Johns Hopkins 2021

[nyjay]

Mixed feelings about goalie transfers aside, mighty positive news. This staff can definitely recruit. While Kirson is from Mass, wonder if the Canadian connection at Hill had anything to do with this. Pulling kids regularly from Hill (including ones not named Marr) would be big. Feeling pretty good about this team for next year:

G - Kirson
D - Colwell, Reinson, Smith
LSM - Fernandez
SSDM - Lilly or Glassmeyer (?)
M1 - Zinn, Degnon, Grimes
A - Epstein, Williams, Murphy

Do Kirson and Fernandez both have two years of eligibility remaining?

DocBarrister

From my understanding, yes. Kirson r/s'd as a frosh.

[nyjay]

Chris Jastrzembski reporting that Kirson going to Hop pending admissions. Feel bad for the goalies on the roster who never got a chance to show what they can do and will now likely be backing up Kirson for next few years. I wonder who will be the back-up? Jacob or Darby? Gainey if he returns? Marcille? I guess that is the fight when lax begins is for #2 now. No way you are bringing him in to not be the starter for next few years short of injury or terrible play.

yeah, that's not how it works. they will have plenty of opportunity to be the guy. and the crease is 6' away. no excuse not to try and get better in the meantime.

just so long as the situation is handled better than it was the last time with brought in a highly-touted transfer goalie from another B1G program . . .

[wgdsr]

Chris Jastrzembski reporting that Kirson going to Hop pending admissions. Feel bad for the goalies on the roster who never got a chance to show what they can do and will now likely be backing up Kirson for next few years. I wonder who will be the back-up? Jacob or Darby? Gainey if he returns? Marcille? I guess that is the fight when lax begins is for #2 now. No way you are bringing him in to not be the starter for next few years short of injury or terrible play.

yeah, that's not how it works. they will have plenty of opportunity to be the guy. and the crease is 6' away. no excuse not to try and get better in the meantime.

just so long as the situation is handled better than it was the last time with brought in a highly-touted transfer goalie from another B1G program . . .

in general for that season when you have 2 goalies sometimes it means you don't have one.
personally, i lay that more or as much on the defense, but as a coach there are times when you're looking for a spark there.
when it's going sideways everywhere a few saves can change that.

[nyjay]

All true - felt to me like Logan "won" the job, but didn't really have Dave's full confidence and so the situation deteriorated. And then Logan declared academically ineligible on the morning of the tourney game, if I remember? Just an truly ridiculous episode.

[DocBarrister]

Mixed feelings about goalie transfers aside, mighty positive news. This staff can definitely recruit. While Kirson is from Mass, wonder if the Canadian connection at Hill had anything to do with this. Pulling kids regularly from Hill (including ones not named Marr) would be big. Feeling pretty good about this team for next year:

G - Kirson
D - Colwell, Reinson, Smith
LSM - Fernandez
SSDM - Lilly or Glassmeyer (?)
M1 - Zinn, Degnon, Grimes
A - Epstein, Williams, Murphy

Do Kirson and Fernandez both have two years of eligibility remaining?

DocBarrister

From my understanding, yes. Kirson r/s'd as a frosh.

Thanks. Good to hear.

DocBarrister

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

All true - felt to me like Logan "won" the job, but didn't really have Dave's full confidence and so the situation deteriorated. And then Logan declared academically ineligible on the morning of the tourney game, if I remember? Just an truly ridiculous episode.

Ah, heck heck heck heck.

Thanks for reminding me of that total nonsense.

Where was DOLO’s ADOSS on that one?

(Ass Dir Of Student Success)

[10stone5]

Thankfully, with the Milliman hire.
No more talk about how Hopkins should think about going DIII.
No more talk about hiring Rick Sowell as head coach.

[Sagittarius A*]

Mixed feelings about goalie transfers aside, mighty positive news. This staff can definitely recruit. While Kirson is from Mass, wonder if the Canadian connection at Hill had anything to do with this. Pulling kids regularly from Hill (including ones not named Marr) would be big. Feeling pretty good about this team for next year:

G - Kirson
D - Colwell, Reinson, Smith
LSM - Fernandez
SSDM - Lilly or Glassmeyer (?)
M1 - Zinn, Degnon, Grimes
A - Epstein, Williams, Murphy

Do Kirson and Fernandez both have two years of eligibility remaining?

DocBarrister

It looks like Kirson redshirted his freshman season and played in 2018 and 2019. So he should have two years eligibility left.
Kirson led the Big Ten in save percentage in 2020 at (.584)
Fernandez also has two years of eligibility left.
This is great news!!!!

[51percentcorn]

Re: Kirson - I hope he's admitted - I found that qualification to be odd - e.g why didn't everyone say "pending admission" with Fernandez? It does technically leave 6 goalies on the roster. If Gainey was - as Glenn Frey would have sung - already gone, that leaves 5. Optimally for the team, 1-2 more will sing their victory song.

