Plenty of opportunity left

[GoSU96]

Cornell, UNC, Colgate, at least one ACC game left.

Ridiculous depth on offense, the 6 attack look when the second line is on the field is crazy. Without looking in detail my guess is that group was was out there for at least 7 of 11 goals.

You get situations where Billy Ward is out for extended defensive shifts for example, but even with the defensive downside, I like it. Like Desko said, teams have to pick their poison and it's almost impossible to takeaway both the attack and the midfield.

Good job on faceoffs with just mucking it up and the wings playing great, McCartney had an excellent game there and on defense.

Don't know what the deal was with Matt Harris but he was abused.

For SU to get into the ACC tourney it has to beat UNC and ND or UVA have to lose their two remaining games. SU would win the tiebreaker with UNC and ND and if UVA lost to UNC and Duke they would finish 1-4.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Harris didn't see a lot of action in the 2nd half. It was Mullins, Young, and McDermott for long stretches.

 

[GoSU96]

Harris didn't see a lot of action in the 2nd half. It was Mullins, Young, and McDermott for long stretches.

I know, he got pulled, played man down and some at LSM.

He looked awful.

 

[JeremyCuse]

The ACC tourney really doesnt mean that much in the grand scope of just making the NCAA tourney. Syracuse matches up better with ND/UVA in a 5/6 game then they would having to face UMD or Duke again and there great faceoff guys. Raffa and Fowler are nightmare matchups for us and while Daddio had a great game Saturday I have little doubt what the outcome would be if we had to face either of those two guys again.

The key for Syracuse is to hold serve against the lesser teams ie Bingo, Colgate and Hobart, and to hand Cornell there first and probably only loss of the regular season. The UNC game is a tough matchup, Kelly is out for the year at the X which is a big help but Keenan is a former All American who is likely to give us fits, also UNC has the kind of offense that can punish us with extra possessions like Duke.

The main thing we cant afford is to have a Hobart type loss, we dont have the margin of error like we did last year. Bingo and Hobart are both well under .500 but are dangerous for different reasons. Bingo has a good faceoff guy and is likely to try and turn Wed game into a repeat of the Bryant game last year. I dont think Bingo has the horses to compete offensively or defensively but Syracuse would be well advised to put this game away early and not test that theory.

Hobart is pretty much a disaster this year, they started out 0-5 I believe and they barely beat an awful Mt. St Marys team this weekend to bring there record to 3-6 or something like that. There best player Love is out for the year (supposedly) and there a disaster at the X like us. This game screams blowout but dont be fooled. The Syracuse game is like Hobart's superbowl and National title game rolled into one. Its the one game there entire program circles every year and even before we gave away last years game to them they almost always play us close especially when they are at home (see our 13-12 win in 2012). All that being said after last years loss I think Desko is going to do two things; be all over the team this year to remind them about last year embarrasing loss and secondly if he gets a chance he is going to lay the hammer down. Syracuse was up 3 goals twice in the second half last year and gave up the lead each time, we seemed disinterested. I would be shocked if that happended this year, if we get a chance I see Desko going for the juggular.

So for Syracuse beating Bingo, Hobart, and Colgate would push us to 8 wins. Grab a win over Cornell and thats 9 and then obviously if we could win vs UNC or in the 5/6 game that puts us at 10 wins. I think 9-5 is the most likely record, though 10-4 or 8-6 wouldn't surprise me either.

 

[wvlax]

Was Daddio's game on Saturday just an aberration or a sign of good things to come?

 

[JeremyCuse]

Was Daddio's game on Saturday just an aberration or a sign of good things to come?

Wouldnt call it an abberation but more of a matchup that favors Daddio. Sounds odd but the last few years Daddio has matched up well with O'Connor and I wasnt really surpised to see him hold his own. I was surprised we actually won more draws but Daddio held his own against ND in two games last year so it was good see him put in a great performance. All that said I still think Daddio vs the other top guys ie Kennedy, Raffa, Fowler is a matchup nightmare. We need to keep working with Demarco and hopefully Paduda once healthy for those types of games should we see them again this year.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Was Daddio's game on Saturday just an aberration or a sign of good things to come?

