JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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Another game another one goal escape for the Orange. This is another one of those classic games where SU snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. I thought Petro's end of game strategy was horrific and we were able to take advantage.
I thought the defense was again excellent. While not as bad as the previous week the offense put the D in some bad spots and the D bailed them out on nearly all of them. Firman continues to be a revelation as the #1 defender and completely shut down Stanwick which ground the Jays offense to a halt. Another good game for Bomberry and Cunningham is progressing nicely. I thought the SSDM's got beat on a few occasions but all in all they played fairly well. A great goal by Ciferri when SU was really struggling and needed a score desperately. Hutchings and the other frosh continue to impress and Schwasnick was back on the wings. Molloy was excellent, probably his best game since UNC in last years ACC tourney. That one save on that Tinney low rocket was outstanding. Does need to be more careful about leaving the crease to chase, costs himself a goal when he did that forcing SU to slide and a guy came open on the crease for Stanwicks only point of the day. I thought both LSM's were again excellent. Tinney had 1 goal on the day and that check by Helmer when he had a free path was unbelievable. I hope this unit can keep it up over the next few weeks as they will need to carry this team to victory.
I thought Ben was OK, he has struggled against Moreland in his career so I wasn't shocked he did poorly against him. Faceoff guys always have 1 or 2 players they struggle against. He found a way to win that big draw in overtime which was enormous. He has won a few big faceoffs this year which is a great trend after the last few years where he seemed to struggle in those moments.
Now we get to the offense. Despite the 5-1 record its hard to believe this is a Syracuse offense at times. When Quint said this might be the worst attack unit at Syracuse in 20 some years he wasn't far off. The lack of elite offensive talent on the staring 6 is glaring. It's hard to know where to start with this unit but I will do what I can. For me the Evans and Lane are the two biggest issues right now. Evans has played within himself for most of the year and outside of the St. Johns game (where he was awful) he hasn't turned the ball over much which is a nice development from last year. That being said he is absolutely no threat to score in 6 on 6 and has 2 pts in the last two games against less then stellar defenses. Evans cannot create his own shot and appears to have one dodge (the roll back) move and if that doesn't work he just passes the ball. At some point Desko has to make a move to Rehfuss or Voight and roll with them because were essentially playing with 2 attackmen when he is out there. I know that sounds harsh but the stats don't lie and be it ineffectiveness due to injury or lack of speed Evans is simply not getting it done.
As for Lane his lack of aggressiveness continues to haunt him and his time on the 1st line may have run out. I was hesitant to put to much stock into his UVA performance due to how bad UVA's defense is and unfortunately Lane has reverted back into his shell after a great performance against the Hoos. After dodging hard and aggressively against a short stick in the UVA game Lane again appears unsure of himself and after a quick attempt at a bull dodge he looks to pass. Teams also seem to be shading to him on the man up unit as he has struggled to get a clean look there the last few games and when he does he is usually high on his shot. At this point you wonder if Dekso will move Trimboli to the 1st mid line permanently or at least for the Duke and ND games. Its' disappointing because SU desperately needs some scoring and Lane has shown some flashes but like Evans time is running out on waiting for him to put it all together.
So where does the offense go from here? Unfortunately the options are few and far between. Thorpe, Forkin and Westin all being out for the year is a big blow as each of them could be making an impact at this point especially Thorpe. Grass and Shewell were buried on the depth chart but again two more highly rated guys who are no longer with the program. The biggest issue is that SU is getting next to nothing offensively from the 2013, 2014 and 2015 recruiting classes which is unfathomable. Lane and Evans are the only major players from 2013, no one from the 2014 class is playing outside of Carlin who appears to have lost his spot on the second mid line and only Solomon and Voigt are seeing regular PT from the 2015 class. Mindbogging that SU is somehow 5-1 despite that lack of offensive production from 3 recruiting classes. Scary to think where we would be without transfers.
So what can Desko and the staff do to help the offense? Honestly probably not much until the fall when they get next years class on campus and welcome back Thorpe, Forkin and hopefully Westin.
