Johns Hopkins 2024

[nyjay]

On Collison, I'll just use this discussion as an excuse the lament the death of the old-school middie. They just don't really exist anymore - there are no Rabils, Harrisons, Curriers (thumb on the ball at the dot notwithstanding), Tinneys, Schriebers, Conrads, let alone Dressels. The game has changed. As to Collison specifically, he's definitely an AA of some stripe. That said, I do feel somewhat underwhelmed by his season (despite the end of game heroics). I think he should be taking over games in the first half when the team is struggling (OSU, PSU), but he doesn't. Maybe that's unfair. No idea whether that's on him or the staff. I think he has all the talent in the world and that we don't see it enough.

Maybe this year, but Tevlin was a complete swiss Army knife just last season.

Fair point. Didn’t think of him.

[DocBarrister]

Maryland’s best wins are against Syracuse, Penn State, Richmond, and Princeton.

Great FO crew.

None of the Terps have monster numbers on offense, but plenty of players who can score goals.

The D and goalie play are solid, but less imposing compared to recent seasons.

Blue Jays are probably favored to win this. They can’t afford to fall behind. Play aggressively on O and D, ride hard, keep FOs competitive, and hope Ierlan has a strong day.

Beat Maryland and the Blue Jays will clinch a top 7 or 8 seed.

DocBarrister

[steel_hop]

That said, I do feel somewhat underwhelmed by his season (despite the end of game heroics).

Collinson this year has 18 and 7 in 12 games 2.06 pts/game. Last year, he had 26 and 9 for 1.94 pts/game.

For some perspective, take a look at Rabil's numbers from 2005 and 2006. In 2005, Rabil had 23 and 14 in 16 games about 2.3 pts/game. In 2006, Rabil had 22 and 12 for 34 in 13 games about 2.6 pts/game. It was only in his junior and senior year that Rabil really took off. Not that Collinson should be equated to Rabil.

You could argue that the 06 team needed Rabil to score more than this team does. Rabil was the 2nd highest point scorer on the 06 team while Collinson is the 3rd on this team. The 06 team didn't have the number of weapons the 24 team does. The 06 team didn't even average 10 goals a game.

I think my overall point is that while it isn't inherently wrong to think Collinson should have made a bigger jump in production, I think we will see more from him over the next few weeks.

[10stone5]

Griffin Schutz UVA - 29 pts
Jack Boyden UVA - 29 pts
Michael Leo Cuse - 29 pts
Finn Thomson Cuse - 29 pts
Andrew McAdorey Duke - 27 pts
Ben Johnnston Duke - 26 pts
Graham Bundy Gtown - 31 pts
Alex Vardaro Gtown- 31 pts
Aidan Carroll Gtown- 38 pts
Hugh Kelleher Cornell - 26 pts
Mac Costin PSU - 26 pts
Carson Kuhl Yale - 41 pts
Evan Plunkett Army - 37 pts
Jacob Morin Army - 28 pts
Bo Lockwood Michigan - 30 pts
Mikey Weisshair Towson - 47 pts
Shane Knobloch Rut - 38 pts

Collison is a fine player, he's having a good year. 25 points for a Mid is a good season. Just my point being, that list above explains how many more guys have more points than him. If he was a first team guy, he'd have more. But you are not taking Collison over Schutz, McAdorey, Bundy, Weisshair, Knobloch, Plunkett, and probably a couple others. I didn't even take a stab into the non top 25 teams. Not meant to discourage him as a player but first team AA is something that shouldn't be floated out there for anyone.

My $0.02: I’m DEFINITELY taking Collison over McAdorey.

Me too.

Bundy isn’t having the season I was expecting.
Plunket has picked it up nicely. He might be the top dog at middie.

Weissharr has had a real nice season and exceeded expectations.

[Powellfan22]

On Collison, I'll just use this discussion as an excuse the lament the death of the old-school middie. They just don't really exist anymore - there are no Rabils, Harrisons, Curriers (thumb on the ball at the dot notwithstanding), Tinneys, Schriebers, Conrads, let alone Dressels. The game has changed. As to Collison specifically, he's definitely an AA of some stripe. That said, I do feel somewhat underwhelmed by his season (despite the end of game heroics). I think he should be taking over games in the first half when the team is struggling (OSU, PSU), but he doesn't. Maybe that's unfair. No idea whether that's on him or the staff. I think he has all the talent in the world and that we don't see it enough.

