JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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Wanted to give myself 24 hours before posting after the game to make sure the H0T Takes stayed within reason. That didn't work out with the bball team getting obliterated tonight. Rough year for SU sports so far. Anyway, First off credit to Army, I didn't think they were barren at O after Nichtern but I saw a very efficient and patient offense that didn't panic when they got down early and they did an excellent job of setting picks and forcing switches that they abused SU on. They also went with a 2 man or big/little game at times which SU has struggled to defend since the beginning of time and true to form we struggled.
Going to get into some thoughts on the biggest issues here and some of these takes are not going to be overly positive so if your not into that probably best to hit the back button and move on.
Offense - Watching back some of the game, I am not as concerned as I was initially. As I think Powellfan astutely pointed out, SU had a bunch of good looks in the 2nd half but simply couldn't finish or had abysmal shot placement. At least 3 times SU had point blank looks and instead of a shot fake or trying to shoot hard and low we shot into Schlupers chest or cross. Cook and Buttermores were especially egregious. Trimbo had an off game but Schluper made a ridiculous low save on a wide open look he had and Trimbo never seemed to get into the flow of the game unlike last year (only had 4 shots total). Trimbo is not a great dodger but much like Scanlan he's likely to see a short stick much of the year, he HAS to be better then he was yesterday and some of that is the attack or an invert drawing a slide.
Speaking of drawing slides I think its beyond clear that the attack unit needs an overhaul and it needs it now. I can't sit through another season of watching an All-American mid field try to do it all because 2/3rds of the attack unit is MIA for half the season. There is no bigger Cook fan then me, I was super high on him coming in but at this point it's clear to everyone save for his parents that this isn't working. He isn't dodging, he's little no shooting threat and he has to have the worst crease shot shooting % in SU history, its absurd how often he gets stoned on the doorstep. He makes Derek Maltz look like Mike Powell. It's not just him though, since Dylan and Staats graduated SU has had this bizarre issue of finishing in close. Rehfuss has struggled there mightily as well and Scanlan had at least 1 if not 2 pt blank shots at well that were badly placed. Half of those shots go in yesterday, there's no telling how the game ends. So where do we go from here? You don't have to be Quint K to know that Hiltz needs to be starting at attack right now. It's obvious to everyone apparently but our staff. The staff has developed a bad habit of slow playing at least one player change every year for some reason. Whether it was waiting to start Trimbo his frosh year after it was painfully obvious the mid line needed help, waiting multiple games for Phaup to overtake Varello as the #1 Fogo, Staats for Maltz, Buttermore not seeing the field until the Colgate game his frosh year etc etc etc. I don't know what the ultimate goal is or was but Hiltz should be starting at attack on Sat, period. Also Desko mentioned Ferris several times in this off-season, let's get him a run or two and see what he can do. Rehfuss played fairly well but Scanlan was a mess after that initial nice doge/goal and finished with 3 turnovers which is really bad for a non ball handling attackmen (in retrospect that initial goal probably hurt more then it helped over the course of the game). When you have young attackmen who can make an impact give them a run. No one is abdicating Scanlan or Rehfuss be benched at this point but when there not making an impact lets use that 50+ man roster for a change.
From a midfied perspective the first line will be fine. Dordevic looked outstanding and hit I think 3 pipes in the second half so he easily could have had 6+ goals. Was a little surprised we didn't invert Curry more, he did a lot of that last year agaisnt Army in the 2nd half and they struggled to stop it. He also had a nice wing dodge for a goal but then never tried it again that I recall. Trimbo just has to figure out his best role when dealing with a shortly on a double poll, again I am not worried but them at all. From a 2nd line perspective, I can't see the current trio working long term. Outside of Buttermore it looked like last year all over again. Quinn had his usual ghastly turnover and made zero impact. Seebold missed a pass he should have had for a great look and had zero stats and looked lost. Even Buttermore had a terrible turnover. Much like the attack unit, there are tons of middies on the roster, lets see a few. Quinn has become a practice legend apparently but it has never translated on the field save for 1 game last year. I don't care if its Fiorini, Magnan, Rosa, Birtwistle once healthy, one of the frosh etc, just give me some new blood and let's see if we can catch lightning in a bottle. I would also really like to see Buttermore get some runs with the 1s when teams are double polling, I know that means taking out Trimbo but lets see Buttermore with a shortly unleash that cannon.