Daddio got more wing help against ND then he's had all season.

 

[GoSU96]

The ACC tourney really doesnt mean that much in the grand scope of just making the NCAA tourney. Syracuse matches up better with ND/UVA in a 5/6 game then they would having to face UMD or Duke again and there great faceoff guys. Raffa and Fowler are nightmare matchups for us and while Daddio had a great game Saturday I have little doubt what the outcome would be if we had to face either of those two guys again.

The key for Syracuse is to hold serve against the lesser teams ie Bingo, Colgate and Hobart, and to hand Cornell there first and probably only loss of the regular season. The UNC game is a tough matchup, Kelly is out for the year at the X which is a big help but Keenan is a former All American who is likely to give us fits, also UNC has the kind of offense that can punish us with extra possessions like Duke.

The main thing we cant afford is to have a Hobart type loss, we dont have the margin of error like we did last year. Bingo and Hobart are both well under .500 but are dangerous for different reasons. Bingo has a good faceoff guy and is likely to try and turn Wed game into a repeat of the Bryant game last year. I dont think Bingo has the horses to compete offensively or defensively but Syracuse would be well advised to put this game away early and not test that theory.

Hobart is pretty much a disaster this year, they started out 0-5 I believe and they barely beat an awful Mt. St Marys team this weekend to bring there record to 3-6 or something like that. There best player Love is out for the year (supposedly) and there a disaster at the X like us. This game screams blowout but dont be fooled. The Syracuse game is like Hobart's superbowl and National title game rolled into one. Its the one game there entire program circles every year and even before we gave away last years game to them they almost always play us close especially when they are at home (see our 13-12 win in 2012). All that being said after last years loss I think Desko is going to do two things; be all over the team this year to remind them about last year embarrasing loss and secondly if he gets a chance he is going to lay the hammer down. Syracuse was up 3 goals twice in the second half last year and gave up the lead each time, we seemed disinterested. I would be shocked if that happended this year, if we get a chance I see Desko going for the juggular.

So for Syracuse beating Bingo, Hobart, and Colgate would push us to 8 wins. Grab a win over Cornell and thats 9 and then obviously if we could win vs UNC or in the 5/6 game that puts us at 10 wins. I think 9-5 is the most likely record, though 10-4 or 8-6 wouldn't surprise me either.

SU has the #2 RPI, #3 Tourney Selection Index Rank, #1 Strength of Schedule, #5th in quality wins in laxpower's computer rankings. Plenty of opportunity to get a good seed. Unless it's a complete collapse they are in the tourney.

 

[JeremyCuse]

SU has the #2 RPI, #3 Tourney Selection Index Rank, #1 Strength of Schedule, #5th in quality wins in laxpower's computer rankings. Plenty of opportunity to get a good seed. Unless it's a complete collapse they are in the tourney.

Pretty sure were in agreemen there, I dont see any issue with them getting into the tourney barring them being
7-7 and there being some conf upsets. Im more concerned about getting a decent seed and not having to open up with Loyola or at Duke like 2012.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Daddio got more wing help against ND then he's had all season.

That was two fold. One Daddio actually was able to rake the ball forward or backward toward a wing and our wings actually grabbed a GB for a change. As good as Daddio was Saturday if he didnt struggle so much to grab GB's he could have had at least two more wins. He tends to panic sometimes which cost him at least 2-3 draws and that horrific pass after he won the draw. Still a great performance though, really hope he comes out in a similar fashion Wed.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Top 8 seed gets us our usual home game on Sunday night.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Top 8 seed gets us our usual home game on Sunday night.

If we get a top 8 seed pray someone besides Bryant wins the NEC or thats who we will be dealing with again.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

If we get a top 8 seed pray someone besides Bryant wins the NEC or thats who we will be dealing with again.

We can deal with Bryant ... just let them win the faceoff, and take the ball away from them.

