Utah Thoughts

[JeremyCuse]

You know things are bad when Powellfan hasn't posted his weekly opus on the opponent by midday Thursday. Rough time for several ACC schools right now with UVA and Cuse already with multiple losses.

Not a lot to say at this point that hasn't already been said about SU. Major concerns on both sides of the ball and in Goal. A season that started with such promise is on the verge of getting completely off the rails. I suspect Gait is going to get a few non softball questions in this weeks PC. Maybe a game on the road will help though Utah is no pushover.

Utah is 1-3 on paper but has played a pretty tough schedule. Lost a one goal heartbreaker to Delaware when they had a goal lead late, lost to Denver by 2 and then to Vermont playing in what looked like a Barn in New Hampshire last Friday. They like SU have one very good FOGO but not much in the way of Depth. Tyler Kloecki is at 55% for the year but he really struggled vs Vermont going 1 for 8. Utah tried several other FOGO's but they didn't fare much better. We all know how good Johnny was last Saturday and I suspect he will have another very solid game on Saturday. Biggest concern is wearing him out as he took all but 2 of the faceoffs the last two games with Richiusa taking the other 2 and losing both. Need Richiusa to offer more then his current 5 for 17 or give Angelo a look, not sure it's realistic to expect Mullen to take 98% of the faceoffs moving forward.

Ryan Stines is the straw that stirs the drink for the Utes. Last year SU put Dwan on him and he had 1 goal on 9 shots. I suspect they will go with the same matchup again this year assuming Dwan is good to go. Looked hobbled for a decent part of Saturday but didn't appear to be anything overtly serious. Luke McNamara the Freshman who tortured Ohio State in game 1 is 2nd overall with 11 pts (Stines leads with 17). They form a heck of a 1-2 Combo. I assume Fig will take McNamara though he will be giving up some height as McNamara is listed at 6'2. They have a lot of upperclassmen as ancillary pieces including Vermont transfer Jonas Hunter as the 3rd attackmen and Sr Cody Hart at middie. Utah isn't a great passing team, Stines has 11 assists and below him 4 guys are tied at 2.

Rough outing for the D last week not only McCool but he D overall, Teddy Malone absolutely torched the for I believe 4 or 5 goals. Big week for both McCool and Odierna. SU was horrific with secondary slides. I don't know if we have the personnel at SSDM to do it but SU may want to consider going with the Army and Maryland principal of being very slow to slide. Will burn a defense a few times a game for sure but should clean up the issues with secondary slides and stop SU long poles from "hedging" where they drift toward the ball carrier but don't full commit and leave their cover guy wide open which happened multiple times last Saturday. McCool will get the start but I suspect the leash will be pretty short. Hoping this unit will rebound convincingly after last weeks disaster.


Offensively I am curious to see if Rhoa plays. His injury luckily appears to be minor which is a great sign, we need him back asap. My assumption is that if he's close he will play on Saturday. Main thing I will be looking for is any personnel or scheme changes. The 2nd line as we know will have to be adjusted with Birt lost. I am not expecting much in the way of changes because under Gait changes have been few and far between but boy if there was a week to make them this is it. Does Anderson get any run? Who runs with the 2's? Is is Hottle the guy with the starters if Rhoa is out again? Any younger guy crack the lineup? Beyond personnel does the offense show more patience? Are possessions being valued especially in certain situations? Are turnovers improved? Is the offense again a no-show in the 2nd half for the 3rd straight game? Utah has a decent defense but they don't have great depth at long pole, their Goalie is under 50% versus a quartet of less than stellar offenses

I could get into a long breakdown about additional matchups and personnel but much like last weeks game this is a game Syracuse needs to win period. I thought going into Harvard that the team would respond but by halftime I turned to the people around me and told them I thought we were in big trouble and unfortunately it was the Cornell game redux. I have major concerns about this staff and their ability to get this team over the hump. Gait said a lot of the right things in his PC on Saturday, it would be nice to see that actually now play out on the field. This is will be a tough environment as the game will surely be sold out and Utah will want to send a message. With Hopkins next week and the season teetering we need to see what this team is made of.