Defensively there are so many issues its hard to know where to start. SU tried to press out and play pressure to simulate Virginia but thats not SU's style and Army started breaking it easily and it led to them erasing the 6-1 defecit. The biggest issue for me is that is that outside of Mellen (who essentially didn't play last year and the starting LSM duo (Helmer/Fernandez) this Defense brought back everyone and added solid depth pieces in Horan, Hapney(the older) and Wykoff and we looked absolutely awful. Wykoff was hurt but man that was a brutal performance. Mis-timed and needless slides have been issue for awhile now going back at least 6+ years (see the JHU Game in teh NCAA tourney), so I don't expect there is a magic bullet cure here. Wykoff seems destined for big minutes once he is healthy which is hopefully this week, we need him. Also not going to panic about not getting much from Horan and Hapney in their first game with SU but I would be lying if if I wasn't hoping to see a little more then we got especially after I believe Horan came in after Murphy got hurt and was immediately picked on for 2 goals. From watching the game it appeared the breakdowns were everywhere. Barlow and Clary struggled at LSM and were non factors as far as GB and transition, the SSDM's who I feel are a strength struggled 1 on 1 and even Dearth was beat for a wrap around goal and has already been mentioned our slide packages and communications were a complete mess. Not sure there are any easy answers unfortunately.
I know a lot of people want Kennedy moved back to LSM but with these ACC teams its just not feasible. Asking Dipetro and Muphy to try and guard Sowers, Moore, Gray etc is a recipe for disaster. Kennedy has to stay at close and we need to work harder to fight off these picks and work to keep Kennedy on his man as much as possible. When he was matched up 1 on 1 Nichtern was shut down for the most part, as soon as he got picked free and SU switched, all hell broke loose. As I noted I think Wykoff can help us and I am hopeful he can play vs UVA. I think the SSDM will be better, but LSM may need some new blood. I know the staff liked Drago, I think we may need to give him some run sooner rather then later. Clary looked overwhelmed and was zero factor on the wings. Page played some but I don't recall how he did. I am also hopeful that Horan and Hapney will come along the more we get into the season. Essentially the unit just needs to play a LOT better, as there are no wholesale changes and SU has never been a zone defensive team. Hoping for a much better performance across the board including Porter who while left out to dry looked average on Sunday. I didn't see any of the "wow" type of saves were accustomed to seeing from him, Schluper was much better especially in the 2nd half.
From a FOGO standpoint I though Phaup was good but as others pointed out he seemed to fade as the game went on. He took a lot of draws and did appear to wear down a bit. I fear Varello only got 3 draws because the new rules have really hurt him as he's not really a physical fogo or a speed guy. I feel for him as he really came on during the shortened season last year and looked like the 2019 version on Sunday. I hope the staff is getting Savage or the other two FOGO's some draws as were likely to need them, Savage has earned praise and should be given a shot.
Big game Sat, not expecting a win as UVA is LOADED offensively and while not a great team defensively, Connors, Saustad and others will be a problem. Hoping Sunday was a blip due to lack of practice time and scrimmages but with so many veteran players and all the hype its hard to script a worse start.
Going to get into some thoughts on the biggest issues here and some of these takes are not going to be overly positive so if your not into that probably best to hit the back button and move on.
Offense - Watching back some of the game, I am not as concerned as I was initially. As I think Powellfan astutely pointed out, SU had a bunch of good looks in the 2nd half but simply couldn't finish or had abysmal shot placement. At least 3 times SU had point blank looks and instead of a shot fake or trying to shoot hard and low we shot into Schlupers chest or cross. Cook and Buttermores were especially egregious. Trimbo had an off game but Schluper made a ridiculous low save on a wide open look he had and Trimbo never seemed to get into the flow of the game unlike last year (only had 4 shots total). Trimbo is not a great dodger but much like Scanlan he's likely to see a short stick much of the year, he HAS to be better then he was yesterday and some of that is the attack or an invert drawing a slide.
Speaking of drawing slides I think its beyond clear that the attack unit needs an overhaul and it needs it now. I can't sit through another season of watching an All-American mid field try to do it all because 2/3rds of the attack unit is MIA for half the season. There is no bigger Cook fan then me, I was super high on him coming in but at this point it's clear to everyone save for his parents that this isn't working. He isn't dodging, he's little no shooting threat and he has to have the worst crease shot shooting % in SU history, its absurd how often he gets stoned on the doorstep. He makes Derek Maltz look like Mike Powell. It's not just him though, since Dylan and Staats graduated SU has had this bizarre issue of finishing in close. Rehfuss has struggled there mightily as well and Scanlan had at least 1 if not 2 pt blank shots at well that were badly placed. Half of those shots go in yesterday, there's no telling how the game ends. So where do we go from here? You don't have to be Quint K to know that Hiltz needs to be starting at attack right now. It's obvious to everyone apparently but our staff. The staff has developed a bad habit of slow playing at least one player change every year for some reason. Whether it was waiting to start Trimbo his frosh year after it was painfully obvious the mid line needed help, waiting multiple games for Phaup to overtake Varello as the #1 Fogo, Staats for Maltz, Buttermore not seeing the field until the Colgate game his frosh year etc etc etc. I don't know what the ultimate goal is or was but Hiltz should be starting at attack on Sat, period. Also Desko mentioned Ferris several times in this off-season, let's get him a run or two and see what he can do. Rehfuss played fairly well but Scanlan was a mess after that initial nice doge/goal and finished with 3 turnovers which is really bad for a non ball handling attackmen (in retrospect that initial goal probably hurt more then it helped over the course of the game). When you have young attackmen who can make an impact give them a run. No one is abdicating Scanlan or Rehfuss be benched at this point but when there not making an impact lets use that 50+ man roster for a change.
