more like score sure. But i’ll take him how he is if ment him scoring more means more turnovers or other mistakes.

 

[tbonezone]

Both English and Hiltz failed at this in the last 2 games.

english almost threw it away with a lame pass to start the possession ! ball was free rolling towards the sideline on a too casual flip. one other live note . the video is great but the audio sucks. can't hear the ref calls at all. and i don't know if this was ESPN or replay but there were some unbelievably long breaks after penalty calls. delay drew many boos.

 

[36'sq.]

I think you have to have superhuman athleticism to do everything they ask English to do any better than he does.

Matt Abbott, one of the original Human Clears, was fast AF. Even he didn’t run first line middie, first team SSDM, FO wing and designated clock killer.

English is a top flight dodger, SSDM and clock killer. Asking him to also be the go-to wing shorty on face offs in this age of parity is cray cray to me.

The fact that he performs all of those roles at an elite level, with some inconsistency, is a testament to how talented he is.

I wish the staff had a reasonable alternative for one or two of those roles to give him a breather.

Matt Abbott was truly a joy to watch play the game. I wish we'd had him during the covid era and he could have had a 7 year college career, like some of these dudes seem to pull off these days!

Seriously. I saw him play maybe his sophomore year at Cornell when it was still that Tuesday evening game on the road and I just watched him the entire game. Phew, effortless class and skill.

 

[tech37]

He was really bad on Sunday

Three quarters of the team was "bad" on Sunday.

He's a very good athlete and will become a better lax player over next two years. Someone mentioned his goal vs Duke where he beat McGuire... reminder, that was a one goal game.

Question... what's going on with Cordes? Is he battling injuries or just not performing in practice?

 

[UrbanaOrange]

Three quarters of the team was "bad" on Sunday.

He's a very good athlete and will become a better lax player over next two years. Someone mentioned his goal vs Duke where he beat McGuire... reminder, that was a one goal game.

Question... what's going on with Cordes? Is he battling injuries or just not performing in practice?

Yup, that goal 1v1 against McGuire was a thing of beauty! I'm bullish on this kid's future at 'Cuse.

 

[cuselaxss26]

Three quarters of the team was "bad" on Sunday.

He's a very good athlete and will become a better lax player over next two years. Someone mentioned his goal vs Duke where he beat McGuire... reminder, that was a one goal game.

Question... what's going on with Cordes? Is he battling injuries or just not performing in practice?

i think cordes has better shot then mccarthy n hottle. Think he is a good feeder also n been on cuse for while so sure he knows what we do. But hasn’t played since bear took over on second line. Why think should mix mccarthy/hottle/cordes to go with bear as each of those 3 bring diff style.

But if ya watch mccarthy n hottle dodge you can see their not dodging to try score. Their dodging to draw n move it on. As said could be the plan they do the dodging n move ball to attack for finish. Also to just give first line breather. Grant think they should be more then that. But yea mccarthy move on mcguire was sweet also the one game he had a nice move into a sweet assist. As said he had shown some flash plays. Just think kid doesn’t try to be that guy just role player.

 

[tech37]

i think cordes has better shot then mccarthy n hottle. Think he is a good feeder also n been on cuse for while so sure he knows what we do. But hasn’t played since bear took over on second line. Why think should mix mccarthy/hottle/cordes to go with bear as each of those 3 bring diff style.

Re Cordes... we only see what goes on on game days and not what happens during the week at practice. Maybe he's hurting or maybe the other three on 2nds just outperforming him? My guess, he's banged up.

I think fans should consider the 2nds a supporting cast, there mainly to give the 1sts a rest, and if they should score as all three have, it's bonus points.

Losing Birtwistle didn't help things...