Maryland Gameday...

[JeremyCuse]

I really like the idea of Rhoa, Birtwhistle and Leo on 1st line and Stevens, English and Thomson on 2nd. Thomson has to be dropped to 2nd his shooting has been awful and even looks like he lost a lot of power which is probably from trying to aim it as he lacks confidence. One shot he took looked like a kid shooting. I really like Birtwhistle on the 1st line the kid can score plus English and Stevens playing together is interesting. They could take some pressure of Thompson. He has to be removed from EMO too. SU has to win these games they can't let Thomson keep shooting so bad every game. If he's bad again tomo then they need to sit him and let him work thru it in practice. He's still young and can fix his game but there is talent on the sideline who can be an upgrade from how he's been playing. I really would like to see McCarthy get some run on 2nd line with his cannon. Finns shot right now to McCarthys rocket is a huge upgrade. The two vets Stevens and English then McCarthy with his cannon is intriguing.

I know mentioned McCarthy but do you mean Kellogg?

 

[Cuse4455]

English plays Middie right? With his quick twitch and speed could we move him to Attack?

 

[JeremyCuse]

English plays Middie right? With his quick twitch and speed could we move him to Attack?

He's a real good middie but no he's not moving to attack.

 

[AD31]

I know mentioned McCarthy but do you mean Kellogg?

Yes sorry I meant Kellogg. Thank you

 

[AD31]

I also liked what I saw from Levine at SSDM. He's a bigger shorty too which is something we lack and plays physical. I think if he keeps it up he can bump up and play with Rice as Trujillo is still a little small and shaky. Him and Rice could be a solid top group. Then if they move English and Stevens to the 2nd line maybe they both can drop back and play some more two way. I actually think English plays better D then Stevens but having them both out there they can really push transitions too. Also I think maybe they should move Dwan up to top cover man for now. He just has more experience too then Figg so doesn't have to be for whole season but right now let Figg get more experience and not have to cover every teams best player.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

What do people think of a 1st mid line of Leo-Rhoa-Birtwistle & an all-Canadian 2nd line of English-Thomson-Stevens?

 

[OttosDad]

What do people think of a 1st mid line of Leo-Rhoa-Birtwistle & an all-Canadian 2nd line of English-Thomson-Stevens?

I like the idea of this a lot personally. My one thing I’d point out is our already weak clearing game relies on Stevens and English quite a bit. Unsure how Leo, Rhoa, Burt would fair there

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

I like the idea of this a lot personally. My one thing I’d point out is our already weak clearing game relies on Stevens and English quite a bit. Unsure how Leo, Rhoa, Burt would fair there

I thought of this & think Rhoa & Leo are both speedy/shifty/tough enough to clear. I also think neither would be too glaring of a liability if they got stuck on D as they’re both solid athletes. Honestly, Birt could likely hold his own in a worst case scenario.

I like the idea of these pairings with Leo the lefty, Birt operating on the right as he often does, & Rhoa barreling down the middle & alleys with his speed & two-handedness. The all-Canadian 2nd line would feature Finn facilitating up top & finishing in the middle, English’s sweeping speed & split dodges with his shot on the run, & Stevens as the versatile inside-outside finisher. They’d also wreak havoc with the two-man game on either side.

 

[SUlax88-09]

You raise some good points but some of your solutions aren't realistic at least as this team is currently constructed.

Zappitello is very good against speed dodgers, while Spallina doesn't have elite level speed and he isn't a Powell level dodger, I would caution taking to much away form this game. Zap erased Shellenberger last year probably the top dodging attackmen in the nation. There's very few attackmen in the country if any who are going to beat him consistently dodging 1 on 1. Your point about the rest of the attack is valid. Mule has to be more assertive dodging and Hiltz coming off picks and semi dodges has to pull the trigger more. HE gave up 2 or 3 good looks he should have ripped. Deere right now is an elite level finisher but he's less of a dodging threat then Hiltz. Putting him in isn't gonna help that aspect in anyway. Your only realistic options are Elijah-Brown or Birtwistle and I don't see either happening at least not yet.