Maybe this year, but Tevlin was a complete swiss Army knife just last season.

Fair point. Didn’t think of him.

Jake Stevens and Sam English play a fair amount of defense for Syracuse, both are the primary short sticks on face-off wings. 33 groundballs for Stevens, 20 for English. Combined they have 46 points.

[HopFan16]

On Collison, I'll just use this discussion as an excuse the lament the death of the old-school middie. They just don't really exist anymore - there are no Rabils, Harrisons, Curriers (thumb on the ball at the dot notwithstanding), Tinneys, Schriebers, Conrads, let alone Dressels. The game has changed. As to Collison specifically, he's definitely an AA of some stripe. That said, I do feel somewhat underwhelmed by his season (despite the end of game heroics). I think he should be taking over games in the first half when the team is struggling (OSU, PSU), but he doesn't. Maybe that's unfair. No idea whether that's on him or the staff. I think he has all the talent in the world and that we don't see it enough.

Maybe this year, but Tevlin was a complete swiss Army knife just last season.

Fair point. Didn’t think of him.

Jake Stevens and Sam English play a fair amount of defense for Syracuse, both are the primary short sticks on face-off wings. 33 groundballs for Stevens, 20 for English. Combined they have 46 points.

Stevens has been mentioned several times in this thread in the last 24 hours. He's great.

But I've watched a lot of Cuse, neither of them are playing much defense this year even with a bunch of SSDMs banged up. English has had some rough games in the middle of the field/clearing. He is versatile and does do a little bit of everything but none of it has been at an elite level this season IMO. Garrett Degnon has more GBs, CTs, and fewer turnovers and he's an attackman who has never taken a faceoff wing in his life.

[Powellfan22]

On Collison, I'll just use this discussion as an excuse the lament the death of the old-school middie. They just don't really exist anymore - there are no Rabils, Harrisons, Curriers (thumb on the ball at the dot notwithstanding), Tinneys, Schriebers, Conrads, let alone Dressels. The game has changed. As to Collison specifically, he's definitely an AA of some stripe. That said, I do feel somewhat underwhelmed by his season (despite the end of game heroics). I think he should be taking over games in the first half when the team is struggling (OSU, PSU), but he doesn't. Maybe that's unfair. No idea whether that's on him or the staff. I think he has all the talent in the world and that we don't see it enough.

Maybe this year, but Tevlin was a complete swiss Army knife just last season.

Fair point. Didn’t think of him.

Jake Stevens and Sam English play a fair amount of defense for Syracuse, both are the primary short sticks on face-off wings. 33 groundballs for Stevens, 20 for English. Combined they have 46 points.

Stevens has been mentioned several times in this thread in the last 24 hours. He's great.

But I've watched a lot of Cuse, neither of them are playing much defense this year even with a bunch of SSDMs banged up. English has had some rough games in the middle of the field/clearing. He is versatile and does do a little bit of everything but none of it has been at an elite level this season IMO. Garrett Degnon has more GBs, CTs, and fewer turnovers and he's an attackman who has never taken a faceoff wing in his life.

My bad, I hadn't read the previous posts. Just the one about the disappearance of the old school middie. I wasn't advocating for English to be an AA, just that he's been asked to do a lot for Syracuse this year. I guess I disagree with you about the not playing much defense, I think English has played quite a bit of it - Stevens not as much since his early season injury. English's playing style (he dodges from way far away from the goal), and the fact that he's asked to be the offenses primary ball handler after Spallina, means he's asked to run around a lot. I think that's taken away from his offensive output this season. But he's done what he's being asked to and I think that makes the team better.

[Hoponboard]

No one can accuse the Jays of peaking too early. They have not had a dominant outing this season. Partly, because the FOs have been spotty and the shooting inconsistent.

That could make Hop a dangerous team come tournament time, if Collison et al assert themselves for both halves.

