CNU 2024

[Motorman]

Smoke in the cockpit….Big fan watching the development of this program last 10 years. They will continue to be a top 10 but this was their year. If you can’t do it this year it may still be awhile before they win a championship. What I thought would be a strength (5th years) is becoming an issue. I had a conversation with a D3 Coach who also has a number of 5th years and he said it comes with issues and at a cost to roster development. CNU is a very good team but will not beat Salisbury, Tufts or RIT when it maters

I keep coming back to this, but the cultural issues that accompany graduate student laden rosters are also a challenge. It's not just the on-field development of the underclassman being sacrificed. You're gonna lose the buy-in from a lot of those kids and families. Equity theory. And if you DON'T play the 5th/6th years you'll lose the whole locker room. It doesn't seem to be working particularly well for many of these rosters.

It’s not the issue, plenty of teams are carrying 5th years without a problem, look at Salisbury.

[BigMoose9]

Smoke in the cockpit….Big fan watching the development of this program last 10 years. They will continue to be a top 10 but this was their year. If you can’t do it this year it may still be awhile before they win a championship. What I thought would be a strength (5th years) is becoming an issue. I had a conversation with a D3 Coach who also has a number of 5th years and he said it comes with issues and at a cost to roster development. CNU is a very good team but will not beat Salisbury, Tufts or RIT when it maters

I keep coming back to this, but the cultural issues that accompany graduate student laden rosters are also a challenge. It's not just the on-field development of the underclassman being sacrificed. You're gonna lose the buy-in from a lot of those kids and families. Equity theory. And if you DON'T play the 5th/6th years you'll lose the whole locker room. It doesn't seem to be working particularly well for many of these rosters.

It’s not the issue, plenty of teams are carrying 5th years without a problem, look at Salisbury.

Yup. Salisbury has 9 5th/6th year players on their roster. If players have an opportunity to stay at their school and help their team compete for a National championship, why would a coach not want them to stay. The goal is to win a national championship, so if you think your best opportunity to do so is with those guys, then it makes no sense not to. Hopefully the older guys on these teams are serving as mentors for the younger guys and setting the standard on and off the field. This way when they are gone the culture is still in place.

[aroundtheoutside]

It's looked to me like the 5th years aren't all playing locked in lacrosse (the only exception I'd mention is Brendes. He's an absolute gamer and never seems to take a play off). They're obviously incredibly talented, but they don't seem as focused, or energized, as last year. Maybe taking too much for granted? Maybe believing the narrative that nothing else matters until Salisbury at the end of the year? Maybe mentally moved on to post-college life? I don't know. If they all show up, they can still battle with the top tier. They just haven't for some reason.

What's funny is the amount of whining and crying that's happened on this forum about CNU's 5th years. Clearly it hasn't made them unstoppable. It might even be working against them. Is that a consolation to the criers that they couldn't compete with CNU last year when the roster WASN'T stacked with 5th years?

As for this year, the regression of Hanway and Cabaniss has crippled them.

On the bright side, I like the way MT is working in the younger guys. Today it looks like many of the 2nd line guys started the game? McCullough getting the start in cage is interesting...I wonder if he's getting a serious chance as the starter or if they're just saving their horses and giving the young guys some more minutes against a team that can't threaten them. The younger Miller, Fulkerson, Jackson, McCullough, several of the poles...there's some real talent there for the future. I think it'll be refreshing for the whole program to start building a new identity with a whole different core and an underdog mentality again, as it seems D3 nation will be salivating to count CNU out.

[Laxguy703]

It's looked to me like the 5th years aren't all playing locked in lacrosse (the only exception I'd mention is Brendes. He's an absolute gamer and never seems to take a play off). They're obviously incredibly talented, but they don't seem as focused, or energized, as last year. Maybe taking too much for granted? Maybe believing the narrative that nothing else matters until Salisbury at the end of the year? Maybe mentally moved on to post-college life? I don't know. If they all show up, they can still battle with the top tier. They just haven't for some reason.

What's funny is the amount of whining and crying that's happened on this forum about CNU's 5th years. Clearly it hasn't made them unstoppable. It might even be working against them. Is that a consolation to the criers that they couldn't compete with CNU last year when the roster WASN'T stacked with 5th years?

As for this year, the regression of Hanway and Cabaniss has crippled them.