In the meantime there are a few options.
1. Give more PT to Voigt and Rehfuss - At this point I would sit Evans more and give some run to Rehfuss and or Voigt, both have shown the ability to score which is what SU desperately needs.
2. Push Solomon to continue to be aggressive. SU doesn't have an elite level dodger or X attackmen so they need Solomon to continue to dodge from X to create scoring opportunities and draw slides to free up Bomberry and others for good looks an step down shots.
3. Push the ball -All of our SSDMs are former middies who played offense extensively. On turnovers and quick outlets these gusy should be given the green light to push the ball and look for scoring opportunities ala Virginia. Sullivan, Schwasnick and Hutchings especially should be pushing the ball as they aren't as well known to opposing staffs as Gillis and Ciferri.
4. Settle on positions for players. - Not a fan of moving Bomberry to attack and moving Mariano around and running him through the box. Teams are wise to it and Bomberry hasn't played attack since high school. Let's keep those guys at middie and attack respectively and look to get them the ball as much as possible.
5. Look to the bench - Obviously none of us are at practice but if some of the young guys are making a name for themselves don't be afraid to burn a shirt or get their feet wet. With attack especially hurting if Burt or Wisnaukas or producing in practice lets give them some run. Ditto for the young middies including Romano, O'Sullivan, Ford, Lipka etc.
6. Cut down on the turnovers. The last two games SU has been abysmal with the ball. Bad passes, drops, inability to back up shots, etc. This team can't have unforced turnovers/errors due to its lack of ability to consistently score, this isn't the SU team of 2 or 3 years ago that could turn it over 15 times and score 17 goals. These turnovers have caused huge scoring droughts the last two weeks that will cost us against ND, Duke and others. This has to be cleaned up immediately.
7. More Mariano - Nick is or best offensive player by far, he needs to have the ball more whether its creating or getting looks for teammates or simply scoring. I know hes' drawing every teams #1 defender but he has to be more active because we just don't have the complimentary pieces.
Hoping to see a much improved offensive performance on Saturday against Duke because the offense we have shown the last two weeks is not going to get it done Saturday I can promise you that.
I thought the defense was again excellent. While not as bad as the previous week the offense put the D in some bad spots and the D bailed them out on nearly all of them. Firman continues to be a revelation as the #1 defender and completely shut down Stanwick which ground the Jays offense to a halt. Another good game for Bomberry and Cunningham is progressing nicely. I thought the SSDM's got beat on a few occasions but all in all they played fairly well. A great goal by Ciferri when SU was really struggling and needed a score desperately. Hutchings and the other frosh continue to impress and Schwasnick was back on the wings. Molloy was excellent, probably his best game since UNC in last years ACC tourney. That one save on that Tinney low rocket was outstanding. Does need to be more careful about leaving the crease to chase, costs himself a goal when he did that forcing SU to slide and a guy came open on the crease for Stanwicks only point of the day. I thought both LSM's were again excellent. Tinney had 1 goal on the day and that check by Helmer when he had a free path was unbelievable. I hope this unit can keep it up over the next few weeks as they will need to carry this team to victory.
I thought Ben was OK, he has struggled against Moreland in his career so I wasn't shocked he did poorly against him. Faceoff guys always have 1 or 2 players they struggle against. He found a way to win that big draw in overtime which was enormous. He has won a few big faceoffs this year which is a great trend after the last few years where he seemed to struggle in those moments.
Now we get to the offense. Despite the 5-1 record its hard to believe this is a Syracuse offense at times. When Quint said this might be the worst attack unit at Syracuse in 20 some years he wasn't far off. The lack of elite offensive talent on the staring 6 is glaring. It's hard to know where to start with this unit but I will do what I can. For me the Evans and Lane are the two biggest issues right now. Evans has played within himself for most of the year and outside of the St. Johns game (where he was awful) he hasn't turned the ball over much which is a nice development from last year. That being said he is absolutely no threat to score in 6 on 6 and has 2 pts in the last two games against less then stellar defenses. Evans cannot create his own shot and appears to have one dodge (the roll back) move and if that doesn't work he just passes the ball. At some point Desko has to make a move to Rehfuss or Voight and roll with them because were essentially playing with 2 attackmen when he is out there. I know that sounds harsh but the stats don't lie and be it ineffectiveness due to injury or lack of speed Evans is simply not getting it done.
