Vermont Game Preview (02/03/24, 4 pm) | Syracusefan.com

Vermont Game Preview (02/03/24, 4 pm)

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Let's do it.

Vermont has been a consistently good team the last few years, producing some big name players like Thomas McConvey, Tommy Burke, Nick Alviti, etc. Most of those big names are now gone, but the Catamounts do have some good players still, specifically Brock Haley who lead the team in scoring last year with 52 points. (FWIW SU did hold him to just one goal on 12 shots last year). Vermont does have to replace their second leading scorer, David Closterman, but a lot of the offense last year was built on Freshmen, including Tristan Whitaker (27 pts), Carson Boyle (21) and Charles Huntley (18 pts). They were the Catamounts 3rd, 4th and 5th leading scorers. I think the Catamounts will be good on offense this year and should provide the Orange's new look defense a good early test.

On defense is where Vermont may struggle. Seems like half their defense from last year is playing for Maryland. They lose their main LSM Alviti (insane 111 groundballs, 24 CTs and 10 points) , Jackson Canfield who had 12 CT and 32 groundballs, and Colin Sharkey who had 27 gbs, all to the Terps. They also lose their starting goalie Matt Shafer who had a 55% save percentage. Their back up George Egan had a save percentage of 51% last year and played in five games. Chris Fifes has a defensive background, but this seems like a rebuilding project.

The big question for the Catamounts is replacing Burke who took 310 faceoffs last year, won 65% of them and also had 111 groundballs. No one else on the roster took more than 22 draws last year. They do have a former Inside Lacrosse Power 100 recruit on the roster in Henry Dodge, but he finished just 1-11 last year. I think SU should be able to have an advantage in this department. Sounds like Mason Kohn struggled against Michigan, hopefully this is a game he can gain some confidence from.

Obviously last years game was a bit surprising as it finished just 7-5 in favor of Syracuse. I think this years game should be much higher scoring, but season openers can be a bit surprising. I think SU should have an edge at face-off and with Vermont's depleted defense, I'm not sure the Catamounts can keep up. I am expecting a 15-10 type of game. Of course a big wild card eliment to this game is the fact SU has a quick turnaround and faces Colgate the following Monday. I don't think there will be a let down look ahead aspect to this game, but in some way have to imagine that next game will be in the back of their minds.

All that said, Lets go Orange! Excited to have the season back and be able to talk about real games.
 
nyclax said:
vermont had a horrendous scrimmage vs hobart this weekend. they are in for a rough year. orange by 10
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I heard this as well, but the Orange struggled early in their scrimmage against Michigan. The Orange are still young, with some proven transfers mixed in, and their pre-season ranking is based on their potential--not what they did last year. There is no game on the schedule that they can take lightly or they will find themselves in a dog fight and no one is just going to lay down for them. In short, the Orange needs to stop reading their press and get to work. I am very upbeat for this season and for the Vermont game but the Orange have to win the little battles ie groundballs, clearing etc.
 
Vermont will be hard team to give a real good preview on as they turned over a ton from last year especially on Defense.

Nick Alviti, Jackson Canfield and Colin Sharkey are all gone playing at Maryland as grad transfers. Alviti was the top LSM, Canfield the top cover guy and Sharkey the top SSDM. the first were all conference players. Along with them they also lost goalie Matt Shaffer, their second leading scorer in David Closterman and another starter in close defender David Manning

Faceoff man Tommy Burke is clearly the biggest overall loss along with probably all of the top end D guys to Maryland. They do return Brock Haley who was their top scorer with 52 but Closterman his running mate who had 49 is gone and after him the scoring fell off a cliff. The third and fourth scorers, Whitaker Mid and Boyle Attack do return after scoring 27 and 21 respectively.

I am not aware of them adding any significant players via the portal but I certainly could have missed it. Burke also took nearly every faceoff for Vermont last year. His backups were 7-22, 1-11 and 4-7. They returned two of the backups, Dodge who is 6'3 but went 1 for 11 last year and Bergeron who went 4-7. They also added a Frosh fogo but he is listed at 5'9 and 185lbs, seems unlikely they plane on sending him out. If I had to guess they will probably try and roll with Bergergon the grad student and see what he can do first.

You don't want to start dismissing games especially after last years 7-5 score (one of the more bizarre games I have ever watched) but it's hard to see how SU doesn't win this game comfortably. From a D standpoint Vermont is completely rebuilding and while they have a very solid #1 cover guy in Tim Manning, beyond that it's a lot of young guys or players who barely saw the field last year. I don't see Vermont having the Defensive depth to slow down SU barring SU turning the ball over a ton or their goalie having an all world game. Guys like Mule, Hiltz, and the middies getting a shorty should be able to put up big numbers.

From a defensive standpoint I would surmise Fig will be on Haley and Olexxo on Whitaker. Again you have to give SU a pretty good advantage here. I am interested to see how the SSDM's look and if SU is still having issues with penalties. I am also curious to see if Vermont will try and throw a 10 man though I don't think that's usually Feifs style. I definitely want to see how SU looks against the ride, if my memory serves it was an issue last year versus Vermont.

Vermont has so many new pieces its hard to give a full breakdown but this should be a game by midway through the 2nd quarter SU should have the rust and nerves off and should be controlling the game. SU not winning this game by a fairly comfortable margin would be a blaring warning sign.
 
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One thing to note per the Hobart guys form this past weekend scrimmage against Vermont, they noted they weren't overly dominant at the X. Their man FOGO Shea is pretty good so Vermont may have a better back up plan for Burke then appears on paper.
 
