Vermont Game Preview (2/7/25, 6pm)

[Powellfan]

The Orange suit up for their second game in less than a week as they welcome the Catamounts from Vermont. The visitors return quite a few high impact players from last year, but the Orange are favored by a lot of goals for a reason. I'll try and keep this shorter than normal, Jeremey pretty much summed this matchup pretty succinctly a few days ago, but I am nothing if not a creature of habit. So here's a bit of a deeper dive.

I think the biggest returning player Vermont welcomes back is junior Henry Dodge, their FOGO. Dodge was a former Top 100 recruit, and he had a 58% winning percentage last year with over 100 groundballs. He's a big kid at 6'3 200. He did finish just 9-23 last year against the Orange (John Mullen was 5-7). Still, I believe that was Dodge's first game taking over as the main FOGO for Vermont. I think this is the main matchup to watch. Other than that, The Catamounts bring back their leading scorer Charlie Pope, who scored 42 goals last year as a midfielder. Curious with Mikey Weihasser on tap, if the Orange keep Caccamo on the main midfield threat this week. Perhaps they bump Mike Grace up if Caccamo struggles? Pope finished last year's game with a goal and an assist. If he is moved to attack I'm guessing Figuerias will draw him. Vermont loses their second leading scorer from last year in Brock Haley, but brings back their next three leading scorers, all of whom were either freshmen or sophomores last year.

Vermont does lose their goalie from last year. I couldn't find much about their scrimmages this offseason, but it looks like they tied Hobart at 10 earlier this spring. That might be a bit misleading as I think they were up 4-1 at the end of the first quarter. Not sure how much to take from that, but I don't think Hobart will be very good this year. The spread for this game is 13, which was the winning margin SU had last year against the Catamounts. Only thing is Syracuse has a quick turnaround against a good Towson team on Monday, which might mean they empty the bench quicker than normal. I think this might be closer to a 10 goal victory for the Orange.

From a Syracuse perspective, obviously it's nice to see what the lineup looks like after the first game. I'm guessing they keep with running three lines of midfielders for this game, and curious if they decide to mix and match the lines at all. Big question will be to see if they do it against Towson. Will probably come down to possessions. But I am getting ahead of myself here. Go Orange!

 

[JeremyCuse]

Yup good stuff.

The Orange suit up for their second game in less than a week as they welcome the Catamounts from Vermont. The visitors return quite a few high impact players from last year, but the Orange are favored by a lot of goals for a reason. I'll try and keep this shorter than normal, Jeremey pretty much summed this matchup pretty succinctly a few days ago, but I am nothing if not a creature of habit. So here's a bit of a deeper dive.

I think the biggest returning player Vermont welcomes back is junior Henry Dodge, their FOGO. Dodge was a former Top 100 recruit, and he had a 58% winning percentage last year with over 100 groundballs. He's a big kid at 6'3 200. He did finish just 9-23 last year against the Orange (John Mullen was 5-7). Still, I believe that was Dodge's first game taking over as the main FOGO for Vermont. I think this is the main matchup to watch. Other than that, The Catamounts bring back their leading scorer Charlie Pope, who scored 42 goals last year as a midfielder. Curious with Mikey Weihasser on tap, if the Orange keep Caccamo on the main midfield threat this week. Perhaps they bump Mike Grace up if Caccamo struggles? Pope finished last year's game with a goal and an assist. If he is moved to attack I'm guessing Figuerias will draw him. Vermont loses their second leading scorer from last year in Brock Haley, but brings back their next three leading scorers, all of whom were either freshmen or sophomores last year.

Vermont does lose their goalie from last year. I couldn't find much about their scrimmages this offseason, but it looks like they tied Hobart at 10 earlier this spring. That might be a bit misleading as I think they were up 4-1 at the end of the first quarter. Not sure how much to take from that, but I don't think Hobart will be very good this year. The spread for this game is 13, which was the winning margin SU had last year against the Catamounts. Only thing is Syracuse has a quick turnaround against a good Towson team on Monday, which might mean they empty the bench quicker than normal. I think this might be closer to a 10 goal victory for the Orange.

