JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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I posted a # of these in the Harvard game thread so some of this will be a repeat but added some other thoughts along with a quick look at this weekend.
McCarthy needs to be moved to SSDM full time or at minimum played like a true 2 way mid. I was encouraged that he again had a goal on Sat and is being more aggressive but his shooting % is never gonna be good enough to justify not playing him at SSDM where he can absolutely excel. If the staff wants to give him a few O runs a qtr by all means but he can star at D-Mid and we have done this before with outstanding results (Dearth amongst other). Ochoa was picked on all game long and it sounds like Jake Spallina maybe out this week as well. This is a move the staff needs to make.
We need to get more out of the secondary attack guys. Joey had 14 shots, Bear and Finn had 6 total. Leo played both attack and mid but when you add in his 7 that still only 13 one less then Joey total. That can't happen moving forward. As I think Lexus noted I think it's time to make the Leo move to attack permanent. Finn has not looked great at attack 3 of the first 4 games and seemed to play better at midfield in the 2nd half. Leo had 1 and 4 and as noted by another poster once he gets more into the groove at attack he's gonna look even better. If you assume McCarthy getting some SSDM runs the 1st midfield looks like this - Finn, Rhoa and Hottle. Forces teams to choose to pole Rhoa or Hottle and there's no ability to short the attack even if you have MaGuire. 2nd midfield would likely be McIntee, Hahn and and either Rawson or Kraftson. SU could also rotate in Hahn and McIntee as they appear to be doing with the 1st line to create additonal chaos and matchups.
As Powell and Lexus noted shooting was less then stellar on Sat. McIntee and Hahn were both 0-3, Joey 2-14, McCarthy 1-3, Leo 1-7, Hottle 1-4. The misses aren't all equal either I can think of at least 4-5 looks that should have been buried by Thomson, McCarthy, Hahn and Joey.
I think SU needs to make some changes on that man up unit or at least consider it. I think they were 2-5 but it just looks out of sort. Defenses are really packing it in and giving SU deep looks. I'd really like to see Tucker Kellogg out there with Rhoa to have two deep shooters on each side. Also feels like GEB is struggling a bit out there be it without playing off Deere or defenses packing it in. I wonder if another shooter would help open things up more.
IN reviewing the stats Angelo was better then I remember going 2-5 vs 0-3 as I had him. Would still like to see him scrum it up more as most of his losses are clean and led to at least 1 goal if not 2. I still worry about him if SU needs him to faceoff a lot in a game due to injury etc. Still he's in a tough spot and if he can be close to 50% that's all you can really ask for. Not gonna get on Mullen at all was still over 50% and really battled out there. Umansky practicing with him all off-season I think really helped him not gonna dominated for 80%+ again. That said John does need to work on the violations. He had 4 or 5, just to many against a team like Harvard. On his shot late, I don't hate it but if your gonna rip it there it has to be a goal. Still hard to begrudge the guy for taking a wide open shot.
Now for my pet peeve with this team, the fn offsides and turnovers in general. 13 overall turnvers is actually SU's best in the last 3 matchups with the Crimson. That said Harvard had 2 caused turnovers, yes that's right 2. Syracuse defense had 9. You simply can't be turning it over 11 times unforced against these other elite teams. First time outside some sloppiness is to be expected but this is a veteran team for the most part, has to be better. Regarding the offsides I think it's clear it's gonna be a major issue as long as Gait is the HC. I thought wgdsr and Laxaddict did a great job breaking down what happened especially wgdsr (much appreciated). The bottom line be it the clearing scheme, teh coaches, nervousness or the lax gods hating us, this continues to be an albatross in close games. We got lucky that it didn't' hurt us vs Princeton in the tourney but it happened twice in the 4th qtr against Maryland and twice against Harvard including the dagger late. At some point someone needs to take responsibility for this.
Regarding this weekend, again two really tough games. Princeton gets the pub but Penn is no pushover. They have a three head monster at the Faceoff that has dominated every game save for the opening loss to G-town when they finished at 50%. Solid Offense that scored at will on Albany and gave G-town trouble. Their D struggled at times vs Albany's known guys and they have their hands full on Fri vs UNC.
With Princeton it's a tough matchup for SU especially defensively. I don't know how SU is gonna try and defend that Princeton midfield. Palumbo and Wade are both guys that need a pole and Dunphey is no slouch. Hard to recommend double polling the midfield vs that Princeton attack as Kabiri, Burns and Buonanno are not guys you want to short, at all. Burns I guess is the guy you could try but you would need a Maguire level SSDM and SU doesn't have that. Very tall task for the entire defense on Friday. Princetons defense is replacing a # of guys and while reasonably solid at SSDM has issues at close that I think SU can exploit. Could be in for a repeat of last years very high scoring game. SU is gonna have to find away to slow these guys down offensively. Could be our first game where a zone D makes an appearance.
