Maryland Gameday...

[cuselaxss26]

We have to beat everyone we should n id say out of the army hopkins cornell and acc games winning 3-4 of them gets us in playoffs. Army cornell hopkins unc prob the ones we need to win or will say better chance of winning compared to duke uva dame. But one game at time and they need to keep playing with hustle heart head

 

[cuselaxss26]

But overall was impressed. We barely lost ground all battle was md 30 cuse 28 which normally we get blown out by gbs. We had less turnovers than maryland which good. But 1-3 on man up has to be better. Also mark made 1 save each in 1st and 4th qtr which can’t have that either. This team can’t look past utes weds ither. They have to come out and take care of business. Need to win weds and then get ready for army who is whole other diff kind of beast. Army is always team who will play hard fast and tough.

 

[RF2044]

But overall was impressed. We barely lost ground all battle was md 30 cuse 28 which normally we get blown out by gbs. We had less turnovers than maryland which good. But 1-3 on man up has to be better. Also mark made 1 save each in 1st and 4th qtr which can’t have that either. This team can’t look past utes weds ither. They have to come out and take care of business. Need to win weds and then get ready for army who is whole other diff kind of beast. Army is always team who will play hard fast and tough.

Yeah -- I mean, just two years ago when we played that strong Maryland team, they ran us off the field.

We've come a long way. Disappointing outcome in overtime, but we were right there with them. Quite a difference from two years ago.

 

[tbonezone]

will mark woke up the second half. he plays like that we can play with anybody.
personally i hate it when the refs decide the game and not the players any sport. end of any game (and esp OT) you swallow the whistle on close (not blatant) calls and let them play. so it's a 50/50 call was he pushed by #47 ? certainly looked like it to me. SU goal game over. to wave off an OT goal on something close you need frame by frame replay to establish...kiss my butt.

 

[0.2 YNdeeR]

The current rules allow a review to determine if he's in the crease or not. They can't review how he got there. They can't assess a penalty for pushing after the fact if one wasn't originally called.

It would be like the NFL reviewing a play to determine if a DB had an interception or not, while ignoring the blatant PI the DB committed in the first place.

That's why the rule needs changing. There's no reason a push penalty should be a condition to review a crease violation. All they have to do is change the rule so that they can determine - and review - whether the crease violation resulted from contact by the defense. It doesn't have to be contact sufficient to constitute a push penalty, just enough contact to cause the violation.

 

[GoSU96]

disappointing result but the team is definitely better than it has been the last couple of years. Solid on, offense, defense, goal, and fogo.

you can fixate on the first quarter, but SU held Maryland to a 20 minute drought of their own. Gave up the two goal lead too quickly at the end.

Thompson might be very talented but his shooting killed a number of possessions.

 

[Bayside44]

disappointing result but the team is definitely better than it has been the last couple of years. Solid on, offense, defense, goal, and fogo.

you can fixate on the first quarter, but SU held Maryland to a 20 minute drought of their own. Gave up the two goal lead too quickly at the end.

Thompson might be very talented but his shooting killed a number of possessions.

Thompson had a shot on goal that looked like something that gets saved in U-11 lax.

Losing that faceoff so fast after 11-9 was brutal. Those are the margins at the highest levels.

 

[Orangello]

Thompson needs to sit. His shot selection and decision making were complete crap. Give somebody else a chance.

Same with Hiltz. We're not playing box. Stop with the tricky shovel passes. Shoot the GD ball, facilitate or sit down.

Change up the O lines

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[SUlax88-09]

I question Gary Gait’s vision of ball movement lacrosse, because I’m just not sold on its results against the top teams. Ball movement is great in man-up and against lesser trams, but what about the rest of the game and against good teams? All SU great teams and all Final Four teams have multiple players that can beat their man 1 on 1 and then score or draw a slide and create a scoring opportunity for someone else. When has ball movement been enough to get to the Final Four? The irony is that Gary Gait’s playing style was all about beating his defender 1 on 1.

