Powellfan
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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And just like that ... it's the last game of the regular season. Time flies when you're having fun right? After an up and down four game road trip (2-2), the Orange return home for, hopefully, not the last time this season (round one of the NCAA tournament). They face a difficult challenge in the Virginia Cavaliers, coming off just their second loss of the season to Duke.
UVA is a tricky team. They have perhaps if not the best, then at least one of the best starting offensive in the country. But they have no depth behind their top six (you could make the argument for top 5, as Ryan Colsey hasn't been on the level of the others). I imagine that Riley Figuerias will take Conor Shellenberger, Billy Dwan will be on McCabe Millon and Caden Kol will take Payton Cormier. LSMs will take Griffin Schutz, who is a load offensively. The matchups seem pretty straight forward (you could argue Dwan should take Shellenberger), but of course it's easier said than done when talking about the Cavs, especially Shellenberger. Virginia get scoring from their defensive midfield (Ben Wayer, Joey Terenzi and Noah Chizmar have combined for 23 points), but their highest scoring second line midfielder (Will Cory), has just seven points with just 14 shots. The Orange need to do their best job of taking care of Virginia's "knowns".
Obviously a lot of attention will be on SU's offense, which has just 13 goals in the last six quarters of game time. With Pat March back on the sidelines, you would think that would be a boost for the Orange. To me, the offense this week really needs to go through the midfield - the Orange attack and the Virginia defense couldn't' be more different size wise, with the Cavs towering over the Orange attack. But I think if the Orange can exploit mismatches in the midfield, they can get the Virginia defense moving and score some easy goals. Syracuse needs to value the ball in this game and needs to execute better than they have been. It's hard to know what sort of headspace Matthew Nunes will be in for this one - he didn't make a save against Duke and was pulled after he gave up seven goals, but prior to that he was playing some really good lacrosse - he's at 56% for the season despite the Duke game. Hopefully SU can get to him early and instill some more self doubt.
The biggest question for SU, on offense, is Christian Mule - he's had a rough two games against Cornell and UNC. He had four points in the combined matchups, but finished just 1-14 shooting, which isn't going to get the job done against high level opponents. I'm not entirely sure how to fix the issue, Mule was a player at Lehigh who could be a finisher and a passer - it's strange to me that he can't adapt to the fact that he's now getting a short stick. He's gotten good looks too, perhaps he just needs a few shots to fall and he'll get his confidence back. To me, this is the biggest worry as SU enters post-season play. SU hasn't changed their lineups at all unless it's been due to injury, I think we just have to hope that Mule figures this out. He's been strong earlier in the season, so you know he can produce, he just needs to find his mojo.
The face-off battle should be a good one - UVA's main guy, Anthony Ghobriel, has a 57% winning percentage, but has missed five games this year due to injury. They have a decent back up in Thomas Colluci who is at 54%. The SU duo of Mason Kohn and John Mullen have been playing really well lately, and performed better than expected against UNC last week. Last year UVA started the game against SU up 4-0, with SU registering just one shot, before SU won a face-off. The Orange cant have a repeat of that performance.
With a win, SU could probably wrap up a home game for the NCAA tournament, and further cement itself in the tournament in general. With a loss, they would have the ACC tournament to look forward to, but that would probably make a home game a lot less likely. With a big crowd on hand, and Paul Gait's halftime ceremony, this is a great chance for the Orange to pull off the upset. They'll need a lot to go right, but they have the pieces. Go Orange!
UVA is a tricky team. They have perhaps if not the best, then at least one of the best starting offensive in the country. But they have no depth behind their top six (you could make the argument for top 5, as Ryan Colsey hasn't been on the level of the others). I imagine that Riley Figuerias will take Conor Shellenberger, Billy Dwan will be on McCabe Millon and Caden Kol will take Payton Cormier. LSMs will take Griffin Schutz, who is a load offensively. The matchups seem pretty straight forward (you could argue Dwan should take Shellenberger), but of course it's easier said than done when talking about the Cavs, especially Shellenberger. Virginia get scoring from their defensive midfield (Ben Wayer, Joey Terenzi and Noah Chizmar have combined for 23 points), but their highest scoring second line midfielder (Will Cory), has just seven points with just 14 shots. The Orange need to do their best job of taking care of Virginia's "knowns".
Obviously a lot of attention will be on SU's offense, which has just 13 goals in the last six quarters of game time. With Pat March back on the sidelines, you would think that would be a boost for the Orange. To me, the offense this week really needs to go through the midfield - the Orange attack and the Virginia defense couldn't' be more different size wise, with the Cavs towering over the Orange attack. But I think if the Orange can exploit mismatches in the midfield, they can get the Virginia defense moving and score some easy goals. Syracuse needs to value the ball in this game and needs to execute better than they have been. It's hard to know what sort of headspace Matthew Nunes will be in for this one - he didn't make a save against Duke and was pulled after he gave up seven goals, but prior to that he was playing some really good lacrosse - he's at 56% for the season despite the Duke game. Hopefully SU can get to him early and instill some more self doubt.
The biggest question for SU, on offense, is Christian Mule - he's had a rough two games against Cornell and UNC. He had four points in the combined matchups, but finished just 1-14 shooting, which isn't going to get the job done against high level opponents. I'm not entirely sure how to fix the issue, Mule was a player at Lehigh who could be a finisher and a passer - it's strange to me that he can't adapt to the fact that he's now getting a short stick. He's gotten good looks too, perhaps he just needs a few shots to fall and he'll get his confidence back. To me, this is the biggest worry as SU enters post-season play. SU hasn't changed their lineups at all unless it's been due to injury, I think we just have to hope that Mule figures this out. He's been strong earlier in the season, so you know he can produce, he just needs to find his mojo.
The face-off battle should be a good one - UVA's main guy, Anthony Ghobriel, has a 57% winning percentage, but has missed five games this year due to injury. They have a decent back up in Thomas Colluci who is at 54%. The SU duo of Mason Kohn and John Mullen have been playing really well lately, and performed better than expected against UNC last week. Last year UVA started the game against SU up 4-0, with SU registering just one shot, before SU won a face-off. The Orange cant have a repeat of that performance.
With a win, SU could probably wrap up a home game for the NCAA tournament, and further cement itself in the tournament in general. With a loss, they would have the ACC tournament to look forward to, but that would probably make a home game a lot less likely. With a big crowd on hand, and Paul Gait's halftime ceremony, this is a great chance for the Orange to pull off the upset. They'll need a lot to go right, but they have the pieces. Go Orange!