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Message: [QUOTE="JeremyCuse, post: 2578301, member: 43"] Daniel is hurt and likely to miss the Syracuse game [URL="http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/lacrosse-blog/bs-sp-navy-mens-lacrosse-to-be-cautious-with-christian-daniel-20180416-story.html"]Navy men’s lacrosse will not rush back injured attackman Christian Daniel[/URL] His backup Chris Hill did have a hat trick against Army so we will need to keep an eye on him assuming Daniel is out. Navy's had issues at times scoring this year, they have only scored more then 10 goals three times and of one of those game was against Lafayette. There two big time players Casey Rees and Jack Ray have been inconsistent. Rees missed last year due to injury and was expected to have a monster senior year but only has 15 pts on the year (11,4). Ray's been more productive with 24 potints (19,5). Interesting to see how Desko and the staff choose to defend Navy. There starting midfield despite Rees's struggles has been really good especially Ryan Wade who leads the team with 30 pts (8,22). If our SSDM's were better I think Desko would give heavy consideration to double polling the midfield especially with Daniel hurt. With our current batch of SSDMs not sure the staff would risk it but I think its something they will consider. I think zone might be an option as well as Navy has struggled at times with shot accuracy. SU has played some zone this year with mixed results so again while a good option on paper I dont know if the staff trusts the defense to play 30+ min of zone. If you assume SU plays man to man the D matchups will be very interesting to watch. If Daniel is out then Mellen will surely draw Jack Ray. Army's Sr pole held him in check last week to only 1 assist but got burned by Hill and then Wade at midfield. The bigger question is what to do at the midfield. Wade seems like the obvious choice for Fusco but Ryan Torain has 27 pts on the year as well (15, 12). Personally if I was Desko I would risk trying to double poll. I would put Mellen on Wade and Fusco on Torain. Mellen's used to covering dodging attackmen so I don't think asking him to cover a feeder like Wade is outlandish. If the staff wanted to they could flip that and put Fusco on Wade and Mellen on Torain but I think I would go with Mellen on Wade. I would then put Bomberry on Ray as thats a closer physical match up as Ray is listed at 6'6 and then Kennedy/Dipetro on Hill. That leaves a SSDM on third attackmen Dave Little and a SSDM on Rees at the midfield. Putting a shorty on Rees would have been unthinkable two years ago but I think its an easy call here. For SU I think Madonna has to rebound after two so-so performances. He missed a couple vs UNC that he probably should have had, need him to have a good game. One good think for SU is that Navy doens't have much in the way of depth, they play the 1st midfield a ton. Faceoff situation to me is pretty clear, Desko has to watch for Danny getting in a funk vs his brother. If Joe Varello string together a handful of wins in a row I think he has to go to Delisle or Martin as it might get in Danny's head and he could end up with the kind of numbers he had against Duke (2-12). I think for Danny its all about staying at or around 50%. He has been pretty good the last two games against Colgate and ND but this is a tough matchup. I think its critical he avoids long losing streaks to his brother. Offensively its about wearing Navy down. Like there offense the Navy D starters are pretty good especially the goalie Kern. That said they don't have much in the way of depth . SU needs to take quality shots and not fall in love with bad alley dodge looks that Kern will easily gobble up. Navy plays a lot of zone so will be intersting to see if they do it on Saturday. SU has been a hard team to zone the last few years with Mariano and Salcido and Lane so must teams haven't done it. This year as best I can recall SU has seen some zone but not a lot (creaserat or others correct me If I am wrong). SU's two deep at middie has good shooters plus Lane but accuracy has been an issue this year especially for Dordevic and to a lesser extent Curry earlier in the year. Bomberry is a great mid range shooter so I could see Curry inverting and Bombery looking to get himself set up for a pass on a slide. Dordevic getting back on track tomorrow would be a great sign, if Navy plays zone the looks should hopefully be there. Could be a tough matchup for Rehfuss and Solomon if Navy plays a lot of zone and affects there ability to dodge. Solomon moves fairly well off the ball so I hope he can get himself open. SU needs to avoid trying to force feed the crease which they have fallen in love with at times. [/QUOTE]

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