I gave my impression of the SU team after the first game against Vermont last year, and (as always happens in this forum) I got killed for my thoughts, which actually again turned out to be correct (we went 1-5 in the ACC and had no postseason). I also said at that time that Spallina was too slow to win 1 on 1 match ups (top D1 defenders will not allow him to overpower them), and you guys killed me for that, too. Spallina’s passing is elite, absolutely, and he may end up being the all-time SU leading scorer (and he also seems like a great kid), but if he can’t consistently beat top tier defenders, then, sorry, he’s not leading us to a Final Four. Gait didn’t even have enough confidence to even give him the ball in overtime…

Rhoa and Leo can both dodge and shoot, and their 1 on 1 skills saved us yesterday (in addition to Kohn), but our Attack, as a unit, stunk. Although why would Tillman keep short stick defenders on Rhoa and Leo?! Glad he did, or else we would have been blown out. However, don‘t expect other good teams to make the same mistake. Relying on ball movement to score without having a single attackman that win a 1 on match-up is not a good recipe (obviously we don’t need all of our attackmen to be dodgers, because we need a finisher). But Mule is not a dodger, Hiltz (the biggest disappointment on the team) is not a dodger, and Spallina doesn’t have the speed to dodge (can’t they get him to work with track coaches to improve his speed?), so who initiates the offense for us on attack? What about playing Trey Deere on attack? At least give him a chance? Or maybe just keep doing pick plays for Spallina to free him up? Is there any other attackman on the bench that dodge? We saw what a good dodger can do against us, because Erksa was clearly the best player on the field yesterday.

I’m not really seeing a Final Four attack unit here, sorry. Beating up on lesser teams or in our man-up opportunities with beautiful ball movement is great (and I do appreciate the great passing vision of so many of our players), but how can we get back to the Final Four with only having 2 players (both middies) that can beat their defenders and score 1 on 1? It’s been 11 darn years since we made a Final Four… so let’s go!

 

[All4SU]

Conference flips a bit next year, don't get me wrong UVa has a ton of young talent and ND and Duke aren't exactly hurting either but all have major graduation losses. Shellenberger, Cormier, Kastner, their goalie and others are gone, Duke loses O'Neil, Dyson, Naso, Multiple defenders, Zawada and others, ND loses Pat Kavanaugh, Taylor, Conlin, Entenmann, Multiple middies etc.

No one loses anything. The portal assures that.

 

[JeremyCuse]

No one loses anything. The portal assures that.

Oh they'll definitely be active in the portal but a number of those guys are irreplaceable. You can't Portal a Shellenberger or an O'Neil or a Kavanaugh

 

[orange79]

I gave my impression of the SU team after the first game against Vermont last year, and (as always happens in this forum) I got killed for my thoughts, which actually again turned out to be correct (we went 1-5 in the ACC and had no postseason). I also said at that time that Spallina was too slow to win 1 on 1 match ups (top D1 defenders will not allow him to overpower them), and you guys killed me for that, too. Spallina’s passing is elite, absolutely, and he may end up being the all-time SU leading scorer (and he also seems like a great kid), but if he can’t consistently beat top tier defenders, then, sorry, he’s not leading us to a Final Four. Gait didn’t even have enough confidence to even give him the ball in overtime…

Hard to imagine you "getting killed" last year when you joined the site yesterday.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Lost 12-13 to MD in OT in February. Pack it in folks. That’s the main thing I hate about these on goal heartbreakers. Ball bounces different one time and all these people firing off the most dramatic takes you have ever freaking seen are nowhere to be found. One goal loss to MD and now the O stinks, the D stinks, the coach stinks, the strategy stinks, our best players stink. We are getting the same lecture from Md fans over at fanlax like they dominated the game. OT loss and somehow we are the only team with problems. One finish point blank finish from Thomson and all these losers don’t hop online. Way she goes around here, but man what a nightmare. Forgive me if I think everything is not broken after an OT loss to MD in February.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Lost 12-13 to MD in OT in February. Pack it in folks. That’s the main thing I hate about these on goal heartbreakers. Ball bounces different one time and all these people firing off the most dramatic takes you have ever freaking seen are nowhere to be found. One goal loss to MD and now the O stinks, the D stinks, the coach stinks, the strategy stinks, our best players stink. We are getting the same lecture from Md fans over at fanlax like they dominated the game. OT loss and somehow we are the only team with problems. One finish point blank finish from Thomson and all these losers don’t hop online. Way she goes around here, but man what a nightmare. Forgive me if I think everything is not broken after an OT loss to MD in February.

It's written in the scriptures...

lose a non-conference game by 1 goal to a Top 4 team in February, and your season is officially over.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Lost 12-13 to MD in OT in February. Pack it in folks. That’s the main thing I hate about these on goal heartbreakers. Ball bounces different one time and all these people firing off the most dramatic takes you have ever freaking seen are nowhere to be found. One goal loss to MD and now the O stinks, the D stinks, the coach stinks, the strategy stinks, our best players stink. We are getting the same lecture from Md fans over at fanlax like they dominated the game. OT loss and somehow we are the only team with problems. One finish point blank finish from Thomson and all these losers don’t hop online. Way she goes around here, but man what a nightmare. Forgive me if I think everything is not broken after an OT loss to MD in February.

