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One of the things I like best about a new lacrosse season is trying to guess which players will be playing which positions on the top teams. I always save rosters that are handed out at games that I attend and afterwards I mark them with the starters, 2nd string, Man Up, Man Down, Captains, etc. I even note which attackmen are matched up with which defensemen. It's something that you can look through years later and bring back some memories of great players and games. So without further ado, here are the lineups of the teams in the two games I've seen so far (Syracuse - Army , Johns Hopkins - Princeton) with some comments intertwined. Weather permitting, I'll do the same for Virginia after their game with Princeton next week. I may also drive to Stony Brook the following Saturday to get a look at Maryland. Then I'll run through of all the goals in the Johns Hopkins - Princeton match for all you Blue Bleeders who missed the game. Because of the rain and cold, I didn't take any notes at the Syracuse - Army game. First, some name dropping. Here's some former All American players I spotted in the crowds at these games: Matt Caione, John Glatzel, Billy St. George, P.J. DiConza — he was surprisingly sitting by himself just a few feet away from me — John Gagliardi, Nick and Chris Hartofilis, Pat and Chris Harrington. Syracuse A --- 22 Mike Powell , 10 Mike Springer , 5 Brian Nee
M --- 12 Jarett Park , 20 Steve Vallone , 21 Sean Lindsay, 8 Jake Plunket
M2 -- 9 Greg Rommel , 37 Pat Hogan , 44 Mike Smith
M3 -- 1 Bill Perritt , 28 Kyle Olson , 43 Steve Lykudis
D --- 6 Dan DiPietro , 16 Donn Vidosh , 33 Sol Bliss
G --- 2 Jay Pfeifer
F --- 17 Chris Bickel , Plunket
LSM - 11 Matt Bontaites, 42 Joe Sabasteanski
DM -- 4 Brett Walther , 15 Dave Puccia
A2 -- 7 Brian Crockett , 29 Alex Zink
A3 -- 14 Zack Wallace , 40 Timmy Raschdorf
M4 -- 23 Chris DiMarco , 26 Brett Bucktooth, 32 Kieran Murphy
D2 -- 18 John Wright , 47 Joel Howard
F/O ---- both LSM's and a lot of different middies, I'd use Park & DiPietro,
Wings both have great speed and ball handling skills
Capt's - Walther, Springer, Bliss, Smith
Man Up - Zink side left, Powell back center, Vallone side right
Nee top left, Lindsay top center, Springer top right
They switched around a few times as any top team would do,
but this was their main formation, Lindsay cut a lot and scored
several of his goals that way including 2 EMG.
ManDown DiPietro, Vidosh, Bliss, Sabasteanski, Walther
Wright went in when Bliss got a penalty, Howard went in when DiPietro did.
3 Att Liam Banks & 13 A/M Drew Bucktooth missed the game because of injury.
One thing I'd do differently if this was my team: I'd use Sabasteanski the same way his Darien HS coach Jeff Brameier did, put him on the ball carrier as much as possible (especially after whistles) and turn him loose. He's one of the best takeaway players I've ever seen and had a few against Army. I noticed that his name was missing from the Virginia boxscore on the Syracuse website. I wonder if he was out of the lineup. If so, he could have made a big difference on someone like AJ Shannon. From what I saw at West Point, Matt Bontaites is not quite used to handling the long stick yet.They also pulled Mike Powell out of the offense a few times when Army was faceguarding him (shutting him off), including once when Syracuse was Man Up. I strongly disagree with this strategy. Why don't they just fire a shot wide and give Powell the ball? There's NO WAY that I'd take the best player in the country out of my offense. I wonder if this happened against Virginia also. The Syracuse-Army boxscore had Powell down for 12 shots. I wasn't counting but if someone had asked me, I would have guessed a number much lower like 6 or 7. On the other side of the coin, Sean Lindsay scored 4G on 5 shots. Powell also had 7 shots against Virginia ,which means he's 1 for 19 on the year, which is just above 5%. The reigning Tewaaraton Trophy winner better improve on that if he wants another trophy - and another championship ring. Army A --- 12 Doug Bartolotta, 20 Jeff Bryan , 29 John Walker
M --- 5 Marko Kostovic , 8 Chris Woods , 14 John Ryan
M2 -- 31 Dino Cotilletta, 19 Brian Green , 35 Jim Wagner
D --- 6 Nick Auletta , 33 Aaron Paskalis, 36 Chris Roberts
G --- 3 Matt Darak
F --- 46 Erik Mineo , 38 Tony Vozzolo , 16 Adam Hurley
LSM - 44 Mike Parks , 30 Brice Roberts
DM -- 9 Mike Kamon , 17 Galen Terry
Capt's - Woods,Kamon
Man Up & Man Down - Don't remember, but I'll take note of them
the next time I head up to West Point.
