JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
- Messages
- 45,421
- Like
- 64,058
Hard not to be impressed after last weeks performance. Gotta give the staff credit they implemented a # of changes which included Chuck K down to close, Leo getting extended run at attack, and probably the most encouraging the mix and matching of mid lines. I believe at one point the midline was Hahn, Leo and Hottle. I know myself and others have been looking for some mix and matching to really throw a wrench against teams Defensive plans and I think SU can really do that with mix and matched mid lines. Obviously Hottle continued his torrid pace which was great to see. Really has become a weapon.
Also not to toot my horn but I think I mentioned all three as potentials in my Maryland preview. Was fantastic to see SU put Maryland on the backfoot for a change by throwing some wrinkles.
I thought the defense played excellent, gave a up a few goals McCool should have had and our ssdms got dusted a few times (it's gonna happen) but overall a very impressive performance against an extremely deep and veteran offense in Maryland. I thought SU being slow to slide was exactly the right call and what I mentioned in my preview. You have to force Maryland to dodge to score on individual matchups vs ball movement and transition goals (another area SU excelled at).
I want to also shout out Drew Angelo. Yes he was 1-3 but he didn't lose any of the faceoffs clean leading to a fastbreak and he won a massive draw in the 2nd half when SU was struggling mightily. Wing play was one of the areas again I thought was an issue. I think we maybe running to many people there at this point. Need to get hat figured out asap. I though McCarthy played well, love that he got a goal and took another three shots. He has to be a factor out there drawing a shortie constantly. His accuracy however remains a major issue. He nailed the 1st look and then on 2 other looks he was nowhere close. The third was with the shot clock running down so can't fault him on a desperation heave. He has the talent just have to get him to harness it consistently.
I thought the offense played pretty well though they did have that 5-8 min stretch where they were out of sorts. I also thought the defense bailed out the O on some real bad 4th qtr turnovers. One by Finn Thomson and one on an offsides were especially egregious. Why this team continues to have issue staying onsides late in games is one of the greatest mysteries of the Gait era.
While putting this together I saw Powell put out a very comprehensive preview of Harvard. Will try and a few things and thoughts of my own.
The first outdoor game is always a bit tricky for sure. SU didn't look great last year but that was also at Maryland in a rain storm, less than optimal. In 24 SU won playing outdoors in a neutral site vs Hop and the following week at again another neutral site game. In the end I don't think it should matter that much as SU will have practiced outdoors all week and with a very veteran team they know the drill etc.
Of concern is the Harvard ride. They run a very aggressive 9 man ride (no 10 man thankfully) that has given SU fits. SU had 15 turnovers in the regular season game last year and then 20 in the tourney game. The potential silver lining for the 20 turnover game is that Hiltz and English combined for an absurd 11 of those 20. Obviously SU was much better clearing after the issues vs BU but the Harvard ride is obviously different with it not being a 10 man. I am hoping Brent or one of the NewHouse kids will bring it up to Gait. (Brent's our likely only hope).
Hard to get a read on Harvard to date, I watched a decent amount of the Gate game but they do a lot of odd things so you don't really get a full picture. For example Gate runs that zone/man hybrid scheme where they don't press out on the attackmen at X (behind the cage). Which against a team like Harvard with that attack unit makes little sense and it directly led to multiple goals. Gate was also in the 10 man most of the game which did cause a # of turnovers but also led to at least 4 or 5 Harvard goals and I am likely being conservative with that estimate. Still I do think Harvard is a very solid team. They have a good young goalie, three very good to elite scorers in Malone, Speidell and Ip and their D looks to be improved as holding a decent Providence team in it's third game to only 4 goals is certainly eye opening.
From a defensive standpoint for SU King being gone should help. SU paid him a ton of attention and he ended up with 5pts total in both games. Speidell and Malone really punished SU both games which is a bit disconcerting as one of them was drawing Fig/Dwan whoever didn't take King. At 6'1 160 Malone seems destined to draw Fig while Speidell at 6'3 190 will likely draw Dwan. Both have good speed, SU will likely be more apt to slide on Saturday then they were against Maryland. Cobery is the third attackmen who barely played last year and took King's spot. They appear to be trying to bring him along slowly but he did have 2-2 against Colgate. Their midfield is also solid Ip is the main guy who will draw the pole. Perry is a big shooter who scored a few times in the 1st matchup last year and Harvard will likely try and get him some looks off of Malone and Speidell dodging from X. As Powell noted McCool is gonna really need to play better then he has previously as Harvard wants to emulate UVA/Cuse and just go up and down and put a lot of shots on cage. To me the key will be what SU can do vs Malone and Speidell, if they can slow down both I think Harvard is gonna have a hard time scoring. Again they have other scorers like Ip etc but those two really are the main guys and table setters. Another big time matchup for Dwan and Fig.