Part of the reason SU is playing using elite ball movement as it's not a dodge heavy/ISO team. It has guys who can do it ie Joey, Leo etc and guys who are trying to hone that skill ie Rhoa. SU doesn't have an elite dodging attackmen ala Shellenberger, ONeil or Kavanaugh. Leo is probably the closest thing and he could end up at attack next year because of it. Joey can win 1 on 1 matchups, but he's more of a bull dodger, elite cover guys will always give him some trouble especially a guy like Zap whose at the top of the elite category. SU showed Rhoa and Leo can win one on one matchups so there is the ability to do it there but we do need another attackmen who can balance out Joey.

As for why Tillman didn't move a pole onto Leo or Rhoa, the answer to that is he didnt want to short English or Birtwistle, trust me if he had those two would have been attacking. Tillman wasn't being generous, there was no great 2nd player to short out of his options.

In the end it may take until next season for SU to get that second dodging attackmen when Anderson and O'farrell come in and SU can also attack the portal again.

Great points! Thank you for the thoughtful and insightful comments!

I wish I could watch Zappitello and Erksa go 1v1 in practice! That must be some match-up!

Just a few follow up thoughts:
Face-off and goalie play will not be our weak links this year.
Our defense is ok, as long as we can limit penalties, but, as you said, we’ll see how it holds up against a great offensive team. Olexo and Trujillo seem to give up too many goals, and Levine struggled last game. Rice is a solid SSDM, but we‘ll need another one that we can count on, too.
Our man-up team isn’t clicking on full cylinders, yet, due to Thomson’s shooting struggles, but I just have to believe he’ll snap out of it. How can such a dominant box lacrosse shooter struggle shooting in field lacrosse? Such a weird thing. Must be mental thing.
Our man-down team isn’t great (not just in the number of goals it gives up, which is due to our high amount of penalties, but even our percentage of EMO goals given up isn‘t great). Plus I have to agree with Carcaterra (I usually do; he should be a coach!) and his concerns about what happens when the penalty is released and then our 6 on 6 defense doesn’t have a single starter out there. We gave up a goal last game because of it, too. I’ve never seen a top D1 program do what we‘re doing. To be frank, I think this silly experiment is a fail, and we should just stop it.
Leo and Rhoa are excellent middies, so those 2 alone make our middies a threat. Although I do wonder what happens to them when they start drawing a long pole. I think teams will even pull a pole from Mule in order to get a long pole on them.
Our attack is my main concern (specifically when we play the top teams in the country). I had such high hopes for Hiltz. He had almost as good a freshman year as O’Neil, he has great vision as a passer and he also has a great wrist snap shot, so I can’t explain why he hasn’t flourished in Gait’s ball movement offense. He’s actually regressed. Mule doesn’t add much, to me. I don’t know if anyone on the bench can dodge or if we can move a middie down to attack, but we desperately need an attackman that can dodge and can initiate our offense, even if the person doesn’t score. Ball movement is SO much more effective if an attackman can beat their man or really all they have to do is just draw a slide!, and then that slide unlocks our whole offense and opens everything up for our ball movement. Spallina is such a unique player with his elite vision, phenomenal behind the back shot, and powerful legs when backing down defenders, but he just doesn’t have the speed to beat the top defenders in the country. ‘Speed kills’, and the lack of it is just tough to overcome. Which is why I think we should be doing a Lot more pick plays for Spallina when a top defender is shutting him down. Picks would free him up to then orchestrate our offense.
My other concern is that our schedule is just too tough. The ACC is obviously the best conference in the country, so I get wanting to ‘earn’ a playoff spot with non-conference games, but do we have to play every team in the Top 10? These games will be entertaining for us, as fans, but giving these stud sophomores some playoff experience (for our eventual championship run in ‘26) will help them more then playing and losing to Another Top 10 team in the regular season…

 

[AD31]

Great points! Thank you for the thoughtful and insightful comments!

I wish I could watch Zappitello and Erksa go 1v1 in practice! That must be some match-up!

