Towson Gameday...

[Laxfanshutt]

 

[JDOrange]

We were in town this weekend visiting family so got to take my 2 year old to his first Dome lax game. He had a blast. Interesting game. Another hot start which has been a nice trend this year. Refs were maddening. Sloppy again with unnecessary penalties.

Offensively it felt like they were getting good looks all game and could have easily had 6-8 more goals if not for missing the cage, great saves, etc. There was kind of an ugly stretch in the third where it felt like they couldn’t find the net which I think was a mix of the zone thrown in and just not finishing opportunities. Hard to complain much about the offense thus far but didn’t get a ton of production from 2nd line mids. Hiltz certainly looks quicker and want to say he had 2-3x where he beat his defender off the dodge which led to goals or assists. Joey playing within the game and being a great distributor from behind but he also had at least two goals where he got to 5&5 and scored. Thomson is a highlight reel but I’m still not sold on him at that third spot. Rhoa emerging as a star and trying to handle him and Leo on that line is clearly causing a lot of problems so far. As others have mentioned I’d like to see more of The Bear and English is so valuable elsewhere that I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit less of him on offense.

On the other side again it’s hard to complain giving up 7 goals to a solid team but through 3 quarters the Towson O was giving the D fits. Getting quality looks throughout. This was the first game where it seemed like we were struggling with a few of the matchups and pretty regularly with the pick game. Seemed to have that old problem creep back up where there were slides coming to the ball that were unnecessary and Towson was able to capitalize. Caccamo struggled with his matchup and seemed like Sageder and Kaczynski took a lot more of the runs later in the game. I like this unit a lot overall in comparison to the last few years and think the close D has been excellent, SSDMs solid if not spectacular (outside of Rice), and LSM a bit of a work in progress.

Mullen and wings great last night despite the officiating nonsense. I didn’t think Richiusa was terrible last night and there were some 50/50 balls that didn’t go his way that make the numbers look worse. But as others have mentioned we really need to find someone in that group that can take 5 or 6 a game and be competitive there.

Really want this one next week in College Park and will be a great barometer for this team. Clearly another big step up in opponent but hopefully this team is very motivated to finally get over the hump against the Terps. LGO!

 

[orange79]

If you know, you know.

Apparently, I don't know.

 

[DoctahLexus]

It was a fun time in the dome, despite the reduced crowd with the odd start time. I would say MOST of the concerns I had through the first two games seem like less of an issue, after facing a legit opponent in Towson. A couple thoughts on the offense:

-Right now I am definitely pro-Thomson for the third spot. Think in most matchups he provides exactly what we need. He gets the two man game looks with Spallina English Deere and others, and beyond that is just excellent at setting picks, which often appear to be on the borderline of moving picks, but he knows how far to push it. 3-4 shooting, no turnovers, and one completely ridiculous finish that hardly anyone else in the country is putting in the goal. Add his feeding ability to that, which he did not need to flex yesterday, and nobody on this roster could recreate what he does as the third attack, despite there being several better dodgers out there. He is now a vet, with some maturity and experience to his game that others like Anderson and Deere simply do not have yet.

-On that subject, Spallina and Hiltz both looked excellent initiating out of the attack. Spallina...what can you say at this point. The dude's work ethic is insane. First time seeing him in person this year. He looks stronger, faster (yes FASTER), and his shot also looks much improved. He is also continuing to get better as a decision maker off the dodge. The guy keeps getting better, and is also just an excellent leader/communicator for the offense in 6v6.

-After every possession he is talking things through with the other attack and Pat March. Even with all the countless hours he has devoted to lax, his drive to win and improve has clearly not slowed down at all. He was more passive initiating in the first two games but really turned it on in this one and showed the work he put in this offseason. Trolls are gonna troll, but I have very little patience for cuse "fans" continuing to rag on this guy. Every single team in the nation would kill to have a guy that can do what he does.

 

[illestcuse]

Apparently, I don't know.

Evan Molloy was goalie here lol

 

[orange79]

Evan Molloy was goalie here lol

I remember that. I was more focused on why the first video relates to the second video...

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Powellfan]

 

[DMVCuseLax]

Sorry, but not including Rhoa in the 2nd paragraph is a joke. Rhoa should have been included in preseason honors in my opinion. and Billy wasn’t the only one covering Mikey.

 

[JDOrange]

Right now I am definitely pro-Thomson for the third spot. Think in most matchups he provides exactly what we need.

