DaSilva: What We Learned at Champion Challenge
By Matt DaSilva | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Champion Challenge Blog
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Duke was able to generate offense from its attack without Ned Crotty, who played for the U.S. at Champion Challenge, which is why the Blue Devils would be better served with Crotty at midfield, LMO's Matt DaSilva writes. © Kevin P. Tucker |
By preseason standards, Champion Challenge -- a US Lacrosse
event featuring both U.S. teams, both Duke teams, Army’s men
and Notre Dame’s and Florida’s women – had it
all.
It began emphatically, with U.S. Elite’s 23-7 victory over
Notre Dame. It ended dramatically, with preseason No. 1-ranked Duke
upending the U.S. men’s national team 9-8 on Max
Quinzani’s goal with 5.8 seconds remaining.
Here’s what we learned in between.
1. Alex Smith needs to handle pressure
better.
No, not that kind of pressure. When it comes to the crouch, clamp
and cadence, no one’s cooler than Smith -- the best faceoff
specialist in history. But Army’s and Duke’s
better-conditioned middies found success in pressuring Smith after
he won possessions, and he got rattled. When Smith managed to get
away clean for a fast break, they dared him to shoot. He
didn’t, instead forcing passes to the attackmen when they
were covered at the point. Canada figures to take the same approach
on Smith with athletic wingmen like Jordan Hall and Brodie Merrill.
Luckily, the U.S. can counter with Stephen Peyser, who not only
wins faceoffs, but goes to the rack hard and has a cannon, as he
exhibited against Army.
2. Duke should move Ned Crotty to midfield.
It won’t be a popular move, considering the numbers (23g,
55a) he posted as the engineer of the Blue Devils’ attack in
2009. Why mess with that mojo? Because Duke’s first midfield
of Justin Turri, Steve Schoeffel and Robert Rotanz, while solid,
isn’t making anyone quiver in their cleats. Of the Blue
Devils’ nine goals in their 9-8 upset of the U.S., just one
– Rotanz’s game-tying goal with 5:43 remaining –
came from a midfielder. The game also reaffirmed that Duke has an
obscenity of depth at the attack position. Max Quinzani, Zach
Howell, Will McKee, Stephen Coyle and, as we know now, freshman
Josh Offit (Champion Challenge MVP) are more than capable of
handling the load down low. You need that kind of depth at
midfield. Duke can always invert if it wants Crotty, who was an
All-American midfielder in 2008 before moving down to attack, to
initiate from behind. Moving him to midfield would probably bump
Rotanz to the second line, where he can have the reins.
3. Katrina Dowd has more wizardry up her
sleeve.
Trix’s from-the-knees, over-the-shoulder gem in last
year’s NCAA semifinal might seem special to you. To her,
it’s just her game. Dowd’s skater-girl mentality allows
her to turn the crease into a half pipe. I learned this in some off
time this weekend as she demonstrated a couple of trick shots for
Lacrosse Magazine’s “Your Edge” section. (Be on
the lookout for some wild stuff in upcoming issues). Even on the
super-skilled U.S. team, Dowd’s talents stand out. Said Team
USA goalie Devon Wills: “She’s got the best stick
skills I think I’ve ever seen.”
4. Northwestern will win its sixth straight NCAA
championship.
The Wildcats weren’t even in Orlando, but their mighty
presence was palpable. Assistant coach Lindsey Munday was the
Champion Challenge MVP for the U.S. team. Dowd wowed at every turn.
Junior attacker Shannon Smith was like a bulldog for the
Developmental team, scoring three goals in a win over Florida and
two goals and two assists in a win over Duke. Sophomore midfielder
Alexandra Frank looked much like her older sister Meredith, her
efforts getting her bumped up from Developmental to Elite team
Sunday. Sophomore Lacey Vigmostad, a Developmental team defender,
will take plenty of heat off whomever gets the nod in
Northwestern’s goal. Sure, the Wildcats lost Hannah Nielsen
and Hilary Bowen, but in case you haven’t noticed, they
regenerate fast and furious in Evanston.
5. Florida will make the NCAA tournament in its inaugural
season.
Freshmen dominate the roster, but they are not backing down from
the hype or expectations. “I think we just see it as a
blessing,” goalkeeper Cara Canington said. “We take
pride in being Gators, and Gator Nation has been supportive.”
Here’s how I see it, looking at Florida’s schedule. The
Gators will beat Jacksonville, LaSalle, St. Bonaventure, Marist,
Oregon, Le Moyne and Colgate. That’s seven wins.
They’re not quite up to snuff against North Carolina,
Georgetown, Vanderbilt and Northwestern. That’s four losses.