On the bright side, I like the way MT is working in the younger guys. Today it looks like many of the 2nd line guys started the game? McCullough getting the start in cage is interesting...I wonder if he's getting a serious chance as the starter or if they're just saving their horses and giving the young guys some more minutes against a team that can't threaten them. The younger Miller, Fulkerson, Jackson, McCullough, several of the poles...there's some real talent there for the future. I think it'll be refreshing for the whole program to start building a new identity with a whole different core and an underdog mentality again, as it seems D3 nation will be salivating to count CNU out.

Hanway’s regression I would agree with you. If he doesn’t start against St. Lawrence I think the Captains win that game. I also believe they would’ve beat Williams with #57 in as well.

Cabbanis has still been great this year though… he’s around 64% and his only game below 50% was against the presumed 1st Team AA Paddy Condon. He’s the reason some games haven’t been closer this year.

Offense is starting to figure it out after that brutal 3 game slump against LYN, MSU, and Williams. The offense played fine against salisbury and looked really good today. I think knowing they could score some goals against Salisbury boosted the overall confidence of the O and it showed today. They looked like the typical CNU team we are used to seeing. Looking forward to seeing them continue to stack some W’s as we head into May.

[Oaklax]

Must have been a great practice week down in Newport News after last week’s loss to salisbury. MT and Coach Z switched some lines up and positions on the offense that seemed to work well. Thought CNU offense played extremely well today vs Kean. Ball movement was crisp, shot selection much better, and off ball movement was 10x better. Miller brothers put a show on today.

Glad to see #57 get the start as he played great today. As well as #41 going 13-17 I believe at faceoff X.

Hopefully see these new lines and some new faces enter the mix to finish out CLC play before finishing up against W&L before conference tournament play.

[choochooCharlie]

Seems like Coach has them hitting their stride at the right time. Should be a good run

[laxdad1434]

Must have been a great practice week down in Newport News after last week’s loss to salisbury. MT and Coach Z switched some lines up and positions on the offense that seemed to work well. Thought CNU offense played extremely well today vs Kean. Ball movement was crisp, shot selection much better, and off ball movement was 10x better. Miller brothers put a show on today.

Glad to see #57 get the start as he played great today. As well as #41 going 13-17 I believe at faceoff X.

Hopefully see these new lines and some new faces enter the mix to finish out CLC play before finishing up against W&L before conference tournament play.

CNU FO controlled the game, total beat down. Kean was missing some key players, including their leading scorer, but it wouldn’t have mattered. CNU is a much better team.

[choochooCharlie]

Must have been a great practice week down in Newport News after last week’s loss to salisbury. MT and Coach Z switched some lines up and positions on the offense that seemed to work well. Thought CNU offense played extremely well today vs Kean. Ball movement was crisp, shot selection much better, and off ball movement was 10x better. Miller brothers put a show on today.

Glad to see #57 get the start as he played great today. As well as #41 going 13-17 I believe at faceoff X.

Hopefully see these new lines and some new faces enter the mix to finish out CLC play before finishing up against W&L before conference tournament play.

CNU FO controlled the game, total beat down. Kean was missing some key players, including their leading scorer, but it wouldn’t have mattered. CNU is a much better team.

Here here

[choochooCharlie]

Chance to assert themselves this Saturday with Stockton.

[Laxguy703]

CNU absolutely dismantling UMW right now. Lots of starters out for CNU which is a bit puzzling. Cabbanis, Adams, and Hanway are all out. They all played and seemed healthy on Saturday.

Either way the Captains are starting to hit their stride. UMW clearly isn’t a great team, but a 12-0 lead heading into the half is more on par with the CNU team’s we have seen in the past compared to what we have seen this year so far. One of the best things about this game today is that most of the points have come from young guys. Program will stay in good hands.

[choochooCharlie]

CNU absolutely dismantling UMW right now. Lots of starters out for CNU which is a bit puzzling. Cabbanis, Adams, and Hanway are all out. They all played and seemed healthy on Saturday.

Either way the Captains are starting to hit their stride. UMW clearly isn’t a great team, but a 12-0 lead heading into the half is more on par with the CNU team’s we have seen in the past compared to what we have seen this year so far. One of the best things about this game today is that most of the points have come from young guys. Program will stay in good hands.

Yesssir. Hopefully peaking at the right time.

[aroundtheoutside]

I'll agree--First part of the season CNU wasn't dominating the opponents that they should dominate. I wonder how much of that translates into struggling/losing against the better teams that you should beat. But seems the winds have shifted a bit recently. I don't think there's much you can learn about the team based on beating bad teams, but it's at least good to not come out of these games with concerns.