Yup no reason to go in a full panic. Some definite issues and concerns but we saw a lot of good things on Sat. Fanlax is a good read at times and others its totally off the wall. SU suddenly never leaves the Dome and the fans were saying they were bound for Memorial day before the game ( absolutely no one said that). There's a handful of posters who conflated the IL article with actual SU fans. Funny the same site wrote a war and peace article on Hopkins but you don't hear a peep about that.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[All4SU]

Oh they'll definitely be active in the portal but a number of those guys are irreplaceable. You can't Portal a Shellenberger or an O'Neil or a Kavanaugh

Understood. But anyone can leave any program at any time. There is no way to predict it.

 

[wgdsr]

Oh they'll definitely be active in the portal but a number of those guys are irreplaceable. You can't Portal a Shellenberger or an O'Neil or a Kavanaugh

you're correct about shellenberger, but the hoos lost a great deal more last year than they will lose for next year. cormier is a goal scorer. kastner can be a v good defender. their goalie is a junior, and there may not be a dropoff when his backup eventually takes over.

they're actually pretty young. and if boyden is convinced to return, will bring back even more of their personnel. what they're doing in early offense this year may be a prelude to life without shellenberger. take the unsettled.

 

[swish7]

I question Gary Gait’s vision of ball movement lacrosse, because I’m just not sold on its results against the top teams. Ball movement is great in man-up and against lesser trams, but what about the rest of the game and against good trams? All SU great teams and all Final Four teams have multiple players that can beat their man 1 on 1 and then score or draw a slide and create a scoring opportunity for someone else. When has ball movement been enough to get to the Final Four? The irony is that Gary Gait’s playing style was all about beating his defender 1 on 1.

I gave my impression of the SU team after the first game against Vermont last year, and (as always happens in this forum) I got killed for my thoughts, which actually again turned out to be correct (we went 1-5 in the ACC and had no postseason). I also said at that time that Spallina was too slow to win 1 on 1 match ups (top D1 defenders will not allow him to overpower them), and you guys killed me for that, too. Spallina’s passing is elite, absolutely, and he may end up being the all-time SU leading scorer (and he also seems like a great kid), but if he can’t consistently beat top tier defenders, then, sorry, he’s not leading us to a Final Four. Gait didn’t even have enough confidence to even give him the ball in overtime…

Rhoa and Leo can both dodge and shoot, and their 1 on 1 skills saved us yesterday (in addition to Kohn), but our Attack, as a unit, stunk. Although why would Tillman keep short stick defenders on Rhoa and Leo?! Glad he did, or else we would have been blown out. However, don‘t expect other good teams to make the same mistake. Relying on ball movement to score without having a single attackman that win a 1 on match-up is not a good recipe (obviously we don’t need all of our attackmen to be dodgers, because we need a finisher). But Mule is not a dodger, Hiltz (the biggest disappointment on the team) is not a dodger, and Spallina doesn’t have the speed to dodge (can’t they get him to work with track coaches to improve his speed?), so who initiates the offense for us on attack? What about playing Trey Deere on attack? At least give him a chance? Or maybe just keep doing pick plays for Spallina to free him up? Is there any other attackman on the bench that dodge? We saw what a good dodger can do against us, because Erksa was clearly the best player on the field yesterday.

I’m not really seeing a Final Four attack unit here, sorry. Beating up on lesser teams or in our man-up opportunities with beautiful ball movement is great (and I do appreciate the great passing vision of so many of our players), but how can we get back to the Final Four with only having 2 players (both middies) that can beat their defenders and score 1 on 1? It’s been 11 darn years since we made a Final Four… so let’s go!

Spallina getting shut down on his dodges is concerning. Lots to work on.

How we respond is what matters.

Instead of jumping into the top 4, we instead have a lot to prove yet. Stay hungry, keep grinding, and get that W against a top 4 team maybe a little later & we'll be OK.

 

[JeremyCuse]

you're correct about shellenberger, but the hoos lost a great deal more last year than they will lose for next year. cormier is a goal scorer. kastner can be a v good defender. their goalie is a junior, and there may not be a dropoff when his backup eventually takes over.

they're actually pretty young. and if boyden is convinced to return, will bring back even more of their personnel. what they're doing in early offense this year may be a prelude to life without shellenberger. take the unsettled.

