JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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I have watched a few Hop games this year plus most of yesterdays game against UVA. Interesting matchups for both teams.
Hop's offense is much improved from last year with the additions of the Frosh Collison and Melendez the transfer from Marquette. Collison has really come on and I believe the last two opponents have put a pole on him. SU would be wise to put Olexxo on him from the start. This shouldn't be a repeat of last year when SU put a shorty on Schutz and he dominated until we made a switch. Angelus is their main set up guy as he has 18 assists which is three times more then the next closest guy. To me this seems like a draw for Clary but Petro sometimes likes to switch things up a bit so I guess Caccamo could draw him. Either guy should have strict instructions to not slide as Angelus is looking to pass not to score, he only has six goals on the year. Degnon is their long distance guy (though Collison can rip it) but isn't much of a dodging threat. UVA put one of their better defenders on him yesterday and he was completely shut down. I wouldn't be shocked if SU actually tried short sticking him as Melendez the third attackmen will require a pole ( I am assuming Koy/Dwan).
As I mentioned before Collison has really come on as a Frosh and has 14 pts (13,1). He's not much of a feeder so when he goes he's likely to shoot. He should be polled from the get go, this is Olexxo all day. The real question will be if SU is OK putting a shorty on him or they want to double pole the midfield. I am not a huge fan of shorting Degnon but under no circumstances can Collison not have a long pole defender, as such if SU has to double pole they shouldn't hesitate. Hop will also rotate in some decent backups who are threats to score in Krampf, Pesko, Bauer etc. Hop isn't' a great dodging team but much like UNC if you give these gusy time and room they are going to bury it. SU's sliding issues are a major concern here as they have a bad habit of leaving guys open on ill-timed slides or secondary slides being way late. If I was Petro I would tell the defense to be extremely slow to the slide to pretty much everyone save for Collison. It will burn you a few times but should limit the open looks for Degnon, Melendez, Collison which Hop is looking to create. Hop's man up has struggled a lot this year but has started to come on a bit and I think had 2 or 3 man up goals against UVA. SU would be wise to try and limit the penalties.
From an O standpoint, Hop has a good but not great defense. Mazzone and Scott Smith are probably the two best defenders, Mazzone is an AA and an excellent LSM. He will likely draw Thomson though at some point a team is going to actually pole Birtwistle. Szuluk is a good defender but has been banged up. He's back in the lineup for Hop but not sure if he's 100%. I assume Smith on Spallina and Mazzone on Thomson with Szuluk on Hiltz. Hop won't hesitate to double though with SU's offense passing ability I am not sure how effective that will be. Hop did a really good job on Schellenberger but really struggled with the other two attackmen who had 6 goals a piece including a back up as Cormier was out hurt. Syracuse really needs to see big game from Hiltz, he has been way way to quiet so far this year. Kirst could be in for another hat trick as he should have a decent matchup as Hop will play straight up for large portions of the game.
I've mentioned it before but at some point if your SU you have to consider moving Thomson to attack. I don't think he has 1 6 on 6 goal the last three games. He's drawing each teams LSM obviously but he just doesn't look comfortable out there and is zero threat to dodge and shoot ala Curry or Dordevic. I would give real though to rotate him with Kirst on that third spot and give Rhoa some run with the 1st line. The offense overall has been pretty good all year, turnovers have been an issue at times and was an albatross in the third quarter versus Duke last weekend. With the issues at the X, SU has to limit the dumb turnovers. Marcille Hop's goalie has been good and probably the best keeper they have had in a long time. That said he's just over 50% on the year and is allowing almost 13 goals a game. He's capable of a big game but again he's someone I expect SU to be able to score on assuming we have the ball.
Faceoffs and GB's are my major concerns (shocking I know) on Saturday. Hop has 1-2 combo with Dunn and Callahan. Narewski who has been out all year and their #1 guy came back for UVA and took 4 draws. He went 1-4 but seemed OK physically. No idea how many draws he will see on Saturday as he is still working his way back. I assume Dunn will take the majority of the draws with Narewski taking a half dozen or so. From an SU standpoint it looks like were going to run Richiusa out there and hope for the best. Fine took a few last game but was then pulled and never seen again. Gait was fairly harsh in his comments on the faceoff crew in the Duke postgame, but it's hard to see what if any changes SU will make. Perhaps SU gives Fine an extended look or maybe even tries Gibbs but history says we will see Richiusa about 90% of the time and cross our fingers. I'll save a deeper dive for another post but the fact that the staff didn't bring in another FOGO to help Richiusa looks like a massive error.
I think SU matches up fairly well with Hop but again its the little things that concern me. Wing play is a perfect example. Hop has a very good shorty on the wing (Jack Hawley) who will be a major PIA on Saturday. SU has to strongly consider personnel change on the wings. The current combos have not been good and to be honest have been really bad at times. Gait keeps acknowledging its a problem but the same crew keeps rotating in and out, mindboggling. Hopkins does turn the ball over A LOT, SU will need to be ready to take advantage and limit the TO's themselves. It also wouldn't hurt if SU decided to put a ride on at least a few times a game. We have really stopped challenging clears after doing a heck of a job against Vermont which is even more puzzling. I suspect a close game but worry the X and Defense will again be our downfall.