G - Kirson
D - Colwell, Reinson, Smith
LSM - Fernandez
SSDM - Lilly or Glassmeyer (?)
M1 - Zinn, Degnon, Grimes
A - Epstein, Williams, Murphy

With respect to this line-up - couple question marks/thoughts:
- On the close D - Have I missed anything with respect to Colwell? I know he's still on the roster but that doesn't necessarily mean anything so in my mind he still has to want to return and the PM and JK have to want him. Lyne - on the other hand - has said he wants back - (I thought) - given all he's been through and the fact that he's reaching Chris Boland territory one might think he expects to be given a significant shot.
- Need another LSM to absorb 30-40% of the runs - Is it Reinson/Jaronski/Finley-Ponds?
- Need at least 3 SSDMs - it will be very interesting to see what JK does in that regard. Marcelo Arteaga is big and fast - one might think this is his chance to see the field alot his freshman year - a la the Duke model. Inside Lacrosse identifies Ince as a good prospect for SSDM at the next level.
- I think the Top 6 Offensive players are what most would pick - wild cards are the 3 seniors/junior eligibles and McDermott in my opinion. He's looks to be right handed whereas Grimes and Degnon like alot of the same points on the field. Of course you can have a midfield with more than 1 left hander but McDermott's vision and right hand would be a nice option. Of that Top 6 - only Williams would not have at least 3 years of eligibility left.

[jhu06]

Meyers is one of the most respected coaches in the game, ohio state is a pretty affordable situation especially in these times w/500,000 alumni for post grad plans, he presumably had made friends there and they were a better team than us last year. Why did the goalie leave? I like the pending admission thing. A little fancy and arrogant of the folks at the south end of campus. You'd think for a public announcement to take place all the ducks would've been lined up.

I've never been big on colwell, and glassmeyer/lilly didn't show anything last year. Lilly's size stood out though. So much work to do for milliman but I guess if you're getting a job at a cuse/maryland/hop there are going to be major problems to fix in a lot of places. Like so many guys over the years zinn has been a supposed star who turned into a riddle wrapped in an enigma.

congrats to college crosse on the transition, if any of you know anyone looking to lead a site, they've built something nice over there. Lot of respect and appreciation for what hoya suxa et al did there to pick up the lacrosse coverage after IL moved on from the jilotys and shannons a few years ago.
https://www.collegecrosse.com/2020/5/20 ... ger-needed

sportscenter reposted the tinney hidden ball stuff, benson didn't use it this year. I'm sure somewhere someone will ask milliman if he plans to borrow that.

[Sagittarius A*]

Meyers is one of the most respected coaches in the game, ohio state is a pretty affordable situation especially in these times w/500,000 alumni for post grad plans, he presumably had made friends there and they were a better team than us last year. Why did the goalie leave? I like the pending admission thing. A little fancy and arrogant of the folks at the south end of campus. You'd think for a public announcement to take place all the ducks would've been lined up.

I think the issue is that he has to be accepted to the graduate school, which I assume is the Carey Business school.
Since he redshirted as a frosh, he graduated OSU this spring with a degree in Finance.

[HopFan16]

While Kirson is from Mass, wonder if the Canadian connection at Hill had anything to do with this. Pulling kids regularly from Hill (including ones not named Marr) would be big.

Maybe, but I think the more important connection here clearly was Koesterer, who helped recruit Kirson to OSU.

I would not read anything into the "pending admission" language—you could say the same thing for most transfers, including Sowers, who had not officially been admitted to Duke when the news broke. For all I know he still may not have received an official acceptance.

The comparisons to Logan are silly IMO. Different coaching staff, different players, different circumstances. You have to be trying really hard not to be happy about a 58% goalie from a rival program transferring in at a position where we desperately needed a boost. It's a win.

The incoming class is extremely light on longpoles—probably music to 51's ears—which is not a big deal since there are already so many on the roster. Smith could be an option at LSM if he's not needed at close D. Between the law firm of Rodgers, Ruddy, Fox, and Calnan, there's talent for PM and Koesterer to work with whether or not Colwell and/or Lyne return. I think it's a pretty good bet that Fernandez will find himself on the wing for faceoffs but beyond that I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense to try to predict how the exact close D/LSM configurations are going to look like at this point. A lot of moving parts and that's before any potential roster cuts.

On a similar note—there are a lot of guys who fit the profile of a college SSDM (Arteaga and Ince indeed come to mind) but we've really got no clue who will still be listed on HopkinsSports.com come next spring. One thing I do think is worth pointing out though is that if there is an abbreviated version of fall ball—or no fall ball at all—then it's going to be tough for the freshmen to prove themselves. I am very curious to see how PM and co. approach things. At the very least, it appears the goalie situation moving forward will be a bit less concerning.