Just a few follow up thoughts:
Face-off and goalie play will not be our weak links this year.
Our defense is ok, as long as we can limit penalties, but, as you said, we’ll see how it holds up against a great offensive team. Olexo and Trujillo seem to give up too many goals, and Levine struggled last game. Rice is a solid SSDM, but we‘ll need another one that we can count on, too.
Our man-up team isn’t clicking on full cylinders, yet, due to Thomson’s shooting struggles, but I just have to believe he’ll snap out of it. How can such a dominant box lacrosse shooter struggle shooting in field lacrosse? Such a weird thing. Must be mental thing.
Our man-down team isn’t great (not just in the number of goals it gives up, which is due to our high amount of penalties, but even our percentage of EMO goals given up isn‘t great). Plus I have to agree with Carcaterra (I usually do; he should be a coach!) and his concerns about what happens when the penalty is released and then our 6 on 6 defense doesn’t have a single starter out there. We gave up a goal last game because of it, too. I’ve never seen a top D1 program do what we‘re doing. To be frank, I think this silly experiment is a fail, and we should just stop it.
Leo and Rhoa are excellent middies, so those 2 alone make our middies a threat. Although I do wonder what happens to them when they start drawing a long pole. I think teams will even pull a pole from Mule in order to get a long pole on them.
Our attack is my main concern (specifically when we play the top teams in the country). I had such high hopes for Hiltz. He had almost as good a freshman year as O’Neil, he has great vision as a passer and he also has a great wrist snap shot, so I can’t explain why he hasn’t flourished in Gait’s ball movement offense. He’s actually regressed. Mule doesn’t add much, to me. I don’t know if anyone on the bench can dodge or if we can move a middie down to attack, but we desperately need an attackman that can dodge and can initiate our offense, even if the person doesn’t score. Ball movement is SO much more effective if an attackman can beat their man or really all they have to do is just draw a slide!, and then that slide unlocks our whole offense and opens everything up for our ball movement. Spallina is such a unique player with his elite vision, phenomenal behind the back shot, and powerful legs when backing down defenders, but he just doesn’t have the speed to beat the top defenders in the country. ‘Speed kills’, and the lack of it is just tough to overcome. Which is why I think we should be doing a Lot more pick plays for Spallina when a top defender is shutting him down. Picks would free him up to then orchestrate our offense.
My other concern is that our schedule is just too tough. The ACC is obviously the best conference in the country, so I get wanting to ‘earn’ a playoff spot with non-conference games, but do we have to play every team in the Top 10? These games will be entertaining for us, as fans, but giving these stud sophomores some playoff experience (for our eventual championship run in ‘26) will help them more then playing and losing to Another Top 10 team in the regular season…

Really I thought Levine looked good last game. Big kid held his own and played physical. Next to Rice he was the best SSDM last game. He kept up with his man plus used his body. I would like to see him play with Rice and drop Trujillo to 2nd line with J Spallina.

 

[AD31]

Also Olexo can have a bad game he has shown he's an excellent defender and still might be the best one we have. Not worried at all about him.

 

[AD31]

Great points! Thank you for the thoughtful and insightful comments!

I wish I could watch Zappitello and Erksa go 1v1 in practice! That must be some match-up!

Just a few follow up thoughts:
Face-off and goalie play will not be our weak links this year.
Our defense is ok, as long as we can limit penalties, but, as you said, we’ll see how it holds up against a great offensive team. Olexo and Trujillo seem to give up too many goals, and Levine struggled last game. Rice is a solid SSDM, but we‘ll need another one that we can count on, too.
Our man-up team isn’t clicking on full cylinders, yet, due to Thomson’s shooting struggles, but I just have to believe he’ll snap out of it. How can such a dominant box lacrosse shooter struggle shooting in field lacrosse? Such a weird thing. Must be mental thing.
Our man-down team isn’t great (not just in the number of goals it gives up, which is due to our high amount of penalties, but even our percentage of EMO goals given up isn‘t great). Plus I have to agree with Carcaterra (I usually do; he should be a coach!) and his concerns about what happens when the penalty is released and then our 6 on 6 defense doesn’t have a single starter out there. We gave up a goal last game because of it, too. I’ve never seen a top D1 program do what we‘re doing. To be frank, I think this silly experiment is a fail, and we should just stop it.
Leo and Rhoa are excellent middies, so those 2 alone make our middies a threat. Although I do wonder what happens to them when they start drawing a long pole. I think teams will even pull a pole from Mule in order to get a long pole on them.
Our attack is my main concern (specifically when we play the top teams in the country). I had such high hopes for Hiltz. He had almost as good a freshman year as O’Neil, he has great vision as a passer and he also has a great wrist snap shot, so I can’t explain why he hasn’t flourished in Gait’s ball movement offense. He’s actually regressed. Mule doesn’t add much, to me. I don’t know if anyone on the bench can dodge or if we can move a middie down to attack, but we desperately need an attackman that can dodge and can initiate our offense, even if the person doesn’t score. Ball movement is SO much more effective if an attackman can beat their man or really all they have to do is just draw a slide!, and then that slide unlocks our whole offense and opens everything up for our ball movement. Spallina is such a unique player with his elite vision, phenomenal behind the back shot, and powerful legs when backing down defenders, but he just doesn’t have the speed to beat the top defenders in the country. ‘Speed kills’, and the lack of it is just tough to overcome. Which is why I think we should be doing a Lot more pick plays for Spallina when a top defender is shutting him down. Picks would free him up to then orchestrate our offense.
My other concern is that our schedule is just too tough. The ACC is obviously the best conference in the country, so I get wanting to ‘earn’ a playoff spot with non-conference games, but do we have to play every team in the Top 10? These games will be entertaining for us, as fans, but giving these stud sophomores some playoff experience (for our eventual championship run in ‘26) will help them more then playing and losing to Another Top 10 team in the regular season…

