JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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No full preview with it being a Fri night game but a few thoughts about this afternoons game.
Defensively I am very curious to see how Syracuse decides to matchup with UVA. I think Mellen will almost certainly draw Pannell as he is a smaller attack guy who is listed at 5'10 but is really more like 5'8. The rest of the matchups are much less certain. I think Desko maybe tempted to double pole the midfield as Zed Williams is absolutely going to draw the long pole. Coholan has bee struggling with shooting for UVA so it might be a good idea to try and keep him down versus allowing him to break out. If I had to guess the matchups I would say the following
Mellen on Pannell
Mullins on D'Amario
McDermott on Lukacovic
Firman and Fusco on Zed Williams
Keep an eye on the Firman/Fusco matchup with Williams. On paper that looks like it could be a good one for SU. Firman and McCartney shut down Williams last year, they definitely could use a repeat.
UVA will put Tanner Scales on Donahue for sure but after that its anyone's guess See if Donahue break out of his scoring slump this game as good as Scales is he's struggled to round back into form coming off a bad Achilles injury that cost him the entire season last year.
Both Goalies will also be key, Hill has been a mixed bag so far this year, he's started out slow but come on strong in the second half the last few games. He really needs to put together a 60 min performance. Barrett for UVA had a great frosh year but he got ambushed by JHU in that NCAA 1st round game and hasn't looked right/the same since. IF SU can pepper him early and get a few goals I think his confidence will be shaken and we can have a good scoring night. He's also capable of repeating what the ambry goalie did to us on Sunday, SU has to change angles more on their shots.
Four keys for SU - 1. Offense needs to rebound from Sunday and look more like the first two games then that awful performance against Army. The attack besides Donahue needs to really step it up and give him some help. If the offense stalls again look for Desko to maybe try some radical moves to get something going
2. Sloppy play - SU has been plagued the entire year with sloppy play via bad turnovers, poor shot selection, crease violations, ill timed penalties etc. SU really needs to clean some of that up. Turnovers and mistakes will happen but SU can't afford to fall asleep at the wheel like it did last week when it got up four on Army early in the third and then started to throwing it around like they were at a tailgate in the fine lot.
3. Ben Williams - Hate to put pressure on this kid game after game but Syracuse is going to need possessions especially if the offense struggles again. Wing play was better last game in the second half then I have seen in a while, really hope it continues today.
4. How is SU on the road? As good as our regular season record has been the last few years our play on the road has been less then stellar . UVA is still a good team but there clearly not the UVA teams of old, can't have a repeat of 2014 where SU is just dominated and looks lost on their first road trip.
Defensively I am very curious to see how Syracuse decides to matchup with UVA. I think Mellen will almost certainly draw Pannell as he is a smaller attack guy who is listed at 5'10 but is really more like 5'8. The rest of the matchups are much less certain. I think Desko maybe tempted to double pole the midfield as Zed Williams is absolutely going to draw the long pole. Coholan has bee struggling with shooting for UVA so it might be a good idea to try and keep him down versus allowing him to break out. If I had to guess the matchups I would say the following
Mellen on Pannell
Mullins on D'Amario
McDermott on Lukacovic
Firman and Fusco on Zed Williams
Keep an eye on the Firman/Fusco matchup with Williams. On paper that looks like it could be a good one for SU. Firman and McCartney shut down Williams last year, they definitely could use a repeat.
UVA will put Tanner Scales on Donahue for sure but after that its anyone's guess See if Donahue break out of his scoring slump this game as good as Scales is he's struggled to round back into form coming off a bad Achilles injury that cost him the entire season last year.
Both Goalies will also be key, Hill has been a mixed bag so far this year, he's started out slow but come on strong in the second half the last few games. He really needs to put together a 60 min performance. Barrett for UVA had a great frosh year but he got ambushed by JHU in that NCAA 1st round game and hasn't looked right/the same since. IF SU can pepper him early and get a few goals I think his confidence will be shaken and we can have a good scoring night. He's also capable of repeating what the ambry goalie did to us on Sunday, SU has to change angles more on their shots.
Four keys for SU - 1. Offense needs to rebound from Sunday and look more like the first two games then that awful performance against Army. The attack besides Donahue needs to really step it up and give him some help. If the offense stalls again look for Desko to maybe try some radical moves to get something going
2. Sloppy play - SU has been plagued the entire year with sloppy play via bad turnovers, poor shot selection, crease violations, ill timed penalties etc. SU really needs to clean some of that up. Turnovers and mistakes will happen but SU can't afford to fall asleep at the wheel like it did last week when it got up four on Army early in the third and then started to throwing it around like they were at a tailgate in the fine lot.
3. Ben Williams - Hate to put pressure on this kid game after game but Syracuse is going to need possessions especially if the offense struggles again. Wing play was better last game in the second half then I have seen in a while, really hope it continues today.
4. How is SU on the road? As good as our regular season record has been the last few years our play on the road has been less then stellar . UVA is still a good team but there clearly not the UVA teams of old, can't have a repeat of 2014 where SU is just dominated and looks lost on their first road trip.
