LAX Action for Feb 5-7

[OrangeXtreme]

Final Duke 16-12

 

[ctlax]

Thx!

 

[Powellfan]

With UNC and Duke beating Denver, one almost wonders if the ACC will lose an out-of-conference game this season. Virginia has a tough game at Loyola coming up.

One doesn't want to make too much of Virginia beating Towson with Towson being 0-6 last season, but it does seem like a pretty big positive that 2 of the players, Shellenberger and Bertrand, that they were looking to fill out their offense with had such big games.

As a Syracuse fan I am still very nervous about the Army game in two weeks. I'm sure we'll get more in-depth analysis, but Syracuse is two weeks behind in terms of practice and Army might have a game in hand if they can find a replacement for UMass this weekend. Army is always well prepared, well conditioned and very acclimated to playing in the Dome. They did lose a lot from last year (second and third leading scorers are gone), but have three of the best players at their respective positions in Nichtern, Schluper and Huggins. SU should be favored, but I am expecting a very competitive game.

Looking at other schedules the southern ACC schools play a lot of similar opponents in High Point, Richmond, Robert Morris, Air Force, etc. Obviously they'll be favored in those games, but a lot of those teams have given ACC teams a run in the past. I know we are dealing with a different animal in the ACC this year, but it's still extreamly early and as good as the ACC teams this weekend looked, you just never know. Duke looked shaky against Robert Morris. Injuries, Covid, a hot goalie could all play big factors for ACC teams this spring.

It hasn't really hit me yet but it's going to weird to go through the season without the two conferences that made the most of the extra year of eligibility, the ACC and Big Ten face-off until the playoffs. Almost like the old days of baseball when there was no inter-league play and the National and American League didn't play each other until the World Series.

 

[sholokov2]

As a Syracuse fan I am still very nervous about the Army game in two weeks. I'm sure we'll get more in-depth analysis, but Syracuse is two weeks behind in terms of practice and Army might have a game in hand if they can find a replacement for UMass this weekend. Army is always well prepared, well conditioned and very acclimated to playing in the Dome. They did lose a lot from last year (second and third leading scorers are gone), but have three of the best players at their respective positions in Nichtern, Schluper and Huggins. SU should be favored, but I am expecting a very competitive game.

Looking at other schedules the southern ACC schools play a lot of similar opponents in High Point, Richmond, Robert Morris, Air Force, etc. Obviously they'll be favored in those games, but a lot of those teams have given ACC teams a run in the past. I know we are dealing with a different animal in the ACC this year, but it's still extreamly early and as good as the ACC teams this weekend looked, you just never know. Duke looked shaky against Robert Morris. Injuries, Covid, a hot goalie could all play big factors for ACC teams this spring.

It hasn't really hit me yet but it's going to weird to go through the season without the two conferences that made the most of the extra year of eligibility, the ACC and Big Ten face-off until the playoffs. Almost like the old days of baseball when there was no inter-league play and the National and American League didn't play each other until the World Series.

share your trepidation over Army game. Yes, there are huge holes among college lacrosse leagues. Despite the lack of meaning in the scene this year, I gave in and watched three games this weekend. Jeez, UNC, UVA and Duke were exciting to watch. I love UNC's strategy. Attack after turnovers, fight to get the ball back, triple if you have to, do not wait once we have possession to attack the goal, do not wait for a new middle line, even when undermanned in the offensive zone, go at the goal. Really exciting fun lacrosse, aided I think by the new face off rules, which speed up everything, bring in the wings, prevent the usual wrestling matches. FO's remind me of the eighties. I noticed several so called FO violations the refs in all three games could have called but did not.

UVA seems to attempt the same strategy with more mixed results. More aggressive lacrosse seemed a theme in all three games. Very few time violations from the offensive teams. For me, every time a team takes 10 seconds to wait for new middies, the whole team lapses into a passive offense that requires them to take time accelerating into an effective attack. Think offense while on defense. Attack the ball... Well, you get the idea.

 

[JeremyCuse]

As a Syracuse fan I am still very nervous about the Army game in two weeks. I'm sure we'll get more in-depth analysis, but Syracuse is two weeks behind in terms of practice and Army might have a game in hand if they can find a replacement for UMass this weekend. Army is always well prepared, well conditioned and very acclimated to playing in the Dome. They did lose a lot from last year (second and third leading scorers are gone), but have three of the best players at their respective positions in Nichtern, Schluper and Huggins. SU should be favored, but I am expecting a very competitive game.

Looking at other schedules the southern ACC schools play a lot of similar opponents in High Point, Richmond, Robert Morris, Air Force, etc. Obviously they'll be favored in those games, but a lot of those teams have given ACC teams a run in the past. I know we are dealing with a different animal in the ACC this year, but it's still extreamly early and as good as the ACC teams this weekend looked, you just never know. Duke looked shaky against Robert Morris. Injuries, Covid, a hot goalie could all play big factors for ACC teams this spring.