Yes they had to add better teams OOC due to last yr playing the Bonny's, Holy Cross and Hofstra hurt our RPI. This team is good and can no doubt beat top teams. They just lost in OT to the number 4 team in the country. You also mentioned Goalie not being an issue thsi yr did u watch last yr as Will Mark was an AA goalie? Some comments are strange even what if Leo and Rhoa get a pole then if they put a shorty on Mule or Hiltz those guys will feast. No doubt in my mind Leo would be able to beat a pole with his speed and athleticism.

 

[AD31]

One more why 2026 for a championship run? Also liek I said they lost in OT to the number 4 team in the country which if it wasn't for a dumb rule they win the game but ur saying they can't beat top 10 teams? Who from the top 5 to 10 that they can't beat? They can beat all of them. Idk but I think others will agree with me here.

 

[swish7]

I have to say, some of you all know a lot about lacrosse. I have been involved since 86 and I'm getting lost in some of y'alls detailed analysis.

I love it though.

When we got up 2, we needed to lock things down and I guess lost focus and didn't.

Our goalie kept us in it when it mattered most.

Leo stays out of the crease and we'd all now be suffering from outsized expectations of what we can accomplish this year.

Long games are cool and all, but we need to make some real noise to bring the program 'back', and we need to do it now. F4 or bust.

 

[Powellfan]

For those advocating a Stevens, English, Thomson line, I think the coaches might prefer having two defensive minded midfielders split between the two lines. In transition opportunities it seems there are some players who run off immediately when the ball is turned over, and there are players who can stay on until the other teams defender subs off. I've never seen Birtwistle take a defensive shift, he's a natural attackmen who I am sure the coaches don't want playing defense. Leo and Thomson I have seen get back on defense, though Thomson usually ends his shift with a slash. I think having one guy on each line who can get back (Stevens and English) is more beneficial than having one line who can get back, and another who can't.

I liked what I saw from LeVine at the d-middie position. He at least engaged his opponent and made them work for whatever space they got. If I remember correctly he slipped and gave up a goal near x, and he got called for a pretty ticky-tack foul. But other than that I thought he showed more upside than some of the other d-middies not named Carter Rice. Hopefully the coaches stick with him.

 

[AD31]

For those advocating a Stevens, English, Thomson line, I think the coaches might prefer having two defensive minded midfielders split between the two lines. In transition opportunities it seems there are some players who run off immediately when the ball is turned over, and there are players who can stay on until the other teams defender subs off. I've never seen Birtwistle take a defensive shift, he's a natural attackmen who I am sure the coaches don't want playing defense. Leo and Thomson I have seen get back on defense, though Thomson usually ends his shift with a slash. I think having one guy on each line who can get back (Stevens and English) is more beneficial than having one line who can get back, and another who can't.

I liked what I saw from LeVine at the d-middie position. He at least engaged his opponent and made them work for whatever space they got. If I remember correctly he slipped and gave up a goal near x, and he got called for a pretty ticky-tack foul. But other than that I thought he showed more upside than some of the other d-middies not named Carter Rice. Hopefully the coaches stick with him.