From an SU O standpoint Havard will present some problems. They like SU are a heavy upperclass team including at SSDM. They do have a few new starters including a close defenseman and the backup LSM is now the starter. Stevens the true Soph goalie is very solid and can get hot. If your Syracuse you need to get Rhoa going. He had 4 goals last year in the tourney vs Harvard but hasn't scored this year since BU. Id also like to see SU continue to mix and match lines, it caused all sorts of problems for defenses when you run Joey, Finn, and Bear one possession and then suddenly Leo is at attack and Rhoa Hottle and Hahn are at midfield. I suspect Harvard will be paying extra special attention to Joey which should open up Finn who has been up and down so far in 3 games. Bear has played well but has hesitated a few times on good looks, we don't need him to shoot a dozen times but if he dodges to a good spot he also needs to let it rip, he passed up two real good looks last week. I'd really like SU to keep the turnovers to a minimum vs Harvard, it go them in trouble in both games last year. They also got in trouble in both games trying to make the highlight pass or shot, just not needed in a game like this and will inevitably get them into trouble.
Johnny should again have an advantage at the X. Umansky does look improved as he's at 50% (a tick over actually) so I don't expect Johnny to be at 85%+ again. However, it's hard not to believe that he can again dominate. Colgate isn't a great faceoff team and they were dominating draws in the 1st half. Now give credit to Harvard for ultimately getting that back to 50/50 but not sure Mullen will be that accommodating. He was 28-31 and 24-28 in the two games last year, just ridiculous #s. I don't believe a repeat is likely as Umansky does look improved as noted but if SU can win 60%+ it's gonna put a lot of pressure on Harvard Defense that will be seeing the best O it has by far this year.
I share Powells concern about this game. Harvard has shown it can play with SU and obviously won the reg season matchup last year. SU is in a tricky spot. The Maryland game was a huge win but if their not careful they could blink and be 3-2 by next Fri night. Princeton is likely to be 0-2 coming into next Friday's game and absolutely desperate for a big time win. If you're Syracuse you wanna find a way to take care of business on Saturday because with this schedule things can get off the rails in a hurry.
As I noted turnovers will likely play a large role. Harvard does turn it over a lot themselves. 19 vs Colgate on Tuesday and they had 15 and 14 respectively in the 2 games last year. Harvard also can play very chippy at times. They only had 2 penalties in the 1st game but had 6 in the tourney. SU's man up unit has to be more consistent. Played well vs St. Joes but seemed out of sorts in the other 2 games. I like Rawson being on the unit but I think Deere is missed and GEB hasn't looked sharp. Feels like the unit is missing something or someone, wouldn't be surprised if SU tinkered with it a bit. A guy like Tucker and that shot seems like someone who should be out there.
In the end I think SU should win a close game but I also wouldn't be shocked if SU has some struggled with turnovers and sloppy play and falls on Sat. It's a tough spot after a big Maryland win against a very good Harvard squad.
Also not to toot my horn but I think I mentioned all three as potentials in my Maryland preview. Was fantastic to see SU put Maryland on the backfoot for a change by throwing some wrinkles.
I thought the defense played excellent, gave a up a few goals McCool should have had and our ssdms got dusted a few times (it's gonna happen) but overall a very impressive performance against an extremely deep and veteran offense in Maryland. I thought SU being slow to slide was exactly the right call and what I mentioned in my preview. You have to force Maryland to dodge to score on individual matchups vs ball movement and transition goals (another area SU excelled at).
I want to also shout out Drew Angelo. Yes he was 1-3 but he didn't lose any of the faceoffs clean leading to a fastbreak and he won a massive draw in the 2nd half when SU was struggling mightily. Wing play was one of the areas again I thought was an issue. I think we maybe running to many people there at this point. Need to get hat figured out asap. I though McCarthy played well, love that he got a goal and took another three shots. He has to be a factor out there drawing a shortie constantly. His accuracy however remains a major issue. He nailed the 1st look and then on 2 other looks he was nowhere close. The third was with the shot clock running down so can't fault him on a desperation heave. He has the talent just have to get him to harness it consistently.
I thought the offense played pretty well though they did have that 5-8 min stretch where they were out of sorts. I also thought the defense bailed out the O on some real bad 4th qtr turnovers. One by Finn Thomson and one on an offsides were especially egregious. Why this team continues to have issue staying onsides late in games is one of the greatest mysteries of the Gait era.
While putting this together I saw Powell put out a very comprehensive preview of Harvard. Will try and a few things and thoughts of my own.
The first outdoor game is always a bit tricky for sure. SU didn't look great last year but that was also at Maryland in a rain storm, less than optimal. In 24 SU won playing outdoors in a neutral site vs Hop and the following week at again another neutral site game. In the end I don't think it should matter that much as SU will have practiced outdoors all week and with a very veteran team they know the drill etc.
Of concern is the Harvard ride. They run a very aggressive 9 man ride (no 10 man thankfully) that has given SU fits. SU had 15 turnovers in the regular season game last year and then 20 in the tourney game. The potential silver lining for the 20 turnover game is that Hiltz and English combined for an absurd 11 of those 20. Obviously SU was much better clearing after the issues vs BU but the Harvard ride is obviously different with it not being a 10 man. I am hoping Brent or one of the NewHouse kids will bring it up to Gait. (Brent's our likely only hope).
