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Message: [QUOTE="JeremyCuse, post: 5345296, member: 43"] Good stuff as usual. I did watch a good amount of the Hop vs Towson game, however, I am not sure there is a to to glean from that game. The weather wasn't great, Towson was playing its 1st game and Hop was playing a few days after just playing up in Denver. Both teams looked sloppy for extended periods and the turnovers were horrific. Towson turned it over 20 times and Hop 17 against a zone. Towson did play a ton of zone but Hop was able to get a number of good looks when they weren't turning it over. The Towson goalie had 11 saves and was at exactly 50%. As you noted their main fogo Constantinides struggled big time again but the true frosh Kai Lopez came in and went 5-9. It does appear that Villagomez is hurt as he didn't play vs Hop and I don't think he's expected to play today. Fitzpatrick having 5 goals though was certainly eye opening, someone to keep an eye one. I agree that Dwan on Weisshaar is absolutely the matchup that should happen. While Pope isn't on the same level as Weisshaar, Dwan absolutely shut him down on Friday night so it was excellent practice ahead of this matchup. I suspect Grace on Chop and Riley on the frosh, though the inverse wouldn't shock me. A few things concern me about this matchup. One is the faceoff X. Mullen has been good but isn't winning the clamp as well as last year. We also seem to have little depth behind him. I hate to beat a dead horse but they really need to try and get Drew Angelo up to speed as quick as possible. I understand the rationale for not bringing in another fogo this offseason but thought they really could have used a veteran presence to spell Mullen. Richiusa works hard but hard to feel great about him taking a large number of draws. Towson should have a good 1-2 punch but Lopez is only a frosh so hard to know what to expect. Lot of pressure on Mullen to be at least 50%. I think you outlined the concern against the zone. SU at times has struggled against it which doesn't make a lot of sense on paper but SU has historically had issues with good zone Defenses (see the Bryant tourney games) Again Hopkins did as well last week but I think that that had more to do with the turnovers and weather/quick turn around if I am being honest. Still it was a good zone D and as Loyola showed on Sat, it can wreak havoc. From a Syracuse standpoint the starting midfield is tough to zone, English and Rhoa can both rip it and Leo isn't exactly shy himself. Hiltz and Thomson are to me the key's for tonight. If those two are shooting well SU will win, if there 1 for 11 with 3 turnovers, SU will be in massive trouble. Thomson has been pretty good so far at attack but the competition level has clearly not been the best, interested to see how he fares today. He can sometimes get into shooting funks and gets locked into a shooting plan. Shot low a lot on Friday that I thnk cost him a few goals, need him to be on today. I hope SU shortens up the midlines a little. I want to see more Anderson for sure but this isn't gonna be the game for the 3rd mid line to be running in the 1st quarter. Keep an eye on Tucker Kellogg, he hasn't seen the field a ton but against a zone he should get some run with the 2nd line and unleash that cannon. Nothing against McCarthy but SU should be using his spot to sub in Kellogg and potentially Anderson for some runs on that 2nd line. Lastly I am curious how SU does with turnovers and sloppy play. The turnovers have been pretty good so far but this is kinda the MO of Gait teams. They aren't turnover machines in the lesser games but can struggle against bigger opponents. Would like to see them try to keep it under double digits or at least very low double digits. Penalties have been a major issue, I know we want an aggressive defense but Odierna also has to realize Towson and Maryland aren't going 1 for the century on a bunch of man up attempts. I am also curious to see if this team does a better job of playing a full 60 mins then last year team. Last years team had a real bad habit of letting their guard down either with a very slow start or midway through the second half when they had a lead. Certainly don't expect 60 mins of perfection but can't afford a 10+ min lull either. [/QUOTE]

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