Powellfan
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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The Orange embark to play their first true road game of the season against the Hobart Statesmen this Saturday, the start of a four game road trip. This will most likely be the last time the Orange play a team outside of the top 20 this season. Hobart is 3-4 on the season, with wins against Canisius, Robert Morris and Lemoyne. Their losses are to Colgate, Cornell, Michigan and Albany.
Hobart is led offensively by Anthony Dattellas, a West Genny product who has 28 points in seven games. The next closest scorer for the Statesmen is Chris Patterson, with just 18 points on the season, though Hobart does have four other players with double digit points. On paper, this seems like a matchup SU should get the better of, considering the defenses recent success against Delaware and Duke. Hobart has been dealing with injuries according to posters on fanlax.
One category the Statesmen could challenge the Orange is the face-off department. Adam Shea, a graduate student has a 60% winning percentage, and his backup, freshman Mike Valent is at 65% with 74 draws taken. Shea won 13-25 against Michigan, which is no slouch in the face-off department, though was just 9-18 against Cornell and 8-20 against Albany. The SU face-off group has of course been greatly improved this year, but can be a little up and down and is coming off it's worst performance of the year against Duke (just 6-17). If Hobart is going to keep this close they will have to win a lot of face-offs. SU did just prove they can win a big game without dominating possession at the X, so perhaps it won't be that big of a storyline either way.
Where Hobart does struggle is in the goal. Elhanan Wilson has just a 47% save percentage, and his backup, who has seen time in five games is at just 37%. Wilson did have a big game against Albany, with 18 stops and 14 goals against, so he is capable of impressive performances, but that was just one of three games where he had more saves than goals against (the other two were against Robert Morris and Lemoyne). Against top 20 teams, Wilson has had a hard time - nine gaa and just four saves in 25 minutes against Colgate, 18 gaa and just 10 saves against Michigan and 10 gaa and nine saves in 30 minutes against Cornell. Again, on paper SU should have success when they have the ball.
It's pretty hard to see how Hobart pulls the upset here, but I am of course still haunted by the 2013, the notorious Alex Love game in the Dome. There have been some weird results already this year. SU can certainly be prone to moments where they lose focus, and this is the definition of a trap game, coming off a big win against Duke with another ACC matchup against Notre Dame on the horizon. This game being outdoors in less than optimal weather which isn't great for a team used to playing in a weather controlled dome stadium. Hobart also has a lot of CNY kids who I am sure are treating this game as their super bowl. I'd be really surprised if Hobart can keep this one close, but the Orange can't afford to sleep through this one. Hoping the defensive continues it's impressive growth and that the offense can put this one away early. Go Orange.
Hobart is led offensively by Anthony Dattellas, a West Genny product who has 28 points in seven games. The next closest scorer for the Statesmen is Chris Patterson, with just 18 points on the season, though Hobart does have four other players with double digit points. On paper, this seems like a matchup SU should get the better of, considering the defenses recent success against Delaware and Duke. Hobart has been dealing with injuries according to posters on fanlax.
One category the Statesmen could challenge the Orange is the face-off department. Adam Shea, a graduate student has a 60% winning percentage, and his backup, freshman Mike Valent is at 65% with 74 draws taken. Shea won 13-25 against Michigan, which is no slouch in the face-off department, though was just 9-18 against Cornell and 8-20 against Albany. The SU face-off group has of course been greatly improved this year, but can be a little up and down and is coming off it's worst performance of the year against Duke (just 6-17). If Hobart is going to keep this close they will have to win a lot of face-offs. SU did just prove they can win a big game without dominating possession at the X, so perhaps it won't be that big of a storyline either way.
Where Hobart does struggle is in the goal. Elhanan Wilson has just a 47% save percentage, and his backup, who has seen time in five games is at just 37%. Wilson did have a big game against Albany, with 18 stops and 14 goals against, so he is capable of impressive performances, but that was just one of three games where he had more saves than goals against (the other two were against Robert Morris and Lemoyne). Against top 20 teams, Wilson has had a hard time - nine gaa and just four saves in 25 minutes against Colgate, 18 gaa and just 10 saves against Michigan and 10 gaa and nine saves in 30 minutes against Cornell. Again, on paper SU should have success when they have the ball.
It's pretty hard to see how Hobart pulls the upset here, but I am of course still haunted by the 2013, the notorious Alex Love game in the Dome. There have been some weird results already this year. SU can certainly be prone to moments where they lose focus, and this is the definition of a trap game, coming off a big win against Duke with another ACC matchup against Notre Dame on the horizon. This game being outdoors in less than optimal weather which isn't great for a team used to playing in a weather controlled dome stadium. Hobart also has a lot of CNY kids who I am sure are treating this game as their super bowl. I'd be really surprised if Hobart can keep this one close, but the Orange can't afford to sleep through this one. Hoping the defensive continues it's impressive growth and that the offense can put this one away early. Go Orange.