 

[Cuse All-In]

You know things are bad when Powellfan hasn't posted his weekly opus on the opponent by midday Thursday. Rough time for several ACC schools right now with UVA and Cuse already with multiple losses.

Not a lot to say at this point that hasn't already been said about SU. Major concerns on both sides of the ball and in Goal. A season that started with such promise is on the verge of getting completely off the rails. I suspect Gait is going to get a few non softball questions in this weeks PC. Maybe a game on the road will help though Utah is no pushover.

Utah is 1-3 on paper but has played a pretty tough schedule. Lost a one goal heartbreaker to Delaware when they had a goal lead late, lost to Denver by 2 and then to Vermont playing in what looked like a Barn in New Hampshire last Friday. They like SU have one very good FOGO but not much in the way of Depth. Tyler Kloecki is at 55% for the year but he really struggled vs Vermont going 1 for 8. Utah tried several other FOGO's but they didn't fare much better. We all know how good Johnny was last Saturday and I suspect he will have another very solid game on Saturday. Biggest concern is wearing him out as he took all but 2 of the faceoffs the last two games with Richiusa taking the other 2 and losing both. Need Richiusa to offer more then his current 5 for 17 or give Angelo a look, not sure it's realistic to expect Mullen to take 98% of the faceoffs moving forward.

Ryan Stines is the straw that stirs the drink for the Utes. Last year SU put Dwan on him and he had 1 goal on 9 shots. I suspect they will go with the same matchup again this year assuming Dwan is good to go. Looked hobbled for a decent part of Saturday but didn't appear to be anything overtly serious. Luke McNamara the Freshman who tortured Ohio State in game 1 is 2nd overall with 11 pts (Stines leads with 17). They form a heck of a 1-2 Combo. I assume Fig will take McNamara though he will be giving up some height as McNamara is listed at 6'2. They have a lot of upperclassmen as ancillary pieces including Vermont transfer Jonas Hunter as the 3rd attackmen and Sr Cody Hart at middie. Utah isn't a great passing team, Stines has 11 assists and below him 4 guys are tied at 2.

Rough outing for the D last week not only McCool but he D overall, Teddy Malone absolutely torched the for I believe 4 or 5 goals. Big week for both McCool and Odierna. SU was horrific with secondary slides. I don't know if we have the personnel at SSDM to do it but SU may want to consider going with the Army and Maryland principal of being very slow to slide. Will burn a defense a few times a game for sure but should clean up the issues with secondary slides and stop SU long poles from "hedging" where they drift toward the ball carrier but don't full commit and leave their cover guy wide open which happened multiple times last Saturday. McCool will get the start but I suspect the leash will be pretty short. Hoping this unit will rebound convincingly after last weeks disaster.


Offensively I am curious to see if Rhoa plays. His injury luckily appears to be minor which is a great sign, we need him back asap. My assumption is that if he's close he will play on Saturday. Main thing I will be looking for is any personnel or scheme changes. The 2nd line as we know will have to be adjusted with Birt lost. I am not expecting much in the way of changes because under Gait changes have been few and far between but boy if there was a week to make them this is it. Does Anderson get any run? Who runs with the 2's? Is is Hottle the guy with the starters if Rhoa is out again? Any younger guy crack the lineup? Beyond personnel does the offense show more patience? Are possessions being valued especially in certain situations? Are turnovers improved? Is the offense again a no-show in the 2nd half for the 3rd straight game? Utah has a decent defense but they don't have great depth at long pole, their Goalie is under 50% versus a quartet of less than stellar offenses

I could get into a long breakdown about additional matchups and personnel but much like last weeks game this is a game Syracuse needs to win period. I thought going into Harvard that the team would respond but by halftime I turned to the people around me and told them I thought we were in big trouble and unfortunately it was the Cornell game redux. I have major concerns about this staff and their ability to get this team over the hump. Gait said a lot of the right things in his PC on Saturday, it would be nice to see that actually now play out on the field. This is will be a tough environment as the game will surely be sold out and Utah will want to send a message. With Hopkins next week and the season teetering we need to see what this team is made of.

