Princeton Game Preview (4/8/23, Noon)

[cuselaxss26]

Well maby some fat waller alums should pay for airplane. Wait are colleges allowed to use planes? No right.

 

[JeremyCuse]

such weird scheduling no? how can the orange be done playing in the dome by april 1? no more home games the rest of the season? its kind of crazy to end with 4 straight on the road! maybe this was discussed when the schedule came out but this it the first im seeing of it. imagine if they were really in the hunt and every game was must win and none of them were at home? wait, that's exactly what is happening

back to princeton. syracuse can win this one but the defense will have to find an answer for the tiger midfield as powellfan said. that is the whole ballgame. limit that group and make everyone else beat you. if princeton's second middies or attackmen (besides mackesy) beat you then you tip your cap. but u cant let those middies go off. be physical with them. they are slick and can shoot but arent the biggest guys in the world

It was done purposefully. SU has the monster truck show in and then doing some renovation work. There's only 1 home game left between both the men's and women's teams

 

[JeremyCuse]

I am going to guess that …

Maryland will be off the schedule (home and home has concluded).

The additional two ACC games will be no more (thought I heard this somewhere but can’t remember where).

Hofstra will be at home (again home and home).

Maybe see Cornell and Army back on the schedule?

Hopkins away.

Will they ever play at Hobart again?

Assume Albany on the schedule but here or there?

Curious if Vermont remains. Usually they do home and home with non conference opponents but I can’t see SU going up to Burlington in early February.

That leaves St Bonnie’s and Holy Cross. Not sure it makes sense to play both schools again.

SU will not be going to Hobart for a while but they will remain on the schedule.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I am going to guess that …

Maryland will be off the schedule (home and home has concluded).

The additional two ACC games will be no more (thought I heard this somewhere but can’t remember where).

Hofstra will be at home (again home and home).

Maybe see Cornell and Army back on the schedule?

Hopkins away.

Will they ever play at Hobart again?

Assume Albany on the schedule but here or there?

Curious if Vermont remains. Usually they do home and home with non conference opponents but I can’t see SU going up to Burlington in early February.

That leaves St Bonnie’s and Holy Cross. Not sure it makes sense to play both schools again.

Albany game will be here again. Gait made it clear ar Albany will happen again but not every other year. Army is likely back

 

[Powellfan]

Interesting discussion with Terry Foy from Inside Lacrosse. Says he has had a lot of discussions in the IL office with former Gait players (two women on the IL staff played for Gait at Syracuse). It seems like he's pretty high on Gait's coaching style, but it's hard for him to nail down specific examples of why he thinks so. He uses the term "Jedi" at one point. Seems like Gait just has a very different style than most very intense rah rah coaches.

Says he thinks that SU is tracking in the right direction, and if they keep the same team next year "organically" they should be a top 15 team. If they add the right players through the transfer portal they could be anywhere from 11-5. Overall a positive outlook from a non-partisan media member for the long term trajectory of the team. I thought it was worth a listen.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Interesting discussion with Terry Foy from Inside Lacrosse. Says he has had a lot of discussions in the IL office with former Gait players (two women on the IL staff played for Gait at Syracuse). It seems like he's pretty high on Gait's coaching style, but it's hard for him to nail down specific examples of why he thinks so. He uses the term "Jedi" at one point. Seems like Gait just has a very different style than most very intense rah rah coaches.

Says he thinks that SU is tracking in the right direction, and if they keep the same team next year "organically" they should be a top 15 team. If they add the right players through the transfer portal they could be anywhere from 11-5. Overall a positive outlook from a non-partisan media member for the long term trajectory of the team. I thought it was worth a listen.

Why can't Gait use his "Jedi Mind Tricks" on some of these referees.

"These aren't the face-off violations you're looking for".

 

[wgdsr]

I've been a little surprised at the amount of confidence posters have about this particular game. The Tigers aren't having the type of season they probably expected (they were a preseason top 5 team, right now ranked 15th), but they are still very talented. They are coming off of two big wins over Yale and Brown. I think most people see a team that struggles on face-offs and see an opening. The bad news is last week SU faced a team below 50% at the dot and ended up getting dominated there. Just because a team is struggling at the face-off spot, doesn't mean SU has the horses to exploit this weakness. We shall see.

Princeton has one of the better attackmen in the nation in Colter Mackesey who leads the team in scoring with 41 points in eight games. In the last two games he had 16 points combined in wins over Brown and Yale. I have to imagine that Saam Olexo draws this matchup if Landon Clary is still out. The Tigers have struggled to replace their leading scorer from last year in Chris Brown, as they haven't got a ton of production from the other two attack spots. Also it seems like Alex Slusher, who scored 56 points last year, has been injured the last two games. Jackson Ringhofer and Lukas Stanat started last week against Brown and combined for five points. Stanat is 6'4 195, so I expect Dwan to draw that matchup. The bad news for the Orange is Princeton gets a good amount of production from their midfield. The starting trio of Sam English, Christian Ronda and Alex Vardaro are very good. Their numbers are down a bit this season but they are Princeton's leading scorers after Mackesey. SU's issues on defense this season have stemmed from their defensive midfield and this might be the most talented unit they've faced this year. Perhaps they double pole the unit?

