LaxPower Back-Up Stick

keno in reno wrote: ↑Sat Feb 24, 2024 4:11 pm So many sloppy turnovers again on perimeter passing.

Overall, great defense again. #1 is just a non-human.

Nice win, really should have been closer to 20 goals given all those possessions and open looks. Gotta get a lot more efficient at ND.

PulpExposure wrote: ↑Sat Feb 24, 2024 4:04 pm 13-7. Wierman utterly dominated. Offense looked good in spurts, but went dead in the 3rd quarter. A positive with that is that some of the Maryland offensive players took their defenders to the rack (Spanos notably, who had 4 goals). Defense looked great.

Workman like victory. Notre Dame up next week.

Wheels wrote: ↑Sat Feb 24, 2024 5:53 pm The offense looked good today. They were aggressive. They're starting to figure out when to pass and when to attack instead of spinning the ball all the time.

The deal with Erksa is you're going to have live with him learning to carry the load. He had fewer TOs today, but he didn't shoot well on 10 shots. There's a learning curve for everyone. He'll get more efficient, hopefully, as the season progresses.

jrn19 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 24, 2024 9:14 pm 5-0. Still +1 on last season. Let's see if we can make it +2 next weekend.

Pros
- Wierman looks like he's back to his 2022 form. Sharp, healthy, just completely dialed in. 67% and they'll probably need something like that against Notre Dame next weekend. That's what he had last year and it wasn't enough. Lynch won the last 3-4 of the game in regulation IIRC. I'm sure Wierman remembers
- Great to see Kolar back. Shorties looked strong. Was interesting to see Stamos matched up on Kabiri some early; and he hung in there. They're going to be a strength of the team come the end of the year if they can stay healthy
- 60%+ Faceoff, 60% goalie play, and a #1 defender just wiping out All-American attackmen is a truly unbelievable spine of the team. Ultimate floor raisers. Just need the other end to come through
- Last week Erksa was the party starter; this week Spanos. Played with decisiveness, that's what the team needs. Attacked shortie matchup from the outset, made things happen, got the offense in control. 4 goals + 1 assist is the type of game the offense needs from it's #1 option that game
- Malever is looking more and more comfortable

Cons
- We can do the "the opposition goalie had 20 saves and they weren't easy" thing all day. It's been 20 games now the last two years of this. We say this every single week. They were 44th in shooting percentage last year. If you adjust for the defense and goalies, they were 28th. 5th in the Big Ten in both. Coming into today, they were 25th in shooting percentage. 17th adjusted. Better. Not great. Today, they were pretty mediocre. This is who they are. They are not a good shooting team. They don't have outside shooters who threaten the defense. Eric Malever isn't a threat to hit an outside shot. Braden Erksa isn't. Danny Maltz can be, but as we saw today, it's a wind-up that causes him to be prone to turnovers. Koras is an inside finisher. Whittier doesn't shoot often. Spanos is mostly driving to the cage on his shots. Jack Brennan has scored 2 goals in his last 12 games. Kelly is a wing shooter. Murphy is the closest thing. That's one guy. Yeah, Gio had 20 saves. And two weeks ago Staudt had 16. And Knox Dent had a bunch in the first round last year. They're creating better looks this year so it's not going to be as much of a problem, but this team had a 5-6+ year run of elite shooting and now they're simply okay.
- The offensive drought was disappointing, especially after such a solid first half. And yeah, the turnovers are a part of it. The turnover rate isn't terrible considering the number of possessions they have, but 49 in 4 games is costly. As said above, this is just something you gotta live with till the team finds consistent dodging. Last week, it was Erksa. This week, Spanos. So they're finding 1 threat, which is good. We're seeing the offense grow. I think the key to unlocking things is finding the second guy week, in week out. When one guy goes quiet, it doesn't completely shut down the offense and force them into jamming these passes into the interior and trying to be perfect.

Onto ND. Going to need another great Wierman day and going to be another big day for the shorties. Notre Dame's middies won them the game last year dodging. If they can handle that match-up, they can handle anything. Might be a little too early in the season for it, but this team is definitely seasoned for tough road games at this point. I'm sure the team will be amped for it much the same way ND was after how many close ones they'd lost to us last year

jff97 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 25, 2024 7:36 pm Well looks like the Terps will see a pretty fired up Notre Dame team next Sunday. Wonder what the over/under is on how many times the Kavanaghs will be mentioned.

coda wrote: ↑Sun Feb 25, 2024 7:39 pm

jff97 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 25, 2024 7:36 pm Well looks like the Terps will see a pretty fired up Notre Dame team next Sunday. Wonder what the over/under is on how many times the Kavanaghs will be mentioned.

There is no number high enough to take the under

molo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 02, 2024 9:31 pm If Maryland wins, they are number one. I the spread is wrong. I see Maryland by a couple. They are battle tested, ND not so much.

keno in reno wrote: ↑Sat Mar 02, 2024 9:52 pm

molo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 02, 2024 9:31 pm If Maryland wins, they are number one. I the spread is wrong. I see Maryland by a couple. They are battle tested, ND not so much.

#1 the week of March 3rd means nothing. 2021 national champ UVA lost to Syracuse by 10 before March, and Notre Dame 2023 got destroyed by UVA twice before it mattered the third time.