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Message: [QUOTE="Powellfan, post: 5368769, member: 4819"] Syracuse faces off against old rival Johnny Hopkins this Sunday at 2pm. It's a huge game for the Orange, as a win would boost their tournament resume in a big way, and a loss would put them behind the eight ball early in the season. Hopkins doesn't have the deepest offense in the world, but they have some special players in their "big four" - Matt Collison, Hunter Chauvette, Brooks English and Russell Melendez. I am going to guess that SU bumps up Billy Dwan to the midfield to cover Collison. The wild card is Brooks English, who leads the team in assists with 12. Does SU end up double poling? Before last weekend I would have said absolutely, but Hopkins may have uncovered the missing piece to their attack in Charlier Iler, who scored a goal and dished out two assist against UVA last weekend. It's just a one game sample, but the Jays were getting next to nothing from the third attack spot previously. My biggest concern for the Orange however is who covers Chauvette, and how he's handled. Cuse did a terrible job last year covering Garrett Degnon, the big lefty sniper scored five times against SU. I am guessing Mike Grace covers Chauvette, with Figuerias on Melendez (if healthy, he left the UVA game), with Caccammo on Iller/English. Hopkins runs a similar motion offense that SU does, so the SU defense will have to have their heads on a swivel. On paper, I think this is an SU offense that matches up well with Hopkins, a defense that loves to slide against an offense that loves to pass the ball. They have some very good defenders with Scott Smith and Quintin Killrain. SU has to find a way to neutralize those two. Joey Spallina had a good game last year against Hopkins (lost in all the "doesn't play well against good defenses, he had five points down in North Carolina). That said, I think the midfield needs to have a good game, led by English and Leo. They have to get going this season, and this game is as good a time as any. Loyola transfer Luke Staudt is at just 47%, and has been under 50% in his last three games. SU cannot be afraid to shoot the ball, and needs to shoot it well. I am sure the former West Genny grad will have a big cheering contingent in the Dome on Sunday. Face-offs should be interesting, as both teams are doing quite well in this department this year. Logan Callahan is at 59% for the year and has not been under 50% the entire year, going up against Georgetown, UVA and UNC. Much like Syracuse, Hopkins has no depth here, as backup Joe Hobot has only taken 18 face-offs and won only four. Johnny Mullen will need to be at his best (he's been on fire the last two games), hopefully he keeps it going against Hopkins. On paper I believe that SU is the better team and has more talent. That said Hopkins has had a much tougher early season schedule and has one less loss to show for it. They are more battled tested than the Orange, and don't have a "bad" loss on their schedule (I think the Harvard loss will age quite poorly for the Orange). My heart says the Orange should win this game by two or three goals. However I can't quite trust this team. Something seems off with the offense, which can't seem to play a full game. When they are on, they look like one of the best teams in the country and when they are off, simply like a JV high school squad. I don't get it. But if they can get on track this game it will go a long way. Hopefully the team we thought would get pre-season shows up this weekend. [/QUOTE]

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