Maryland 2020

[admin]

2020 Terp’s Goalie Glut: Morris, Brandau, McNaney

UVA had a log jam with two players: Alex Rode and Patrick Burkinshaw. As a consequence, Burkinshaw transfered to UPenn. With Chris Brandau transferring from Georgetown to Maryland, the Terps now have a three goalie log jam: Dan Morris (JR), Chris Brandau (SO), and Under Armour All-American MVP, Logan McNaney (FR). This not-so-simple situation is being discussed, here, within the Maryland 2020 Forum.

[OCanada]

If MD has them one or two others don’t. Some teams won’t take a player unless the team votes them in. Going to be interesting to observe

[pcowlax]

I think the biggest issues isn’t whether these are all “great goalies” but whether they all think that they are. Yes, everyone who gets recruited D1 is a high school star and has been told how great they are. But while all animals are equal, some are more equal than others. When you are a star of the league in the MIAA (Brandau), West-1 (McNaney) or the FCIAC (Morris), you certainly don’t shy from competition and want to be at a top program and prove yourself but you also are sure in your mind that you WILL prove yourself. Goalie is obviously unique. In almost all circumstances only 1gets the vast majority of run. Fine if you come in as a freshman and sit behind a senior or even a junior but not here, not stacked 3 classes in a row with a 4th coming next year. I don’t blame MD for recruiting all of the top talent it can but this obviously is not tenable, no way all of these guys stay. You go to college wanting to compete yes but also to play. Someone will transfer and that someone may well even end up being better than the ones who stay. As others have said, you can’t tell for sure until you see them in a game but you can’t get this many into games.

[Peter Brown]

I think the biggest issues isn’t whether these are all “great goalies” but whether they all think that they are. Yes, everyone who gets recruited D1 is a high school star and has been told how great they are. But while all animals are equal, some are more equal than others. When you are a star of the league in the MIAA (Brandau), West-1 (McNaney) or the FCIAC (Morris), you certainly don’t shy from competition and want to be at a top program and prove yourself but you also are sure in your mind that you WILL prove yourself. Goalie is obviously unique. In almost all circumstances only 1gets the vast majority of run. Fine if you come in as a freshman and sit behind a senior or even a junior but not here, not stacked 3 classes in a row with a 4th coming next year. I don’t blame MD for recruiting all of the top talent it can but this obviously is not tenable, no way all of these guys stay. You go to college wanting to compete yes but also to play. Someone will transfer and that someone may well even end up being better than the ones who stay. As others have said, you can’t tell for sure until you see them in a game but you can’t get this many into games.

I think what PCowlax gets very right here is that it would be one thing if say Morris was a senior and the others were only looking at one year of waiting. It's a whole other deal when he's a junior with two years left and the others are soph or freshman with yet one more coming in behind that. That's a few years of hard time on the bench for guys who would (let's be real) easily be a starter elsewhere. More power to Tillman if he can manage that load, but to the outside eye, I don't see how he can pull it off. High class problem to have, to be honest.

Don't forget that a lot of knowledgeable folks were surprised that Tills started Dolan ahead of Morris; I don't see Morris not getting the start to begin the season. I also don't see either Brandau or McNaney sitting, especially Brandau who transferred in (coaches tend to give transfers some verbal comfort about playing time; I mean, Desko practically handed the keys to the Dome to Scanlan).

Cooter is suspiciously quiet.

[mliz]

All of the sought after and successful D1 goalies that you've mentioned came out of the highly competitive MIAA where every single game is a battle. Knowing how to compete in an environment where almost every other kid is just as good as you are is immensely valuable when you arrive at a D1 program. My money's on Brandau...he has D1 game experience from his time at Georgetown and he is an MIAA product.

[runrussellrun]

All of the sought after and successful D1 goalies that you've mentioned came out of the highly competitive MIAA where every single game is a battle. Knowing how to compete in an environment where almost every other kid is just as good as you are is immensely valuable when you arrive at a D1 program. My money's on Brandau...he has D1 game experience from his time at Georgetown and he is an MIAA product.

Every single game a "battle" ? Seeing that MIAA champ only had double digits scored on them once, all season (ot Hill ) and averaged about 5 goals allowed, per game, not too sure how many shots, every game, of quality Calvert Halls goalies faced. Fine goalies, just don't tell us that every single MIAA game is a "battle" It's just myth making. 14 goal differential in the semi's? umm.....ok.

