TheBigIguana wrote: ↑Wed Jun 26, 2019 9:26 amHopefully Toomey is working on Brandau because that would solve that problemPeter Brown wrote: ↑Wed Jun 26, 2019 9:20 amNovaHound wrote: ↑Tue Jun 25, 2019 8:44 pm This is FUN!!! I do like all of the conjecture, assumptions, foretelling, forecasting, predictive analysis, wishful thinking, hopefulness, etc.... Makes an otherwise boring Summer tolerable, although the Chase Scanlan sweepstakes are certainly entertaining.
I just think you have to pay heed to what Peter brown is saying about the defense and here's why. The SSDMs are a year (and will be) better, more experienced and bigger - Benus, Swindell, Higgins, Rezanka... I probably missed someone else here. I also think Milhouse shifts more to offense but all of his time spent on Defense only increases his upside in the transition game.
As for the Long Poles:
Wyers is a lefty. Hughes, a projected starter until a January knee injury, is a rightie. That's one heck of a double from both sides if you ask me. They are both big and fast. Both are experienced. Railey and Johnson - both starters/experienced. I hear LeBlanc might be a factor in the rotation this year as well. Defense - you have starting experience, size, knowledge, etc... and I expect communication within the group to improve. Very little downside. They will miss the senior leadership provided by Volante and Stover but someone will step up IMO. Last year Stover bailed the defense out with his crazy saves, this defense bails out the goalie by forcing bad shots, creating turnovers, winning the GB game and creating the transition to quickly take advanatge of an unsettled and unprepared defense. It's a hopeful wish.
I forgot to mention McNulty?? 2 more years Baby!!! His confidence and ability is off the charts. And Middleton steps up his defense to go with his offensive mindset. Johnson also took some runs at LSM last year and may do the same this year. And I hear we have another good pole coming in from the Hill Academy...
It's going to be a good defense.
Offense - Lindley and Olmstead. Proven, dependable, willing to step up and lead the team. Both are tough as nails. I remember someone mentioning Ross Pridemore. Have heard nothing but good things about him. Has the size, speed and all around knack for feeding the ball to the open man. He injured his knee prior to arriving on campus and rehabbed it last Fall. He was finally cleared in late Spring and is why he suited up for the Playoffs.
Middies - sure the Scanlan loss hurts. But Hounds have Cox, Devoreaux, Wiggs, Milhouse, and some new faces coming in that are dependable and experienced.
The Freshman class from last year saw playing time and I'm not sure who will emerge and make an impact.
Goalie - Sam Shaffer (sp??) 2 years watching Stover and learning the game. Bigger. Good clearing.
I almost forgot to mention how the game tactics are executed - it begins at X with Bailey Savio. Loyola improved its face off percentage from .478 in 2018 to .522 in 2019. I expect this to improve and this will help wear down the opposing defense. Hounds will have more touches on the ball.
Prognosis - Pretty Good team with potential. Team starts slow (possible losses to UVA and JHU - I hate to say) and then begins to build its chemistry and gets on a roll during Patriot League. Win it. On to Playoffs. That's how I see it. But I also believe in one game at a time... Each game will be a stepping stone. It doesn't matter how you start - it's how you finish
Please chime in Peter Brown - what did I miss??
Great summary.
Only thing you overlooked were the incoming freshmen. I think Pacheco is the most underrated player in high school; how we got him I have no idea, other than the bigs keep overlooking non-hotbed areas of high school lacrosse. vandenHeuvel is just like McNulty, and I assume everyone knows how good Ryan is?
Where Voyeur and others can't see the forest (team performance) through the trees (Spencer!!!) is we are likely to be significantly better as a team in 2020 than we wee this year.
1. That starts with Bailey, Cottone, and Pacheco at FOGO. We will see the ball so much more in 2020 than we did in 2019.
2. Then go to our defense. No one here outside if you are a Mercer fan realizes just how good Hughes is. The kid is as good a defender as you will see in D1, as is Wyers. Our defense will be excellent, not simply better than average.
3. No one appreciates Lindley and Olmstead yet, except for Pat Spencer. When you take the reins off those two, as we saw in the BU and Gtown games, you will see two very elite players whose numbers will surprise many here.
Look, I love Pat as much as anyone, and no doubt there will be some adjusting period, but this team will be a very strong D1 squad next year. The upside and downside to having a great player is so many teammates start staring at the one guy to create everything, and then you become less of the sum of your parts. That will not be the case next year. Lindley is an elite player as is Olmstead.
My only worry has nothing to do with losing Spencer, Scanlan, or Duffy, our offense, midfield, LSM's, or defense...we willbe excellent at all three lines. My only worry for the 2020 Hounds is in goal. One of those two guys will need to be very good.
It would be too much to ask God for at this stage. I prayed for Spencer and Stover and got both. You can only go to the Big Guy every so often if the request is about lacrosse.
Brandau imo highly likely would get the starting role. But I don't want to deny especially Shafer whom I think can be a great D1 goalie (as well as Teitlebaum).
On our defense, just fyi, between Wyers and Railey alone, forget all the others (and we are loaded...Hughes, Johnson, Leblanc, etc...), we would have two defenders above 6'4" with very fast feet. I'm telling you, my crab bet is a sure thing. I'm thinking of adding one more helping.