Thanks for a great summary as usual. Curious if you or anyone else has any comments on the effects of higher elevation on oxygen levels for visiting teams. Salt Lake City isn't as high as Denver (but still getting up there).

I don't think Cuse has played there as we were in the Dome last year. I don't think we've ever played in Denver either. When is the team heading out for the game?

 

[JeremyCuse]

Thanks for a great summary as usual. Curious if you or anyone else has any comments on the effects of higher elevation on oxygen levels for visiting teams. Salt Lake City isn't as high as Denver (but still getting up there).

I don't think Cuse has played there as we were in the Dome last year. I don't think we've ever played in Denver either. When is the team heading out for the game?

They are flying out today. I think the higher elevation is a concern though Hopkins played at Denver to start the year and it didn't appear to be much of an issue. IF this game turns into a track meet similar to last Sat I think it could become a concern. Also not taking a shot at anyone in particular, but SU has struggled in the second half of games as we all know and you wonder if conditioning could be playing some role in that. However, I never got the impression SU looked tired or exhausted in those games where the 2nd half was a mess.

 

[FloridaCuse]

Thanks for a great summary as usual. Curious if you or anyone else has any comments on the effects of higher elevation on oxygen levels for visiting teams. Salt Lake City isn't as high as Denver (but still getting up there).

I don't think Cuse has played there as we were in the Dome last year. I don't think we've ever played in Denver either. When is the team heading out for the game?

I read some speculation preseason (I forgot where) that elevation can be a factor out there for visiting teams from the east.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Just win baby. Offense will almost definitely be cooking for at least 2-3 quarters. Would be mighty reassuring if they could do it for 4. If Rhoa is back I am confident it will be at least a little better than last week. Defense is my main concern overall, so it would be nice to see a bounceback game for them. The Harvard autopsy shows a lot of unorganized rotations and unnecessary slides from the defense, something I was hoping we would leave behind in the Petro era. Dwan, as mentioned by some the day of, was a little slow on rotations at times due to the ankle injury. Hoping his replacement is up to the task if they rest him. The other question mark is goalie. My vote is to just roll with Ippoliti and be done with it, but we will see what they do. Ideally no switching mid-game.

Meant to mention this weeks ago and not exactly related to the Utah game, but I saw from the stands against Towson that freshman Matt McIntee and Kolby White were both nursing injuries and not wearing pads. At least I am pretty sure it was them. Bummer since we could use some of their athleticism for depth in the wing/ssdm spots at elevation. Would love to see us put some faith in the depth, whoever that may be.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Rhoa was certainly a tough guy to lose given the season he was having. Not that it excuses the loss by any means, but we are a much better team with his shooting on the field.

 

[Cuse All-In]

They are flying out today. I think the higher elevation is a concern though Hopkins played at Denver to start the year and it didn't appear to be much of an issue. IF this game turns into a track meet similar to last Sat I think it could become a concern. Also not taking a shot at anyone in particular, but SU has struggled in the second half of games as we all know and you wonder if conditioning could be playing some role in that. However, I never got the impression SU looked tired or exhausted in those games where the 2nd half was a mess.

Thanks. I realized after my post that I hadn't read the Daily Orange articles which of course discussed the elevation. Now I look like an idiot even more than usual

Its interesting you mention conditioning. It reminds me of our disappointing 2021 season where we faded in the 2nd half (among other issues) of critical games. The consensus then was that maybe the boys were being overworked which I think was probably the case (i.e. Dearth). I know Gait was using gadgets over the last couple of years to monitor the players so they wouldn't get injuries. In a game like the Harvard one, the bad guys definitely had more energy than we did in the 2nd half - is that adrenaline, momentum, conditioning?? Who knows

 

[Powellfan]

Good stuff Jeremey! I couldn't bring myself to put together anything in-depth this week. That Harvard performance really took the wind out of my sails. If they beat Utah and Colgate the next two games I'll hop back on the train.