[Wheels]

Maryland’s best wins are against Syracuse, Penn State, Richmond, and Princeton.

Great FO crew.

None of the Terps have monster numbers on offense, but plenty of players who can score goals.

The D and goalie play are solid, but less imposing compared to recent seasons.

Blue Jays are probably favored to win this. They can’t afford to fall behind. Play aggressively on O and D, ride hard, keep FOs competitive, and hope Ierlan has a strong day.

Beat Maryland and the Blue Jays will clinch a top 7 or 8 seed.

DocBarrister

In the 2 games last year, Dunn went 15-24 against Wierman. FOGOs are all about match ups, and it looks like Dunn's style/technique/etc causes Wierman problems.

Statistically, Maryland's defense this year is much better than last year (5th in adj def efficiency this year compared to 19th last year...4% better). Last year's defense really fell apart the back half of the season. It didn't help that goalie play last year wasn't too great.

McNaney is a bit of a wildcard for Maryland this year. He had a five game stretch where he was below 50%. After the first quarter of the Penn State game, he's been well above 50%. The way Collison, Degnon, Peshko, and Chauvette can sling it from deep, McNaney is going to see some rockets.

Because of how teams have played Maryland's defense (1st in the nation in time to 1st shot), Tills has his offense pretty much not looking for much early offense. You'll actually see the Terps pull the ball out on any transition that isn't a clear 4v3. Teams grind Maryland's defense, so Maryland has become really deliberate on offense (66th in the country on time to 1st shot). A lot of Maryland fans think the offense is stalling due to a lack of talent (can make that argument) and that's why they're so slow. It's actually the other way around. With the defense spending so much time guarding, they want the offense to give them a break.

Here are the basic statistics I think tend to predict what kind of game you'll get out of Maryland. Turnovers fewer than 15, face-off at 60+%, and save percent 50+%. If the Terps hit all three of those, it's about as close to a comfortable game you'll see from them. If they hit 2 of 3, you're going to see a 1-goal game probably with the Terps leading and bleeding the clock. If they only hit one of those, they're going to be on the losing end of a 1 goal-type game. Lose all three? They'll get blown out.

[Finster]

Maryland’s best wins are against Syracuse, Penn State, Richmond, and Princeton.

Great FO crew.

None of the Terps have monster numbers on offense, but plenty of players who can score goals.

The D and goalie play are solid, but less imposing compared to recent seasons.

Blue Jays are probably favored to win this. They can’t afford to fall behind. Play aggressively on O and D, ride hard, keep FOs competitive, and hope Ierlan has a strong day.

Beat Maryland and the Blue Jays will clinch a top 7 or 8 seed.

DocBarrister

In the 2 games last year, Dunn went 15-24 against Wierman. FOGOs are all about match ups, and it looks like Dunn's style/technique/etc causes Wierman problems.

Statistically, Maryland's defense this year is much better than last year (5th in adj def efficiency this year compared to 19th last year...4% better). Last year's defense really fell apart the back half of the season. It didn't help that goalie play last year wasn't too great.

McNaney is a bit of a wildcard for Maryland this year. He had a five game stretch where he was below 50%. After the first quarter of the Penn State game, he's been well above 50%. The way Collison, Degnon, Peshko, and Chauvette can sling it from deep, McNaney is going to see some rockets.

Because of how teams have played Maryland's defense (1st in the nation in time to 1st shot), Tills has his offense pretty much not looking for much early offense. You'll actually see the Terps pull the ball out on any transition that isn't a clear 4v3. Teams grind Maryland's defense, so Maryland has become really deliberate on offense (66th in the country on time to 1st shot). A lot of Maryland fans think the offense is stalling due to a lack of talent (can make that argument) and that's why they're so slow. It's actually the other way around. With the defense spending so much time guarding, they want the offense to give them a break.

Here are the basic statistics I think tend to predict what kind of game you'll get out of Maryland. Turnovers fewer than 15, face-off at 60+%, and save percent 50+%. If the Terps hit all three of those, it's about as close to a comfortable game you'll see from them. If they hit 2 of 3, you're going to see a 1-goal game probably with the Terps leading and bleeding the clock. If they only hit one of those, they're going to be on the losing end of a 1 goal-type game. Lose all three? They'll get blown out.