 

[JeremyCuse]

We can deal with Bryant ... just let them win the faceoff, and take the ball away from them.

LOL, someone mentioned that on lax power as a defense against Massa and Bryant, just concede like Syracuse and try to turn him over. In all seriousness that game last year was insane, was nearly as bad as watching Fowler in the champ game. Bryant has a good goalie to go along with Massa so I would really really really prefer to not play them in the 1st round if at all possible. Just an FYI, Massa never took a draw at the X until he got to Bryant, let that sink in.

 

[PhatOrange]

i only watched the first half and daddio won a few clamps outright. But what I thought I noticed, was Daddio jamming the ND guy just preventing him from getting the clamp or quick pop and just making it a ground ball situation. It might not be bad strategy.

 

[GoSU96]

i only watched the first half and daddio won a few clamps outright. But what I thought I noticed, was Daddio jamming the ND guy just preventing him from getting the clamp or quick pop and just making it a ground ball situation. It might not be bad strategy.

What helped was the idiot refs didn't call every twitch a violation or put the ball down and get a cup of coffee before blowing the whistle. There were so obvious holds by the ND player that weren't called but SU managed to win most of those draws anyways. Muck it up and make it a 50/50 ball. First order of business needs to be to prevent the pinch and take off breaks or violations. What is a killer is when there is a string of 5 or 6 wins in a row, that's when games can get out of hand. Need to be able to break up runs, and if you can win draws, don't allow quick run outs and play solid defense in settled situations.

 

[Hoo's That]

LOL, someone mentioned that on lax power as a defense against Massa and Bryant, just concede like Syracuse and try to turn him over. In all seriousness that game last year was insane, was nearly as bad as watching Fowler in the champ game. Bryant has a good goalie to go along with Massa so I would really really really prefer to not play them in the 1st round if at all possible. Just an FYI, Massa never took a draw at the X until he got to Bryant, let that sink in.

Saturday against the Twerps, we used a long stick to try to tie up the FOGO and possibly take it way from him. It worked "OK" and only allowed 1 break with a number of ground balls for our folks.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Saturday against the Twerps, we used a long stick to try to tie up the FOGO and possibly take it way from him. It worked "OK" and only allowed 1 break with a number of ground balls for our folks.

Yeah we tried that last year with some decent success but a lot of that was because Megill was such a good player. This year we have tried that but it has been a disaster to be honest. I think poles are like 1-13 and to be honest it hasnt really slowed down guys like Raffa, Fowler, and Kennedy. Syracuse's best chance really likes in Demarco the true Frosh and the three faceoff guys they have coming in next year including Vaughn Harris from OOC. We will have about 6-7 guys on the roster next year who faceoff someone for the love of god will hopefully emerge.

 

[IHeartSUFball]

16 teams Correct?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

16 teams Correct?

18 teams.

10 AQ's (ACC, Ivy, Big East, Patriot, CAA, ECAC, America East, NEC, MAAC, Atl Sun)

8 At-large Bids

 

[OrangeXtreme]

http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_...18_team_ncaa_division_i_mens_lacrosse_bracket

 

[JeremyCuse]

18 teams.

10 AQ's (ACC, Ivy, Big East, Patriot, CAA, ECAC, America East, NEC, MAAC, Atl Sun)

8 At-large Bids

I think that maybe changing again soon as there was a rule that you have to have the same number of AQ's as you do at large teams, though they may have something different in place due to the every changing lacrosse landscape.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

I think that maybe changing again soon as there was a rule that you have to have the same number of AQ's as you do at large teams, though they may have something different in place due to the every changing lacrosse landscape.

The ECAC may cease to exist next season, but the B1G will be starting up.

 

[Moontan]

And in a couple of years the ACC auto bid will disappear... unless another school adds the sport. I'm looking at you, Tom Jurich.

 

[SDCuse114]

And in a couple of years the ACC auto bid will disappear... unless another school adds the sport. I'm looking at you, Tom Jurich.

I think BC should move up to D1; they already have a pretty good MCLA team. Florida St. and Virginia Tech are also having winning seasons.