It hasn't really hit me yet but it's going to weird to go through the season without the two conferences that made the most of the extra year of eligibility, the ACC and Big Ten face-off until the playoffs. Almost like the old days of baseball when there was no inter-league play and the National and American League didn't play each other until the World Series.

While I do agree that the Army game has been a perennial pain in the ass for SU, this has to be the type of game that Syracuse wins and wins somewhat comfortably if they/we are planning a run to Memorial Day. I am not saying SU has to blow Army out ( I think thats happened once the last 15+ years), but barring Schupler just standing on his head for 20 saves, SU should win this game by 3+ goals.

Army has a good team as Nichtern and Hudgins would start on any D1 team in America save for Maybe Duke for Nichtern. Army's issue is that they don't possess nearly the depth or horses to run with SU or UVA who they now play this Saturday. Army is replacing 2 starters off the attack and midfield and 2 D starters who played a long side Hudgins. SU returns literally every offensive player from the top six in that game, most of whom are veterans who are very familiar with Army. Army did an excellent job on the attack unit last year which will be harder to replicate now that Scanlan and Cook are familiar with Army defensively and you add Hiltz into the mix. I assume they will put Hudgins on Rehfuss again which I believe they did last year but I can't see them having an answer for the midfield nor do I think they can double pole although I could see Alberici trying it. He tried to defend without sliding last year and it worked for a half and then SU exploded in the 2nd. This occurred with Dordevic clearly still trying to shake the rust off.

Now the caveat to this is if SU can't win a faceoff based on the new rules and or SU starts throwing the ball all over the Carrier Dome like they did against Colgate a few years ago. If you can't win a faceoff or stop turning it over then all bets are off. That said this is an extremely talented and deep SU team that should come out like UNC did and just impose their will from the first whistle.

 

[DoctahLexus]

While I do agree that the Army game has been a perennial pain in the ass for SU, this has to be the type of game that Syracuse wins and wins somewhat comfortably if they/we are planning a run to Memorial Day. I am not saying SU has to blow Army out ( I think thats happened once the last 15+ years), but barring Schupler just standing on his head for 20 saves, SU should win this game by 3+ goals.

Army has a good team as Nichtern and Hudgins would start on any D1 team in America save for Maybe Duke for Nichtern. Army's issue is that they don't possess nearly the depth or horses to run with SU or UVA who they now play this Saturday. Army is replacing 2 starters off the attack and midfield and 2 D starters who played a long side Hudgins. SU returns literally every offensive player from the top six in that game, most of whom are veterans who are very familiar with Army. Army did an excellent job on the attack unit last year which will be harder to replicate now that Scanlan and Cook are familiar with Army defensively and you add Hiltz into the mix. I assume they will put Hudgins on Rehfuss again which I believe they did last year but I can't see them having an answer for the midfield nor do I think they can double pole although I could see Alberici trying it. He tried to defend without sliding last year and it worked for a half and then SU exploded in the 2nd. This occurred with Dordevic clearly still trying to shake the rust off.

Now the caveat to this is if SU can't win a faceoff based on the new rules and or SU starts throwing the ball all over the Carrier Dome like they did against Colgate a few years ago. If you can't win a faceoff or stop turning it over then all bets are off. That said this is an extremely talented and deep SU team that should come out like UNC did and just impose their will from the first whistle.

If we play like we did against Colgate in the opener the last two years, then this is going to be a close game. Tired of us coming out flat. You can only get away with that playing Binghamton or Siena in the opener. Any team above that talent level will punish you severely for coming out flat. Army is always out for blood against us after losing several close heartbreakers. UVA could beat them up (game under their belt/alberici being less familiar with their game) and make them even more out for revenge.

That being said it is a very experienced unit we are bringing to the table on both sides of the ball. The last two years had a lot of new faces getting new levels of responsibility. Everyone in the starting lineup for 2021 was in their same roles last year. Just don’t come out flat! No overly eager terrible shots because you’re so excited! And please no illegal stick penalties trimboli!

 

[Powellfan]

While I do agree that the Army game has been a perennial pain in the ass for SU, this has to be the type of game that Syracuse wins and wins somewhat comfortably if they/we are planning a run to Memorial Day. I am not saying SU has to blow Army out ( I think thats happened once the last 15+ years), but barring Schupler just standing on his head for 20 saves, SU should win this game by 3+ goals.