From a Syracuse perspective, obviously it's nice to see what the lineup looks like after the first game. I'm guessing they keep with running three lines of midfielders for this game, and curious if they decide to mix and match the lines at all. Big question will be to see if they do it against Towson. Will probably come down to possessions. But I am getting ahead of myself here. Go Orange!

Good stuff, as I noted in my post a few days ago there's not a lot to go on with Vermont not having played a game yet and only some anecdotal scrimmage notes out there. Vermont also has zero online presence as far as a fan or message board with the only site I could find last having a post from 2017.

That said there are a few things we can surmise about the game on Friday.
As we both noted Vermont returns a lot but they did lose some important pieces. They lost one half of their top scorers with Brock Haley graduating. He led the team with 31 assists and will be a big loss though Luke Reiter returns who had 27 assists. Vermont returns most of their defense as they started two true freshmen at close and their LSM is a true Soph who played a lot last year and is on the pre-season all conf 1st team. However, they did lose the top close defender Tim Manning to graduation along with their starting goalie George Egan. I also believe they lost their top three SSDM's which could bode very well for SU's midfield.

From a defensive standpoint Vermont could pose some issues. Pope is the big gun for sure but Reiter the top returning attackmen and Whittaker another returning middie put up 44 and 39 pts respectively. Vermont also added D3 grad transfer Zack Davis who put up 53 points in 2023 at Union. If your Syracuse I think you have to at least consider double pollign the midfield and I would not put Caccamo on Pope. Nothing against him but you need to bump Grace to LSM for this matchup as I am sure that's probably the plan for Weisshaer on Monday, might as well get some practice with it now. Now I assume Syracuse is not going to do this so watch and see if they make a mid game move here. Unclear if they would slot Caccamo at that the 3rd close spot or go to someone else. McCool likely to get his first real challenge, how does he respond?

Dodge their FOGO jumps out as a potential issue as well. Johnny started off a little slow last week but got into a groove and was 60%+ by the end of the game. Dodge struggled in this game last year but obvioulsy that doesn't mean much for Friday. If Johnny struggles or needs to miss a few draws for violations it appears Richiusa is the #2 for now which is a bit suprising. He was 3 for 6 against Jaxville and is a veteran presence but I think most assumed Drew Angelo was likely to get that 2nd spot. Something to watch as the season evolves.

From an offensive standpoint it would appear SU has some clear advantages. Vermont returns some solid D pieces including two first teamers (one at close and their LSM) that said they do appear to lose a large chunk of their rope unit and their top close defender from last year not mention their goalie. Friday's starting goalie seems likely to be true Sophomore Ryan Daley who saw action in 3 games last year. Needless to say the two O mids for SU drawing short sticks will likely be initiating a lot and I assume SU will also look to set picks to get Thomson and Hiltz on a short stick matchup. SU presenting Rhoa, Leo and English on that 1st line creates incredible matchup problems for most defenses. I doubt Vermont has the ability to double pole but will be something to watch.


Very intriguing game on Friday. I know the line is 12 but to me that seems high. Vermont has some major issues defensively on paper but that Offense should be good especially if they keep Pope at middie and create matchup issues with who to short. I am a big John Mullen fan but there's a lot of pressure on him to be good game in and game out. SU just doesn't have that secondary guy with Kohn gone. Angelo may ultimately become that guy but he's only a true frosh currently. If Mullen has some issues it's unclear who Gait will go to. Richiusa is a veteran guy but not sure he's a realistic option beyond a handful of draws a game. Also interested to see how the wing guys look on Friday, could be a huge piece if most draws become a scrum.

