JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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- Aug 15, 2011
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First off Saturday was a great game by pretty much the entire Syracuse team. The Sun was out and there was maybe 3500 fans there. Myself and Lincolncuse easily got into Club 44 and enjoyed a few beers before watching the game with OrangeExtreme and a friend. All in all it was a dominating performance from start to finish, Daddio looked fantastic and the offense pretty much put the game away in the 4th quarter. Was very happy to see Schoonie score a couple of goals and look like his old self, he will be huge for the tourney. Lecky continues to shoot low and find success, coincidence? I think not. Rice, Donahue, Staats all good as always. Liked what I saw from Loy as well, he hasnt been that agressive all year, might have been Senior day mentality taking hold. Was great to see some of the younger guys like Westin, Evans, Maltz Jr, Jeff Desko and others get extended run. Also good to see veterans like Walters, Henry and others get some PT. Defensively I thought we looked good, Lamo and Wardwell were both on there games as expected, especially Wardwell. Only issue is we appear to still be a bit off on our slides sometimes to quick or to slow, also we still appear to have a mental blip at least once a quarter where we leave someone wide open on the crease, need to clean that up quickly for the tourney.
OK onto the bracket - Wasnt suprised by Syracuse's draw at all. Despite what IL was projecting I felt our ceiling was the 2 seed after the loss to ND in the tourney. Not a huge difference in the 1 or 2 seed either way it puts Duke on the other side of the bracket which is what matters the most. In regards to our potential opponent I would prefer to play Siena because I think they are terrible matchup for Syracuse and I would like to avoid having Daddio have to matchup with Massa again. Should Bryant prevail I certainly expect Syracuse to win comfortably but I have no doubt Pressler will have his team ready to play SU like they were last year. One thing to keep an eye on if Bryant beats Siena (far from a lock by the way) is the O and D matchups from last year to this year. Syracuse's D last year was a top 3 unit (save the goalie play) and despite Massa winning every faceoff but 1 it was still an adventure for Bryant to score. This years D is certainly no where as good as last years but this years O is obviously better then last years Offense by a good stretch as well. Does Bryant have the horses to hold up against Syracuse's Offense? I dont think so but they did beat Albany due to an enormous faceoff advantage. Would be an interesting game to say the least. The one big downside for Bryant and coach Pressler is that if they advance to play Syracuse the surprise factor is gone, Syracuse will know what to expect and will have a game plan I am sure.
I think the rest of the bracket sets up pretty well assuming Syracuse takes care of business on Sunday. Cornell vs Maryland is a crap shoot, two teams trending downward quickly. I think Maryland is the better team, there struggles are a bit suprising with all of that offensive talent and a veteran D with a few key seniors including Amato. I wonder if all there frosh have hit the freshman wall, they looked awful against ND in the ACC tourney. Still Syracuse vs Maryland would be a dogfight for sure, like the revenge factor Syracuse but the D will need to step it up big time versus Rambo, Chanenchuck, Cannizaro etc.
Some interesting other first round games as well, UVA vs JHU, Denver vs UNC, ND vs Harvard, and Albany vs Loyola. Most of you know I am no fan of Albany but its hard to get a great read on this game. On paper this would seem to be a terrible matchup for Albany, Loyola has a really good D and a great coach who with a week should come up with a great game plan. That said a few concerns if your a Loyola fan. Loyola is not great at the X which some teams (Bryant) have used to slow down the thompsons and ultimately win. Loyola is a really good Defensive team but there more of a great Team D versus individual players, not sure they have anyone who can slow down Myles and Lyle. Loyola also likes to play a fast pace up and down game just like Albany, not sure a track meet is what you want to get into with Albany unless your team name is Duke or Syracuse. Still I expect Loyola to follow the Denver blueprint of last years NCAA tourney. Let Myles and Lyle get theres and just shut down everyone else. The Key will be Loyolas offense vs Albany's Defense, Denver was able to put up points at will last year and just wore down there D and players whose last name isnt the Thompsons.
In the end I expect Loyola to win, Albany just doesn't have the supporting cast around the Thompsons against upper level teams. If Albany does lose will be interesting to see what the Lacrosse media does because for all the hype and non stop gushing what does Albany have to show for it in terms of wins and tourney success? Pretty much nothing.
I will say this, if Albany somehow wins I think they have the ability to reach the final four where a likely matchup with Syracuse awaits.
OK onto the bracket - Wasnt suprised by Syracuse's draw at all. Despite what IL was projecting I felt our ceiling was the 2 seed after the loss to ND in the tourney. Not a huge difference in the 1 or 2 seed either way it puts Duke on the other side of the bracket which is what matters the most. In regards to our potential opponent I would prefer to play Siena because I think they are terrible matchup for Syracuse and I would like to avoid having Daddio have to matchup with Massa again. Should Bryant prevail I certainly expect Syracuse to win comfortably but I have no doubt Pressler will have his team ready to play SU like they were last year. One thing to keep an eye on if Bryant beats Siena (far from a lock by the way) is the O and D matchups from last year to this year. Syracuse's D last year was a top 3 unit (save the goalie play) and despite Massa winning every faceoff but 1 it was still an adventure for Bryant to score. This years D is certainly no where as good as last years but this years O is obviously better then last years Offense by a good stretch as well. Does Bryant have the horses to hold up against Syracuse's Offense? I dont think so but they did beat Albany due to an enormous faceoff advantage. Would be an interesting game to say the least. The one big downside for Bryant and coach Pressler is that if they advance to play Syracuse the surprise factor is gone, Syracuse will know what to expect and will have a game plan I am sure.
I think the rest of the bracket sets up pretty well assuming Syracuse takes care of business on Sunday. Cornell vs Maryland is a crap shoot, two teams trending downward quickly. I think Maryland is the better team, there struggles are a bit suprising with all of that offensive talent and a veteran D with a few key seniors including Amato. I wonder if all there frosh have hit the freshman wall, they looked awful against ND in the ACC tourney. Still Syracuse vs Maryland would be a dogfight for sure, like the revenge factor Syracuse but the D will need to step it up big time versus Rambo, Chanenchuck, Cannizaro etc.
Some interesting other first round games as well, UVA vs JHU, Denver vs UNC, ND vs Harvard, and Albany vs Loyola. Most of you know I am no fan of Albany but its hard to get a great read on this game. On paper this would seem to be a terrible matchup for Albany, Loyola has a really good D and a great coach who with a week should come up with a great game plan. That said a few concerns if your a Loyola fan. Loyola is not great at the X which some teams (Bryant) have used to slow down the thompsons and ultimately win. Loyola is a really good Defensive team but there more of a great Team D versus individual players, not sure they have anyone who can slow down Myles and Lyle. Loyola also likes to play a fast pace up and down game just like Albany, not sure a track meet is what you want to get into with Albany unless your team name is Duke or Syracuse. Still I expect Loyola to follow the Denver blueprint of last years NCAA tourney. Let Myles and Lyle get theres and just shut down everyone else. The Key will be Loyolas offense vs Albany's Defense, Denver was able to put up points at will last year and just wore down there D and players whose last name isnt the Thompsons.
In the end I expect Loyola to win, Albany just doesn't have the supporting cast around the Thompsons against upper level teams. If Albany does lose will be interesting to see what the Lacrosse media does because for all the hype and non stop gushing what does Albany have to show for it in terms of wins and tourney success? Pretty much nothing.
I will say this, if Albany somehow wins I think they have the ability to reach the final four where a likely matchup with Syracuse awaits.
