Johns Hopkins 2023

[nrthcrosslax]

Is having freshmen grow moustaches for the roster picture considered hazing?

[DocBarrister]

Is having freshmen grow moustaches for the roster picture considered hazing?

In the vast majority of circumstances, no.

But strictly speaking, yes.

There are, for example, certain religious groups and subgroups that don’t permit the growing of mustaches. As an example, many of the Amish and a subgroup of Muslims do not allow the growth of mustaches (even if they require or encourage beards). Have any players ever been from such groups? Maybe not. Will that always be true? Maybe not.

There are also conditions … for example, severe psoriasis or eczema … that can make a mustache very uncomfortable. Other skin conditions can prevent the growth of facial hair or make it very uneven.

Even a seemingly harmless thing like growing mustaches is not something that should be treated lightly. Team building and selflessness are good. Self-discipline is good (be on time to meetings and practices, study hard).

Forced conformity of any kind is another matter, especially when it comes to personal grooming and other personal choices that have nothing directly to do with lacrosse.

Yeah, things used to be simpler. They are more complicated now. Just the way things are.

DocBarrister

[DocBarrister]

2023 team

Strengths:

Faceoffs
Defense

Weaknesses:

Clearing
Offense - I honestly don't know who's going to score for this team. The only proven goal scorer we've got is Degnon. If Defenses shut him off, not sure where the goals are coming from. This could negate any advantages we have at the X.

Questions

Who starts in goal?
Will Narewski be healthy and stay healthy?

I like our freshman class. They are hopefully a good fit for PM’s offense. Think at least a few could have an immediate impact.

DocBarrister

[51percentcorn]

As with most things Sag A - this is a tired already discussed avenue -
Who starts in goal? Most people would be shocked - myself included - if the Caracciolo does not start - he has started 44 games in his career at Bryant and is around 53% save percentage. The other three goalies combined can only include Marcille's 4 starts in '21. Especially given Milliman stuck with Kirson except apparently when he was hurt- it would appear to take a monumental shift to start one of the other goalies.
Will Narewski stay healthy? Who knows? No one can answer that - not even the player - so we will have to see. The good news is there are other options to be competitive. Of course it would help for him to be healthy - Health is one of the absolute keys to a team operating on thin margins.

Who's going to score goals - especially if Degnon is shut off? I think it is a big stretch to think anyone would "shut off" Degnon as in the classical shut off that was sometimes employed by Cornell opponents when Teat was there. Degnon is not a main ball carrier/distributor which is the reason you try to shut off someone like Teat. You don't want the ball in his stick - ever. If Degnon went and stood in a corner and Hopkins got to play 5 on 5 - I think I would take it. More space - longer slides - assuming health (there's that word again) you have some good options for shooting. And then when the ball is out of bounds Degnon is certainly mobile enough to cause problems by taking the ball out against a short stick so now the defense has to reset and recall some different assignments. I could see someone thinking a short stick - like some oppponents did with Benn - was a worthwhile strategy but not a complete shut off.

As far as others?
It certainly appears that the starting attack could very well be Degnon/Angelus and Melendez. Everyone is raving about Melendez but he has had injury problems so fingers crossed but a very good long range shooter, a quick shifty player who gave you 39 points (primarily from the midfield) and a swiss army knife type player who put up points when he played is not dealing with an empty hand.

As '16 has said - there are alot of options at mid-field and again health is the watchword - what's not to like about Peshko's 14 goals over the last 10 games as compared to his 2 goals in his first 6? How about Grimes - who broke his wrist/hand mid season (Seems pretty important to a shooter) missed 5 complete games and still scored 11? Evans/Raposo (don't beat Loyola last year without him)/McDermott/ Bauer all had moments last year - I would love to see a healthy McDermott for an entire year. And then there's a freshmen class with some talent and more and more opportunity to contribute right away as the COVID mouse works its way through the snake. Then there is Maher - highly recruited - began at UVA (I've heard sometimes they get nice players) - if he's healthy what does he bring? Something good I would imagine.

