With five games inside the top 20, I’m in a NY State of mind for this week’s preview.
#1 Maryland @ Stony Brook—Interesting matchup as Maryland travels to Stony Brook’s LaValle stadium. The Seawolves are coming off an inspiring 12-9 win over Rutgers, while the Terps defeated Duke 10-6 at Byrd Stadium last week. Look for this game to be settled at the faceoff with Charlie Raffa having the edge for Maryland over Stony Brook’s Kyle Rowe. In addition look for Senior Mike Chanenchuck to have a huge day for Maryland. On paper Maryland should run away with this game, I expect it to be closer with Maryland winning by four over Stony Brook. You can listen to this game on Stony Brook Radio WUSB 90.1 with Frank Barile, veteran play-by-play man Matt Mankewich and me.
#2 UVA @ #15 Cornell—Can anyone stop the attack trio of Van Arsdale, Cockerton and Pannell. (That’s a solid law firm name) the answer is NO. I really like Virginia’s defense led by seniors Scott McWilliams and long pole midfielder Joe Lisicky and their work on groundballs. For Cornell, keep an eye out for junior Connor Buczek who is making a strong run for First Team All-American. With a strong second half, Virginia runs away from the Big Red and remains undefeated.
#9 Syracuse @ #20 Saint John’s—This game is being played in Georgia but has two teams from the Empire State playing each other. For the Orange, they have to find the right blend of players at midfield. It’s alarming for me to see a super-power not have a true second midfield with players that can play on both ends of the field. It’s great to play six-on-six in practice with three converted attackman playing midfield, but there are risks in going to that well too many times.
St. John’s is coming off a 16-11 loss to Drexel and will need Kiernan McArdle to continue his superb play at attack to pull off the upset. Both teams need a win in the worst way and Syracuse will get one versus a very deep and talented St. John’s.
#10 UMASS @ #17 Albany—I’m looking at goaltending in this game and I like how Zach Oliveri has improved in his sophomore year for UMASS. He will have to be up to task on Saturday for the Minutemen to beat Albany and the attack trio of Lyle, Miles and Ty Thompson. In a close game, I feel UMASS can make more plays on defense and pull out the victory, to remain unbeaten.
#19 Ohio State @ Hofstra—The Pride circled the wagons last week and ground out a win over Georgetown, while the Buckeyes lost to Penn State. I like Hofstra and attackman Sam Llares in this contest.
Bonus games in NY this weekend.
Hartford vs. Siena—Coach Svec will have his Siena squad ready to go versus Hartford as goalie Tommy Cordts has played great in the early part of this season.
Boston vs. Colgate—Boston University will seek its first win of the season and it will have a tough time stopping junior Ryan Walsh for a strong Colgate team seeking its fifth win.
Follow me on twitter @bchambeaux15