[EasternShoreLaxGuy]

2 goalies = no goalie.

Feel for hanway in 5th year but they just ruined the freshman’s confidence as well. MT is creating a problem for years to come right now

[BigMoose9]

2 goalies = no goalie.

Feel for hanway in 5th year but they just ruined the freshman’s confidence as well. MT is creating a problem for years to come right now

Agree with the two goalie part. I think they just have to ride with Hanway at this point late in the season since he is most experienced. You gotta hope he just finds his groove. The freshmen got a few starts and played well. Gotta take that experience and ride it into next season as he will likely be the starter for next 3 years.

[aroundtheoutside]

McCullough has looked better just making saves this year. Hanway is phenomenal at clearing and always seems to make a couple of veteran plays each game to steal possessions--intercepting passes, backing up shots, etc. It's a tough call for the coaching staff, but I agree--I don't think I've ever seen a team with a goalie platoon make a deep run.

[ODACtionEmpire]

CNU absolutely dismantling UMW right now. Lots of starters out for CNU which is a bit puzzling. Cabbanis, Adams, and Hanway are all out. They all played and seemed healthy on Saturday.

Either way the Captains are starting to hit their stride. UMW clearly isn’t a great team, but a 12-0 lead heading into the half is more on par with the CNU team’s we have seen in the past compared to what we have seen this year so far. One of the best things about this game today is that most of the points have come from young guys. Program will stay in good hands.

Caught a bit of the UMW game last week and glad to see someone caught the same thing I did - a lot of starters out with no real reason to unless you really needed to rest guys up for Stockton/Colorado College... word around the rumor mill was the core of the team finally stood up to the geriatric group of 5th years and put them in their place, and MT took their side. This is obviously coming from sources outside of the team, but it echoes some of the sentiments that more knowledgeable posters have been talking about all season.

To add on, the defense looks like they play united in front of that fire hydrant of a goalie, #57. Even if they give up a goal, they seem to break the huddle a bit quicker than when #24 is in. Lot of palms up from Hanway on some routine shots, but that's neither here nor there.

I'll be interested to see who steps up for the Captains on Saturday when they face their final ODAC foe - W&L. They're lucky the Gennies are having to make the trip down to Bad News because Lexington has been a bear of an away atmosphere this season. They're also lucky that W&L will be coming off a fiery game tomorrow night. The faceoff dot will have the spotlight in my opinion due to this one having the potential to be such a high scoring affair. Both teams have 3 players over 50 pts on the year with a significant drop off afterwards. Going to be a firefight!! Good luck to the Captains, we'll see if they can pull it together and win the ODAC regular season

[aroundtheoutside]

The W&L game should be awesome and should tell us a lot about where both teams are at heading into conference tourneys and NCAA's.

I'll keep wishfully thinking that CNU should be an ODAC team, though I know it can't happen. Maybe the ODAC can just adopt CNU as an unofficial member

[MVPiccoli]

Caught a bit of the UMW game last week and glad to see someone caught the same thing I did - a lot of starters out with no real reason to unless you really needed to rest guys up for Stockton/Colorado College... word around the rumor mill was the core of the team finally stood up to the geriatric group of 5th years and put them in their place, and MT took their side. This is obviously coming from sources outside of the team, but it echoes some of the sentiments that more knowledgeable posters have been talking about all season.

(beats the culture drum again) Good for them. Now, do the grad players resent and poison the season, or do they answer the call?

It's fascinating to me (as a guy that got a C- in his only college psychology class) how these things play out.

[Goldenboy]

Caught a bit of the UMW game last week and glad to see someone caught the same thing I did - a lot of starters out with no real reason to unless you really needed to rest guys up for Stockton/Colorado College... word around the rumor mill was the core of the team finally stood up to the geriatric group of 5th years and put them in their place, and MT took their side. This is obviously coming from sources outside of the team, but it echoes some of the sentiments that more knowledgeable posters have been talking about all season.

(beats the culture drum again) Good for them. Now, do the grad players resent and poison the season, or do they answer the call?

It's fascinating to me (as a guy that got a C- in his only college psychology class) how these things play out.

I can tell you with absolute certainty that, that is not why those players did not play.

[aroundtheoutside]

Yeah I assumed MT was just trying to get more quality minutes for young guys knowing that he's turning over the entire starting lineup six weeks from now. And maybe also a thought in the back of his mind that he could find a spark from a different face to change things up in the big games to come against W&L, SU and NCAA's.