JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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- Aug 15, 2011
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Was going to do a post on the UVA game but I think there was enough talk/other posts about the game that made most of the points. Thought the team played great for about 48 minutes but played down for the last 12 or so minutes and gave up that inevitable comeback we all knew was coiming. Syracuse isn't going to hold a team like UVA scoreless in the 4th quarter but we can't afford to make dumb mistakes. We had the ball up 5 with 12 and a half minutes to go and allowed UVA to score two goals in like 45-50 seconds, just can't do that. That turnover that started the whole UVA run was especially egregious. Not sure what happened with the D either down the stretch, looked awesome and then suddenly fell apart for no reason. Sliding early, leaving guys wide open, 3 guys convering on a dodging attackmen for no reason, just odd. Did a good job to salvage the win but made that game a closer then it needed to be.
As for JHU biggest concern I have is the offense combined with SU trying to cover for ever increasing injuries. Losing Fernandez is a tough blow, appears to be an ACL ( would be shocked if it wasn't) and he was really excelling on the wing. With Helmer still out but inching closer Dekso will have some decisions to make about the back up LSM. I thought Fernandez did a nice job on D although he got burned a few times against Army and once against UVA for being out of position but thats common with a young player. SU really needs to get Helmer back by the Rutgers game next Sunday. As for this week I think SU will try some combination of Murphy and Barlow at LSM and possibly Kennedy if those guys struggle. Fusco will be covering Tinney so he's going to have to play a majority of the minutes anyway I would hope. Bigger concern is when SU goes double pole at the X. Dekso used Fusco and Kennedy late after Fernandez went down but I am not sure you can use those two all game long and risk another injury. I think Kennedy stays there and Dami comes in as the short stick on the other side. Not sure who the other pole might be if they double pole and want to keep Fusco out of it.
As for the offense I am not sure what to think about Solomon being out to sever the suspension. Obvioulsy not having him hurts and he is tied for 1st in points scored this year but he hasn't been dominate and has been quiet for long stretches this year. The bigger issue is there doesn't seem to be a ready made replacement. If Bomberry was down you would just plug in Voigt and go on your merry way, here its not so simple. Voigt will get the start but its hard to see how he and Bomberry on the same attack line is a recipe for success. One outside the box move would be to bump Dearth off the 1st line and let Bomberry run with the 1st middies and then have Voigt replace him on the 1st attack line and rotate in Curry/Seebold. Its a lot of moving parts and it still has Voigt and Bomberry on the field at the same time but it would allow Desko to have another dodger on the field in Seebold or Curry and not lose Bomberry or Voigt. The other option at this point would be to simply rotate in off of Voight and Bomberry's spots with whoever Dekso decides to go with. The options aren't numerious. Seebold is the only other full time attackmen at this point with Wisnaukas tearing it up at Maryland. Curry as everyone knows did play attack in HS but the game seems a little to fast for him at this point playing on the 2nd mid line not sure putting him on the 1st attack line is going to exactly help the game slow down. Lauder player attack in HS to but he's redshirting and is in the mold of Bomberry and Voigt so thats not an option either. For me the answer lies with Seebold. There is likely to be some growing pains throughout the game but the kid was an UA and a natural attackmen. I think you have to role with him and ride it out.
Faceoffs will be key as usual and will put Varello in a tough spot. Moreland is a top 5 or 10 faceoff guy when healthy but he's struggled with injuries his entire career at Hopkins. He's made it through OK this year so far but even JHU fans are waiting for the inevitable. Varello needs to try and get it to 50/50, I would even take 45/55. Anything less then that were in trouble. Defensively if we were at 100% strenght I would like us to really have an edge here but with Helmer and Fernandez out that takes a hit. Sounds like Tyson is back but that kind of muddys the water. I don't think you want to move Kennedy away from close as he has done such a great job there. Could rotate him and Bomberry or rotate Bomberry and Cunningham or rotate Kennedy so when hes not playing close hes playing back up LSM to give Fusco a blow but then your basically playing him every D possession plus every faceoff. I think SU will try either Murphy or Barlow at backup LSM and see if they can do an adequate job, Tinney and Desimone (assuming hes on the 2nd mid line) are tough assignments so Fusco will have to play a large amount of the minutes. Murphy has been a revelation at SSDM so if Barlow could do the job it would be a big boost. Interested to see who SU covers Williams and Marr with.
From an offensive standpoint SU needs the 2nd and 3rd line mids to step up. Dordevic and Trimbo are carrying the load right now with a slight assist from Lipka. SU seemed to put Lipka on the second line full time last week and bump Lane to occassional runs. I think we need to continue to mix up the 2nd and 3rd lines. With guys like Small, Buttermore O'sullivan and Quinn waiting on the wings we should give them some run on the 3rd line as Carlin and McKinney aren't showing much. Dearth really needs a breakout game as well, were in game 4 and he still doesn't have a goal, not good. I worry it might be a long game for the offense, Solomon while running hot and cold is a heady player not having him adds issues to an inconsisent offense. I suspect JHU might flirt with double polling the midfield to get a long pole on Trimbo and Dordevic. JHU has a couple of good poles in Kuhn and Foley and I would be shocked if Foley didnt' draw Rehfuss and Kuhn didn't take Dordevic. If they do double pole, Bomberry will ahve to get aggresive like last week and look to dodge a bit and or Desko needs to go to Seebold and Curry. Hope I am wrong but I fear SU may struggle for long stretches tomorrow on offense.