Just let it play out - if the Hopkins offense is not great then he can parade around and say he was right - why that is a tantalizing proposition to him is completely beyond me

[HopFan16]

Weaknesses:
Clearing

While, yes, on the whole they were a bad clearing team, it was really a tale of two halves of the season.

In the first eight games, they cleared at 79.8%, which is awful, but a lot of that was due to two really bad clearing performances against Loyola (18/26) and Syracuse (17/25) — games we somehow still managed to win.

In the following eight games, they were 87.2%, which is still not *great* but no longer a major liability. That would have been good for 24th in the country over the entire season, ahead of teams like Ohio State, Princeton, and Duke. I would say it's reasonable to think they can pick up where they left off and clear the ball at a somewhat respectable rate in 2023.

Narewski sat out all of fall ball to rest his knee and should be entering the spring as healthy as he's been in awhile but with his history you can never be too sure. We're lucky to have Callahan and Dunn in the event Narewski remains hobbled. I would not be shocked to see Callahan take the sophomore leap after he showed some very promising moments as a freshman.

As for the mustaches, I genuinely can't believe we're talking about that (scratch that, yes I can) but it was to raise money for Headstrong, and in any case they stopped doing it a few years back.

[molo]

I don’t anticipate too many shut off defenses against Hopkins this year.

[Ruffled_Feathers]

With regards to clearing a bunch of that is dependent on who is actually in goal this year. The guy who often starts the clear with the ball in his stick has a lot of say on how things go, especially if the ball can come out quick and on target before the opposition sets up a ride.

[flalax22]

As with most things Sag A - this is a tired already discussed avenue -
Who starts in goal? Most people would be shocked - myself included - if the Caracciolo does not start - he has started 44 games in his career at Bryant and is around 53% save percentage.

Let’s not forget that Kirson came over to Hopkins with a solid save % from a program that had a lot tougher SOS than Bryant and struggled. You will forgive me if I hold off on anointing Caracciolo the starter. I’m going to be from Missouri on this one.

[HopFan16]

As with most things Sag A - this is a tired already discussed avenue -
Who starts in goal? Most people would be shocked - myself included - if the Caracciolo does not start - he has started 44 games in his career at Bryant and is around 53% save percentage.

Let’s not forget that Kirson came over to Hopkins with a solid save % from a program that had a lot tougher SOS than Bryant and struggled. You will forgive me if I hold off on anointing Caracciolo the starter. I’m going to be from Missouri on this one.

What have you seen from any of the other goalies to suggest that a kid with a 53% career save percentage over 44 career starts is NOT the heavy favorite? Think that's all 51 is saying here. That resume does not guarantee future success (as we saw with Kirson) against a much tougher schedule, but that's a different conversation from who is likely to start against Jacksonville on Feb. 4.

He did miss most of the fall recovering from offseason surgery, which could have opened the door wider for one of the other guys to claim it, but unless you've heard different, it doesn't seem as though that happened. They've got January to change that.

I'll give Sgt. Friday some props though — if you follow the Goaliesmith guys on social media, they often post videos of their sessions and it feels like Webb is at almost every single one. Versfeld also does his own goalie clinics and has been doing some NIL stuff alongside that.

[MDlaxfan76]

Jack has been a Goaliesmith guy for numerous years I think.

[51percentcorn]

Ok - so you're an alien descended upon earth and your alien boss has told you you need to bet on the starter in goal next year for Hopkins lacrosse and you have the following choices:
Caricciolo - 44 Division I starts - legitimately over 2500 minutes of Division I time - career save percentage approx. 53% (albeit at a different school)
Marcille - 7 Division appearances since 2019 - 4 starts - likely approx. 300 minutes of Division I time - no appearances in 2019/no appearances in 2020/5 in 2021/2 in 2022 - career save percentage 47%
Versfeld - 2 Division I appearances - 34 minutes of Division I time - save percentage 45%
Webb - 1 Division I appearance - 23 minutes of Division I time - save percentage 17%

So Mr. Missouri who are you sidling up to the betting window for?