Overall this should be a nice test for SU especially with the next two games being huge steps up in terms of competition, Towson will present a massive challenge on Monday. The Vermont game should give a good look at the LSM spot, face off wings, and probably the defense overall. I certainly expect a comfortable win but I think it could be a lot closer then it looks on paper.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Couple other quick things for Friday or really more in general over the next few games.

SU cleared pretty well vs Jax (21-24) can this trend continue? We know how much they have struggled at times with good riding teams and 10 mans. Vermont isn't a 10 man team but I am curious to see how we clear.

Syracuse had 9 turnovers which again is another good sign but SU has been up and down under Gait with turnovers. With a mostly veteran squad out there on both sides I would like to think the turnovers should be down, 9 is a good start.

Penalties were OK with 4 but something to watch as I believe Powell or someone else noted in their post game recap was that the SU defense was sometimes overly aggressive. Something to monitor the next few weeks especially against Towson and Maryland.

Another nice sign from Sat is that offensively and defensively SU didn't have a stretch where they just look lost/out of sorts which was an issue at times last year for sometime extended periods. Again when your up two touchdowns it's easy not to have that happen.

Most of these areas can't really be addressed until SU hits some peer level opponents but a few things I'll be watching for over the next 3 games.

 

[690West]

Yup good stuff.


Good stuff, as I noted in my post a few days ago there's not a lot to go on with Vermont not having played a game yet and only some anecdotal scrimmage notes out there. Vermont also has zero online presence as far as a fan or message board with the only site I could find last having a post from 2017.

That said there are a few things we can surmise about the game on Friday.
As we both noted Vermont returns a lot but they did lose some important pieces. They lost one half of their top scorers with Brock Haley graduating. He led the team with 31 assists and will be a big loss though Luke Reiter returns who had 27 assists. Vermont returns most of their defense as they started two true freshmen at close and their LSM is a true Soph who played a lot last year and is on the pre-season all conf 1st team. However, they did lose the top close defender Tim Manning to graduation along with their starting goalie George Egan. I also believe they lost their top three SSDM's which could bode very well for SU's midfield.

From a defensive standpoint Vermont could pose some issues. Pope is the big gun for sure but Reiter the top returning attackmen and Whittaker another returning middie put up 44 and 39 pts respectively. Vermont also added D3 grad transfer Zack Davis who put up 53 points in 2023 at Union. If your Syracuse I think you have to at least consider double pollign the midfield and I would not put Caccamo on Pope. Nothing against him but you need to bump Grace to LSM for this matchup as I am sure that's probably the plan for Weisshaer on Monday, might as well get some practice with it now. Now I assume Syracuse is not going to do this so watch and see if they make a mid game move here. Unclear if they would slot Caccamo at that the 3rd close spot or go to someone else. McCool likely to get his first real challenge, how does he respond?

Dodge their FOGO jumps out as a potential issue as well. Johnny started off a little slow last week but got into a groove and was 60%+ by the end of the game. Dodge struggled in this game last year but obvioulsy that doesn't mean much for Friday. If Johnny struggles or needs to miss a few draws for violations it appears Richiusa is the #2 for now which is a bit suprising. He was 3 for 6 against Jaxville and is a veteran presence but I think most assumed Drew Angelo was likely to get that 2nd spot. Something to watch as the season evolves.

From an offensive standpoint it would appear SU has some clear advantages. Vermont returns some solid D pieces including two first teamers (one at close and their LSM) that said they do appear to lose a large chunk of their rope unit and their top close defender from last year not mention their goalie. Friday's starting goalie seems likely to be true Sophomore Ryan Daley who saw action in 3 games last year. Needless to say the two O mids for SU drawing short sticks will likely be initiating a lot and I assume SU will also look to set picks to get Thomson and Hiltz on a short stick matchup. SU presenting Rhoa, Leo and English on that 1st line creates incredible matchup problems for most defenses. I doubt Vermont has the ability to double pole but will be something to watch.