Hard to argue with the results thus far. He’s looked very comfortable with that group and been productive. Next week will be an interesting challenge with the usually stout Terps D. One thing I’ve noticed with him over the past few years is that he brings that box swagger which is great in a lot of respects but he’s also often at the edge of getting a bad penalty with cheap shots and the like. Was a lot of back and forth with him and the close D last night and he got away with some stuff that if seen would definitely draw a flag.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Sorry, but not including Rhoa in the 2nd paragraph is a joke. Rhoa should have been included in preseason honors in my opinion. and Billy didn't cover Mikey.

Incredible game from Rhoa last night. His shot was already lethal and is only getting better. That was just about the best shot on the run I have ever seen in the dome on that goal at the end of the shot clock.

 

[cusefan88]

Hard to argue with the results thus far. He’s looked very comfortable with that group and been productive. Next week will be an interesting challenge with the usually stout Terps D. One thing I’ve noticed with him over the past few years is that he brings that box swagger which is great in a lot of respects but he’s also often at the edge of getting a bad penalty with cheap shots and the like. Was a lot of back and forth with him and the close D last night and he got away with some stuff that if seen would definitely draw a flag.

He smacked the defender in his shoulder last night after the he got his sticked knocked away a few times. It was funny and probably foolish.

 

[GrowTheGame]

Hard to argue with the results thus far. He’s looked very comfortable with that group and been productive. Next week will be an interesting challenge with the usually stout Terps D. One thing I’ve noticed with him over the past few years is that he brings that box swagger which is great in a lot of respects but he’s also often at the edge of getting a bad penalty with cheap shots and the like. Was a lot of back and forth with him and the close D last night and he got away with some stuff that if seen would definitely draw a flag.

I don’t know that I view that as a bad thing.. he gets in the Dpoles head and then they focus less on the holistic game. I believe it’s been a great compliment to Joey/Hiltz who have the Gait aura of letting their play talk (for the most part). If you can rattle an opponent and play mind games that can be a huge advantage in moments where composure is necessary to win.

 

[tbonezone]

i mean i watched the post presser and not one question about the face-off violations ? was it explained to coach gait by the refs what exactly was being whistled ? cuz we can't have those mistakes and turn over possession so easily going forward.

 

[Powellfan]

On the other side again it’s hard to complain giving up 7 goals to a solid team but through 3 quarters the Towson O was giving the D fits. Getting quality looks throughout. This was the first game where it seemed like we were struggling with a few of the matchups and pretty regularly with the pick game. Seemed to have that old problem creep back up where there were slides coming to the ball that were unnecessary and Towson was able to capitalize. Caccamo struggled with his matchup and seemed like Sageder and Kaczynski took a lot more of the runs later in the game. I like this unit a lot overall in comparison to the last few years and think the close D has been excellent, SSDMs solid if not spectacular (outside of Rice), and LSM a bit of a work in progress.

To me, this was the only bummer of the game. Early on, the defense seemed committed to slide whenever there was a short stick matchup, regardless of who had the ball or where they were on the field. I don't remember how all the goals were scored, but the first was definitely due to a needless slide from a long pole which left the crease wide open for an easy dunk.

It seemed to get better as the game went along, though it's hard to tell with the offense and Mullen doing a lot of damage in the fourth quarter, but they seemed to settle down as the game went along. I am the biggest worrier of our short stick group, but you have to find a happy medium and give them a little grace. Hopefully this is something that improves.

I'll push back a bit with Caccamo. He did struggle early on as he gave up two goals where he was beaten. The first was to Weissher, which given he's a first team AA candidate, can happen. The second wasn't quite as egregious, but he didn't do much to force his mark off his shooting platform. That said, he came up big in other aspects with a nice pick-off (his specialty) and he de-twigged a Tiger on the face-off. He finished with two groundballs and two caused turnovers and no turnovers. He's not going to be the second coming of Joel White, but I think he deserves some praise as well.

That said, I've been really impressed with Kaczysnki. He's really aggressive and he's tied for the team lead in caused turnovers with Figuerias (both have six). His ceiling seems a bit higher than Caccamo right now. I have trouble telling them apart on TV because of their numbers, but you can usually tell it's Kaczysnki after a few seconds based on his checks and overall aggression. Not sure if the coaches will switch up the lineup, but Kaczysnki is one to be excited about for sure.

 

[DoctahLexus]

To me, this was the only bummer of the game. Early on, the defense seemed committed to slide whenever there was a short stick matchup, regardless of who had the ball or where they were on the field. I don't remember how all the goals were scored, but the first was definitely due to a needless slide from a long pole which left the crease wide open for an easy dunk.