And let's be clear - no dog in this fight - couldn't pick Luke C. out of a line-up - want the best goalie that Hopkins can put on the field - and '16 is correct - anything can happen - but if he's healthy this kid will almost certainly be in goal.

Another postscript - fla's point about Caricciolo and Kirson is well taken - which I think was just because you had a higher save percentage somewhere else doesn't mean you will replicate it at Hopkins - and I did not say ol Luke would play well - I said I think with a high probability he will start. Kirson's history can also be taken as a data point that Luke C. will play too as Kirson certainly played the vast majority of his games at Hopkins despite very uneven performances. If you assume any positive motivation at all - that Milliman and the coaches wanted to win lacrosse games - they played Kirson because they thought he gave them the best shot to win from that position and they never waivered from it except when he was injured in late '21.

[jhu06]

As with most things Sag A - this is a tired already discussed avenue -
Who starts in goal? Most people would be shocked - myself included - if the Caracciolo does not start - he has started 44 games in his career at Bryant and is around 53% save percentage. The other three goalies combined can only include Marcille's 4 starts in '21. Especially given Milliman stuck with Kirson except apparently when he was hurt- it would appear to take a monumental shift to start one of the other goalies.
Will Narewski stay healthy? Who knows? No one can answer that - not even the player - so we will have to see. The good news is there are other options to be competitive. Of course it would help for him to be healthy - Health is one of the absolute keys to a team operating on thin margins.

Who's going to score goals - especially if Degnon is shut off? I think it is a big stretch to think anyone would "shut off" Degnon as in the classical shut off that was sometimes employed by Cornell opponents when Teat was there. Degnon is not a main ball carrier/distributor which is the reason you try to shut off someone like Teat. You don't want the ball in his stick - ever. If Degnon went and stood in a corner and Hopkins got to play 5 on 5 - I think I would take it. More space - longer slides - assuming health (there's that word again) you have some good options for shooting. And then when the ball is out of bounds Degnon is certainly mobile enough to cause problems by taking the ball out against a short stick so now the defense has to reset and recall some different assignments. I could see someone thinking a short stick - like some oppponents did with Benn - was a worthwhile strategy but not a complete shut off.

As far as others?
It certainly appears that the starting attack could very well be Degnon/Angelus and Melendez. Everyone is raving about Melendez but he has had injury problems so fingers crossed but a very good long range shooter, a quick shifty player who gave you 39 points (primarily from the midfield) and a swiss army knife type player who put up points when he played is not dealing with an empty hand.

As '16 has said - there are alot of options at mid-field and again health is the watchword - what's not to like about Peshko's 14 goals over the last 10 games as compared to his 2 goals in his first 6? How about Grimes - who broke his wrist/hand mid season (Seems pretty important to a shooter) missed 5 complete games and still scored 11? Evans/Raposo (don't beat Loyola last year without him)/McDermott/ Bauer all had moments last year - I would love to see a healthy McDermott for an entire year. And then there's a freshmen class with some talent and more and more opportunity to contribute right away as the COVID mouse works its way through the snake. Then there is Maher - highly recruited - began at UVA (I've heard sometimes they get nice players) - if he's healthy what does he bring? Something good I would imagine.

Just let it play out - if the Hopkins offense is not great then he can parade around and say he was right - why that is a tantalizing proposition to him is completely beyond me

We're banking on 3 years of Milliman. That's the story this year. The rest of this story we've mostly seen before for the last decade and longer only this time we don't have top 5 recruiting classes and narratives about titles won a long time ago.

[Sagittarius A*]

Ok - so you're an alien descended upon earth and your alien boss has told you you need to bet on the starter in goal next year for Hopkins lacrosse and you have the following choices:
Caricciolo - 44 Division I starts - legitimately over 2500 minutes of Division I time - career save percentage approx. 53% (albeit at a different school)
Marcille - 7 Division appearances since 2019 - 4 starts - likely approx. 300 minutes of Division I time - no appearances in 2019/no appearances in 2020/5 in 2021/2 in 2022 - career save percentage 47%
Versfeld - 2 Division I appearances - 34 minutes of Division I time - save percentage 45%
Webb - 1 Division I appearance - 23 minutes of Division I time - save percentage 17%

So Mr. Missouri who are you sidling up to the betting window for?