Two questions for you, Wheels (or other Terp fans):

1. Why would the Terps defense be ground down when Weirman wins 60% of his FO’s? I’d think they’d speed up offense getting that many extra possessions.

2. Weirman imo scores an abnormally low number of goals for a dominant FOGO. Why? Is he under instruction to not shoot? Have opposing teams caught on to him after 4 years? I’m going to go research FOGO’s to see if any peer at 60% has only one goal season to date.

[nyjay]

In the 2 games last year, Dunn went 15-24 against Wierman. FOGOs are all about match ups, and it looks like Dunn's style/technique/etc causes Wierman problems.

Statistically, Maryland's defense this year is much better than last year (5th in adj def efficiency this year compared to 19th last year...4% better). Last year's defense really fell apart the back half of the season. It didn't help that goalie play last year wasn't too great.

McNaney is a bit of a wildcard for Maryland this year. He had a five game stretch where he was below 50%. After the first quarter of the Penn State game, he's been well above 50%. The way Collison, Degnon, Peshko, and Chauvette can sling it from deep, McNaney is going to see some rockets.

Because of how teams have played Maryland's defense (1st in the nation in time to 1st shot), Tills has his offense pretty much not looking for much early offense. You'll actually see the Terps pull the ball out on any transition that isn't a clear 4v3. Teams grind Maryland's defense, so Maryland has become really deliberate on offense (66th in the country on time to 1st shot). A lot of Maryland fans think the offense is stalling due to a lack of talent (can make that argument) and that's why they're so slow. It's actually the other way around. With the defense spending so much time guarding, they want the offense to give them a break.

Here are the basic statistics I think tend to predict what kind of game you'll get out of Maryland. Turnovers fewer than 15, face-off at 60+%, and save percent 50+%. If the Terps hit all three of those, it's about as close to a comfortable game you'll see from them. If they hit 2 of 3, you're going to see a 1-goal game probably with the Terps leading and bleeding the clock. If they only hit one of those, they're going to be on the losing end of a 1 goal-type game. Lose all three? They'll get blown out.

Good analysis. Agree that it will be a low-scoring, grind it out kind of a game. I got 10-9 Hop.

[jhu06]

Maryland’s best wins are against Syracuse, Penn State, Richmond, and Princeton.

Great FO crew.

None of the Terps have monster numbers on offense, but plenty of players who can score goals.

The D and goalie play are solid, but less imposing compared to recent seasons.

Blue Jays are probably favored to win this. They can’t afford to fall behind. Play aggressively on O and D, ride hard, keep FOs competitive, and hope Ierlan has a strong day.

Beat Maryland and the Blue Jays will clinch a top 7 or 8 seed.

DocBarrister

In the 2 games last year, Dunn went 15-24 against Wierman. FOGOs are all about match ups, and it looks like Dunn's style/technique/etc causes Wierman problems.

Statistically, Maryland's defense this year is much better than last year (5th in adj def efficiency this year compared to 19th last year...4% better). Last year's defense really fell apart the back half of the season. It didn't help that goalie play last year wasn't too great.

McNaney is a bit of a wildcard for Maryland this year. He had a five game stretch where he was below 50%. After the first quarter of the Penn State game, he's been well above 50%. The way Collison, Degnon, Peshko, and Chauvette can sling it from deep, McNaney is going to see some rockets.

Because of how teams have played Maryland's defense (1st in the nation in time to 1st shot), Tills has his offense pretty much not looking for much early offense. You'll actually see the Terps pull the ball out on any transition that isn't a clear 4v3. Teams grind Maryland's defense, so Maryland has become really deliberate on offense (66th in the country on time to 1st shot). A lot of Maryland fans think the offense is stalling due to a lack of talent (can make that argument) and that's why they're so slow. It's actually the other way around. With the defense spending so much time guarding, they want the offense to give them a break.