McCarthy needs to be moved to SSDM full time or at minimum played like a true 2 way mid. I was encouraged that he again had a goal on Sat and is being more aggressive but his shooting % is never gonna be good enough to justify not playing him at SSDM where he can absolutely excel. If the staff wants to give him a few O runs a qtr by all means but he can star at D-Mid and we have done this before with outstanding results (Dearth amongst other). Ochoa was picked on all game long and it sounds like Jake Spallina maybe out this week as well. This is a move the staff needs to make.
We need to get more out of the secondary attack guys. Joey had 14 shots, Bear and Finn had 6 total. Leo played both attack and mid but when you add in his 7 that still only 13 one less then Joey total. That can't happen moving forward. As I think Lexus noted I think it's time to make the Leo move to attack permanent. Finn has not looked great at attack 3 of the first 4 games and seemed to play better at midfield in the 2nd half. Leo had 1 and 4 and as noted by another poster once he gets more into the groove at attack he's gonna look even better. If you assume McCarthy getting some SSDM runs the 1st midfield looks like this - Finn, Rhoa and Hottle. Forces teams to choose to pole Rhoa or Hottle and there's no ability to short the attack even if you have MaGuire. 2nd midfield would likely be McIntee, Hahn and and either Rawson or Kraftson. SU could also rotate in Hahn and McIntee as they appear to be doing with the 1st line to create additonal chaos and matchups.
As Powell and Lexus noted shooting was less then stellar on Sat. McIntee and Hahn were both 0-3, Joey 2-14, McCarthy 1-3, Leo 1-7, Hottle 1-4. The misses aren't all equal either I can think of at least 4-5 looks that should have been buried by Thomson, McCarthy, Hahn and Joey.
I think SU needs to make some changes on that man up unit or at least consider it. I think they were 2-5 but it just looks out of sort. Defenses are really packing it in and giving SU deep looks. I'd really like to see Tucker Kellogg out there with Rhoa to have two deep shooters on each side. Also feels like GEB is struggling a bit out there be it without playing off Deere or defenses packing it in. I wonder if another shooter would help open things up more.
IN reviewing the stats Angelo was better then I remember going 2-5 vs 0-3 as I had him. Would still like to see him scrum it up more as most of his losses are clean and led to at least 1 goal if not 2. I still worry about him if SU needs him to faceoff a lot in a game due to injury etc. Still he's in a tough spot and if he can be close to 50% that's all you can really ask for. Not gonna get on Mullen at all was still over 50% and really battled out there. Umansky practicing with him all off-season I think really helped him not gonna dominated for 80%+ again. That said John does need to work on the violations. He had 4 or 5, just to many against a team like Harvard. On his shot late, I don't hate it but if your gonna rip it there it has to be a goal. Still hard to begrudge the guy for taking a wide open shot.
Now for my pet peeve with this team, the fn offsides and turnovers in general. 13 overall turnvers is actually SU's best in the last 3 matchups with the Crimson. That said Harvard had 2 caused turnovers, yes that's right 2. Syracuse defense had 9. You simply can't be turning it over 11 times unforced against these other elite teams. First time outside some sloppiness is to be expected but this is a veteran team for the most part, has to be better. Regarding the offsides I think it's clear it's gonna be a major issue as long as Gait is the HC. I thought wgdsr and Laxaddict did a great job breaking down what happened especially wgdsr (much appreciated). The bottom line be it the clearing scheme, teh coaches, nervousness or the lax gods hating us, this continues to be an albatross in close games. We got lucky that it didn't' hurt us vs Princeton in the tourney but it happened twice in the 4th qtr against Maryland and twice against Harvard including the dagger late. At some point someone needs to take responsibility for this.
Regarding this weekend, again two really tough games. Princeton gets the pub but Penn is no pushover. They have a three head monster at the Faceoff that has dominated every game save for the opening loss to G-town when they finished at 50%. Solid Offense that scored at will on Albany and gave G-town trouble. Their D struggled at times vs Albany's known guys and they have their hands full on Fri vs UNC.
With Princeton it's a tough matchup for SU especially defensively. I don't know how SU is gonna try and defend that Princeton midfield. Palumbo and Wade are both guys that need a pole and Dunphey is no slouch. Hard to recommend double polling the midfield vs that Princeton attack as Kabiri, Burns and Buonanno are not guys you want to short, at all. Burns I guess is the guy you could try but you would need a Maguire level SSDM and SU doesn't have that. Very tall task for the entire defense on Friday. Princetons defense is replacing a # of guys and while reasonably solid at SSDM has issues at close that I think SU can exploit. Could be in for a repeat of last years very high scoring game. SU is gonna have to find away to slow these guys down offensively. Could be our first game where a zone D makes an appearance.