And let's be clear - no dog in this fight - couldn't pick Luke C. out of a line-up - want the best goalie that Hopkins can put on the field - and '16 is correct - anything can happen - but if he's healthy this kid will almost certainly be in goal.

Another postscript - fla's point about Caricciolo and Kirson is well taken - which I think was just because you had a higher save percentage somewhere else doesn't mean you will replicate it at Hopkins - and I did not say ol Luke would play well - I said I think with a high probability he will start. Kirson's history can also be taken as a data point that Luke C. will play too as Kirson certainly played the vast majority of his games at Hopkins despite very uneven performances. If you assume any positive motivation at all - that Milliman and the coaches wanted to win lacrosse games - they played Kirson because they thought he gave them the best shot to win from that position and they never waivered from it except when he was injured in late '21.

When, in the entire history of Hopkins lacrosse, has a transfer goalie worked out for us?
Name one.

[HopFan16]

When, in the entire history of Hopkins lacrosse, has a transfer goalie worked out for us?
Name one.

How many have there been in the last 100 years? Two? Big sample size there boss. This is how a 3rd grader thinks. Why does it feel like you're rooting for the kid to fail?

The team needed a goalie. If one of the other guys wants the role, they should force the staff's hand. Make yourself the best option and you get to play.

[nyjay]

Ok - so you're an alien descended upon earth and your alien boss has told you you need to bet on the starter in goal next year for Hopkins lacrosse and you have the following choices:
Caricciolo - 44 Division I starts - legitimately over 2500 minutes of Division I time - career save percentage approx. 53% (albeit at a different school)
Marcille - 7 Division appearances since 2019 - 4 starts - likely approx. 300 minutes of Division I time - no appearances in 2019/no appearances in 2020/5 in 2021/2 in 2022 - career save percentage 47%
Versfeld - 2 Division I appearances - 34 minutes of Division I time - save percentage 45%
Webb - 1 Division I appearance - 23 minutes of Division I time - save percentage 17%

So Mr. Missouri who are you sidling up to the betting window for?

The answer does indeed seem obvious based on the above. But then we just need for figure out who the grad student transfer goalie for 24 is going to be.

[51percentcorn]

Did I miss something the last 40-50 years? How many times has Hopkins needed a transfer at that position? That's like saying since you burnt the steak once - ribeyes suck. Look, you can pick at the goalie situation carcass and say PM should have done this or not done that but I am not sure what those things might be. He was clearly not dealing with a position of strength and a bunch of things happened which on the surface appear beyond his control - once again a tried and true retread topic but let's go back to 2019 and 20 and see if it sinks in this time:
In 2019 - Petro had 3 goalies on the roster - earlier i made an inaccurate statement that Marcille was on this team - apologies- Darby/Giacolone and freshman Alex Gainey. Darby played virtually every second - Giacolone got two minor mop-ups and Gainey did not play. Darby - someone who a certain poster "THANKED GOD" when he was no longer on the roster - posted a sub 45% save percentage
2020 - There were now 4 goalies on the roster with the addition of Marcille - In the abbreviated 6 games - Darby started 5 appeared in all 6 and raised his save percentage about 2 points to just under 47%. Giacalone appeared in 3 games but only played 32 minutes. Gainey and Marcille DNP.
Post April 2020 - Gainey transfers to BU and Demopolous decommits from the fall 21 class. The freshman goalie from Shadyside in PA has a complete non athletic issue and is dismissed from the school. Giacalone I think had another year of eligibility but after 4 years and only playing about an hour of game time he was not on the roster for 21. So the goalie room was down to 2 - a career 45% starter and a freshman eligible who had never played. Was a transfer desparately needed? Yes Yes it was. Did he get one of the better ones out there according to the pundits? Yes he did. Could he/should he have gotten someone else - well all I can say - again - is it takes two to tango - so did it begin and end with Kirson - who knows - but the player has to also want to come to Hopkins and there has to be an academic fit.
2021 - WIth the decommit of Demopolous PM had no goalie in the 21/22 class and of course most everyone had committed elsewhere - he secured a late commitment from Webb. Also the 22/23 class had a goalie commit - Lawson - who decommittd at a very late date putting that class with no goalie recruit. For that year - Kirson started 9 games - reportedly injured and Marcille finished the season - the goalie room was Kirson/Darby/Marcille
2022 - Darby was no longer on the roster - Webb arrived - and more nominal depth was added with a DIII transfer (who undoubtedly knew the volunteer assistat coach) Versfeld - Kirson played virtually the entire season - Versfeld and Marcille played to what amounted to a half each and Webb played a few minutes
Post 2022 season - Kirson exhausted his eligibility - there was no goalie from the 20/21 class because of the off-field incident - there was no incoming goalie for the 22/23 class because of the late Lawson decommit and (I assume) the inability to match up with any other recruit who had not committed elsewhere. So the goalie room was down to 3 again - incredibly void of DI experience. Was the consideration of a transfer warranted - yes it was. Are 1 year rentals optimal - no they are not but sometimes you do what you have to.

