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Message: [QUOTE="JDOrange, post: 3749349, member: 1807"] Wow, who saw that coming? I was hoping they could keep it close given the series history and the urgency after last week. But that was something. Credit Desktop and staff for turning last week into a learning experience, making the needed personnel changes and having the team ready to go today. I was nervous after the horrible start with the quick TO then Kennedy got roasted by Moore from X and was bailed out with a great Porter foot save. At 4-2 it looked like things were starting to slip away. But have to credit the team for really locking things down and running away with the game in the second half. Notable Stats: [LIST] [*]22/33 Face-offs against a good unit. Fantastic [*]Won the groundball battle against an always strong UVA squad [*]Only 1 penalty (The cross-check/interference/push on Dearth with the Laviano flop) [*]12 turnovers. And a lot of them felt like they were in the 1st quarter. Compare that to about 300 last week [*]19 saves for Virginia. I actually thought Rode played fairly well. But he was under duress the whole game [/LIST] [B]Offense[/B] The Good: [LIST] [*]What’s not to like when you put up 20 against a top team? I loved the pace and flow of the offense today. Crisp passing and aggressive but patient in waiting for opportunities [*]The middies feasted on the UVA SSDMs on inverts from the the corners, wings, and X. Especially Curry against Sallade (#32) who seemed like he had about 10 goals against. Everyone had the greenlight against him tonight [*]Related, Curry was getting so much attention when he would invert, it really opened things up and give him a ton of credit for finding the open man on the slides [*]Does it feel like Dordevic is hitting another level now? Had flashes of brilliance his freshman year. Injured the next year. Started a bit slow last year IIRC. But wow, that hard plant and shot from either hand is something right now. [*]2nd Mids - Really productive night for them, and nice to see Quinn get a couple (on bouncers no less). It’s intriguing to see converted attackmen like Seebold and Ferris running with this line and inverting when they had the shorty matchup. Makes too much sense. Seebold had a great game with a couple goals in that situation and a real nice 2 man rub with Rehfuss at X to set up that goal. Also a really smart 2-man big little pick to get a switch on a SSDM which I think he scored on. Cook also took some runs. As others have mentioned this doesn’t seem like a good fit but I’m rooting for him and was glad to see him get some PT after the demotion. [*]Hiltz - We all expected him to get more time after last week, and he did not disappoint. Crafty finisher. Went 3-2 with an absolute rip on the Dearth break. Should’ve had another beauty on the crease but either hit the crossbar or a piece of someone’s stick, and there was the give and go in the first half that he got stuffed on. He’s the real deal. [*]Rehfuss had a real nice game, especially that aforementioned play with Seebold where he got some space and ripped that upper 90 shot. Very aggressive play from him. [/LIST] The Bad: [LIST] [*]Scanlan had the shorty all night and outside of that early awkward goal, he seems out of sync. Several bad shots. Clearly he has the talent so maybe its a matter of figuring out where he fits in the offense this year. Rode well at times with a couple CTOs. [*]Really sloppy EMO at the end of first half. Should have at least had the ball to start second half and ended with UVA starting the second with possession [*]Despite putting up 20, similar to last week they left alot of opportunities on the table with some poor shot placement and a few pipes. [/LIST] [B]Defense[/B] The Good: [LIST] [*]Porter was fantastic. They tested him low, ALOT. 13 saves, but some great stops [*]Very impressive first game for Wykoff. Started up top on the 3rd or 4th face-off, then moved down to close when Kennedy moved up to LSM. After playing your entire career in D3, then being hurt week 1, how about matching up against a top 5 attackman and holding him to 0-1 on the day, breaking a streak of 29 games with a goal (according to the broadcast)? Wykoff just has the look. Great feet, great balance. Seems like the stick is always right on the gloves. Reminds me a bit of Lade with the footwork. [*]Holding an offense like UVA to 10 is a heck of an achievement, especially after what we witnessed last week. Last UVA goal was at 6:22 of 3rd [*]Much better communication tonight. Switches were cleaner. Slides were made when necessary. [*]SSDM performance was much improved and what we would expect from that group. Really enjoyed watching Dearth on Cormier matchup [*]Clary looked good in his second game. Good on GBs and with the ball. Solid on defense although did get burned by Cormier once. [/LIST] The Bad: [LIST] [*]Kennedy didn’t have a very good game on D. Was beat easily by Moore a few times early and then by Bertrand up top a few more. Regarding Bertrand, he scares me the most on that offense so far this year. Seems to get to his shot or draw a slide with ease. Outside of Sowers maybe the most impactful transfer this year. Shellenberger is scary too, but seemed to disappear for long stretches of the game. [*]Again this week seemed like O mids got caught on D too much. [*]Was anyone else confused by why Carc really wanted SU to play zone a few times tonight? Hard to believe that given the limited practices they’ve had much time to work on that, and IIRC Towson went to zone in the first game against UVA and they carved it up easily. [/LIST] [B]Specials[/B] [LIST] [*]Phaup looked great. Better at realizing when he needs to get rid of the ball and wing play was significantly improved [*]The defense did a really nice job against the UVA ride. Carc made a good point about blitzing the clear. Porter emphasizing getting the ball out quickly [*]Also thought the less-vaunted SU ride was very good tonight and had a few CTOs that led to eventual goals. [/LIST] Will be enjoying this one all week. Take care of business the next couple weeks, knock off the rest of the rust, and get ready for the ACC gauntlet. LGO [/QUOTE]

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