LaxPower Back-Up Stick

HP pretty much abandoned attacking Maryland's close defensemen. They inverted for most of the game and just tried to attack the SSDMs. Of concern was how many goals HP scored from off-ball cuts in the crease. Communication breakdowns. That's what PSU feasted on last year, and JHU actually mimicked it quite effectively in the 2 games last year.

Makar vs Ament, Makar vs Gray, Makar vs Moore, Makar vs Epstein...are going to be so much fun to watch.

Grill was a great addition. He might only be 5.7, but he's also 5.7 wide and all muscle. Looks like he could bench 350 pounds.

Any team that over-extends on defense won't be happy with what they get against Maryland. I'm looking at you, UNC.

Diamondback article on face-offs:
https://dbknews.com/2020/02/02/maryland ... n-shockey/

One fan's observations after Fall Ball, two scrimmages and one game:

The 2020 team will be extremely competitive if allowed to continue to play fast. Also, the ceiling is really high for the face off and defensive units. Their breakdowns were resolved quickly in the HPU game. The defense has key players who are transfers still adjusting and HPU was Geppert's first game ever playing close defense. Much to be encouraged about!

For those that don’t have BTN+. It looks like the BTN channel will air the Maryland/HPU game Friday morning at 9.

thx
I want to tape that one.

Yes. It was a light week of action and filled with blowouts. But Chris Brandau and Nick grill were two of the top transfer performers from week zero.

https://lacrossebucket.com/2020/02/04/t ... week-zero/

Jack Brennan Big Ten Freshman of the week. Score 2 goals in the first 5 minutes of college career

career-high 6 goals 7 total points

USILA_Lax Team of the Week nod for Logan Wisnauskas!

Nice to know the next wave is on the threshold.

Diamondback article on goalie Chris Brandau:
https://dbknews.com/2020/02/06/maryland ... igh-point/

Any thoughts on the Richmond game? My guess is that Richmond may be somewhat like High Point, good enough to compete for a while before the Terps pull away.

molo wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2020 9:21 pm Any thoughts on the Richmond game? My guess is that Richmond may be somewhat like High Point, good enough to compete for a while before the Terps pull away.

Really good first midfield. Big, strong, and athletic. A really good finisher at attack in Lanchbury. Pretty much 3 returning defensemen. Returning goalie. All offense gets initiated from the midfield. They'll mix zone and man on defense. They might jump into a 10-man ride. Two big issues for them: they're terrible at face-offs (36% last year) and their defensive midfield (excluding Menges at LSM) are pretty much new. Gonna guess they'll try to slow the Terps down by packing into a zone and trying to eliminate as much early offense as they can. It will be pick your poison, though. Maryland has superior ball movement and enough shooters to nail 12 yard shots. If Richmond plays man, even though they have returning starters at close defense, they're not athletic enough to match Jared and Bubba. If Maryland is getting 6 possessions to Richmond's 4, it's not going to be close. So face-offs will be key.

Thanks

With slick passing on offense, Maryland men’s lacrosse shows commitment to selfless play

Late in the third quarter of Maryland men’s lacrosse’s contest with High Point, it was DeMaio who displayed his offensive ingenuity. The junior averted defenders’ efforts to dispossess him and saw attackman Logan Wisnauskas flashing toward the goal. Mirroring Dubick, DeMaio whipped the ball behind his head, feeding Wisnauskas for a first-time finish.

It’s a move the duo worked on often during winter break. And it’s a move that earned DeMaio and Wisnauskas an appearance on SportsCenter last week.

“Being here over break with Logan,” DeMaio said, “we gained a little bit more chemistry and trusting in each other when it comes to those two-man plays.”

Terps win 14-13 in double ot on a goal by A.DeMaio.
Terps trailed 11-7 entering the 4th.

Cooter wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2020 2:26 pm Terps win 14-13 in double ot on a goal by A.DeMaio.
Terps trailed 11-7 entering the 4th.

Only lead of the game for the Terps came when DeMaio netted the OT winner. The Terps had 15 TOs spanning the 2nd and 3rd quarters. They couldn't solve Richmond's zone. Richmond kind of sat on their lead. Then they started throwing the ball away (25 TOs on the game). Logan didn't play well in the first half but made very play in the 2nd half. He had 3 and 4. Hard to feel good about that game the way it played out, but I'd rather learn from a win than from a loss!

The SoCon should be fun this year, right? AFA, HP, and UR will play some good games against each other.

Richmond gave it away with a bunch of unforced turnovers in the 4th, after outplaying the Terps for 3 quarters. You have to admire Mds poise playing almost mistake free ball from a 12-7 hole with 12:00 or so to go.

Plenty of time to improve, but the same problems as last year seem to be popping up: face-offs and a leaky defense. Still, amazing resilience and patience to come back from 12-7 and then 13-11 while mostly losing face-offs. Hopefully all those guys in sweatpants on the sidelines will get healthy soon and strengthen the team further.

keno in reno wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2020 4:30 pm Plenty of time to improve, but the same problems as last year seem to be popping up: face-offs and a leaky defense. Still, amazing resilience and patience to come back from 12-7 and then 13-11 while mostly losing face-offs. Hopefully all those guys in sweatpants on the sidelines will get healthy soon and strengthen the team further.

Don't know what happened with Shockey. He started 3/5 and then didn't play for 3 quarters. No word on whether or not he was injured. Calderone was 3/7 and is struggling to adjust to the college game. The Lehigh transfer Truckness finished 8/19 but was pretty good until the 4th quarter. He won only 2 of the final 10 he took but was 6/9 prior to that.