Some others may have played, but these are the only ones I remember off the top of my head. Army was fielding virtually a whole new team, as they have very few holdovers from last year for various reasons. Some notable players I DON'T remember seeing play are Fr D 4 Matt Luyster, So LSM 11 EJ Behrendt, who is another in a long line of great LSM's that Army has had such as Ryan "Hack" Hanrahan, Kevin Hegarty, Chris Carrano, Chad Smith who played at Army as a frosh then transferred to Syracuse. Other Fr and So Army players I expected to see play but didn't: The Couch twins, 18 Jake and 21 Chris, 24 Matt Ellement, 32 Andy Mounce, 48 Nick Doerr, and Casey Kear, who I've been told is no longer on the team, which is too bad because I was expecting that he would be starting at close D for the Cadets.Johns Hopkins A --- 5 Kyle Barrie , 13 Bobby Benson , 16 Conor Ford ,29 Peter LeSueur
M --- 25 Adam Doneger, 18 Kyle Harrison, Ford or LeSueur , 8 Kyle Dowd
M2 -- 12 Kevin Boland , 20 Greg Peyser , 42 Joe McDermott, 1 Joe Vollen
D --- 19 Mike Peyser , 30 Tom Garvey , 43 Chris Watson
G --- 2 Rob Scherr
F --- 27 Lou Braun , Harrison, G Peyser
LSM - 4 Corey Harned , 24 Robert Witt , 28 Kevin Conry
DM -- 37 Benson Erwin , 45 Matt Feild
CM -- 41 Joseph Malo
A2 -- 10 Joe Benson
F/O Wings - Harned, G Peyser, McDermott, Dowd
Capt's - Scherr, B Benson, M Peyser, Doneger, 33 Greg Raymond
Man Up - LeSueur side left, Boland back center, B Benson in the hole
Doneger top left, Barrie top center, Ford top right
Like Syracuse, they also switched around a few times, but this was their
main formation, they only had two EMO's for 1 1/2 minutes (no scores).
ManDown M Peyser, Garvey, Watson, Conry, Erwin
Bobby Benson stayed in for the whole game, LeSueur and Ford rotated between attack and first mid, Joe Benson had 1 short shift in Barrie's place. Dowd only had a shift or two on the first mid and wing. They were tending to his chin before the game; maybe he didn't play much because he wasn't at 100%. Vollen had one or two shifts in G Peyser's place on the second mid. Malo replaced a defenseman (usually Garvey) in clearing situations. Conry only went in for Man Down play; JHop only committed one penalty (Kyle Barrie).I was a little surprised that Jr Captain Greg Raymond didn't play. I thought that when he was named captain, that meant he was healthy and going to get some PT; he didn't look injured. I believe he redshirted in 2001 because he suffered a knee injury in the preseason. The JHop media guide says that he retained his freshman eligibility for 2002, so that means that he has a chance to be JHop's first ever 3-time captain. This kid must be some kind of leader, because the media guide also says that he was a 2-time football and lacrosse captain at Corning East HS. New close D starter Tom Garvey had a great game though. Having never played or coached lax, the Hopkins defense looked very complex to me, with lots of sliding from different directions, but when I told one of their defensemen (that I thought it was complex) after after the game, he looked at me like I was crazy. I guess it was just elementary to him, Dr. Watson. Princeton A --- 14 Ryan Boyle , 4 Jason Doneger, 20 Sean Hartofilis
M --- 3 Owen Daly , 6 Brad Dumont , 10 Matt Trevenen
M2 -- 9 Drew Casino , 15 Will MacColl, 36 Josh White
D --- 7 Ricky Schultz, 25 Damien Davis , 43 Brian Lieberman
G --- 47 Julian Gould
F --- Casino, 11 Ryan Schoenig
LSM - 5 Joe Rosenbaum , 44 Tony Vita , 42 Oliver Barry
DM -- 32 Anthony Perna , Barry, Daly , Dumont
F/O Wings - Rosenbaum , Daly , Dumont, White, Vita
Capt's - Daly, Dumont , Boyle, Davis , Perna
Man Up ----- White side left, Boyle back center, Daly in the hole
Hartofilis top left, Casino top right , Trevenen side right
Like Syracuse, they also switched around a few times, but this was their
main formation, they only had one EMO for 1 minute (didn't score).