I think SU played Georgetown in San Diego during Mike Leveille's freshman year. Before that I think the last time they traveled west of the Rocky Mountains was to play Air Force in Colorado Springs during Mike Powell's sophomore season. I could be wrong about specifics.

Hopefully Rhoa's back and Dwan is healthy. If they are, I feel pretty confident about a victory. If not, who knows as this staff is struggling with adjustments. If Dwan is out I hope they don't play Kol, his penalty last week should cost him some game time. I imagine we'll see the same lineup we saw last week if Rhoa is out, and I don't expect any major shakeups, but we'll see. Shooting and changing levels has to be the number one focus for this team.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Rhoa and Dwan both traveling. Day-to-day.

 

[cuselaxss26]

If ok like to give little of my thoughts tho may not relate so much to this game just something i realize today.

1. For defense besides the sliding or half slide when don’t call for it , n sometimes poor off ball coverage. The no stick on hands or constant active sticks in passing lanes etc. What realize why don’t we sub defense out periodically at times ? Meaning take a dwan out or fig or grace (1 at a time of course) and mostly in first half or middle of 3rd. Give them a breather here n there so come forth or second half they least should have second wind. Not to mention will give other talented prospects some time n experience. May help with late game mistakes n conditioning. Just a thought.

2. Think we need to have better sub game. Feel to many times we are slow to get off or on field. Few times guy who clears it (attack doesn’t always help like should) dude just trying to keep ball or away waiting forever for O mid to get on. Not to mention can delay sub someone like leo when things already settled to get matchup or just use better sub game overall to create numbers or mismatches.

3. Offense has to shoot a lot better. No it’s ends or butts. Change levels , bounce it and overhand also. Also like to see ball move at hyper speed. Even if D is packed in tight if can move it around fast n guys also move can get atleast a nice step down or rip. Also no more poor angle shots. If not 5yrds or more above cage n don’t have least half net to shoot at advise not to pull trigger.

4. Really like to see anderson get time. It true that white or McIntyre hurt that stinks if not give them a chance. Also like to see kellogg get few runs. I wanna see hustle on every gb on every ride on every play.

5. Goalies make saves. Yup that’s it.

6. Coaches do something anything. Adjustments please.

 

[cuselaxss26]

Oh tho mullen has been solid at faceoffs also notice where are the fast break goals. Yes he has taken shots himself but know last year (maby was kohn mostly) we had few goals right off faceoff from fast breaks. Only thing say mullen needs to improve. Reading the D after winning to himself starting face break n dishing to right guy to start it. We have to use our strengths to our advantages as much as possible.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Brent subtitly calling out the attack unit a bit with his question on Defenses packing it in, wish he had pressed a little more but good to see the question. Thought Gait's response on Thomson was a little weird, second PC in a row he's kind of called him out for lack of consistency bit odd though to do it after he just scored 5 goals. Was really hoping for a question on the 2nd mid line unfortunately I think Brent is the only actual media guy beyond multiple Newhouse students so mostly softballs.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Rhoa and Dwan both traveling. Day-to-day.

I suspect both will play, they wouldn't have either travel if they were out.

 

[cuselaxss26]

Yea do love the question bout taking more outside shots. Which is def something we need to do (of course need to bury those shots). As mention before gotta be able to score on step downs or mid range shots. Most teams or least so far have given us those shots almost begging us to shot. We don’t take them often n when do it’s either telegraphed or right at goalie. Hide the head of ur stick n rip it. Over hand bounces or even skip bounces. But gotta be able to score on more then just inside shots.

 

[cuselaxss26]

Also feel bad for birt. When asked bout it gait seemed to almost have trouble saying birt was out for year as the injury is not good at all. Like he even felt bad to talk bout it was so bad. Hope he recovers fully n wish him best. Curious if he will try for medical red shirt or give it up.

