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Message: [QUOTE="JeremyCuse, post: 2142666, member: 43"] The answers to your questions are unfortunately lengthy and complex but I will do my best to answer them. SU for the most part has been a second half team under Desko so they tend to get behind against good teams (not always but a fair amount of time) and then coming storming back from inconceivable odds in the second half. In most of the high end games against other elite teams the matchup becomes a game of runs. The Duke game this past Satruday was a good example of that. SU ran off 4 unanswered at one point before Duke responded with 4 of there own. Game is on Youtube and available anytime via replay on the ESPN App. A lot of opposing fans cringe when SU is playing from behind late because if you leave the door open just a crack we will bust through it. Our teams do have a history of coming out flat in big games especially in the NCAA tournament the last 4-5 years under Desko which we have debated endlessly over on the lax board but are unsure the exact reasons why. Their certainly is more parity as texascpa noted above. Richmond beat UVA last year and lost by a goal this year to Duke. Albany is now a perennial top 15 team and Marquette (a program that hasn't been around a decade yet) beat Denver last year and won a tournament game. That being said SU's lack of Memorial day success has been self inflicted as well. We blew to great opportunities in 2014 and 2015 when we were upset in the 1st round and quarter finals despite having an unbelievable offense both years loaded with talent and the #2 seed both years. SU's defense is rebounding this year from 2-3 years of below average mediocre performance and are more regimented offensive style versus the fun and gun of the 90's has cost us in the eyes of some fans. Also from a recruiting standpoint the 2013 and 2014 classes have been major disappointments and littered with misses, injuries, transfers, and underperformances. Current Sr Jordan Evans was the #1 recruit in the 2013 class and SU had the #2 overall class that year. That class has been a major disappointment and honestly has been a disaster. SU has had to survive via transfers - Ben Williams, Brendan Bomberry, Nick Mariano have kept this team in elite status. The good news is this past class 2016 has some high upside guys in Jamie Trimboli (game winning goal Saturday), Peter Dearth, Nick Dipetro, a SSDM who is seeing a lot of time, and a couple of players who are red-shirting including two goalies and two attackmen. The next three recruiting classes are all highly rated and include some elite offensive talent including several local players. The two names to keep an eye on are Griffin Cook - Attack Jamesville Dewitt class of 2018 and Matt Magnan - Mid fielder - Fox Lane. Magnan is the #2 overall recruit in the 2018 class and evaluators have indicated he could start at an ACC school now as a highschool Junior. [/QUOTE]

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