ManDown Schultz, Davis, Lieberman, Barry, Perna
I was very surprised that Sr 3-year starter Joe Rosenbaum came out in favor of So newcomer Oliver Barry on the Man Down unit. Rosenbaum committed the second of their penalties, J. Doneger the first. I was also surprised that righty sharpshooter Doneger and lefty sharpshooter Dumont were not on the EMO.Matchups: Damien Davis - Kyle Barrie ---- win for Davis (Barrie 1-1 Only G on a fast break)
Brian Lieberman - Bobby Benson ---- Benson wins big - 3G 2A
Ricky Schultz - Ford or LeSueur - JHop wins : LeSueur 2G, Ford 2A
Joe Rosenbaum - Adam Doneger --- even : Doneger had 2G, Rosenbaum played well
Sean Hartofilis - Tom Garvey ---- slight win for Garvey, Hartofilis had 2-1
Jason Doneger - Chris Watson ---- Watson wins, Doneger had 2G in transition.
Ryan Boyle - Mike Peyser ---- Peyser wins big, Boyle had 2A on first 2 goals
Peyser stymied him the rest of the game
Another surprise was the reluctant strategies of the coaches. Jason Doneger, who is a tremendous dodger and shooter, never once tried to go 1 on 1 with Watson. It seemed to me that they were asking Jason to play the style practiced by last year's since graduated All-American attackman B.J. Prager. Jason is not Prager; he has a completely different style and should be told to play that way. There's no question in my mind that was strictly under coaches' orders, as was his brother Adam's reluctance to take on Rosenbaum. Adam went at him a few times, won a few, lost once or twice. I'm sure that he was under orders to pass to the middie being covered by the short stick, which he did many times. This is a strategy that is becoming very common in the college game, and it's starting to make the games less exciting for us fans. I wish they'd change the rule back to allowing six long sticks on the field. Adam passed off to Harrison quite a bit and as great an athlete as Kyle is, he still hasn't learned to find the open man when a slide comes or to get his shot on the cage. He shot a bunch way wide. Harrison dodged by his man easily a bunch of times, but wasn't ready to make a play when the second guy came at him.Lou Braun did very well on faceoffs. I have him down as 10-3, but Princeton ended up with possession on 3 of them. Greg Peyser only took 1 or 2. JHop only scored 2G in the second half, none in the first 24 minutes of the half. Princeton did not score for 19 1/2 minutes in the 2nd & 3rd quarters, at which time JHop stretched their lead from 4-3 to 8-3, although all 4 of those JHop goals were in a 4 1/2 minute span at the end of the 2nd Q. Princeton got 4G in a 3 1/2 minute span late in the 3rd quarter and only 4 more for the other 56+ minutes. Here's a description of all the goals:
JHU-PRI Time Scorer
1-0 2:13 K Harrison --- on the run from top center (from the Goalie's point of
view) to top left, he fired a overhand 8 yard righthander
over the goalie's right shoulder.
2-0 4:39 P LeSueur ---- Quick around-the-horn passing play went from G Peyser top
right to J McDermott top center to B Benson top left to
LeSueur side left who quick-sticked a 3 yard sidearm
lefthander over the goalie's left shoulder.
2-1 6:59 B Dumont ----- lefty pass from R Boyle who was behind the net to Dumont
in the hole who quick-sticked a 2 yard lefthander low
into a vacated net.
3-1 9:33 B Benson ----- righty pass from C Ford at side left to Benson at top
right who put a 4 yard overhand lefty bounce shot past
the goalie's left hip.