He's also 6'3 215 LBs which is the size of a DM u been begging for. Lol

 

[SUlax88-09]

One more why 2026 for a championship run? Also liek I said they lost in OT to the number 4 team in the country which if it wasn't for a dumb rule they win the game but ur saying they can't beat top 10 teams? Who from the top 5 to 10 that they can't beat? They can beat all of them. Idk but I think others will agree with me here.

Thanks for the thoughts. Good points, and good questions. Here are my answers to your questions:

I didn’t know who Levine was before the Maryland game, and then I saw him get beat for a goal and then had a bad penalty in that game, so I just had some concerns.

Olexo got burned for 2 goals against Maryland, so that made we worry.

Sorry if I confused you with my goalie comment. I think Mark or Kohn will both be fine this year. I’m not sure if either of them will be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team All Americans, so I don‘t know if they’re good enough to win us games by themselves against Top 5 teams, but I also don’t think we’ll lose games cuz of them. Given our face-off woes for many years, Kohn is a Huge pick-up for us. Actually, do we have any 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team All Americans on our team?! I think Leo has a chance, but beating a long pole is Much harder then beating a SSDM, and I expect other teams to start poling him. I understand that everyone else thinks that when Leo and Rhoa get poled, then that frees up other players to attack the SSDM, but I just want to see the others do it (against the good teams).

The strength of our team is our Sophomore class, so they’ll be seniors in ‘26, and that’s when I expect us to make a championship run. Speaking of our sophomore class, did you guys realize that Figuerias, Rhoa, and Trujillo were all on the same high school lacrosse team? The 2022 St John’s high school lacrosse team in Maryland was stacked. They had 6 Top 100 players in the class of ‘22, they went 19-0 that year, and I wonder if that high school team literally could have competed with some college teams?! Anyways, I’d like us to at least get these sophomores some playoff experience this year though. I get the RPI argument, and I know it’s not helpful for our case to make the playoffs to just beat up on weaker teams, but I just think, when the season is over, we will have had one of the toughest Strength of Schedules in the entire country (and I think it’s a little too tough).

Thanks again

 

[AD31]

Thanks for the thoughts. Good points, and good questions. Here are my answers to your questions:

I didn’t know who Levine was before the Maryland game, and then I saw him get beat for a goal and then had a bad penalty in that game, so I just had some concerns.

Olexo got burned for 2 goals against Maryland, so that made we worry.

Sorry if I confused you with my goalie comment. I think Mark or Kohn will both be fine this year. I’m not sure if either of them will be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team All Americans, so I don‘t know if they’re good enough to win us games by themselves against Top 5 teams, but I also don’t think we’ll lose games cuz of them. Given our face-off woes for many years, Kohn is a Huge pick-up for us. Actually, do we have any 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team All Americans on our team?! I think Leo has a chance, but beating a long pole is Much harder then beating a SSDM, and I expect other teams to start poling him. I understand that everyone else thinks that when Leo and Rhoa get poled, then that frees up other players to attack the SSDM, but I just want to see the others do it (against the good teams).

The strength of our team is our Sophomore class, so they’ll be seniors in ‘26, and that’s when I expect us to make a championship run. Speaking of our sophomore class, did you guys realize that Figuerias, Rhoa, and Trujillo were all on the same high school lacrosse team? The 2022 St John’s high school lacrosse team in Maryland was stacked. They had 6 Top 100 players in the class of ‘22, they went 19-0 that year, and I wonder if that high school team literally could have competed with some college teams?! Anyways, I’d like us to at least get these sophomores some playoff experience this year though. I get the RPI argument, and I know it’s not helpful for our case to make the playoffs to just beat up on weaker teams, but I just think, when the season is over, we will have had one of the toughest Strength of Schedules in the entire country (and I think it’s a little too tough).

