Powellfan
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The Orange and Statesmen battle it out for the Kraus-Simmons trophy this weekend. The Orange enter the game with a bushel full of questions after their third loss of the season. Against Army the offense was stifled in the fourth quarter by a zone defense, the defense is struggling with ball retention and turnovers, and we seem to have stumbled into a goalie controversy. Hobart comes in with a 2-1 record, with wins against Lehigh and Canisius and loss midweek to Cornell.
Hobart is an offensively focused program that likes to push the pace and doesn't seem to care who is shooting the ball. They are led on offense by JD product Ryan Archer who leads the team with 16 points. I imagine Kennedy, who, after struggling with Brendan Nichtern in the opening quarter against Army, actually buckled down and probably won the matchup the rest of the game, will draw that assignment. Tommy Mott who has 12 points will probably get Caccamo, and middie John Herihly who has 11 will draw the pole. Derek Maddona is another good middie and CNY product who has six goals in two games. Again, the statesmen are balanced, their top six scorers have between 15 and 23 shots on the season. The biggest concern for me is the fact that unlike most years, it looks like Hobart has a FOGO - Adam Shea has a 56% win percentage which might not stand out much, but he battled Mike Sissleberger of Lehigh to an even day at the dot, which is almost unheard of. If the Orange can't win the face-off battle and keep turning the ball over, it could be a long day for the Orange. For Syracuse, who starts in goal? Gavin has started all games but was pulled in the first quarter against Army. Thompson looked strong for most of the game but still finished saving 9 of 12 shots. That's also not good enough.
On offense you have to imagine Syracuse is getting a crash course in zone defense as they looked abysmal against it vs Army. Hobart doesn't have the best defense in the world, as Kevin Holtby is saving just over 50%. Syracuse should be able to win their individual matchups but who knows if Hobart throws a zone out? Syracuse can't seem to get everyone on offense on the same page. If Dordevic is having a good game, seems like the rest of the team just sits around and watches. If Curry is having a hard day, no one seems to be able to pick up the pieces. Army was not sliding against the Orange for the first three quarters, so that helps explain why there weren't manny assisted goals (just three on the day), but this team still has an issue when it comes to passing the ball. Curry and Berkman lead the team in assists with just five a piece, which is a little over one a game. Someone needs to emerge as more of a ball distributor if this team is going to succeed. Will Gait and co try and go to their bench more this game? I'm not sure I would describe Hobart as a run and gun team, but they certainly don't wait around much - this is a game that the Orange can't just rely on three players at midfield for. Poor Mateo Corsi has two goals on just three shots and an assist with no turnovers. Tyler Cordes has a goal and three assists with barely any playing time. Don't these guys deserve to see more time?
We usually look at the schedule preseason and see Hobart as a win - this year that might not be the case if the Orange keep on the path that they are on. Syracuse has to start cleaning up the sloppiness on both sides of the ball. This might be the Statesmen best chance at a victory in a long time. They will certainly come in pumped up as a good amount of their roster is CNY guys - I'm sure a bunch of them are out to show Syracuse they should have recruited them. If SU does indeed lose this game its pretty much season over, and time for a lot of reflection.
Hobart is an offensively focused program that likes to push the pace and doesn't seem to care who is shooting the ball. They are led on offense by JD product Ryan Archer who leads the team with 16 points. I imagine Kennedy, who, after struggling with Brendan Nichtern in the opening quarter against Army, actually buckled down and probably won the matchup the rest of the game, will draw that assignment. Tommy Mott who has 12 points will probably get Caccamo, and middie John Herihly who has 11 will draw the pole. Derek Maddona is another good middie and CNY product who has six goals in two games. Again, the statesmen are balanced, their top six scorers have between 15 and 23 shots on the season. The biggest concern for me is the fact that unlike most years, it looks like Hobart has a FOGO - Adam Shea has a 56% win percentage which might not stand out much, but he battled Mike Sissleberger of Lehigh to an even day at the dot, which is almost unheard of. If the Orange can't win the face-off battle and keep turning the ball over, it could be a long day for the Orange. For Syracuse, who starts in goal? Gavin has started all games but was pulled in the first quarter against Army. Thompson looked strong for most of the game but still finished saving 9 of 12 shots. That's also not good enough.
On offense you have to imagine Syracuse is getting a crash course in zone defense as they looked abysmal against it vs Army. Hobart doesn't have the best defense in the world, as Kevin Holtby is saving just over 50%. Syracuse should be able to win their individual matchups but who knows if Hobart throws a zone out? Syracuse can't seem to get everyone on offense on the same page. If Dordevic is having a good game, seems like the rest of the team just sits around and watches. If Curry is having a hard day, no one seems to be able to pick up the pieces. Army was not sliding against the Orange for the first three quarters, so that helps explain why there weren't manny assisted goals (just three on the day), but this team still has an issue when it comes to passing the ball. Curry and Berkman lead the team in assists with just five a piece, which is a little over one a game. Someone needs to emerge as more of a ball distributor if this team is going to succeed. Will Gait and co try and go to their bench more this game? I'm not sure I would describe Hobart as a run and gun team, but they certainly don't wait around much - this is a game that the Orange can't just rely on three players at midfield for. Poor Mateo Corsi has two goals on just three shots and an assist with no turnovers. Tyler Cordes has a goal and three assists with barely any playing time. Don't these guys deserve to see more time?
We usually look at the schedule preseason and see Hobart as a win - this year that might not be the case if the Orange keep on the path that they are on. Syracuse has to start cleaning up the sloppiness on both sides of the ball. This might be the Statesmen best chance at a victory in a long time. They will certainly come in pumped up as a good amount of their roster is CNY guys - I'm sure a bunch of them are out to show Syracuse they should have recruited them. If SU does indeed lose this game its pretty much season over, and time for a lot of reflection.