Yup as I noted UVA has a ton of young talent and more coming in next year plus the portal. All that said Shellenberger and Cormier are massive losses, nothing against Millon or the dude they flipped from Brown or Colsey or even Boyden if he returns (he and Kohn at SU both have an extra year but I don't' think either uses it) but they aren't Shellenberger arguably the top Qb attackmen in the country and top 2 overall behind probably just O'neil and Cormier the all time leading scorer. I know your looking at the glass half full aspect as a UVA fan but to say Cormier is just a goal scorer is a massive undersell.

UVA doesn't lose the amount of players they lost from last year to this season going in 2025 but id argue they lose more quality with their top 2 O players and their top close defender gone.

 

[orangecuse]

Hard to imagine you "getting killed" last year when you joined the site yesterday.

Perhaps, he joined yesterday under a different handle this year after deleting his account from last?

In any event, I found his take pretty constructive for the most part. His questioning of our attack's lack of production, et al from Saturday wasn't really any different from Jeremy's observations, comments, etc. right after the game.

I did find his comments about Spallina a bit intriguing. From my observations of him last year as well as this year to date (mainly as he mentions against higher quality teams/defense personnel) it does appear that flat out speed is something he lacks relative to the upper echelon type dodgers.

 

[UrbanaOrange]

I am about 30 mins into this podcast. It has been a good listen. They were both complimentary to the SU fanbase and the atmosphere at the Dome on Saturday.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Perhaps, he joined yesterday under a different handle this year after deleting his account from last?

In any event, I found his take pretty constructive for the most part. His questioning of our attack's lack of production, et al from Saturday wasn't really any different from Jeremy's observations, comments, etc. right after the game.

I did find his comments about Spallina a bit intriguing. From my observations of him last year as well as this year to date (mainly as he mentions against higher quality teams/defense personnel) it does appear that flat out speed is something he lacks relative to the upper echelon type dodgers.

There is a lot I disagree with in his post, but to keep it relatively brief - "Gait didn't even have enough confidence to give Spallina the ball in overtime." What on earth is wrong with going back to the matchups that have been working for us the whole game? How is that a knock on Spallina? I assure you, name any elite coach, they are not trying to go after the Zappitello match up in OT. We were exploiting the short stick matchups, they were getting results, so we kept forcing the issue there.

We were staring down the barrel of two different shots from 10 yards in OT, even before the Leo controversy. That does not mean that the guys who were not dodging at that time all suck! Mule and Hiltz took 4 shots total the whole game. Wonder what would have happened if they put a pole on Leo and Rhoa and someone like Mule or Hiltz had a short stick matchup. Hiltz would have 5 gs and he would be in here saying our midfield dodging was terrible!

I assure you I could go on. It is unwise to make statements on the dodging ability of guys who we barely needed to dodge all game. We were getting all kinds of looks against one of the better defenses in the country. Our offball guy had the biggest case of the yips I have seen in years. Even then we got to 12 gs on an elite defense/goalie.

 

[JeremyCuse]

There is a lot I disagree with in his post, but to keep it relatively brief - "Gait didn't even have enough confidence to give Spallina the ball in overtime." What on earth is wrong with going back to the matchups that have been working for us the whole game? How is that a knock on Spallina? I assure you, name any elite coach, they are not trying to go after the Zappitello match up in OT. We were exploiting the short stick matchups, they were getting results, so we kept forcing the issue there.

We were staring down the barrel of two different shots from 10 yards in OT, even before the Leo controversy. That does not mean that the guys who were not dodging at that time all suck! Mule and Hiltz took 4 shots total the whole game. Wonder what would have happened if they put a pole on Leo and Rhoa and someone like Mule or Hiltz had a short stick matchup. Hiltz would have 5 gs and he would be in here saying our midfield dodging was terrible!

I assure you I could go on. It is unwise to make statements on the dodging ability of guys who we barely needed to dodge all game. We were getting all kinds of looks against one of the better defenses in the country. Our offball guy had the biggest case of the yips I have seen in years. Even then we got to 12 gs on an elite defense/goalie.

Zapitello is one of if not the best close defender in the country. Attacking him in OT versus the middie who had 4 goals and was constantly getting open would have been malpractice. SU does need more out of Hiltz and Mule in these matchups but getting a good look in OT was not a problem, we got 3 of them.