4-1 14:52 B Benson ----- another around the horn play, A Doneger side left to
P LeSueur top left to K Harrison top right to K Barrie
side right who passed it through the crease to Benson at
side left for a 3 yard overhand lefthander past the
goalie's left foot.
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4-2 5:04 S Hartofilis - R Boyle again working behind the net, sent a righty
pass to Hartofilis at side right who cranked his
patented sidearm lefthander from 5 yards past
the goalie's left hip.
4-3 6:46 J Doneger ---- fast break, J Gould to B Dumont who ran to top center
and passed to R Boyle top right to S Hartofilis top left
who sent a lefthanded skip pass to Doneger side right
who quick-sticked an overhand righthander from two yards
away over the goalie's right shoulder.
5-3 10:28 K Boland ----- P LeSueur at X to B Benson side left to J McDermott top
left who righthanded a pass to Boland top right who then
fired a 10 yard overhand righty blast over the goalie's
left shoulder.
6-3 12:32 B Benson ----- A Doneger fired a hard lefty outside shot that hit
someone in the helmet and bounced high in the air. After
a scramble for the GB, J McDermott came up with it about
30 yards away from the goal top left. He passed it to
Doneger 15 yards away top left, who sent a righty pass
to Benson at side left who put a 2 yard lefty overhander
low into an empty net.
7-3 13:12 P LeSueur ---- A Doneger top center to K Harrison top left to B Benson
who sent a lefty pass to LeSueur. LeSueur had cut from
X to side left and quick-sticked a 2 yard overhand
lefthander over the goalie's left shoulder.
8-3 14:54 A Doneger ---- Doneger took the ball up high after a Princeton timeout,
which they called while the ball was dead and possession
was awarded to Hopkins. Doneger dodged to get open and
ripped a 15 yard 3/4 lefthanded shot over the goalie's
left shoulder just 9 seconds after the timeout and 6
seconds before the end of the first half.
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8-4 11:21 S Hartofilis - after 11 minutes of scoreless play, O Daly a pass to
B Dumont top center to M Trevenen top left to Hartofilis
side left who fired a 6 yard sidearm low-to-high
elevator shot over the goalie's left shoulder.
8-5 12:45 J White ------ W MacColl sent a lefty pass from top right to White side
left, who spun-and-shot a 2 yard overhand lefty over
the goalie's left shoulder.
8-6 13:42 M Trevenen --- Solo effort on a delayed offside call, Trevenen went from
X, spun to top right and put in a 2 yard righthander.
8-7 14:55 O Daly ------- J Rosenbaum mad a defensice strip, grabbed the GB and
gave it to J Gould to R Schultz who cleared and gave it
to Daly who sped to top left and connected on a 7 yard
righthanded bounce shot that the goalie got a piece of
before it went over his right shoulder. No assist was
credited.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9-7 9:06 A Doneger ---- after 9 minutes without a score, K Barrie passed from
top left to C Ford back left up and over the defense to
Doneger top right who fired an 8 yard overhand righty
low past the goalie's right foot. Hopkins won the next
faceoff and called a timeout at 9:13.
10-7 12:00 K Barrie ----- Corey Harned made a defensive strip, picked up the GB
and raced down the field on a fast break and hit Barrie
top right who scored on a 7 yard overhand lefthander
past the goalie's left hip. The time of this goal
(12:00) is approximate as I forgot to look at the clock.
10-8 12:31 J Doneger ---- At side left, J White sent a lefty pass through the
crease to a cutting Doneger who quick-sticked a 2 yard
overhand righthander past the goalie's left hip.
Well, that's all I saw from the top row this week. My only question is, who's going to run down the lineups of the top teams that I might not see this year unless I catch them in the playoffs, like Loyola, Navy (they'll be in Stony Brook on the 22nd, but I'll be at Cornell-Yale), and Georgetown? Why aren't any teams around here playing any Saturday night games so we fans can catch 2 games?Also, to all the AOLers out there, I dumped AOL a long time ago because I was getting screen freeze two or three times a session. But I have downloaded their IM program, so if anybody wants to yak lax with me, my code name is TomL1616. And to the red Jeep Cherokee who followed me the last 15 or so miles to Princeton's Class of 1952 Stadium on Saturday: You're welcome ;) |
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