From a midfied perspective the first line will be fine. Dordevic looked outstanding and hit I think 3 pipes in the second half so he easily could have had 6+ goals. Was a little surprised we didn't invert Curry more, he did a lot of that last year agaisnt Army in the 2nd half and they struggled to stop it. He also had a nice wing dodge for a goal but then never tried it again that I recall. Trimbo just has to figure out his best role when dealing with a shortly on a double poll, again I am not worried but them at all. From a 2nd line perspective, I can't see the current trio working long term. Outside of Buttermore it looked like last year all over again. Quinn had his usual ghastly turnover and made zero impact. Seebold missed a pass he should have had for a great look and had zero stats and looked lost. Even Buttermore had a terrible turnover. Much like the attack unit, there are tons of middies on the roster, lets see a few. Quinn has become a practice legend apparently but it has never translated on the field save for 1 game last year. I don't care if its Fiorini, Magnan, Rosa, Birtwistle once healthy, one of the frosh etc, just give me some new blood and let's see if we can catch lightning in a bottle. I would also really like to see Buttermore get some runs with the 1s when teams are double polling, I know that means taking out Trimbo but lets see Buttermore with a shortly unleash that cannon.
Defensively there are so many issues its hard to know where to start. SU tried to press out and play pressure to simulate Virginia but thats not SU's style and Army started breaking it easily and it led to them erasing the 6-1 defecit. The biggest issue for me is that is that outside of Mellen (who essentially didn't play last year and the starting LSM duo (Helmer/Fernandez) this Defense brought back everyone and added solid depth pieces in Horan, Hapney(the older) and Wykoff and we looked absolutely awful. Wykoff was hurt but man that was a brutal performance. Mis-timed and needless slides have been issue for awhile now going back at least 6+ years (see the JHU Game in teh NCAA tourney), so I don't expect there is a magic bullet cure here. Wykoff seems destined for big minutes once he is healthy which is hopefully this week, we need him. Also not going to panic about not getting much from Horan and Hapney in their first game with SU but I would be lying if if I wasn't hoping to see a little more then we got especially after I believe Horan came in after Murphy got hurt and was immediately picked on for 2 goals. From watching the game it appeared the breakdowns were everywhere. Barlow and Clary struggled at LSM and were non factors as far as GB and transition, the SSDM's who I feel are a strength struggled 1 on 1 and even Dearth was beat for a wrap around goal and has already been mentioned our slide packages and communications were a complete mess. Not sure there are any easy answers unfortunately.
I know a lot of people want Kennedy moved back to LSM but with these ACC teams its just not feasible. Asking Dipetro and Muphy to try and guard Sowers, Moore, Gray etc is a recipe for disaster. Kennedy has to stay at close and we need to work harder to fight off these picks and work to keep Kennedy on his man as much as possible. When he was matched up 1 on 1 Nichtern was shut down for the most part, as soon as he got picked free and SU switched, all hell broke loose. As I noted I think Wykoff can help us and I am hopeful he can play vs UVA. I think the SSDM will be better, but LSM may need some new blood. I know the staff liked Drago, I think we may need to give him some run sooner rather then later. Clary looked overwhelmed and was zero factor on the wings. Page played some but I don't recall how he did. I am also hopeful that Horan and Hapney will come along the more we get into the season. Essentially the unit just needs to play a LOT better, as there are no wholesale changes and SU has never been a zone defensive team. Hoping for a much better performance across the board including Porter who while left out to dry looked average on Sunday. I didn't see any of the "wow" type of saves were accustomed to seeing from him, Schluper was much better especially in the 2nd half.
From a FOGO standpoint I though Phaup was good but as others pointed out he seemed to fade as the game went on. He took a lot of draws and did appear to wear down a bit. I fear Varello only got 3 draws because the new rules have really hurt him as he's not really a physical fogo or a speed guy. I feel for him as he really came on during the shortened season last year and looked like the 2019 version on Sunday. I hope the staff is getting Savage or the other two FOGO's some draws as were likely to need them, Savage has earned praise and should be given a shot.
Big game Sat, not expecting a win as UVA is LOADED offensively and while not a great team defensively, Connors, Saustad and others will be a problem. Hoping Sunday was a blip due to lack of practice time and scrimmages but with so many veteran players and all the hype its hard to script a worse start.
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