Here are the basic statistics I think tend to predict what kind of game you'll get out of Maryland. Turnovers fewer than 15, face-off at 60+%, and save percent 50+%. If the Terps hit all three of those, it's about as close to a comfortable game you'll see from them. If they hit 2 of 3, you're going to see a 1-goal game probably with the Terps leading and bleeding the clock. If they only hit one of those, they're going to be on the losing end of a 1 goal-type game. Lose all three? They'll get blown out.

Rewatch the game and they had a ton of great looks late. Angelus, Grimes (51 was right-he had great shots just not his day) hit a post, Collison a few times. Melendez missed one when the OSU guy made a great last minute play. Ierlan took heat here for his performance and PM said he wasn't pleased but he also made a few great saves, faced a lot of pressure early and they did a good job stopping OSU's desire to use transition to score which is really important on the road with a juiced enemy crowd. Collison seemed to have some words for a part of the buckeye crowd after his gwg. Dixon kept asking Bice as OSU started to struggle what OSU needed to do to change and all mr buckeye lax could come up with was "they shouldn't panic and should just stay the course". In other words Bice didn't know what he was watching and crawley and jk certainly knew because they switched a lot of things around.

You can look at the close games as not being able to start stronger or having enough depth and talent to not lose when they struggle.

In Degnons career they've played maryland 2x in 2019, 2022, and 2023 and 3 times in 2021 so you almost wonder with all that familiarity how they find new wrinkles to throw at each other. At the end of the game with melendez in at midfield it looked like they were switching bauer and ayers in at his attack spot and throwing mcdermott in at 2nd midfield.

[Hoponboard]

In the 2 games last year, Dunn went 15-24 against Wierman. FOGOs are all about match ups, and it looks like Dunn's style/technique/etc causes Wierman problems.

Statistically, Maryland's defense this year is much better than last year (5th in adj def efficiency this year compared to 19th last year...4% better). Last year's defense really fell apart the back half of the season. It didn't help that goalie play last year wasn't too great.

McNaney is a bit of a wildcard for Maryland this year. He had a five game stretch where he was below 50%. After the first quarter of the Penn State game, he's been well above 50%. The way Collison, Degnon, Peshko, and Chauvette can sling it from deep, McNaney is going to see some rockets.

Because of how teams have played Maryland's defense (1st in the nation in time to 1st shot), Tills has his offense pretty much not looking for much early offense. You'll actually see the Terps pull the ball out on any transition that isn't a clear 4v3. Teams grind Maryland's defense, so Maryland has become really deliberate on offense (66th in the country on time to 1st shot). A lot of Maryland fans think the offense is stalling due to a lack of talent (can make that argument) and that's why they're so slow. It's actually the other way around. With the defense spending so much time guarding, they want the offense to give them a break.

Here are the basic statistics I think tend to predict what kind of game you'll get out of Maryland. Turnovers fewer than 15, face-off at 60+%, and save percent 50+%. If the Terps hit all three of those, it's about as close to a comfortable game you'll see from them. If they hit 2 of 3, you're going to see a 1-goal game probably with the Terps leading and bleeding the clock. If they only hit one of those, they're going to be on the losing end of a 1 goal-type game. Lose all three? They'll get blown out.

Good analysis. Agree that it will be a low-scoring, grind it out kind of a game. I got 10-9 Hop.

I have Hop 12-11 OT with Collison’s hat trick game winner.

[Wheels]

Two questions for you, Wheels (or other Terp fans):

1. Why would the Terps defense be ground down when Weirman wins 60% of his FO’s? I’d think they’d speed up offense getting that many extra possessions.

2. Weirman imo scores an abnormally low number of goals for a dominant FOGO. Why? Is he under instruction to not shoot? Have opposing teams caught on to him after 4 years? I’m going to go research FOGO’s to see if any peer at 60% has only one goal season to date.

1) Because teams are taking almost 43 seconds to take their first shot against Maryland's defense. Also take a look at how teams are riding Maryland. UVA, ND, and Brown applied pressure. Everyone else sits way, way back and forces Maryland to make several passes in their defensive end. The Terps don't have a Dante Trader, Bubba Fairman, or Roman Puglise to punt return clears. Usually, Maryland is right near 60 seconds before they even get into their offensive zone. Throw in turnovers...they turnover 30% of their possessions...and that only gets them about +3 possessions per game.