Powellfan said:
Let's do it.

Vermont has been a consistently good team the last few years, producing some big name players like Thomas McConvey, Tommy Burke, Nick Alviti, etc. Most of those big names are now gone, but the Catamounts do have some good players still, specifically Brock Haley who lead the team in scoring last year with 52 points. (FWIW SU did hold him to just one goal on 12 shots last year). Vermont does have to replace their second leading scorer, David Closterman, but a lot of the offense last year was built on Freshmen, including Tristan Whitaker (27 pts), Carson Boyle (21) and Charles Huntley (18 pts). They were the Catamounts 3rd, 4th and 5th leading scorers. I think the Catamounts will be good on offense this year and should provide the Orange's new look defense a good early test.

On defense is where Vermont may struggle. Seems like half their defense from last year is playing for Maryland. They lose their main LSM Alviti (insane 111 groundballs, 24 CTs and 10 points) , Jackson Canfield who had 12 CT and 32 groundballs, and Colin Sharkey who had 27 gbs, all to the Terps. They also lose their starting goalie Matt Shafer who had a 55% save percentage. Their back up George Egan had a save percentage of 51% last year and played in five games. Chris Fifes has a defensive background, but this seems like a rebuilding project.

The big question for the Catamounts is replacing Burke who took 310 faceoffs last year, won 65% of them and also had 111 groundballs. No one else on the roster took more than 22 draws last year. They do have a former Inside Lacrosse Power 100 recruit on the roster in Henry Dodge, but he finished just 1-11 last year. I think SU should be able to have an advantage in this department. Sounds like Mason Kohn struggled against Michigan, hopefully this is a game he can gain some confidence from.

Obviously last years game was a bit surprising as it finished just 7-5 in favor of Syracuse. I think this years game should be much higher scoring, but season openers can be a bit surprising. I think SU should have an edge at face-off and with Vermont's depleted defense, I'm not sure the Catamounts can keep up. I am expecting a 15-10 type of game. Of course a big wild card eliment to this game is the fact SU has a quick turnaround and faces Colgate the following Monday. I don't think there will be a let down look ahead aspect to this game, but in some way have to imagine that next game will be in the back of their minds.

All that said, Lets go Orange! Excited to have the season back and be able to talk about real games.
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LOL I started my post before this came up, while i was typing I got the notice of new posts and I knew it had to be you. Good stuff as always.
 
JeremyCuse said:
One thing to note per the Hobart guys form this past weekend scrimmage against Vermont, they noted they weren't overly dominant at the X. Their man FOGO Shea is pretty good so Vermont may have a better back up plan for Burke then appears on paper.
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I read that to and was surprised as Shea is pretty good.
 
AD31 said:
I read that to and was surprised as Shea is pretty good.
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Yes he is, I was kind of surprised to hear this as well. I would note that Hobart has had major issues on the wings like SU has for years. So that may have played a role.

It also sounds like Vermont was suffering some of the same issues SU was early against Michigan. Throwing the ball around, turnovers, trouble clearing etc. They eventually righted the ship apparently but couldn't get all the way back.
 
JeremyCuse said:
Yes he is, I was kind of surprised to hear this as well. I would note that Hobart has had major issues on the wings like SU has for years. So that may have played a role.

It also sounds like Vermont was suffering some of the same issues SU was early against Michigan. Throwing the ball around, turnovers, trouble clearing etc. They eventually righted the ship apparently but couldn't get all the way back.
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We did give Shea a pretty good battle with Fine and Richiusa last year. Think the schedule gives his percentage a boost. We actually played Burke pretty close as well
 
DoctahLexus said:
We did give Shea a pretty good battle with Fine and Richiusa last year. Think the schedule gives his percentage a boost. We actually played Burke pretty close as well
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Id have to go back and watch the game but I believe your right about Shea at least in the 1st half. I think he got on a run in the 2nd half or maybe late 2nd quarter but by that point it was way to late.

SU lost the battle to Burke last year but he only won 9 of 16 which I think SU was thrilled with. I thought it was a real good sign moving forward, unfortunately that was not the case. This year SU has 4 legit options at the X, I'd like to think one of them will be able to be above 50%. I think Mullen maybe the answer.
 
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JeremyCuse said:
Id have to go back and watch the game but I believe your right about Shea at least in the 1st half. I think he got on a run in the 2nd half or maybe late 2nd quarter but by that point it was way to late.

SU lost the battle to Burke last year but he only won 9 of 16 which I think SU was thrilled with. I thought it was a real good sign moving forward, unfortunately that was not the case. This year SU has 4 legit options at the X, I'd like to think one of them will be able to be above 50%. I think Mullen maybe the answer.
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I also wonder is Richuisa went back home after season and worked his ass off? Hit the gym to put on muscle and work on his craft. I'm curious to see if he's in the rotation.
 
AD31 said:
I also wonder is Richuisa went back home after season and worked his ass off? Hit the gym to put on muscle and work on his craft. I'm curious to see if he's in the rotation.
Expand...

Definitely, you don't want to write anyone off. Fogo's can improve and he was seeing top end competition for the first time in his young career. Hopefully he's staying involved and continuing to try and improve, never know when he could be called on again.
 
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OrangeXtreme said:
No mention of injuries.

Tucker Kellogg and Wyatt Hottle (Wattle) are freshmen to watch.
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One of those names is very familiar if your a fine lot tailgater
 
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