[Slim]

Didn’t Brandau transfer from SP to BL also? I guess he didn’t want to compete/sit behind Rode.

This has the smell of trouble for the Terps imo.

[Wheels]

All of the sought after and successful D1 goalies that you've mentioned came out of the highly competitive MIAA where every single game is a battle. Knowing how to compete in an environment where almost every other kid is just as good as you are is immensely valuable when you arrive at a D1 program. My money's on Brandau...he has D1 game experience from his time at Georgetown and he is an MIAA product.

Brandau having played in a similar defensive scheme under Warne might make his transition on the field at Maryland a little easier than an incoming freshman might experience. Wouldn't surprise me if either Morris or Brandau won the spot.

[mliz]

All of the sought after and successful D1 goalies that you've mentioned came out of the highly competitive MIAA where every single game is a battle. Knowing how to compete in an environment where almost every other kid is just as good as you are is immensely valuable when you arrive at a D1 program. My money's on Brandau...he has D1 game experience from his time at Georgetown and he is an MIAA product.

Every single game a "battle" ? Seeing that MIAA champ only had double digits scored on them once, all season (ot Hill ) and averaged about 5 goals allowed, per game, not too sure how many shots, every game, of quality Calvert Halls goalies faced. Fine goalies, just don't tell us that every single MIAA game is a "battle" It's just myth making. 14 goal differential in the semi's? umm.....ok.

That was one year and that's certainly not what the years that Brandau played in the MIAA were.

[Comeonman]

On the flip side of my comments last night about how the 2015-2018 UA AA selections have panned out in college, this year saw a lot of great goaltending by guys who were NOT selected for that game. PB mentioned Troutner already, but let’s also acknowledge Sconone, DeLuca, Edelmann, Boyce and Junkin. All were named D1 AAs this year. Yes, great HS goalies - but even better in college.

[mliz]

All of the sought after and successful D1 goalies that you've mentioned came out of the highly competitive MIAA where every single game is a battle. Knowing how to compete in an environment where almost every other kid is just as good as you are is immensely valuable when you arrive at a D1 program. My money's on Brandau...he has D1 game experience from his time at Georgetown and he is an MIAA product.

Every single game a "battle" ? Seeing that MIAA champ only had double digits scored on them once, all season (ot Hill ) and averaged about 5 goals allowed, per game, not too sure how many shots, every game, of quality Calvert Halls goalies faced. Fine goalies, just don't tell us that every single MIAA game is a "battle" It's just myth making. 14 goal differential in the semi's? umm.....ok.

That was one year and that's certainly not what the years that Brandau played in the MIAA were.

If I'm not mistaken, Brandau sat for two years behind Pezzulla and Rode sat for two years behind Barretto. My point is that the kids from the hotbed areas have to compete every single day at practice wether they are game day goalies or not. And as for the Calvert Hall goalie, he sat behind another goalie for two years and will be heading to UMD in a year.

[pcowlax]

That is very true. And all three of these (4 next year) are from serious hotbeds and have played in practice and games vs countless shooters bound for D1. That’s what I meant by my earlier comment. Absolutely for that when you come from West-1 and MIAA and FCIAC you are battle hardened. Thing is, they all know that. They all believe they should be starting as a result. If it is Brandau, I think both others will transfer. McNaney not going to sit for 3 years, Morris not going to sit his entire career. I agree the D1 experience helps Brandau. I can’t believe he was promised he would start but I also can’t fathom why of all goalie settings he would transfer into this one if he wasn’t promised. His MIAA background is irrelevant here with the competition the others faced, would be different if they were hot shots from Georgia. No idea really but I’d lean Morris by a smidge. However, if all 3 do stay, whoever wins is going to be looking over their shoulder after every goal. Strong competition is good and healthy but that likely degree of paranoia is not.

[wgdsr]

man, the terp offseason is just full of innuendo!!! imagine if instead of kraus' goal, he ended up hitting the pipe?!?! it'd be bedlam.

so let's go ahead and assume that there are 3 future hall-of-famers here. i mean, they've earned it. what is the downside, or am i missing something? is it certain locker room strife? cliques? guys taking sides, tearing the team apart? the 3rd string guy running onto the field on a mandown and causing maryland eternal embarrassment? dogs and cats living together?
what?