2) Wierman has the green light to shoot. Teams have done a really good job at tying him up, so he's not winning as many face-offs cleanly this season. Tillman has talked about Maryland's poor wing play on face-off this year, too, so you're not seeing John Geppert rolling into the offensive zone looking to shoot. Wierman's barely even shooting this year. He has 5 shots on the season. For reference, Jack McDonald (top LSM) has five shots. So I think it's a combination of how teams have jammed him up (UVA did this really well) and poor wing play.

[jhu06]

https://umterps.com/news/2024/4/17/mens ... urday.aspx

First time both are top 5 for the game in 13 years according to maryland. Faceoffs are only team category maryland lists where their numbers are better than Hopkins.

[coda]

In the 2 games last year, Dunn went 15-24 against Wierman. FOGOs are all about match ups, and it looks like Dunn's style/technique/etc causes Wierman problems.

Statistically, Maryland's defense this year is much better than last year (5th in adj def efficiency this year compared to 19th last year...4% better). Last year's defense really fell apart the back half of the season. It didn't help that goalie play last year wasn't too great.

McNaney is a bit of a wildcard for Maryland this year. He had a five game stretch where he was below 50%. After the first quarter of the Penn State game, he's been well above 50%. The way Collison, Degnon, Peshko, and Chauvette can sling it from deep, McNaney is going to see some rockets.

Because of how teams have played Maryland's defense (1st in the nation in time to 1st shot), Tills has his offense pretty much not looking for much early offense. You'll actually see the Terps pull the ball out on any transition that isn't a clear 4v3. Teams grind Maryland's defense, so Maryland has become really deliberate on offense (66th in the country on time to 1st shot). A lot of Maryland fans think the offense is stalling due to a lack of talent (can make that argument) and that's why they're so slow. It's actually the other way around. With the defense spending so much time guarding, they want the offense to give them a break.

Here are the basic statistics I think tend to predict what kind of game you'll get out of Maryland. Turnovers fewer than 15, face-off at 60+%, and save percent 50+%. If the Terps hit all three of those, it's about as close to a comfortable game you'll see from them. If they hit 2 of 3, you're going to see a 1-goal game probably with the Terps leading and bleeding the clock. If they only hit one of those, they're going to be on the losing end of a 1 goal-type game. Lose all three? They'll get blown out.

Good analysis. Agree that it will be a low-scoring, grind it out kind of a game. I got 10-9 Hop.

I have Hop 12-11 OT with Collison’s hat trick game winner.

I have this 11-10 Hopkins. I believe Hopkins is the better team in the 6 v 6 than Maryland, which is just strange to say based on the last 5 years. Wierman and McNaney need to have big games for Maryland to win and get some transition offense.

[HopFan16]

Throw out the stats with this one. Emotions will be high on both sides. There have been some weird results in this series. The Terps typically play well at Homewood. Hop's wins this decade have come in College Park or at neutral sites. Feels like the Jays are due but going 5-0 in this conference is not easy.

Team has been hinting on social media that tickets are going fast. Reserved section on the Hopkins side is just about full, though there are still seats left on the Parkway side. Could be a sellout.

[51percentcorn]

Yes - no chickens to be counted until a little after 6 PM day after tomorrow. Many of the same players from last year's two games. Maryland obviously made better adjustments than Hopkins the second time around - in the first game Maryland's scoring was Erska/Maltz + 3 goals - in the BIG Semis Maryland had 5 players with at least 2 goals. Other random thoughts:
- Terps have 2 big additions in the return of McNaney and Malever - Hopkins has Ierlan and Kilrain playing major roles and a dusting of Chauvette/Ayers
- Tyler Dunn did as well as a Hop fan could hope for in the first game but curiously - 11 days later - he took one face-off in the BIG semis and Narewski took all the rest - logical assumption is that Dunn got banged up somewhere (but he took 8 face-offs against Bryant). Does not appear that Callahan has never taken on the Terp star (at least in college). I think Hopkins would sign up for at or near 50% right now.
- Draft Kings O/U is 22 - first team to 12 wins
- Maryland - to me - is one of those teams where you can't just say Oh if we cover Erksa and Maltz we'll be good. They have 7-10 guys that can produce and Maryland is a team very comfortable in its own skin - unlike 2 years ago they understand they are probably not going to break the lights on the scorebaord and they always play to their strengths.
- As always - it comes down to possessions. Things that will help Hopkins immeasurably - Ierlan exceeds the recent goalie performances against Maryland. From the regular season game to the Big Semis Hopkins went from +7 on non face-off man ground balls ro -8 - guess which game Hopkins won. Turnovers relatively equal - Hopkins was no bueno on the EMO 1-5 total. It would behoove the defense to not forget Erksa is on the field or let Maltz stand in the middle of a zone completely uncoveredd to score and cut the lead to 1.