[nyjay]

Meyers is one of the most respected coaches in the game, ohio state is a pretty affordable situation especially in these times w/500,000 alumni for post grad plans, he presumably had made friends there and they were a better team than us last year. Why did the goalie leave? I like the pending admission thing. A little fancy and arrogant of the folks at the south end of campus. You'd think for a public announcement to take place all the ducks would've been lined up.

Kirson actually graduated this spring. So makes it a good time to move on, especially if you're looking at two-year grad programs. That's just speculation though.

I've never been big on colwell, and glassmeyer/lilly didn't show anything last year. Lilly's size stood out though. So much work to do for milliman but I guess if you're getting a job at a cuse/maryland/hop there are going to be major problems to fix in a lot of places. Like so many guys over the years zinn has been a supposed star who turned into a riddle wrapped in an enigma.

I've said this before, but I think the old scheme really made it hard to evaluate defensive players and SSDMs in particular. I actually believe that Foley was actually good, and he looked like crap in that scheme as well. I think Colwell is a competent high-end DI defenseman and was a captain, so assuming he comes back, he's one of the three close D. Reinson had some moments as a frosh - really thought he'd be excellent - but didn't seem to develop at all. I again put that on the old staff. So I think there's some talent there too. As for Smith, just figure I'd hop on that bandwagon.

Our SSDM play has been so poor for so long that I just can't lay the blame on the players. When Glassmeyer/Lilly/whichever of the freshman/whooever else, I just have to believe that with as many guys on the roster as there are, JK will be able to find a couple of guys who can competently play defense with a short stick.

[nyjay]

Wasn't an honest comparison to Logan - of course it's very different primarily due to the staff change - but Logan was viewed as an upgrade and a very good goalie before he got to Homewood. Wasn't reading LaxPower at the time, but I imagine that transfer decision was very well received at the time, even if the goalie situation was later mishandled. His game against UNC was one of the best goalie performances for Hop in recent memory though.

[HopFan16]

For what it's worth I thought Glassmeyer showed some promise. He made a couple boneheaded plays in transition but his on-ball D was not bad for a freshman shortie. It's not exactly easy to come in as a freshman and be relied on as the #2 SSDM in a defense that was already so young and inexperienced and quite frankly just a mess in general. In a more stable situation I think he can be an asset.

Re: Logan, I recall people being excited but there were also some who at the time smartly pointed out his save % had dropped over the course of his career, from 56% to 54% to 50% by the time he transferred to Hopkins. Kirson's trajectory has gone in the opposite direction: 48.4% to 50.2% to 58.4% (#10 in the country). College Crosse had him as their 3rd Team AA in the shortened season.

[wgdsr]

logan was the team's mvp all 3 years.

kirson's save % is .52. his .58 was in 7 games.
yes, the # has improved, yet now we're in a unique situation where goalies aren't likely going to get their typical annual reps.

hopkins goalies can take solace in the fact that a starter there is tbd. as it should be.

[Sagittarius A*]

Re: Logan, I recall people being excited but there were also some who at the time smartly pointed out his save % had dropped over the course of his career, from 56% to 54% to 50% by the time he transferred to Hopkins. Kirson's trajectory has gone in the opposite direction: 48.4% to 50.2% to 58.4% (#10 in the country). College Crosse had him as their 3rd Team AA in the shortened season.

Lacrosse Buckett has him ranked as the #5 goalie in 2020, behind Deluca, McElroy, Schluper, and Adler:

"5. Josh Kirson, Ohio State: Brick wall for Ohio State this season. Was extremely reliable and hard to score on. Great on the inside."

https://lacrossebucket.com/2020/04/07/2 ... -rankings/

[nrthcrosslax]

Any other targets in the transfer portal that JHU might be interested in or worth pursuing? Or is JHU done, given roster size, etc...?

[nyjay]

McCarthy from Princeton.

[Farfromgeneva]

Getting a couple of two years guys makes a lot of sense. Hop grabbing one year guys makes way less sense given the circumstance. New set of coaches, likely overhaul of next two years recruiting classes. High probability that at least two FF spots are nearly locked in Duke and UMD. Two years w Epstein too.

I like the two guys they got for the two years, ability to lead a transition and frankly the fact that I don’t think Hop is a FF contender next year for all these and some other reasons so let this fifth year grab fade out while still being competitive in quarters as a realistic goal.

Getting Fernandez and Kirson at LSM and G feels I little like going draft heavy at ILB and FS as a corollary. Not sure if Epstein is the QB or Moss like WR but need 1-2 more offensive studs and you have the 2000 Ravens w Ray Lewis and Ed Reed minus the friendly murder thing.