Thanks again

Well the thing is if we beat a few top teams then even losing more games to top teams should still get this team in the tourney. Like this next game beating Army is a must. Will Mark was an HM AA the last two years and has the most saves in college lacrosse. Leo is so fast and athletic he should beat a pole. Mule who last night had 2 goals and 2 assists if he's on a shorty he will light him up. I honestly think if this team keeps improving as the season goes they can make noise and maybe make championship wknd. Idk about winning it all but u never know come tournament time. Next yr they have a real good chance with so many top players graduating like Shellenberger, Kavanaugh and O'Neil. Joey, Leo and Rhoa all JRs with 3 yrs experience plus maybe a few transfers. Will Mark and Kohn will be needed to come up big in big games this yr for them to beat top teams and make a run. English, Stevens, Spallina, Olexo and Will Mark were all preseason AA picks. The team is talented plus Stevens, English and Mule should all get better as the season goes just being more comfortable with the team. English is extremely talented just hasn't played to his potential here yet. He was an AA two seasons ago. Obviously ur a more negative thinker which is fine I am more positive so i believe this team is very good and has the potential to beat some of these top teams and make a run In tournament. I mean even last night they destroyed a Utah team thruout the whole game which while not a top team but a solid team with some talent like they were tied 7 - 7 going into the 4th with Ohio State and down 10 - 7 going into the 4th against 6th ranked Denver who beat Hopkins two weeks ago. So they were in those games yet SU blew them off the field pretty much. Take away that dumb rule and SU is undefeated with a win over 4th ranked Maryland. Now they lost but that game showed this team can compete with top teams. So that's why I'm positive and feel like each game they should improve.

 

[AD31]

Oh and Olexo played close D last yr and was the top cover guy on the team. He should have been an AA last yr and might be this yr. He's the last guy on D that makes me worried.

 

[AD31]

Will Mark made 22 saves last yr agajnst Duke and was the only reason this team went into OT with them in the Dome. If he's on then yes he can help beat top teams. Definitely need him and Kohn to come up big against the big dawgs. Kohn has only played 1 n half seasons of college lacrosse so he's actually getting better each week as he keeps playing and it shows the kid is a stud. He has a chance to be an AA this yr too.

 

[tech37]

Will Mark made 22 saves last yr agajnst Duke and was the only reason this team went into OT with them in the Dome. If he's on then yes he can help beat top teams. Definitely need him and Kohn to come up big against the big dawgs. Kohn has only played 1 n half seasons of college lacrosse so he's actually getting better each week as he keeps playing and it shows the kid is a stud. He has a chance to be an AA this yr too.

Don't forget the record number of pipe shots in that Duke game, I think 12?!

Not to diss on Mark... great keeper!

 

[AD31]

Don't forget the record number of pipe shots in that Duke game, I think 12?!

Not to diss on Mark... great keeper!

Yeah he was getting peppered all game. I remember watching him play vs Bryant a few yrs ago he made 30 saves while Bryant took 78 shots.. He doesn't fold when getting peppered all game he actually raises his level of play. That Duke game last yr he was in a zone I was at that game it was fun to watch him dialed in like that.

 

[SUlax88-09]

Well the thing is if we beat a few top teams then even losing more games to top teams should still get this team in the tourney. Like this next game beating Army is a must. Will Mark was an HM AA the last two years and has the most saves in college lacrosse. Leo is so fast and athletic he should beat a pole. Mule who last night had 2 goals and 2 assists if he's on a shorty he will light him up. I honestly think if this team keeps improving as the season goes they can make noise and maybe make championship wknd. Idk about winning it all but u never know come tournament time. Next yr they have a real good chance with so many top players graduating like Shellenberger, Kavanaugh and O'Neil. Joey, Leo and Rhoa all JRs with 3 yrs experience plus maybe a few transfers. Will Mark and Kohn will be needed to come up big in big games this yr for them to beat top teams and make a run. English, Stevens, Spallina, Olexo and Will Mark were all preseason AA picks. The team is talented plus Stevens, English and Mule should all get better as the season goes just being more comfortable with the team. English is extremely talented just hasn't played to his potential here yet. He was an AA two seasons ago. Obviously ur a more negative thinker which is fine I am more positive so i believe this team is very good and has the potential to beat some of these top teams and make a run In tournament. I mean even last night they destroyed a Utah team thruout the whole game which while not a top team but a solid team with some talent like they were tied 7 - 7 going into the 4th with Ohio State and down 10 - 7 going into the 4th against 6th ranked Denver who beat Hopkins two weeks ago. So they were in those games yet SU blew them off the field pretty much. Take away that dumb rule and SU is undefeated with a win over 4th ranked Maryland. Now they lost but that game showed this team can compete with top teams. So that's why I'm positive and feel like each game they should improve.

