Preseason All-ACC

[Zack80]

I spent some time last night putting together my preseason All Big Ten team:

2022 Men's lacrosse Big Ten and Opponents

2022 Men's lacrosse Big Ten and Opponents

247sports.com

I was wondering if some knowledgeable fan wanted to take a crack at a Preseason All-ACC team.
OK I've got a first team:
Attack: Chris Gray UNC, Pat Kavanagh ND, Matt Moore UVA
Midfield: Connor Shellenberger UVA, Montgomery Duke, Tucker Dordevic Syracuse
LSM: Tyler Carpenter Duke
SSDM: Connor Maher UNC
Defense: Arden Cohen ND, Cade Sausted UVA, Kenny Brower Duke
Goalie: Liam Entenman ND
FO: Peter LaSalle UVA

 

[nyclax]

Arden Cohen is an interesting one to me. His numbers don't blow you away and he's never been their #1 defenseman. He's never had to cover the opposing team's best player. So we don't really know what his ability is to cover elite attackmen. But he gets the benefit of the doubt because ND always seems to have a guy in the AA discussion.

With Kielty, Giles-Harris, Bowen, and Kology all gone, close D is pretty barren in the ACC right now and there are no other obvious candidates for that spot. So I don't have an issue with it, I just wonder if someone else won't emerge over the course of the season who isn't clearly better.

 

[Zack80]

On the other hand Cohen was named a 3rd team AA last year, so one might look foolish not selecting him with no other obvious choices around.
I had the same problem with the Big Ten at close defense also and stats don't always tell the whole story for defensemen.
UVA has a nice pair of defensemen entering their junior year in Matsui and Bower.

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

I spent some time last night putting together my preseason All Big Ten team:

2022 Men's lacrosse Big Ten and Opponents

2022 Men's lacrosse Big Ten and Opponents

247sports.com

I was wondering if some knowledgeable fan wanted to take a crack at a Preseason All-ACC team.
OK I've got a first team:
Attack: Chris Gray UNC, Pat Kavanagh ND, Matt Moore UVA
Midfield: Connor Shellenberger UVA, Montgomery Duke, Tucker Dordevic Syracuse
LSM: Tyler Carpenter Duke
SSDM: Connor Maher UNC
Defense: Arden Cohen ND, Cade Sausted UVA, Kenny Brower Duke
Goalie: Liam Entenman ND
FO: Peter LaSalle UVA

Dordevic is playing attack this year.

 

[Powellfan]

I spent some time last night putting together my preseason All Big Ten team:

2022 Men's lacrosse Big Ten and Opponents

2022 Men's lacrosse Big Ten and Opponents

247sports.com

I was wondering if some knowledgeable fan wanted to take a crack at a Preseason All-ACC team.
OK I've got a first team:
Attack: Chris Gray UNC, Pat Kavanagh ND, Matt Moore UVA
Midfield: Connor Shellenberger UVA, Montgomery Duke, Tucker Dordevic Syracuse
LSM: Tyler Carpenter Duke
SSDM: Connor Maher UNC
Defense: Arden Cohen ND, Cade Sausted UVA, Kenny Brower Duke
Goalie: Liam Entenman ND
FO: Peter LaSalle UVA

This list looks about right to me. I would list Shellenberger as an attackman though, replacing his teammate Moore. Whether he’s coming out of the box or not, I still think he’s going to be on the field for every possession. To me that makes him an attackmen.

The Dordevic move complicates matters. I doubt the voters have enough wherewithal to notice he moved so I think he’ll still get named as a midfielder. If we are trying to be accurate though my midfield list would be Montgomery, Curry and maybe Jackoboice? That third spot is kind of a toss up.

Creating a second and third team would be a fun exercise. The attack position in the ACC is a absolutely stacked.

 

[Zack80]

Dordevic is playing attack this year.

I have heard that rumor and I have also heard rumors that Shellenberger will be at attack also, but I took a bit of "lax license" to get a stronger team.

I am a little more "open-minded" on the attackman-midfielder thing.

 

[nyclax]

Shellenberger isn't a rumor. Lars Tiffany flat out said he's playing attack. And he had already been playing lots of attack in 2021 especially at the end of the season:

TIFFANY ON SHELLENBERGER
2022– “Redefines the phrase ‘not resting on his laurels’ as he is training with more intensity than ever… Studying the best attackmen in the game with Coach Kirwan in order to learn and add to his own repertoire… Primarily will be used on attack moving forward, combining with Matt Moore to create the two-headed quarterback.”

Connor Shellenberger

virginiasports.com

 

[ivorytower]

On the other hand Cohen was named a 3rd team AA last year, so one might look foolish not selecting him with no other obvious choices around.
I had the same problem with the Big Ten at close defense also and stats don't always tell the whole story for defensemen.
UVA has a nice pair of defensemen entering their junior year in Matsui and Bower.

