USA Lax Mag Preseason Poll | Page 3 | Syracusefan.com

USA Lax Mag Preseason Poll

What rival coaches say about the Orange:

“Who knows? Right now it’s a new staff, so new chemistry at the top. I hate to see John Desko leave, he was such a good man and really good for our sport. He was a Syracuse man through and through, but all things do evolve, and it will be fascinating to watch the chemistry as Coach Gait makes the transition from the women’s game to the men’s game.”

“Interesting. What are the changes on the offensive and defensive end? That’s the first thing. What’s their learning curve?”

“Anyone who is a Syracuse fan has to be excited. They do return some dangerous offensive guys.”

Any guesses?

#1 Is Lars Tiffany? Don't know why I am guessing that one. Any thoughts from the diehards???
 
1 - Tiffany
2 - Corrigan
3 - Breschi or Dano

Doesn't necessarily have to be an ACC coach. Could be Alberici, Milliman, Raymond, Marr. Though probably not the latter two since their teams weren't previewed and they may not have been contacted for this
 
#9 Penn is up today:

We get to read why the have Penn in the top 10. It appears that it is mostly because of Sam Handley.
While Handley will probably be outstanding, still lacrosse is a team sport and I think one should have a little bit more on the rest of the team, if they are going to put them in the top 10.
 
Key Penn players from their 2019 QF team:

Tyler Dunn
Mitch Bartolo
Reed Junkin
Kyle Thornton
Adam Goldner
Mark Evanchick
Sean Lulley
Jared Warner
Sam Handley
Simon Mathias
Kyle Gallagher
Alex Roesner
BJ Farrare
Joe Licciardi
Matt McIlwrick
Noah Lejman

That's 16 major contributors. Of that group, only Handley, Farrare, and Gergar remain.

Also worth noting, that was Penn's first tournament win since 1988. So it's not a guarantee that they can just go back to their winning ways, which is what a preseason #9 ranking says to me.

Still talent on that squad, but there is simply no argument for a top 10 ranking. At least with Yale, they have a built-in culture you know you can put money on, and they've been successful virtually every year for the last decade. You're betting on the program and on the coach. I don't see how you can make the same bet on Penn. It will be a COMPLETELY different team from when we last saw them, and they don't have the bankable reputation to fall back on. More of a #15-20 type team until they prove otherwise. Handley is a terrific player but they'll need a lot more than that to be a top 10 team.
 
Not remotely.

Pretty much all that matters is RPI. If you're in the top 15 in RPI at the end of the year, you've got a shot. Which Syracuse probably will be if they go .500 or better.
As I suspected. Thanks. I was trying to figure out how much I should care about these preseason rankings. You gave me my answer.
 
#9 Penn is up today:

We get to read why the have Penn in the top 10. It appears that it is mostly because of Sam Handley.
While Handley will probably be outstanding, still lacrosse is a team sport and I think one should have a little bit more on the rest of the team, if they are going to put them in the top 10.
This actually is quite pathetic. I don't know when I have read such a poor write-up focusing only on one player. They don't appear to have much depth on defense and goaltending (Burkinshaw looked very shaky in 2020 and is a ??) etc.
 
Penn does have a strong freshmen class showing up according to Inside lacrosse's senior rankings a year or so ago:
I believe that Walsh, Smith and Kuehl were UA AA.
******
Update Inside Lacrosse new Top 100
34 Smith, 37 Kuehl, 41 Walsh, 60 Till, 84 Canet
- so a bit of a drop off. Still looks like a good class though
********

There 2020 class was not quite as strong:
#65 Cam Rubin A
#68 Batts Parker D
They also have Chris Arceri FO in the 2020 class - a 4 -star recruit

From 2019:
 
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Not remotely.

Pretty much all that matters is RPI. If you're in the top 15 in RPI at the end of the year, you've got a shot. Which Syracuse probably will be if they go .500 or better.
i believe in '17, '18 and '19 it was straight rpi. which means top 12-13 basically with 4 or 5 aq's in the group. maybe 13 conceivably slips in with 4.

last year they went off the reservation to account for covid schedules, so it will be interesting to see what they go back to. my guess is rpi.
 
We move into the Top 10, the contenders, this week:
No mention of Brian Cameron in this article.
cameron was a spring arrival. i believe he was just added to the roster in the last 24 hours. may account for his not being on the list of talking points.
 
Do wish Cuse had scheduled Rutgers rather than Maryland. Two game swing in our record imo which would have enhanced our tourney chances . Respect coaches challenging their squad but there were already many challenging games. Cuse will need to pull off a few upsets
 
Do wish Cuse had scheduled Rutgers rather than Maryland. Two game swing in our record imo which would have enhanced our tourney chances . Respect coaches challenging their squad but there were already many challenging games. Cuse will need to pull off a few upsets

Glad to see you've come around to my side, lol. In all seriousness swapping them for Rutty and adding a St Bonaventure or Binghamton would have been a huge help.
 
Glad to see you've come around to my side, lol. In all seriousness swapping them for Rutty and adding a St Bonaventure or Binghamton would have been a huge help.
I agree. One thing which may help Cuse this year is they don't have a target on their backs like last year. Other strong teams may actually be over-confident against Cuse (at least subconsciously).
 
Loyola scares the bejeesus out of me.

1) Everyone is back
2) They'll be hungry after the heartbreaking loss to Duke
3) They had a normal fall ball (one of a few teams that didn't have one last year I believe)
4) Shay can coach

Only thing that's missing is that alpha, Tewaaraton caliber offensive player. Lindley and Olmstead are good, but they aren't that. You've gotta have someone like that to be a championship contender. For that reason I'm not sure they raise the trophy on Memorial Day but I wouldn't be surprised whatsoever if Shay coaches them to a FF appearance.
 
Loyola scares the bejeesus out of me.

1) Everyone is back
2) They'll be hungry after the heartbreaking loss to Duke
3) They had a normal fall ball (one of a few teams that didn't have one last year I believe)
4) Shay can coach

Only thing that's missing is that alpha, Tewaaraton caliber offensive player. Lindley and Olmstead are good, but they aren't that. You've gotta have someone like that to be a championship contender. For that reason I'm not sure they raise the trophy on Memorial Day but I wouldn't be surprised whatsoever if Shay coaches them to a FF appearance.
You mean Toomey?
 

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