So again - the goalie situation has been a dumpster fire for many many years. Some might argue early recruiting is especially fraught with peril at that position. Why not be happy that your coach is trying things instead of this incessant whining?

[51percentcorn]

The answer does indeed seem obvious based on the above. But then we just need for figure out who the grad student transfer goalie for 24 is going to be.

Well that's a great point and one of the downsides to one year rentals. 2024 sees the end of eligibiity for Caricciolo and likely Versfeld? Marcille - assuming for a second he is not the starter for a lengthy period - may take his one year of eligibility elsewhere or off to start the real world so you could be down to Sgt. Friday and Verdi the incoming freshman. So - especially if Marcille leaves - you are going to need depth and that's the only way to address it.

[nyjay]

The answer does indeed seem obvious based on the above. But then we just need for figure out who the grad student transfer goalie for 24 is going to be.

Well that's a great point and one of the downsides to one year rentals. 2024 sees the end of eligibiity for Caricciolo and likely Versfeld? Marcille - assuming for a second he is not the starter for a lengthy period - may take his one year of eligibility elsewhere or off to start the real world so you could be down to Sgt. Friday and Verdi the incoming freshman. So - especially if Marcille leaves - you are going to need depth and that's the only way to address it.

Becomes something of a vicious cycle, especially when the only goal is win as many games as possible RIGHT NOW, rather than giving any consideration to hoping guys develop for the future and provide some continuity. I had some optimism about Marcille after his first couple of games, and I have no idea about Webb. Would be curious to see if there might be some upside there, but the coaching staff sees them every day in practice, so I guess they don't think so.

[HopFan16]

Webb is still only a soph and was a late bloomer in high school. I think he'll get a shot at some point even if it's not in 2023.

Marcille's bio says he plans to go to med school after he graduates — if that's still the case then probably means no lax in 2024 at Homewood or anywhere else for that matter.

Verdi is a big boy who fills up the cage and I love his tape. Calm with quick hands and level of competition isn't much of a concern playing for Chaminade. The '24 goalie from Cali also looks good but we're a ways off from that.

Bottom line — the ball really is in one of the above's court, like I said. Play well and make yourself inevitable. Then there will be no need for a transfer.

[51percentcorn]

Well '16 I guess I have the following thoughts. In '24 regardless of what you think of Webb/Verdi - even I the king of the small roster position - thinks you need 3 bodies. SO if you are right and Marcille leaves for loftier goals - then you are down to 2 and you need someone to at least fog a mirror.

I might also submit that if you really believe Webb is a long term viable solution - then I would think you need to see him sometime in '23 and not just for 17 minutes of mop up. Maybe he or Verdi will be great in '24 but that's a huge hope if he doesn't get to play in 23 and you are relying on two guys who have never played. But then ny's point about needing to win now comes in and if the current transfer gives you the best chance he is going to play.

SO likely the best option for the program is that I would have lost my shirt betting on the transfer - Webb plays the majority of the season - does well and starts a chain of successful goalies - I have my doubts