As for Lane his lack of aggressiveness continues to haunt him and his time on the 1st line may have run out. I was hesitant to put to much stock into his UVA performance due to how bad UVA's defense is and unfortunately Lane has reverted back into his shell after a great performance against the Hoos. After dodging hard and aggressively against a short stick in the UVA game Lane again appears unsure of himself and after a quick attempt at a bull dodge he looks to pass. Teams also seem to be shading to him on the man up unit as he has struggled to get a clean look there the last few games and when he does he is usually high on his shot. At this point you wonder if Dekso will move Trimboli to the 1st mid line permanently or at least for the Duke and ND games. Its' disappointing because SU desperately needs some scoring and Lane has shown some flashes but like Evans time is running out on waiting for him to put it all together.
So where does the offense go from here? Unfortunately the options are few and far between. Thorpe, Forkin and Westin all being out for the year is a big blow as each of them could be making an impact at this point especially Thorpe. Grass and Shewell were buried on the depth chart but again two more highly rated guys who are no longer with the program. The biggest issue is that SU is getting next to nothing offensively from the 2013, 2014 and 2015 recruiting classes which is unfathomable. Lane and Evans are the only major players from 2013, no one from the 2014 class is playing outside of Carlin who appears to have lost his spot on the second mid line and only Solomon and Voigt are seeing regular PT from the 2015 class. Mindbogging that SU is somehow 5-1 despite that lack of offensive production from 3 recruiting classes. Scary to think where we would be without transfers.
So what can Desko and the staff do to help the offense? Honestly probably not much until the fall when they get next years class on campus and welcome back Thorpe, Forkin and hopefully Westin.
In the meantime there are a few options.
1. Give more PT to Voigt and Rehfuss - At this point I would sit Evans more and give some run to Rehfuss and or Voigt, both have shown the ability to score which is what SU desperately needs.
2. Push Solomon to continue to be aggressive. SU doesn't have an elite level dodger or X attackmen so they need Solomon to continue to dodge from X to create scoring opportunities and draw slides to free up Bomberry and others for good looks an step down shots.
3. Push the ball -All of our SSDMs are former middies who played offense extensively. On turnovers and quick outlets these gusy should be given the green light to push the ball and look for scoring opportunities ala Virginia. Sullivan, Schwasnick and Hutchings especially should be pushing the ball as they aren't as well known to opposing staffs as Gillis and Ciferri.
4. Settle on positions for players. - Not a fan of moving Bomberry to attack and moving Mariano around and running him through the box. Teams are wise to it and Bomberry hasn't played attack since high school. Let's keep those guys at middie and attack respectively and look to get them the ball as much as possible.
5. Look to the bench - Obviously none of us are at practice but if some of the young guys are making a name for themselves don't be afraid to burn a shirt or get their feet wet. With attack especially hurting if Burt or Wisnaukas or producing in practice lets give them some run. Ditto for the young middies including Romano, O'Sullivan, Ford, Lipka etc.
6. Cut down on the turnovers. The last two games SU has been abysmal with the ball. Bad passes, drops, inability to back up shots, etc. This team can't have unforced turnovers/errors due to its lack of ability to consistently score, this isn't the SU team of 2 or 3 years ago that could turn it over 15 times and score 17 goals. These turnovers have caused huge scoring droughts the last two weeks that will cost us against ND, Duke and others. This has to be cleaned up immediately.
7. More Mariano - Nick is or best offensive player by far, he needs to have the ball more whether its creating or getting looks for teammates or simply scoring. I know hes' drawing every teams #1 defender but he has to be more active because we just don't have the complimentary pieces.
Hoping to see a much improved offensive performance on Saturday against Duke because the offense we have shown the last two weeks is not going to get it done Saturday I can promise you that.