On defense it looks like the Tigers have moved to Michael Gianforcaro as their full time starter after he split halves with Griffin Rakower. He has a good save percentage at 57% so the Orange will have to be patient on offense. Overall the Tigers have the 17th most efficient defense in the country according to Lacrosse Reference. The Orange have dropped to 25th after being ranked in the top 20 a few weeks ago. On offense, one thing I noticed in the Notre Dame game was the Orange moved away from using a second midfield late in the game, relying on just the first unit of Thomson, Leo and Simmons. I do not like this strategy as I think it reeks of desperation and will eventually tire your top unit out. I like the first unit but with Birtwistle on the second line, I think you're hurting the team by not rotating the two lines close to equal. Birtwistle has 20 goals on the year, he needs to see the ball and play more.

Ultimately I do think the Tigers are trending in the right direction whereas the Orange are still a bit in no man's land. This is a great opportunity for the Orange to get on track before the last three games of the season. Princeton I think is better than their record indicates. A win probably doesn't do much for their playoff chances since the Tigers don't have any big out of conference wins (they lost to Maryland, Georgetown and Rutgers) but it would certainly help. The Orange will really have to scrap for face-off wins and be really efficient on offense. The Tigers lost their main FOGO Tyler Sandoval and their backup Koby Ginder has just a 47% winning percentage. I'm a bit surprised their haven't used their freshman Andrew McMeekan who was a top recruit. Still, the Tigers have a better percentage than the Orange right now. If there ever was a game for Fine and Richusa to step up, it's this one.

for me, running 2 midfield lines is for exactly this reason. to keep your top guys fresh until the 4th, when you can run them (and maybe a 4th guy) late. your 5th and 6th guy aren't often equals to your best guys. a 4th might be on the 2nds to balance out the 2 lines throughout the game.

similarly, running a shortage of ssdms (less than 4 regularly), brings other problems. those guys getting tired if they have to do it all game, exascerbated if they're not all elite level ssdms. having 2 of your top 3 close d guys out will tax anybody, you're essentially playing guys down the depth chart. throw in the faceoff deficit, and you can only hold on so long. leads to not being able to close out games.

 

[MSOrange]

It was done purposefully. SU has the monster truck show in and then doing some renovation work. There's only 1 home game left between both the men's and women's teams

The wifi installation or other renovation?

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

Anyone going to the game tomorrow?

 

[FloridaCuse]

On the ACCN broadcast tonight of the Va at NC game (won by Va 19-12; they were up at one time 16-4) Quint K said about Syracuse: they're a really good team; only a FOGO away from being elite; Will Mark is fun to watch; as is the offense with their passing; their D is young and get tired at end of games; the ND game was closer than the score; team is entertaining; a lot of upside; Syracuse can beat Carolina next week; still in contention for the NCAAT (if they win out); they're closer than it looks; they're going to bring in some transfers next year.

 

[Powellfan]

Clary shown at the end of this. In practice gear and looks like someone who has gone through warmups. Hopefully it means he’s back tomorrow.

 

[MD Cuse Fan]

Anyone going to the game tomorrow?

I'll be there!

 

[JustSayin]

I have to agree with Foy and the players interviewed. I also think, under Gait, the program is on the right trajectory. As some have been down on Gait's coaching style, you'd have to admit the games this season have been fun to watch.

I'm one, as a player, didn't respond to "yelling and screaming," I found it condescending and humiliating. But, it wasn't only me, but my teammates as well. That's probably why I don't scream like a lunitic at my students in the classroom. Just call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure most of us don't scream at our kids, so why don't we do that if it supposedly inspirational?

Also, the "Jedi" reference is classic.

 

[Powellfan]

 

[DoctahLexus]

Clary shown at the end of this. In practice gear and looks like someone who has gone through warmups. Hopefully it means he’s back tomorrow.

Any have an update on Clary?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Any have an update on Clary?

He'll either be playing in 45 minutes.

Or he won't be.

 

[DoctahLexus]

He'll either be playing in 45 minutes.

Or he won't be.

That’ll work

 

[JeremyCuse]

Any have an update on Clary?

Believe he's playing

 

[DoctahLexus]

Believe he's playing

See ox a better more informed world is possible

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

Clary is starting

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

Clary is starting

And he may have just concussed himself