Excellent break down. As others have mentioned, the issue last year was the lack of offense. Having elite talents like Dom and Duffy added to the group is an automatic upgrade by default. The key will be how well one or both start the season. If Duffy or Dom start off hot, they will inevitably start drawing double teams as legit threats. That will free up some space in the midfield. Hopefully that will lead to some confidence within the group once they start seeing the ball hit the net. Matan is too talented not to be on the field. He has some of the best hands in the country in my opinion. I like Logan Mcgovern, i really do. Plays with the heart of a Lion but i'm really tempted to put Matan in over him. He just offers more in terms of talent and size and athleticism but as others have mentioned perhaps that Dom, Matan, Duffy attack is still a year away.Lax4love wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 4:57 pm Based on almost 4 years of observing UNC, I will take a shot at the defense. But first I am going to wade into the attack discussion. Matan is not going to be splitting time with anyone in my opinion--he scored more goals as a freshman last year than any frosh since 2011. He is one of the best athletes on the team and at a shifty 6'4", he is a beast to cover. And a beast to cover not just in games against Mercer and Fairfield, but also when the ACC season starts and there are huge, athletic defenders with long poles. That was one of the problems last year during the ACC season--the other attackmen could not get free of the ACC poles. Duffy is equally athletic and is one of the best freshman attack I have seen suit up for UNC. The combination of Duffy and Matan is going to be fun to watch, and keep in mind, Duffy can play the X/QB, too. The issue becomes how quickly Dom gets back into the groove. I believe Dom is the guy who may take minutes from McGovern if he can get it going after not playing for almost 2 years. And yes, next year's attack of Duffy, Matan and Dom may be one of the best in D1.
Last year the defense was statistically one of the best in the country but it was hard to gauge that watching live during the ACC season. I was surprised that the unit was 2nd or 3rd defensively nationally when you look at the scores from the ACC season. Nevertheless, this unit returns almost every key member, except for Matt Wright who transferred to Syracuse and Connor Maher who graduated. Down low, the two returning poles got some preseason love this year and they should--Barton is everything you want in an ACC defender (big, tall and athletic, genes do matter) and Geppert is not splashy but he is never out of position and no one can seem to score on him. The third pole will be either the freshman Thomann, who moves incredibly well but is coming off an injury or the senior Cooney, who looks like an ACC defender at 6'5" and 225 pounds.
The SSDM unit will be a real strength, even with the loss of Maher. Striano looks like a great addition as a grad transfer, and English, Hagerup and Frankenheimer are all great defenders and can push the ball up the field. English is actually a bit of throwback 2-way mid who has the ability to score, too.
With the departure of Wright, LSM is a bit of an unknown. Schwarz is very athletic and came to UNC with much fanfare (as did a number of the other juniors) so maybe this is his year to fulfill this promise. Perhaps the coaches felt so good about the SSDM unit that it was easy to move Breschi to LSM from SSDM (where he had played since he was a frosh). Either way, this position will be crucial to the team's success.
I am not very good at analyzing the goalie position but Krieg is now a senior and has been in the starter in the goal since his freshman year. Over the course of that run there have been some really solid games, and the issue for 2024 will be how well Krieg sees the ball. I think the coaches will not hesitate to give the sophomore Goode or even the freshman Wilson an opportunity if they think one can do better than Krieg--both have looked good in pre-season.
I am also not very knowledgeable about FO but obviously Tyeryar is exceptional at taking the ball to the goal but the issue will be how many times does he actually win the FO. The frosh Wambach (genes matter) looked very good in preseason will get an opportunity to prove himself, too.
In sum, my sense is that the success of the defense in 2024 is going to come down to goalie play and how well the LSMs play. In any event, this is the year that the heralded junior class needs to meet the expectations that many of us had when they arrived on campus. Good luck!
Team will cause some problems this year but i don't think they are ready just yet. Next year is the year to watch