 

[DMVCuseLax]

If I remember correctly Billy covered #4 and Fig covered Stines last year. I think they will stay with those matchups.

I watched some of the OSU vs Utah game a few weeks ago. Utah was much faster and athletic than OSU that day, OSU looked lost on defense at times. Everyone needs to be more physical on ball tomorrow. Grace and Billy need to turn up the physically and Fig needs to make better decisions on his slides.

Offensively we need to cut the turnovers down to less than 10. Close to 20 turnovers in a game is not going to work. Stop forcing passes into the crease when there isn't a window. Id like to see them change tempo during the course of the game and burn some of the shot clock.

Need Rhoa back on the field and old Leo to show.

 

[DoctahLexus]

We are currently the cleanest team in the country on paper when it comes to turnovers at 12 a game. Clearing percentage is also in the top 10. We seem overall good at keeping it clean this year, but just have to keep it that way late in games when the pressure is on. Also, if low angle impatient shots early in the shot clock counted as turnovers, that number would be higher.

 

[LaxAddict38]

Not sure if anyone else noticed but we switched our clear this year to the “2-down” look, with the goalie and just 1 close defenseman on the base level instead of 2. Allows for more of a punt return look from the midfielders.

This was Odierna’s signature clearing style at Manhattan, where his team was consistently top 5 in the country in clearing.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he took over the clear this off-season, which would be very good for us. He consistently dealt with exotic and aggressive riding packages in the MAAC and always had an answer.

I’m hopeful that our improvement in the clear thus far this season will continue.

 

[upperdeck]

DO they break down clears by type?

Clears from settled vs clears from turnovers vs clears after saves etc

Clearing from the back line after a shot clock far different then clearing after causing a bad pass intercepted 10 yds in front of the goalie

Much like BBALL has pts off turnover stats. Stealing out front is going to lead to more pts than teams that cause shot clock violations.

 

[LaxAddict38]

DO they break down clears by type?

Clears from settled vs clears from turnovers vs clears after saves etc

Clearing from the back line after a shot clock far different then clearing after causing a bad pass intercepted 10 yds in front of the goalie

Much like BBALL has pts off turnover stats. Stealing out front is going to lead to more pts than teams that cause shot clock violations.

Lacrosse doesn't track these stats, but they often lead into clearing %. Easiest way to pad clearing stats is to hit the quick up n' out off a save or push it fast after a CT and not let the ride get set up, counts as a successful clear and is pretty much free.

One cause for concern is that, outside of Rice, our rope unit (LSMs + SSDMs) hasn't shown an ability to push transition and make plays on offensive side. Great to have the goalie get it up n' out to a d-mid or LSM, but at some point those guys have to be a threat in transition.

I am missing Olexo and Wright much more than I had expected to this season.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

I think this one gets ugly and we win big. Which is frustrating bc if we had snuck past Harvard I'd be calling -4.5 a trap and expecting us to coast and let them hang around.

 

[cuselaxss26]

would like to see gait set some goals for this game. Like holding utah to 10 or under, 7 diff goal scorers, 35 plus gbs. Something to maby help motivate guys. Either way they have to come out and play a full 60mins. Even if it’s 15-3 at half (even how unlikely) still pedal to metal. Gotta be focused even when game isn’t close. Also like to see some new faces get some quality time n experience, for few reasons one don’t wish to say cause of jinx.

 

[PAcuse]

I'm sure I can come up with a long list of things I want to see today BUT it comes down to one major thing for me.
Head
Heart
Hustle

This team has not really shown that this year.
We just need to win and get it back on track.

 

[Comstock44]

A win today hinges upon Rhoa’s availability. He and English are the only true midfielders out there. Leo and Deere need to step up. I’d like to see them in a rotation with Thomson at the 3rd attack spot. I’m interested to see if Anderson touches the field today. If not I’ll assume he’s not good enough, with all the opportunity in the world to get on the field, especially with Birtwistle out for the year, I’d be comfortable calling Anderson (and Gait’s recruiting) a bust.