Very intriguing game on Friday. I know the line is 12 but to me that seems high. Vermont has some major issues defensively on paper but that Offense should be good especially if they keep Pope at middie and create matchup issues with who to short. I am a big John Mullen fan but there's a lot of pressure on him to be good game in and game out. SU just doesn't have that secondary guy with Kohn gone. Angelo may ultimately become that guy but he's only a true frosh currently. If Mullen has some issues it's unclear who Gait will go to. Richiusa is a veteran guy but not sure he's a realistic option beyond a handful of draws a game. Also interested to see how the wing guys look on Friday, could be a huge piece if most draws become a scrum.

Overall this should be a nice test for SU especially with the next two games being huge steps up in terms of competition, Towson will present a massive challenge on Monday. The Vermont game should give a good look at the LSM spot, face off wings, and probably the defense overall. I certainly expect a comfortable win but I think it could be a lot closer then it looks on paper.

Where do you guys find the Vegas lines? I can’t see anything on Fanduel or DK cuz I live in NY

 

[JeremyCuse]

Where do you guys find the Vegas lines? I can’t see anything on Fanduel or DK cuz I live in NY

Fanduel in NY is awful for lax, don't even bother.

DK does have them, but you have to search. GO to all sports and look under or search lacrosse. Then go to college lacrosse and the non NY games will come up. A word of caution, the juice on some of the spreads can be nuts. I just checked and they have a large number of Sat's game available and most of the lines seem reasonable for a change.

Edit a good example of the juice nonsense is the Providence vs Bryant game. The line is Providence -1.5. The odds for Providence is +114 while the odds for Bryant the supposed "dog" is -145.

 

[690West]

Fanduel in NY is awful for lax, don't even bother.

DK does have them, but you have to search. GO to all sports and look under or search lacrosse. Then go to college lacrosse and the non NY games will come up. A word of caution, the juice on some of the spreads can be nuts. I just checked and they have a large number of Sat's game available and most of the lines seem reasonable for a change.

Edit a good example of the juice nonsense is the Providence vs Bryant game. The line is Providence -1.5. The odds for Providence is +114 while the odds for Bryant the supposed "dog" is -145.

I see the non NY games on DK. I'm wondering where do you guys find the Cuse lines?

 

[JeremyCuse]

I see the non NY games on DK. I'm wondering where do you guys find the Cuse lines?

Syracusefan posters who live outside of NY can get the lines from DK and Caesars etc, also some vegas lines are available online/social mediaa.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

I see the non NY games on DK. I'm wondering where do you guys find the Cuse lines?

Get in your car and drive to the 1st exit in PA (where they sell the fireworks).

 

[FloridaCuse]

I see the non NY games on DK. I'm wondering where do you guys find the Cuse lines?

I can access the Draftkings and Fanduel LAX lines in Florida (although neither site can be used in Florida), including lines on NY schools, but not NJ schools. I believe Laxfanshutt usually uses lines from Draftkings so that's what I give him for NY schools. Unless, as today, there's a line on Fanduel that's not on Draftkings. Lines on both sites are usually pretty close, within .5 or 1.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Angelo may need a little more time. Not everyone looks like Johnny Mullen when they come in as a true freshman. Richiusa has a lot of experience under his belt so it does not surprise that he is the second fogo right now.

Pope is more like a tank than Mr. Speedy. I think Dwan will be the most likely matchup, but would be curious if they try Grace on him to see how he does.

Would like to see our back up lsms get more of a challenge to see who does well, and in general just hope Vermont makes us feel any sort of pressure. Pros and cons to starting the season with easy games. It helps getting the guys into game shape before tougher opponents, but sometimes I wish we started things up with a more high pressure game. You can learn a lot right from the jump, and your opponent is dealing with similar disadvantages. Either way, Towson is likely going to be a handful and I hope we have enough of our personnel figured out, especially on defense.