Being Discussed within MAAC 2020 Forum
The MAAC has announced the next two sites for the conference tournament, Monmouth in 2020 and Marist in 2021. Preseason MAAC polls are historically meaningless, with last year’s preseason #1 missing the conference tournament and the preseason #5 team winning the tournament. I view the league in 2020 in 2 tiers as of now, 1-5 all being pretty close with 6-8 a step below.
1. Marist – defending champs return entire offense and add a highly touted FR in Pulera from St. Joe’s in Buffalo, also return goalie, and fogo of the year. Lose entire close D. While 2019 D was physical and positionally sound, 2/3 were poor in ct’s, securing gb’s, and clearing. These flaws were exacerbated by the introduction of the shot clock. The 2020 D could be an improved unit as they continue to gel. Wagner’s #1 defenseman transferred in, a few freshmen arrive, and LSM’s could be moved down low. SSDM, EMO, and 6 v 6 zone offense were glaring weaknesses in 2019, especially in the play-in game vs. UMBC, that need to be addressed.
2. Detroit Mercy – return maybe the most high end individual talent, including the defensive player of the year, lsm of the year, and 2nd team fogo. Also have 2 on preseason All MAAC at close d and 1 at attack. Getting blown out in the semis vs. Quinnipiac in 2019, offensive depth, and losing their primary initiator in Vangalen is cause for concern. FR Walters is going to need to have a big season for UDM to be successful, he had a great summer for Orangeville in the OJALL. 4 of 7 MAAC games in Detroit will be helpful for a team located so far away from most of the rest of the conference.
3. Canisius – return a lot of offensive firepower with SR’s Stefaniak and Boissoneault and 2019 ROY Buck. Buck presumably gets opponent’s #1 pole now after oftentimes drawing #3 last year playing with Caito and Collins. Developing complementary offensive pieces will be crucial. Losing Garlent with eligibility remaining hurts. The defense was solid in 2019 but need a new GK and a couple new close D in 2020. Addressing face offs will be important. Canisius was below average at face offs in 2019, but were essentially playing 6 v 5 if they lost the draw and couldn’t get their fogo off.
4. Quinnipiac – 2019 runners up probably lose the most to graduation of any MAAC team, especially on offense. However, they still return 2 2019 first team All MAAC offensive players in Tomsik and Abbott. And a lot of potential new starters received valuable playing time early in 2019 with the majority of the senior class suspended. Like Marist, Quinnipiac had issues with their SSDM’s, EMO, clearing, ct’s and gb’s in 2019 but had enough offensive firepower to overcome those issues. Those areas will need to pick up slack in 2020 without having Cuomo and Fletcher at Attack.
5. Monmouth – I too was surprised at IL putting Monmouth at #3 after their disappointing 2019. They do have probably the #1 defenseman in the MAAC in Hervada and get Campbell back on offense in 2020. On both sides of the ball, the shot clock hurt Monmouth as they play a slow and patient style. Losing Wasserman really hurt in 2019, Monmouth finished 72 of 73 in D1 in goals per game in 2019. They will need to develop initiators and finishers to get back into the conference playoffs in 2020.
6. Siena – much improved in 2019 in Coach Gleason’s first season before wearing down in the last month. Played fast but disciplined and efficiently on offense. Lose by far top 2 scorers in Cook and Reilly, so not expecting a playoff caliber team just yet but think Gleason will have them as a perennial contender soon. FR Gleason was huge in the postseason for Massapequa HS in the NY State Class A playoffs. He should have an important role immediately. Defense and Goaltending were the glaring weaknesses in 2019, giving up almost 14 goals per game and all goalies having save percentages well below 50%.
7. St. Bonaventure – Monmouth went winless in their first season, and went 3-4 in the MAAC in their 2nd season. The MAAC as a whole is improved since then so not anticipating a huge jump, but I believe the Bonnies are poised to be much better in 2020. They return the entire team and add a new class. The Bonnies at the end of 2019 were playing much better than the team that got shutout by High Point to open the year and Mearns is a very highly regarded coach.
8. Manhattan – Had a very nice early win over Bryant and a late season upset of Canisius, but otherwise a somewhat disappointing 2019 in terms of not taking a step forward towards contending for a MAAC playoff position. Lose their 2 2nd team All MAAC players Giarratana and DeMuro. Only MAAC team not to place a player on the 2019 All Freshman team. The Gaelic Park Athletic Center opened this year and should be a big aid to Kelleher in trying to lure recruits to Riverdale.
Being Discussed within MAAC 2020 Forum