[pcowlax]

Not reading a thing anyone has written wgdsr. They could all suck (pro-tip, they don’t). What matters is that they don’t think they do. So yes, your extremely not funny sarcasm aside, locker room strife. And What the heck, I don’t even have 4 degrees of separation from Maryland but a blind man can see you don’t put 3-4 top high school all American goalies on one team and think they will all be cool with “best man wins”.

[wgdsr]

Not reading a thing anyone has written wgdsr. They could all suck (pro-tip, they don’t). What matters is that they don’t think they do. So yes, your extremely not funny sarcasm aside, locker room strife.

so because a goalie or 2 doesn't play, they're risking the season? aren't 25-30 guys not playing? and because why, they were good in high school? you don't think that's crazy talk?

not for nothing, but it seems like after sitting through a lot of the season, brandau looks to have won the job at g'town. and left anyway. i didn't hear about any locker room strife there, but maybe there was a mutiny at some point... so he had his p.t. going forward. there could've been any of dozens of reasons why he felt it wasn't the right situation for him, and why he felt maryland was.

this sounds like a lot of ginning up of problems so folks can gin up possible problems. that they have no expertise in or at least inside knowledge of. are there 3-10 guys on the roster that are negatively fired up right now about possibly having 3 good goalies this year? maryland has been bringing in 15 + recruits a year forever it seems. they've actually got a decent track record. and they've managed to keep all the locker room strife under wraps, and most guys toe the party line (until realguy).

[reLAX]

I think the biggest issues isn’t whether these are all “great goalies” but whether they all think that they are. Yes, everyone who gets recruited D1 is a high school star and has been told how great they are. But while all animals are equal, some are more equal than others. When you are a star of the league in the MIAA (Brandau), West-1 (McNaney) or the FCIAC (Morris), you certainly don’t shy from competition and want to be at a top program and prove yourself but you also are sure in your mind that you WILL prove yourself. Goalie is obviously unique. In almost all circumstances only 1gets the vast majority of run. Fine if you come in as a freshman and sit behind a senior or even a junior but not here, not stacked 3 classes in a row with a 4th coming next year. I don’t blame MD for recruiting all of the top talent it can but this obviously is not tenable, no way all of these guys stay. You go to college wanting to compete yes but also to play. Someone will transfer and that someone may well even end up being better than the ones who stay. As others have said, you can’t tell for sure until you see them in a game but you can’t get this many into games.

I think what PCowlax gets very right here is that it would be one thing if say Morris was a senior and the others were only looking at one year of waiting. It's a whole other deal when he's a junior with two years left and the others are soph or freshman with yet one more coming in behind that. That's a few years of hard time on the bench for guys who would (let's be real) easily be a starter elsewhere. More power to Tillman if he can manage that load, but to the outside eye, I don't see how he can pull it off. High class problem to have, to be honest.

Don't forget that a lot of knowledgeable folks were surprised that Tills started Dolan ahead of Morris; I don't see Morris not getting the start to begin the season. I also don't see either Brandau or McNaney sitting, especially Brandau who transferred in (coaches tend to give transfers some verbal comfort about playing time; I mean, Desko practically handed the keys to the Dome to Scanlan).

Cooter is suspiciously quiet.

The confidence of the goalies not withstanding, I’d be concerned with the confidence Coach Tillman May have in his current 2 goalies and a new one coming in as a freshman. If Tillman was so sold on Morris (who by others admission were surprised he didn’t start last season) perhaps he needed to bring in someone with on field experience. Maybe Morris gets the start, albeit on a short leash, or Brandau’s experience behind a young defense helps give him the edge. Time will tell. It will be interesting to watch for sure .

[Pork42]

Really dont know who will start next year all 4 have impressive resumes but I am going to go with the goalie that leads the defence is a hard worker shows improvement during the grind is a great locker room guy and that can bring the extra stuff on the field. The extra stuff that goalies dont normally do.
I think the the greenhorn sees significant time.

