VIRGINIA LACROSSE 2020

[houndace1]

good competitive game for the defending champs.... little sad to see my school lose but hey it was a great scrappy game. Things can be learned from both teams after the result.


Overall just too much talent and too many good shooters on UVA. Credit Rode for the number of saves he had today. Great goalie

[MDlaxfan76]

good competitive game for the defending champs.... little sad to see my school lose but hey it was a great scrappy game. Things can be learned from both teams after the result.


Overall just too much talent and too many good shooters on UVA. Credit Rode for the number of saves he had today. Great goalie

Very good second half by Schafer too...

Lots to like about the Loyola effort.

[houndace1]

good competitive game for the defending champs.... little sad to see my school lose but hey it was a great scrappy game. Things can be learned from both teams after the result.


Overall just too much talent and too many good shooters on UVA. Credit Rode for the number of saves he had today. Great goalie

Very good second half by Schafer too...

Lots to like about the Loyola effort.

Thanks for the reply! liked the effort i saw too but hounds just couldn't capitalize on the few mistakes UVA made. We also shot ourselves in the foot with the turnovers on man down. If Rode didn't save those 2-3 quick stick goals by Lindley and Pridemore, then who knows what could've happened today.

Hope to see both teams improve as the season goes on

[molo]

Just caught most of the second half upon returning from Homewood. Congratulations to Loyola, who clearly outplayed the home team while I was watching but were just too far behind to catch up. Good first game for the Hounds, sloppy, foul fest for the Hoos, who will face more zones until they figure out how to attack them. Make adjustments during the game? May want to try it.

[johnnyonthegunpowder]

Shadow Inc. running the clock in Charlottesville. I'm looking forward to 4 years of Courmier. For as sloppy as they played, Loyola hung in there.

[OCanada]

Cormier’s goal makes Sportsnews top 10.

[molo]

Opponents short him at their own peril. If I were facing this team I would double pole the midfield and/or throw out a lot of zone. Cormier, Aitken, Kraus, and Moore would all be tough matchups for most teams number one cover guy. Against zones, which I would expect a lot teams to throw at them, they need to learn to follow Mississippi Fred McDowell's directive.I doubt the bluesman saw many lax games, but I used to quote him when I coached, "You gotta move." Move your feet, move the ball, move off the ball. Looks like the plan is to invert Quinn, a natural attackman coming though the box, or Conner, a high school middie, against zones with the aforementioned quartet and Laviano out front.

[wahoomurf]

Third quarter was pretty ugly.Some of the 1st years played well.Is Danny Parker the fastest guy on the team? He and Merle are a good SSDM combo.I'd put this one in the "a win's a win" column.

[molo]

For all the UVA fans who think Q is overly critical, he has them number one again this week.

[GSP]

Any word on DNP #32 Grayson Sallade? He was slated to start at ssdm along with #34 John Fox. Played extremely well last year.

[molo]

He played early last year, then got hurt and resurfaced in Philly. I assumed he would be an integral part of the dm rotation along with Fox and Merle, who played two years ago but was out hurt last year. Last year's team featured a lot of depth at the position, running five in games when Salade was involved. It's important to have four players ready to go, just as it's important to have a second lsm since defensive midfield can be the most tiring role in the game.

[GSP]

He was hurt on a cheap-shot in the "Cuse game but came back and played very well against Duke and Yale. He was on the sideline on Saturday but dressed in sweats next to Saustad. Any idea of the extent and duration of his injury?

[blue angels]

Virginia didn’t play particularly well in their victory over Loyola. However, The play of the 1st years at Close was encouraging, especially Bower. He stayed in front of Lindley all game and limited his effectiveness. I assumed this would be an advantage match up for Loyola but it certainly wasn’t. One on one D was good. Now they need to improve the Team D and Clearing.

[molo]

Last year Lehigh, missing three key players, only lost by three. They have handled the Utes so far this year. I understand that FOGO is a strength and that their best attackman is back and healthy. Will they follow the Hounds' lead and play some zone? On paper, this looks one sided, but then again I thought the same thing last week.

[Dip&Dunk]

Debating going to game or watching warm on couch with beer.

[wahoomurf]

Debating going to game or watching warm on couch with beer.

I flew in this morning.Shocked by the cold.Stay inside and enjoy your beer.Hell hot coffee freezes up quickly in this weather.Just thinking about drinking a brew today makes me want to head to the bathroom.

Lehigh looks tough.Second half will show what the 2020 Hoos are made of.

[Dip&Dunk]

Went to the game despite the temperature.

My observations:

UVA could have scored basically every play if they just inverted the offense and isolated from X. The size and strength difference between UVA’s attack and Lehigh’s defense is significant. I had to look and see what Lehigh listed some of their players stats as and it did not look accurate. Lehigh’s players were very skilled, hustled and determined but +1 to UVA’s strength and conditioning coach.

To be honest, UVA seemed to play into Lehigh’s defensive strength (quickness) after the first quarter.

UVA’s freshmen d poles are a work in progress. Their size is certainly not in question. I would spread them out as much as possible. They are vulnerable now but should only get better with experience and understanding they don’t need to make a play on each attempt. I foresee more zone when they get tight later in games.

Win is a win and Lehigh will win their fair share.

[johnnyonthegunpowder]

Kraus appears to have grown a bit.

[Matnum PI]

[molo]

Just as in the Loyola game, the zone worked well enough to prevent a blowout but was not effective enough to produce a win. In Sowers, Princeton will have the best player this team has faced so far this year, but Loyola and Lehigh had better depth and coaching. Did anyone else see the Princeton game last year when they couldn't buy a face-off yet went to double shorts on the wings? Interesting strategy that looked dumb but maybe you have to be I vy smart to get it.
This could be a breakout game for UVA. It could also be a trap game for a team that has won twice despite some significant dry spells, a circumstance that could be a prescription for overcondidence.