Hop's offense is much improved from last year with the additions of the Frosh Collison and Melendez the transfer from Marquette. Collison has really come on and I believe the last two opponents have put a pole on him. SU would be wise to put Olexxo on him from the start. This shouldn't be a repeat of last year when SU put a shorty on Schutz and he dominated until we made a switch. Angelus is their main set up guy as he has 18 assists which is three times more then the next closest guy. To me this seems like a draw for Clary but Petro sometimes likes to switch things up a bit so I guess Caccamo could draw him. Either guy should have strict instructions to not slide as Angelus is looking to pass not to score, he only has six goals on the year. Degnon is their long distance guy (though Collison can rip it) but isn't much of a dodging threat. UVA put one of their better defenders on him yesterday and he was completely shut down. I wouldn't be shocked if SU actually tried short sticking him as Melendez the third attackmen will require a pole ( I am assuming Koy/Dwan).
As I mentioned before Collison has really come on as a Frosh and has 14 pts (13,1). He's not much of a feeder so when he goes he's likely to shoot. He should be polled from the get go, this is Olexxo all day. The real question will be if SU is OK putting a shorty on him or they want to double pole the midfield. I am not a huge fan of shorting Degnon but under no circumstances can Collison not have a long pole defender, as such if SU has to double pole they shouldn't hesitate. Hop will also rotate in some decent backups who are threats to score in Krampf, Pesko, Bauer etc. Hop isn't' a great dodging team but much like UNC if you give these gusy time and room they are going to bury it. SU's sliding issues are a major concern here as they have a bad habit of leaving guys open on ill-timed slides or secondary slides being way late. If I was Petro I would tell the defense to be extremely slow to the slide to pretty much everyone save for Collison. It will burn you a few times but should limit the open looks for Degnon, Melendez, Collison which Hop is looking to create. Hop's man up has struggled a lot this year but has started to come on a bit and I think had 2 or 3 man up goals against UVA. SU would be wise to try and limit the penalties.
From an O standpoint, Hop has a good but not great defense. Mazzone and Scott Smith are probably the two best defenders, Mazzone is an AA and an excellent LSM. He will likely draw Thomson though at some point a team is going to actually pole Birtwistle. Szuluk is a good defender but has been banged up. He's back in the lineup for Hop but not sure if he's 100%. I assume Smith on Spallina and Mazzone on Thomson with Szuluk on Hiltz. Hop won't hesitate to double though with SU's offense passing ability I am not sure how effective that will be. Hop did a really good job on Schellenberger but really struggled with the other two attackmen who had 6 goals a piece including a back up as Cormier was out hurt. Syracuse really needs to see big game from Hiltz, he has been way way to quiet so far this year. Kirst could be in for another hat trick as he should have a decent matchup as Hop will play straight up for large portions of the game.
I've mentioned it before but at some point if your SU you have to consider moving Thomson to attack. I don't think he has 1 6 on 6 goal the last three games. He's drawing each teams LSM obviously but he just doesn't look comfortable out there and is zero threat to dodge and shoot ala Curry or Dordevic. I would give real though to rotate him with Kirst on that third spot and give Rhoa some run with the 1st line. The offense overall has been pretty good all year, turnovers have been an issue at times and was an albatross in the third quarter versus Duke last weekend. With the issues at the X, SU has to limit the dumb turnovers. Marcille Hop's goalie has been good and probably the best keeper they have had in a long time. That said he's just over 50% on the year and is allowing almost 13 goals a game. He's capable of a big game but again he's someone I expect SU to be able to score on assuming we have the ball.
Faceoffs and GB's are my major concerns (shocking I know) on Saturday. Hop has 1-2 combo with Dunn and Callahan. Narewski who has been out all year and their #1 guy came back for UVA and took 4 draws. He went 1-4 but seemed OK physically. No idea how many draws he will see on Saturday as he is still working his way back. I assume Dunn will take the majority of the draws with Narewski taking a half dozen or so. From an SU standpoint it looks like were going to run Richiusa out there and hope for the best. Fine took a few last game but was then pulled and never seen again. Gait was fairly harsh in his comments on the faceoff crew in the Duke postgame, but it's hard to see what if any changes SU will make. Perhaps SU gives Fine an extended look or maybe even tries Gibbs but history says we will see Richiusa about 90% of the time and cross our fingers. I'll save a deeper dive for another post but the fact that the staff didn't bring in another FOGO to help Richiusa looks like a massive error.
I think SU matches up fairly well with Hop but again its the little things that concern me. Wing play is a perfect example. Hop has a very good shorty on the wing (Jack Hawley) who will be a major PIA on Saturday. SU has to strongly consider personnel change on the wings. The current combos have not been good and to be honest have been really bad at times. Gait keeps acknowledging its a problem but the same crew keeps rotating in and out, mindboggling. Hopkins does turn the ball over A LOT, SU will need to be ready to take advantage and limit the TO's themselves. It also wouldn't hurt if SU decided to put a ride on at least a few times a game. We have really stopped challenging clears after doing a heck of a job against Vermont which is even more puzzling. I suspect a close game but worry the X and Defense will again be our downfall.
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