[Wheels]

Yes - no chickens to be counted until a little after 6 PM day after tomorrow. Many of the same players from last year's two games. Maryland obviously made better adjustments than Hopkins the second time around - in the first game Maryland's scoring was Erska/Maltz + 3 goals - in the BIG Semis Maryland had 5 players with at least 2 goals. Other random thoughts:
- Terps have 2 big additions in the return of McNaney and Malever - Hopkins has Ierlan and Kilrain playing major roles and a dusting of Chauvette/Ayers
- Tyler Dunn did as well as a Hop fan could hope for in the first game but curiously - 11 days later - he took one face-off in the BIG semis and Narewski took all the rest - logical assumption is that Dunn got banged up somewhere (but he took 8 face-offs against Bryant). Does not appear that Callahan has never taken on the Terp star (at least in college). I think Hopkins would sign up for at or near 50% right now.
- Draft Kings O/U is 22 - first team to 12 wins
- Maryland - to me - is one of those teams where you can't just say Oh if we cover Erksa and Maltz we'll be good. They have 7-10 guys that can produce and Maryland is a team very comfortable in its own skin - unlike 2 years ago they understand they are probably not going to break the lights on the scorebaord and they always play to their strengths.
- As always - it comes down to possessions. Things that will help Hopkins immeasurably - Ierlan exceeds the recent goalie performances against Maryland. From the regular season game to the Big Semis Hopkins went from +7 on non face-off man ground balls ro -8 - guess which game Hopkins won. Turnovers relatively equal - Hopkins was no bueno on the EMO 1-5 total. It would behoove the defense to not forget Erksa is on the field or let Maltz stand in the middle of a zone completely uncoveredd to score and cut the lead to 1.

Maltz is out. Upper body injury in the Penn State game. Missed Ohio State and Rutgers. They're hoping he's back for the NCAA tournament. Tills won't publicly disclose the actual injury, so I'm not going to either. But Maltz won't be in this weekend.

Dan Kelly bumped back to attack. Against OSU, he missed a few gimmes but hit those against Rutgers. Teams have shorted him in the past so that two poles can disrupt Maryland's midfield. They couldn't do that against Maltz because he can carry the ball better, but he's so good off ball that shorties couldn't stop him. Kelly isn't as good off ball (getting better but not like Maltz). I wouldn't be surprised to see Hop short Kelly.

Owen Murphy gets a few runs on the 2nd midfield, but he's not as dangerous this year. The Terps don't really have many stretch shooters (Murphy and Kelly are about it), and with teams packing in behind on-ball defenders (also junking up the middle to deter dodging), the Terps haven't had too many skip passes to Murphy or Kelly this season. Just the way it is.

Expect a healthy dose of midfield inverts and having your shorties attacked all game long. So it goes in college lacrosse these days.

[HopFan16]

Will be a good test for the offense assuming Zappitello takes Angelus out of the flow of things. Angel will probably still get some points but he won't be able to orchestrate things as comfortably. And with Melendez still in a slump we don't really have another dodger on attack who can take advantage of their 2nd or 3rd defenseman. Bauer, Ayers, Collison, Peshko — need at least a few of those guys to step up.

If you like defense, Saturday's game will be a good one. Hopefully the final result is better than the 8-7 triple OT loss to the Terps in 2018. Though we got them back in the B1G tourney a few weeks later.