Hard to get a read on Harvard to date, I watched a decent amount of the Gate game but they do a lot of odd things so you don't really get a full picture. For example Gate runs that zone/man hybrid scheme where they don't press out on the attackmen at X (behind the cage). Which against a team like Harvard with that attack unit makes little sense and it directly led to multiple goals. Gate was also in the 10 man most of the game which did cause a # of turnovers but also led to at least 4 or 5 Harvard goals and I am likely being conservative with that estimate. Still I do think Harvard is a very solid team. They have a good young goalie, three very good to elite scorers in Malone, Speidell and Ip and their D looks to be improved as holding a decent Providence team in it's third game to only 4 goals is certainly eye opening.
From a defensive standpoint for SU King being gone should help. SU paid him a ton of attention and he ended up with 5pts total in both games. Speidell and Malone really punished SU both games which is a bit disconcerting as one of them was drawing Fig/Dwan whoever didn't take King. At 6'1 160 Malone seems destined to draw Fig while Speidell at 6'3 190 will likely draw Dwan. Both have good speed, SU will likely be more apt to slide on Saturday then they were against Maryland. Cobery is the third attackmen who barely played last year and took King's spot. They appear to be trying to bring him along slowly but he did have 2-2 against Colgate. Their midfield is also solid Ip is the main guy who will draw the pole. Perry is a big shooter who scored a few times in the 1st matchup last year and Harvard will likely try and get him some looks off of Malone and Speidell dodging from X. As Powell noted McCool is gonna really need to play better then he has previously as Harvard wants to emulate UVA/Cuse and just go up and down and put a lot of shots on cage. To me the key will be what SU can do vs Malone and Speidell, if they can slow down both I think Harvard is gonna have a hard time scoring. Again they have other scorers like Ip etc but those two really are the main guys and table setters. Another big time matchup for Dwan and Fig.
From an SU O standpoint Havard will present some problems. They like SU are a heavy upperclass team including at SSDM. They do have a few new starters including a close defenseman and the backup LSM is now the starter. Stevens the true Soph goalie is very solid and can get hot. If your Syracuse you need to get Rhoa going. He had 4 goals last year in the tourney vs Harvard but hasn't scored this year since BU. Id also like to see SU continue to mix and match lines, it caused all sorts of problems for defenses when you run Joey, Finn, and Bear one possession and then suddenly Leo is at attack and Rhoa Hottle and Hahn are at midfield. I suspect Harvard will be paying extra special attention to Joey which should open up Finn who has been up and down so far in 3 games. Bear has played well but has hesitated a few times on good looks, we don't need him to shoot a dozen times but if he dodges to a good spot he also needs to let it rip, he passed up two real good looks last week. I'd really like SU to keep the turnovers to a minimum vs Harvard, it go them in trouble in both games last year. They also got in trouble in both games trying to make the highlight pass or shot, just not needed in a game like this and will inevitably get them into trouble.
Johnny should again have an advantage at the X. Umansky does look improved as he's at 50% (a tick over actually) so I don't expect Johnny to be at 85%+ again. However, it's hard not to believe that he can again dominate. Colgate isn't a great faceoff team and they were dominating draws in the 1st half. Now give credit to Harvard for ultimately getting that back to 50/50 but not sure Mullen will be that accommodating. He was 28-31 and 24-28 in the two games last year, just ridiculous #s. I don't believe a repeat is likely as Umansky does look improved as noted but if SU can win 60%+ it's gonna put a lot of pressure on Harvard Defense that will be seeing the best O it has by far this year.
I share Powells concern about this game. Harvard has shown it can play with SU and obviously won the reg season matchup last year. SU is in a tricky spot. The Maryland game was a huge win but if their not careful they could blink and be 3-2 by next Fri night. Princeton is likely to be 0-2 coming into next Friday's game and absolutely desperate for a big time win. If you're Syracuse you wanna find a way to take care of business on Saturday because with this schedule things can get off the rails in a hurry.
As I noted turnovers will likely play a large role. Harvard does turn it over a lot themselves. 19 vs Colgate on Tuesday and they had 15 and 14 respectively in the 2 games last year. Harvard also can play very chippy at times. They only had 2 penalties in the 1st game but had 6 in the tourney. SU's man up unit has to be more consistent. Played well vs St. Joes but seemed out of sorts in the other 2 games. I like Rawson being on the unit but I think Deere is missed and GEB hasn't looked sharp. Feels like the unit is missing something or someone, wouldn't be surprised if SU tinkered with it a bit. A guy like Tucker and that shot seems like someone who should be out there.
In the end I think SU should win a close game but I also wouldn't be shocked if SU has some struggled with turnovers and sloppy play and falls on Sat. It's a tough spot after a big Maryland win against a very good Harvard squad.
