Powellfan
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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- Jul 16, 2014
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Well, we've finally made it! After a long off-season we are less than a week away from the first Syracuse lacrosse game of the season. Expectations have been building for this team, and they've reached a fever pitch. After finishing 4-10 just a few seasons ago, they are now preseason #2. They still have a lot to prove as this highly regarded 2020 recruiting class goes from under, to upper classmen. They start the season of course, against the Dolphins of Jacksonville, and Syracuse legend John Galloway.
I have to be honest and say I am not that familiar with Jacksonville this season. Galloway has put together some good teams for a while now, but can't quite seem to get over the hump and into the playoffs. He still has been able to notch some pretty big upsets in his career, and isn't afraid to schedule "the big boys" early in the season. According to Gait's press conference, it sounds like they wanted to schedule the Dolphins a few season ago, but Galloway finally felt "ready" to travel to the Dome this year. I'm guessing that means he is confident in his team. They are led on offense by Jackson Intrieri (39,29). He's got some size on him (6'2, 185), so it should be interesting to see who the Orange match him up with. I am going to guess Billy Dwan, as it doesn't look like the Dolphins have a bigger attackman. Jacksonville will be without Jacob Greiner (45, 31), who led the team in scoring last year, but they do return four of their next five leading scorers including Nicky Brown and Jack Taylor, who combined for 100 points last year.
Jacksonville will have to replace their FOGO from last year, Nathan Kapp, who finished at 58% last year. So on paper at least, hopefully Syracuse will have an edge here. Jacksonville does return their goalie Ryan Della Rocco, who put up good numbers last year with a 58% save percentage. The Dolphins don't seem to be coming into this season with a lot of hype (no high profile transfers like the last few years), so they might be flying under the radar. They did apparently lose pretty convincingly in a scrimmage against Rutgers, but hard to put much stock into scrimmage results. I do think Syracuse will win this game, the spread here is -7.5 which might be reasonable. Given the expectations for the Orange this year, I think they need to beat a team like Jacksonville pretty convincingly.
Obviously, first game of the season is exciting as we finally get to see who is playing where, and which players won position battles. It sounds like Finn Thomson will be the third attackman, but there are still some depth chart questions. Most importantly is goalie, which many of us have assumed is Jimmy McCool, but nothing has been made official yet. Also it's still a mystery where Mike Grace is lining up, and who will be running LSM. I am sure there will be some players getting time that we aren't expecting. Given the first two games are against Jacksonville and Vermont, hopefully the bulk of roster shuffling will be settled by the Towson game.
Well, wrapping things up, just want to say I'm thankful for this community. Lacrosse is an extremely fun sport with small but passionate fanbase. It's really great to be able to come here with likeminded people to banter about a really exciting game that, quite frankly, not enough people appreciate. On top of that it's great to be a part of the best and most knowledgeable fan base in the country. Hopefully there are good things on deck for the Orange this season. GO 'CUSE!
I have to be honest and say I am not that familiar with Jacksonville this season. Galloway has put together some good teams for a while now, but can't quite seem to get over the hump and into the playoffs. He still has been able to notch some pretty big upsets in his career, and isn't afraid to schedule "the big boys" early in the season. According to Gait's press conference, it sounds like they wanted to schedule the Dolphins a few season ago, but Galloway finally felt "ready" to travel to the Dome this year. I'm guessing that means he is confident in his team. They are led on offense by Jackson Intrieri (39,29). He's got some size on him (6'2, 185), so it should be interesting to see who the Orange match him up with. I am going to guess Billy Dwan, as it doesn't look like the Dolphins have a bigger attackman. Jacksonville will be without Jacob Greiner (45, 31), who led the team in scoring last year, but they do return four of their next five leading scorers including Nicky Brown and Jack Taylor, who combined for 100 points last year.
Jacksonville will have to replace their FOGO from last year, Nathan Kapp, who finished at 58% last year. So on paper at least, hopefully Syracuse will have an edge here. Jacksonville does return their goalie Ryan Della Rocco, who put up good numbers last year with a 58% save percentage. The Dolphins don't seem to be coming into this season with a lot of hype (no high profile transfers like the last few years), so they might be flying under the radar. They did apparently lose pretty convincingly in a scrimmage against Rutgers, but hard to put much stock into scrimmage results. I do think Syracuse will win this game, the spread here is -7.5 which might be reasonable. Given the expectations for the Orange this year, I think they need to beat a team like Jacksonville pretty convincingly.
Obviously, first game of the season is exciting as we finally get to see who is playing where, and which players won position battles. It sounds like Finn Thomson will be the third attackman, but there are still some depth chart questions. Most importantly is goalie, which many of us have assumed is Jimmy McCool, but nothing has been made official yet. Also it's still a mystery where Mike Grace is lining up, and who will be running LSM. I am sure there will be some players getting time that we aren't expecting. Given the first two games are against Jacksonville and Vermont, hopefully the bulk of roster shuffling will be settled by the Towson game.
Well, wrapping things up, just want to say I'm thankful for this community. Lacrosse is an extremely fun sport with small but passionate fanbase. It's really great to be able to come here with likeminded people to banter about a really exciting game that, quite frankly, not enough people appreciate. On top of that it's great to be a part of the best and most knowledgeable fan base in the country. Hopefully there are good things on deck for the Orange this season. GO 'CUSE!
