Good point Jeremy. First thing that came to my mind was BU's ride, and Syracuse's recent struggles against it. Opponents cleared the ball just 75% against the Terriers last year (teams cleared 84% against the Orange last year). Especially early in the year, clearing can be tough. Hope SU has taken advantage of their indoor facilities and been working hard on this aspect of the game. Before the Ensley center, this was always an adventure. Shouldn't really be an excuse at this point, especially with a veteran defense.
BU is a good team. They return five of their top six scorers, only losing their top point getter from a year ago in Jimmy O'Connell (67 points). That said, rising sophomore Timmy Shannehan had 61 last year and he's flanked by running mate Jimmy Kohr with 57 points. Kohr was primarily a finisher with 43 of his points coming on goals. I feel like Figuerias will mark Shannehan and Kohr will be guarded by Billy Dwan. Unsure who will play that third attack, perhaps midfielder Andrew Pape who had 20 points last year? BU's scoring last year was pretty top heavy towards the attack, FWIW.
BU had a decent face-off group last year as their main FOGO won 55%, and he's back this year. That said he only picked up 55 ground balls last year, so about 42% of the time he was winning the face-off himself. John Mullen on the other hand had a groundball pick up rate of 64%. Not the most scientific stat out there, but I feel like hopefully it benefits Mullen, who of course is an intimidating presence out there.
Goal is the one probably glaring question mark for BU, as they graduated their starter from last year. Obviously don't want to read too much into scrimmages, but it sounds like they gave up 17 to Rutgers over the weekend, which isn't great. Perhaps the game was close in the first half and the backup struggled, so again, careful reading too much into scrimmage results.
Excited to see some new players, and who steps up for the Orange this year. With Payton Anderson presumably stepping in for Owen Hiltz, I am curious to see how that goes. Hiltz has massive shoes to fill, and while Anderson was good for the Orange last year, this is a whole new ball game. Hiltz always felt like Mr Dependable last year. If Spallina has a tough go of it, who can be that guy to step up? I don't expect Anderson to score 73 points like Hiltz did last year, but how much of that role can he fill? Who else can step up to replace that production? It feels hard to ask Spallina and Leo to produce more than they did last year ... to me, it feels like a lot of pressure is on Finn Thomson and Luke Rhoa to reach their potential this season.
Obviously a big year for the Orange, and hoping they get out to a hot start against the Terriers. First games of the season can be tricky, but it's at home and the Orange have had plenty of time to prepare. My main worry is Shannehan, who was part of the U-20 team for the US last summer. Hopefully the defense has an answer for him. I feel like given the firepower SU has all over the field, they should win this game by a couple. I am thinking something like 14-10? Go 'Cuse!