You’re totally right about Will Mark being a 3rd team All American goalie last year. I thought he was Honorable mention, so I was wrong. Sorry if I sound negative, but, to me, college lacrosse usually isn‘t that complicated, in that, whichever team has the best players usually wins. It’s no coincidence that Notre Dame and Virginia had the most 1st, 2nd, and 3rd team All Americans last year, and I think they were the best two teams in the country last year (Virginia should have beaten Notre Dame last year if Griffin Shutz doesn’t make a bonehead play and try to score when they were up by 2 goals with only 2 minutes to go; it was an Awesome save by Entenmann though). Who are our 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team All Americans this year? Mark’s save percentage isn’t great this year (16th best in the country right now), so he may not even make it again.

 

[wgdsr]

You’re totally right about Will Mark being a 3rd team All American goalie last year. I thought he was Honorable mention, so I was wrong. Sorry if I sound negative, but, to me, college lacrosse usually isn‘t that complicated, in that, whichever team has the best players usually wins. It’s no coincidence that Notre Dame and Virginia had the most 1st, 2nd, and 3rd team All Americans last year, and I think they were the best two teams in the country last year (Virginia should have beaten Notre Dame last year if Griffin Shutz doesn’t make a bonehead play and try to score when they were up by 2 goals with only 2 minutes to go; it was an Awesome save by Entenmann though). Who are our 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team All Americans this year? Mark’s save percentage isn’t great this year (16th best in the country right now), so he may not even make it again.

it was a great opportunity & there was over 3 minutes to play not 2, and nd scored 2 to tie it within a minute. then uva scored to take the lead. killing another 30-40 seconds would've made no difference.

the hoos had turtled on their possessions since the 8 minute mark, reclsulting in turnovers. if anything sitting on the ball and the lead is what killed them, and nd outshot them by a ton that quarter as a result.

hopefully they learned not to do that again.

 

[Powellfan]

Who are our 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team All Americans this year? Mark’s save percentage isn’t great this year (16th best in the country right now), so he may not even make it again.

Good question. It's still really early in the season so hard to make any definitive statements. So much of the scoring has been done by Spallina this season that he's kind of overshadowed the rest of the offense. He's clearly been playing at an All American level, but as the season stiffens up, you have to imagine other guys will have pick up some of the slack. Michael Leo seems like the next best bet with the way he has been playing, especially if teams continue to short stick him.

You'd like to see either Owen Hiltz or Christian Mule have some breakout games and contend for a spot on one of the teams, though they both need to be more consistent. I think Hiltz could challenge for a spot if he becomes more aggressive and decisive. Even if he doesn't score a ton of points, Jake Stevens should contend for a spot as well, he didn't score against Maryland and didn't play against Utah, but he'll have games where he puts up points. For as much as Thomson has struggled this season, he's still on track to have a 30 point season - if he can shake off the shooting struggles he might also make some noise.

Mason Kohn could certainly challenge for a spot if he keeps playing the way he's been playing (and especially if he keeps scoring like he is). Of course the real tests will come against teams like Duke, UNC, Hopkins, Army, etc. He held his own against Weirman, but things will continue to be a battle for him.

On defense it's hard to see someone getting consideration. I can't believe I am saying it but Carter Rice might be the most likely. He's been really good this season. He probably needs to do more damage in transition, but as a defender he's been sharp. Billy Dwan has been having a good year and the lacrosse media loves him because of his lineage. Sometimes a single breakout performance can carry a lot of weight and both him and Riley Figuerias will get lots of opportunities to go up against the best in the country.

Saam Olexo with his scoring prowess might get some love, but he's been splitting time very evenly with Matt Wright, to the point where it seems like to me he's not actually playing that much. If he has more moments like he did last year (the play against ND where he caused a turnover and then scored a goal on the same play) he could also get some love. But he needs to see more time. Lots more season left for Mark to make an impact as well.

Again, very early. Players will rise and some will struggle. If the team does well as a unit, they will see plenty of individual recognition.