Army has a good team as Nichtern and Hudgins would start on any D1 team in America save for Maybe Duke for Nichtern. Army's issue is that they don't possess nearly the depth or horses to run with SU or UVA who they now play this Saturday. Army is replacing 2 starters off the attack and midfield and 2 D starters who played a long side Hudgins. SU returns literally every offensive player from the top six in that game, most of whom are veterans who are very familiar with Army. Army did an excellent job on the attack unit last year which will be harder to replicate now that Scanlan and Cook are familiar with Army defensively and you add Hiltz into the mix. I assume they will put Hudgins on Rehfuss again which I believe they did last year but I can't see them having an answer for the midfield nor do I think they can double pole although I could see Alberici trying it. He tried to defend without sliding last year and it worked for a half and then SU exploded in the 2nd. This occurred with Dordevic clearly still trying to shake the rust off.

Now the caveat to this is if SU can't win a faceoff based on the new rules and or SU starts throwing the ball all over the Carrier Dome like they did against Colgate a few years ago. If you can't win a faceoff or stop turning it over then all bets are off. That said this is an extremely talented and deep SU team that should come out like UNC did and just impose their will from the first whistle.

Good points Jeremy. I rewatched the Army game from last year and the Orange came out slow in that one - seems like every possession in the first half ended with a turnover or a bad shot, followed by a penalty. Porter was huge and kept things close before the Orange offense figured things out, mostly by inverting the Army d-mids. Phaup also dominated face-offs.

I am concerned with Army having extra prep, but that is counter balanced by the fact that SU does return a large amount of fifth years and Army does not. I think having that extra experience should be worth more than two weeks of practice, but I would feel better if SU had more practice time. Obviously most of the players (minus the freshmen) should be familiar with schemes and strategy, but just worried about fitness levels, especially facing a service academy.

We just haven't seen an Orange team without five weeks of preseason practice, or scrimmages open a season in a very long time, so its hard to know what to expect. Perhaps the team will come out extra motivated since its the first opponent they'll be playing in almost a year? That might be enough to wipe away all the cobwebs.

 

[ivorytower]

Really enjoy reading the pts made here .Thank you all.

I see reason for both optimism and concern and wont be surprised by any outcome. Losing opener to a mediocre Colgate due to sloppiness and lack of focus still lingers. Think players realize that Army is no Colgate , expect some sloppiness but no excuse to be flat for a strong opponent.

Hoping that the chill I get of seeing Army run onto field carrying the American flag reminds our players that those kids are type A fighters because there will be no crowd cheering to stir and support another large comeback. Army's effort has to be matched from start to finish if Cuse is to prevail because edges may not be as sharp due to rust.

Do worry about our lack of preparation because it is real. A late fall start with no fall ball, know same for others but we also had practices missing integral pieces for weeks due to that c19 issue.
Team regrouped later than others and only three light practices in smaller groupings after some days spent testing, taking photos etc. and unable to stay after to put in more individual work due to rules.

Other ACC teams were watched this weekend and are being much discussed by Cuse fans. Players cant afford to do same. Army is the only team to fully bee thinking of right know.

 

[SkyTopBus44]

Good points Jeremy. I rewatched the Army game from last year and the Orange came out slow in that one - seems like every possession in the first half ended with a turnover or a bad shot, followed by a penalty. Porter was huge and kept things close before the Orange offense figured things out, mostly by inverting the Army d-mids. Phaup also dominated face-offs.

I am concerned with Army having extra prep, but that is counter balanced by the fact that SU does return a large amount of fifth years and Army does not. I think having that extra experience should be worth more than two weeks of practice, but I would feel better if SU had more practice time. Obviously most of the players (minus the freshmen) should be familiar with schemes and strategy, but just worried about fitness levels, especially facing a service academy.

We just haven't seen an Orange team without five weeks of preseason practice, or scrimmages open a season in a very long time, so its hard to know what to expect. Perhaps the team will come out extra motivated since its the first opponent they'll be playing in almost a year? That might be enough to wipe away all the cobwebs.

When was the year the team got the mumps?

 

[Powellfan]

When was the year the team got the mumps?

Fall of 2017. I think your trying to draw a comparison? They finished 8-7 and lost to Cornell in the first round of the tournament. That team still had five weeks of preseason practice and spring scrimmages. Very different teams though. Curry and Dordevic were starting but still just freshmen and Trimboli just a sophomore. They were trying to replace Mariano and Salcdio and I think the expectations were much different.

 

[SkyTopBus44]

Fall of 2017. I think your trying to draw a comparison? They finished 8-7 and lost to Cornell in the first round of the tournament. That team still had five weeks of preseason practice and spring scrimmages. Very different teams though. Curry and Dordevic were starting but still just freshmen and Trimboli just a sophomore. They were trying to replace Mariano and Salcdio and I think the expectations were much different.

Was trying to think of the last time we didn’t have a true preseason