It seemed to get better as the game went along, though it's hard to tell with the offense and Mullen doing a lot of damage in the fourth quarter, but they seemed to settle down as the game went along. I am the biggest worrier of our short stick group, but you have to find a happy medium and give them a little grace. Hopefully this is something that improves.

I'll push back a bit with Caccamo. He did struggle early on as he gave up two goals where he was beaten. The first was to Weissher, which given he's a first team AA candidate, can happen. The second wasn't quite as egregious, but he didn't do much to force his mark off his shooting platform. That said, he came up big in other aspects with a nice pick-off (his specialty) and he de-twigged a Tiger on the face-off. He finished with two groundballs and two caused turnovers and no turnovers. He's not going to be the second coming of Joel White, but I think he deserves some praise as well.

That said, I've been really impressed with Kaczysnki. He's really aggressive and he's tied for the team lead in caused turnovers with Figuerias (both have six). His ceiling seems a bit higher than Caccamo right now. I have trouble telling them apart on TV because of their numbers, but you can usually tell it's Kaczysnki after a few seconds based on his checks and overall aggression. Not sure if the coaches will switch up the lineup, but Kaczysnki is one to be excited about for sure.

Overall I was very pleased with the ssdm performance. I agree that at times we slid to their match ups when it was unnecessary. On their first goal, Nate Levine had their guy locked up but Figueras slid to him anyways, leading directly to a goal. But overall I thought unnecessary slides were not a major concern, especially down the stretch. Towson has a some quality dodgers out of the midfield. The one guy I thought had graduated, Webber, is apparently still on the team and still a very speedy dodger. IL lies through their teeth with the guys they list as seniors! Between him, Gallagher, Roussel, and Weisshaar, there were a lot of scary match ups. Considering all the weapons, I thought the ssdms held their own.

We got a lot of good plays from Ochoa and Jake Spallina. Sometimes they needed a slide, but never got beat so badly that the defense was scrambling. I am also very much still pro-Levine. Not as speedy as our other guys but has great positioning on 1v1 dodges. Think he showed why he starts yesterday.

 

[wgdsr]

Incredible game from Rhoa last night. His shot was already lethal and is only getting better. That was just about the best shot on the run I have ever seen in the dome on that goal at the end of the shot clock.

i gotta say, opponents can't be liking what they're seeing out of rhoa so far. if it continues, it'll be interesting to see hoo is soaking poles for that offense down the line.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[MaxFischer]

Early on, the defense seemed committed to slide whenever there was a short stick matchup, regardless of who had the ball or where they were on the field. I don't remember how all the goals were scored, but the first was definitely due to a needless slide from a long pole which left the crease wide open for an easy dunk.

I have been thinking about this since the game. On Towson's first goal, Riley slid to a short stick matchup where the shortie was in good position. After two quick passes, Riley's man was wide open for an easy look. Second slides were a problem all last year as well. Thus far this year...our shorties have been very good in terms of positioning and staying in front of their man. While that may change as the competition gets stronger, we should not be so quick to slide. Aggressive doubles that create a ball down situation are great, but they are high risk especially when the unit as a whole struggle to identify where the second slide needs to be and good offenses thrive on the chaos. I'd like to see them be more hesitant to slide until it becomes necessary or its an obvious double opportunity. I've liked what we've seen so far from our top 4 shorties. Maybe trust them until there is a reason not to.

 

[JeremyCuse]

i gotta say, opponents can't be liking what they're seeing out of rhoa so far. if it continues, it'll be interesting to see hoo is soaking poles for that offense down the line.

My assumption is a few teams who have a really good SSDM will try and short Thomson and double pole. Tough to do though because even then your leaving one of them on a short SU would hopefully respond by putting Anderson at attack.

 

[Powellfan]

i gotta say, opponents can't be liking what they're seeing out of rhoa so far. if it continues, it'll be interesting to see hoo is soaking poles for that offense down the line.

I like what Rhefuss said in the first game against Jacksonville. Can’t remember verbatim but essentially Rhoa’s two handed-ness opens up the entire field for the offense. The entire defense needs to watch where he’s going and can’t hedge one way or the other. The next step for him will be passing, as I assume double teams will come a lot quicker.

Curious if defenses start shorting English going forward, just given how much he’s been playing all over the field. He obviously burned Towson late in the game so it’s not the perfect strategy. I thought it was interesting that they subbed on Hottle with the 1’s when English needed a break. I had kind of thought Cordes had been the qb of the third line so a bit surprised they didn’t give him the role. They clearly want to keep the second line together.