Goalie Rustygate

https://youtu.be/U8VoNeLB6dc

[Peter Brown]

man, the terp offseason is just full of innuendo!!! imagine if instead of kraus' goal, he ended up hitting the pipe?!?! it'd be bedlam.

so let's go ahead and assume that there are 3 future hall-of-famers here. i mean, they've earned it. what is the downside, or am i missing something? is it certain locker room strife? cliques? guys taking sides, tearing the team apart? the 3rd string guy running onto the field on a mandown and causing maryland eternal embarrassment? dogs and cats living together?
what?

Couple notes (*wgdsr might be a lost cause here, boys):

1. Did you actually ever play lax? If so, you might recall a relatively consistent theme in every lacrosse locker room: the goalie is the introverted, sitting-on-a-powder-keg loner in the corner talking to himself, stewing over yesterday's perceived slights at practice or in the classroom, hating you-me-and-everyone else; lacrosse is the only outlet between them and homicide. Goalies don't sign up to College Park lax to pick four-leaf clovers on the quad reciting poetry (which I'm guessing you think is an option?). Guess what really good goalies don't particularly enjoy? Sitting on a bench. The anger builds up like a cauldron...teammates can sense unhappy teammates which is generally not a good ingredient for team success. Shocking, I know.

2. Did anyone claim all three are hall-of-famers? No? Didn't think so. Would all three like to? You're GD right they would. These boys are ferocious competitors. Today though is your lucky day, because here's a free lesson you shouldn't (but probably will) forget: the surest path to NOT getting into a Hall of Fame is by not playing.

Apparently some folks think these three (and 4 as of Fall of '21) are content to ride the pine, whoever wins the role wins, and oh-gee-wheee, if I let in a bonehead goal Tills will replace me in a country minute but hey dem's da breaks but my confidence won't be shot, no sirreee. Until I see Brennan O'Neill actually score a goal for Duke, he sucks. It's fantasyland in the heads of some posters here.

[Peter Brown]

man, the terp offseason is just full of innuendo!!! imagine if instead of kraus' goal, he ended up hitting the pipe?!?! it'd be bedlam.

so let's go ahead and assume that there are 3 future hall-of-famers here. i mean, they've earned it. what is the downside, or am i missing something? is it certain locker room strife? cliques? guys taking sides, tearing the team apart? the 3rd string guy running onto the field on a mandown and causing maryland eternal embarrassment? dogs and cats living together?
what?

Couple notes (*wgdsr might be a lost cause here, boys):

1. Did you actually ever play lax? If so, you might recall a relatively consistent theme in every lacrosse locker room: the goalie is the introverted, sitting-on-a-powder-keg loner in the corner talking to himself, stewing over yesterday's perceived slights at practice or in the classroom, hating you-me-and-everyone else; lacrosse is the only outlet between them and homicide. Goalies don't sign up to College Park lax to pick four-leaf clovers on the quad reciting poetry (which I'm guessing you think is an option?); goalies somehow don't mind hard rubber balls being shot at their padless outer-regions at 100 mph, shattering bones and causing internal bleeding. To me that takes a special kinda guy. Guess what really good goalies don't particularly enjoy? Sitting on a bench. The anger builds up like a cauldron...teammates can sense unhappy teammates which is generally not a good ingredient for team success. Shocking, I know.

2. Did anyone claim all three are hall-of-famers? No? Didn't think so. Would all three like to? You're GD right they would. These boys are ferocious competitors. Today though is your lucky day, because here's a free lesson you shouldn't (but probably will) forget: the surest path to NOT getting into a Hall of Fame is by not playing.

Apparently some folks think these three (and 4 as of Fall of '21) are content to ride the pine, whoever wins the role wins, and oh-gee-wheee, if I let in a bonehead goal Tills will replace me in a country minute but hey dem's da breaks but my confidence won't be shot, no sirreee. Until I see Brennan O'Neill actually score a goal for Duke, he sucks. It's fantasyland in the heads of some posters here.

[Seahawk]

They all sat in HS. No reason to think they won’t sit again. If they didn’t want to sit they had plenty of options at lower DI schools or even higher DIII schools with equivalent academic options. My guess is they are betting on themselves to win the job and if they don’t, they will have to decide whether to sit (and contribute/compete again) or leave and start the process over at another school. No one is “given” a position. For UMD, competition will likely put the better player on the field increasing the chance of TEAM success. That’s the coaches goal every year, regardless which player comes, stays or leaves. Recruit the best, let them compete, and then play the game. We’ll see what happens next Spring.