The swing games are Johns Hopkins, New Hampshire, Cornell, Ohio
State and Penn State. If Florida wins three of those five and
finishes the regular season 10-6, it has a legitimate shot. Make
some noise in the ALC tournament, and they’re dancing in
Gainesville.
6. The U.S. team attack is better with Ryan Boyle than it
is with Ryan Powell.
When either Boyle or Powell is in the game, there’s no
question who’s running the offense. Their vision and lacrosse
IQ are unmatched. Their brands are similar, yet distinctive. Both
Ryans grind on the crease until they see a hole in the defense and
exploit it. Both make teammates look good with pinpoint feeds that
result in slam-dunk finishes. But Boyle has more patience, and with
trigger-happy all-stars at nearly every position, that’s what
Team USA needs in its engineer. Boyle not only knows his
opponent’s weaknesses, but his own and his teammate’s
weaknesses too. He can adjust better. When Duke stormed back from a
5-0 deficit to tie Sunday’s game by halftime, Boyle guided
the U.S. offense through more patient possessions in the third
quarter, as Team USA took a tentative 7-5 lead. “Gotta be
disciplined, boys,” Boyle remarked to teammates after a Drew
Westervelt goal. Boyle also single-handedly created the goal that
put the U.S. up 8-7 in the fourth quarter, feeding across the
crease through a coma slide to find Brendan Mundorf. My starting
attack in Manchester would be Boyle, Mundorf and either Westervelt
or Mike Leveille.
7. If defense wins championships, then Duke’s got
it.
For all their riches on offense (see No. 2), the Blue
Devils’ ruthless and relentless long poles will pave the path
to that elusive NCAA title. Consider that they held Team USA to
eight goals despite missing All-American Mike Manley (hamstring)
and long stick midfielder CJ Costabile. Dan Theodoridis and Tom
Montelli showed they were more than capable of stepping up. You
could have made a case for Parker McKee for Champion Challenge MVP.
He’s in even better shape than he was when he played for the
U.S. training team in the fall and was the most disruptive
defenseman on the field. That’s not to mention the patience
and wherewithal he had to draw a slide before feeding Quinzani for
the game-winning goal with 5.8 seconds left – on a play that
Montelli started with vigorous ground ball pursuit.
8. Duke’s women lack the swagger needed to get back
to final four.
The Blue Devils won’t have a problem on the talent side.
They played most of the weekend without Sarah Bullard, who suited
up for Team USA with the rest of her World Cup teammates. Kat
Thomas, Morgan Miller, Virginia Crotty and goalie Mollie Mackler
gained confidence as the weekend progressed. But with Emma Hamm,
who suffered a knee injury in the fall, presumably out until the
NCAA tournament, at earliest, Duke lacks the toughness and attitude
needed to advance. Thomas, a physically imposing player, is too
nice for her own good. At one point Sunday against the U.S. Elite
team, she chose to help an opponent off the ground rather than join
her teammates on a break. If head coach Kerstin Kimel can bring out
Thomas' killer instinct and get Mackler to use her athleticism to
take risks in the cage, I could be wrong on this one.
9. Notre Dame will miss Shannon Burke more than it misses
Jillian Byers.
Shaylyn Blaney’s words were respectful, but assertive.
“We’re ready to move on from Jill Byers,” she
said. That’s the kind of attitude head coach Tracy Coyne
wants from her standout midfielder, and Gina Scioscia is ready to
be the headliner on the Irish attack. Notre Dame’s problems,
as exposed over the weekend at Champion Challenge, are on defense.
Too many times, freshman goalie Ellie Hilling – who played
well and probably cemented her status as the starter – was
left exposed by holes in the Irish ‘D.’ Shannon Burke
used to take charge down there. It would help Hilling’s
development if someone stepped up in the same mold.
10. Army is better than preseason pundits have
predicted.
Patriot League coaches picked the Black Knights to finish fourth,
behind Navy, Bucknell and Colgate. Army head coach Joe Alberici
agrees with that assessment – for preseason, that is. After
this weekend, when the Black Knights were nip and tuck with Team
USA until the fourth quarter, there’s reason to believe they
can do better. Goalie Tom Palesky, the Patriot League leader with
nearly 13 saves per game last year, was not afraid to step into
blistering shots from outside or to meet point-blank shooters on
the doorstep. Attackman Jeremy Boltus creates scoring opportunities
not only for himself, but for teammates too. Midfielder Rob
McCallion does the same from midfield. Will Henderson brings a
commanding presence to the defense. Army won’t knock
anyone’s socks off, but that kind of balance up and down the
field can be dangerous.