Lastly I hate to keep beating a dead horse but after playing Albany, Army, and UVA back to back to back it would be nice if SU was playing St. Johns, Providence, Canisius, Siena, Marist or a similar team this week. This grind of a schedule is going to wear this young team out despite the lack of mid week games. I really hope one of the lax reporters asks Desko at his next weekly PC about the lack of weaker opponents on the schedule to break things up a bit and if they plan on adjusting the schedule next year because this schedule is absurd.
As for JHU biggest concern I have is the offense combined with SU trying to cover for ever increasing injuries. Losing Fernandez is a tough blow, appears to be an ACL ( would be shocked if it wasn't) and he was really excelling on the wing. With Helmer still out but inching closer Dekso will have some decisions to make about the back up LSM. I thought Fernandez did a nice job on D although he got burned a few times against Army and once against UVA for being out of position but thats common with a young player. SU really needs to get Helmer back by the Rutgers game next Sunday. As for this week I think SU will try some combination of Murphy and Barlow at LSM and possibly Kennedy if those guys struggle. Fusco will be covering Tinney so he's going to have to play a majority of the minutes anyway I would hope. Bigger concern is when SU goes double pole at the X. Dekso used Fusco and Kennedy late after Fernandez went down but I am not sure you can use those two all game long and risk another injury. I think Kennedy stays there and Dami comes in as the short stick on the other side. Not sure who the other pole might be if they double pole and want to keep Fusco out of it.
As for the offense I am not sure what to think about Solomon being out to sever the suspension. Obvioulsy not having him hurts and he is tied for 1st in points scored this year but he hasn't been dominate and has been quiet for long stretches this year. The bigger issue is there doesn't seem to be a ready made replacement. If Bomberry was down you would just plug in Voigt and go on your merry way, here its not so simple. Voigt will get the start but its hard to see how he and Bomberry on the same attack line is a recipe for success. One outside the box move would be to bump Dearth off the 1st line and let Bomberry run with the 1st middies and then have Voigt replace him on the 1st attack line and rotate in Curry/Seebold. Its a lot of moving parts and it still has Voigt and Bomberry on the field at the same time but it would allow Desko to have another dodger on the field in Seebold or Curry and not lose Bomberry or Voigt. The other option at this point would be to simply rotate in off of Voight and Bomberry's spots with whoever Dekso decides to go with. The options aren't numerious. Seebold is the only other full time attackmen at this point with Wisnaukas tearing it up at Maryland. Curry as everyone knows did play attack in HS but the game seems a little to fast for him at this point playing on the 2nd mid line not sure putting him on the 1st attack line is going to exactly help the game slow down. Lauder player attack in HS to but he's redshirting and is in the mold of Bomberry and Voigt so thats not an option either. For me the answer lies with Seebold. There is likely to be some growing pains throughout the game but the kid was an UA and a natural attackmen. I think you have to role with him and ride it out.
Faceoffs will be key as usual and will put Varello in a tough spot. Moreland is a top 5 or 10 faceoff guy when healthy but he's struggled with injuries his entire career at Hopkins. He's made it through OK this year so far but even JHU fans are waiting for the inevitable. Varello needs to try and get it to 50/50, I would even take 45/55. Anything less then that were in trouble. Defensively if we were at 100% strenght I would like us to really have an edge here but with Helmer and Fernandez out that takes a hit. Sounds like Tyson is back but that kind of muddys the water. I don't think you want to move Kennedy away from close as he has done such a great job there. Could rotate him and Bomberry or rotate Bomberry and Cunningham or rotate Kennedy so when hes not playing close hes playing back up LSM to give Fusco a blow but then your basically playing him every D possession plus every faceoff. I think SU will try either Murphy or Barlow at backup LSM and see if they can do an adequate job, Tinney and Desimone (assuming hes on the 2nd mid line) are tough assignments so Fusco will have to play a large amount of the minutes. Murphy has been a revelation at SSDM so if Barlow could do the job it would be a big boost. Interested to see who SU covers Williams and Marr with.
From an offensive standpoint SU needs the 2nd and 3rd line mids to step up. Dordevic and Trimbo are carrying the load right now with a slight assist from Lipka. SU seemed to put Lipka on the second line full time last week and bump Lane to occassional runs. I think we need to continue to mix up the 2nd and 3rd lines. With guys like Small, Buttermore O'sullivan and Quinn waiting on the wings we should give them some run on the 3rd line as Carlin and McKinney aren't showing much. Dearth really needs a breakout game as well, were in game 4 and he still doesn't have a goal, not good. I worry it might be a long game for the offense, Solomon while running hot and cold is a heady player not having him adds issues to an inconsisent offense. I suspect JHU might flirt with double polling the midfield to get a long pole on Trimbo and Dordevic. JHU has a couple of good poles in Kuhn and Foley and I would be shocked if Foley didnt' draw Rehfuss and Kuhn didn't take Dordevic. If they do double pole, Bomberry will ahve to get aggresive like last week and look to dodge a bit and or Desko needs to go to Seebold and Curry. Hope I am wrong but I fear SU may struggle for long stretches tomorrow on offense.
Lastly I hate to keep beating a dead horse but after playing Albany, Army, and UVA back to back to back it would be nice if SU was playing St. Johns, Providence, Canisius, Siena, Marist or a similar team this week. This grind of a schedule is going to wear this young team out despite the lack of mid week games. I really hope one of the lax reporters asks Desko at his next weekly PC about the lack of weaker opponents on the schedule to break things up a bit and if they plan on adjusting the schedule next year because this schedule is absurd.
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