Attack in acc is sick in talent , knee deep and best in class. Shellenberger , Kavanaugh and Gray are three who will be competing for Tewarrton so gotta them nods in acc over other superb talents in Hiltz, Moore ,ONeill as well as other talented att including Seebold who could surprise after being questionably buried. Dordevic yet to play attack so remains to be seen but as attack/mid, he and Curry would be my mid picks despite off yrs especially with 3 UNC mids gone . Enuff been argued for/agaisnt Montgomery , do agree that Jacobice is underrated, very disciplined player who could do more in another system . Some younger mids will come to the forefront , thinking along the lines of a Garno or Dickson at UVA or a Dobson, Herbert etc. ND team d has been better than individual in recent yrs, Cohen was not and best defender on last year team and may not be this year .Saustad somehow get overlooked despite 2 titles , bit shaky in clearing and will get scored on at times but he is physical and been a key to their postseason success. . Carpenter tends to overplay and burnt at times but a gb machine , Brower was taking ones rather than his former acclaimed teammate and that should count. Kennedy overall as good as any lsm though word is moving to cd but potential there .Entenman may be best pure ball stopper in game. Have new tenders at UVA and Cuse so gotta default to Adler and Kreig only for preseason purposes. Maher, Sallade and Hallenbeck are prime ssdm, hopefully Aviles bounces back and in same class come post season . Gait will return to Donahue's transition ways which should help our dm's. Lasalla arguably best fogo in game given offensive capabilties so nod over Naso, UNC's pair and Phaup who gives LaSalla nightmares. Last but not least , team success and quotas play a part in these.. Syracuse talents being discounted, if team surprises to the upside then they land as many postseason awards as any including possibly COY.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[ivorytower]

Some info fill ins. Joe Robertson is back at Duke and they also bring in UPenn's Lulley. Expect Duke to be more balanced and better without Sowers. UNC has three good fogos in speedsters Tucci and Tyervar and also heralded five star frosh Mullins. ND brings in a five star fogo in frosh Will Lynch and brought defenders Reynolds from Richmond and Douglas from Lehigh. One of our goalies will ilikely be better by second half than Porter was in 2h last year . Dearth transition skills were wasted away , his size will be missed. Trimboli not mentioned but another who was misused and he will be missed. Just based off last year Id start preseason with Cuse at five after UVA, Duke, ND, UNC , even after factoring personell losses of UNC given Gray and their stock of talents. Doesn't mean that Cuse cant make some noise and move up. .

 

[Zack80]

Shellenberger isn't a rumor. Lars Tiffany flat out said he's playing attack. And he had already been playing lots of attack in 2021 especially at the end of the season:

Connor Shellenberger

virginiasports.com

It does sound that way.
Of course, playing Griffin Schutz at the midfield could be a little like playing Dyson Williams at the midfield, so you might get a lot more scoring out of Schutz at attack, and Shellenberger has already shown he can score a lot as a midfielder. Also, if you move Shellenberger to attack, UVa won't have any particularly high scoring midfielder on their first midfield.

 

[Zack80]

Some info fill ins. Joe Robertson is back at Duke and they also bring in UPenn's Lulley. Expect Duke to be more balanced and better without Sowers. UNC has three good fogos in speedsters Tucci and Tyervar and also heralded five star frosh Mullins. ND brings in a five star fogo in frosh Will Lynch and brought defenders Reynolds from Richmond and Douglas from Lehigh. One of our goalies will ilikely be better by second half than Porter was in 2h last year . Dearth transition skills were wasted away , his size will be missed. Trimboli not mentioned but another who was misused and he will be missed. Just based off last year Id start preseason with Cuse at five after UVA, Duke, ND, UNC , even after factoring personell losses of UNC given Gray and their stock of talents. Doesn't mean that Cuse cant make some noise and move up. .

I have them ranked the same order: 1) UVA 2) Duke 3) ND 4) UNC 5) Syracuse. I think what UNC and Syracuse have returning is fairly close, and the difference mainly comes from UNC bringing in 8 UA AAs. It is fair to guess that a few of those guys will make some kind of contribution.

I noticed in the fall ball article for Duke on IL that they talked about O'Neill and Dyson Williams playing together on attack. Of course, it might have been that Lully wasn't available.

 

[Powellfan]

It does sound that way.
Of course, playing Griffin Schutz at the midfield could be a little like playing Dyson Williams at the midfield, so you might get a lot more scoring out of Schutz at attack, and Shellenberger has already shown he can score a lot as a midfielder. Also, if you move Shellenberger to attack, UVa won't have any particularly high scoring midfielder on their first midfield.

I am not super familiar with Schutz but I think he is a different player than Williams. Schutz looks like the type of player who can play all over the field. Williams basically occupies the same spot on the field as O'Neil. They played together on attack in the first game last season against Denver and they looked very disjointed. Williams had a nice season after moving to midfield, but he scored more in 8 games at attack in 2020 than he did in 15 games last year (30 vs 25). He is listed at attack on the Duke roster for whatever that is worth, but I would be really surprised if he played there this season. Others have pointed this out but its a shame he didn't transfer someone else this season.

Duke has an interesting midfield, though I thought they rotated guys way too much last year. Owen Caputo started 2020 off really well with 20 points, he had a good year in '21 with 25 points but that was not the rate he was scoring at in '20. They gave a lot of playing time to two freshmen in Aiden Danenza and Charlie O'Conner but the two combined for only 18 points. Maybe one of those two breakout?

Virginia still has weapons on midfield, maybe not as good as Dox Aitkin, but still pretty good. Garno had 25 points, Conner 22 and Dickson 20. That is really pretty good. The issue might be depth, but Schutz seems like a guy can help in that department. I imagine they will mix and match a lot like they did last year, but I think guys like Cormier, Moore and Shellengberger will be on the field as much as possible.

 

[Zack80]

You might be right about Schutz. Although, Schutz could develop into a player, who UVa wants on the field a lot also

I think if O'Neill can develop his passing game at some point, we could see him and Williams on the attack together. Whether that occurs this season is doubtful, and that is probably why Duke picked up transfer Lully.

Virginia's scoring numbers are based on an 18-game season, so those numbers are decent. I would tend to figure averaging 2 pts a game at midfield was very good. Sprock for Rutgers scored 27 points but it was in 13 games for an average of 2.1 pts per game - and he was named an HM AA.