When Army and Syracuse play on Sunday evening in the Carrier Dome, they are restarting one of my favorite series on the Syracuse schedule. This rivalry took a year off because of the Orange’s move to the ACC last year, which put Maryland into the weekend typically reserved for Army’s visit. With Maryland’s departure from the ACC, the Army date is back on. Army and Syracuse both are typically loaded with upstate New York talent, which just fuels the rivalry even more. The best current example of this is Army’s lead guy, John Glesener, who graduated from the same high school as Syracuse’s Dylan Donahue, Tim Barber and three of their coaches. The other great things about this game is that you can never really cheer against Army (unless you’re a Navy or Air Force person) and that they absolutely will never, ever quit. Army is also one of the few programs to say they convincingly own the all-time series between the schools (39 wins to Syracuse’s 22). This should be a full game of competitive lacrosse.
Syracuse is coming off a dominant victory over Cornell. It was a slow first quarter, but they outscored the Big Red 11-5 over the next two periods. In that run, they were incredibly balanced as six of the goals came from their midfielders and five from their attack. Better yet, only two of them were unassisted goals. The attack unit is not going to surprise anyone as they are highly billed as one of the most explosive and efficient groups in the country. What is developing for the Orange is the versatility of their midfield group. They are all working extremely well off the ball and dodging to setup either passes or shots. Through their first two games, the Orange offense has proven that you cannot focus solely on their attack to slow them down. You need all six defenders to be working together if you have any chance of keeping them from lighting up the scoreboard.
On defense, Syracuse was a little more fluid going into the year. Last week, they didn’t play perfectly, but they were pretty close by keeping both Dan Lintner (52 points in 2014) and Matt Donovan (3rd team preseason All-American) scoreless for the entire game. Syracuse’s Sean Young was even rewarded with NCAA defender of the week for his effort, so this didn’t go unnoticed. The other major part was Bobby Wardwell playing like one of the best goalies in the country. He currently is sitting in the top 10 for both goals against average and save percentage. His numbers would be even better, but late in the game, Warren Hill subbed in. Hill left the cage to play defense and broke his stick shortly after taking the field. In the scramble of Wardwell running back onto the field to replace Hill, Cornell’s Connor Buczek (he of the #2 pick in the MLL draft) unleashed a shot before Wardwell had a chance to get settled between the pipes. Other than that, Wardwell was solid all game long, making many saves he had no business doing.
Army also has been on an absolute tear through their opposition after three games with a combined score of 56-14. They haven’t played top teams, but a 12-7 win over UMASS headlines their effort so far. While last year didn’t end well (they missed the NCAA tournament entirely), their calling card was defense. They led the country in scoring defense, allowing an average of 7.21 goals per game. Leading them was their returning goalie Sam Somers (Rochester Rattlers draft pick), who was second in the nation in save percentage with 62.2 percent. Based on their results so far, this will be a great test for the Orange. Syracuse is patient and accurate on offense, so playing one of the top goalies in the country will give a great indication of how well they’re working together before ACC play starts. Army should learn from one of Cornell’s major mistakes. Cornell was very hesitant to double the ball or slide to help. Watching the highlights of the goals Syracuse scored, there were opportunities to help, but it never came which gave Syracuse some easy shots. Of course, sliding away from anyone on Syracuse is a dangerous proposition as they have some of the best off-ball players in the NCAA. Seeing how Army tries to solve this problem and give Somers the shots he wants to see will be a major thing to watch.
For Army on offense, everything goes through Glesener. Drafted in the first round by the Boston Cannons of the MLL, he has big game potential. He will likely be guarded by 1st team All-American Brandon Mullins which is a similar storyline to the last time these teams met. In 2013, the big matchup was Brian Megill against future Team USA member Garrett Thul. Thul was held to zero points and Syracuse would win 6-2. Glesener was the lone Army starter to score in that game. I would not expect this game to be even close to that low scoring. Sophomore Cole Johnson is leading the team with 13 points and carries an astounding 73.3 shooting percentage. While Glesener will be the focus, Johnson will keep the rest of the defense honest. In fact, eight of Army’s top 11 scorers are shooting over 40 percent. If that is going to continue, Syracuse will need to limit their opportunities and angles as much as possible. This is an offense that knows how to finish.
Against Cornell, Syracuse took a major step backwards in faceoffs. Ben Williams had much of the Syracuse fan base giddy with excitement after an 85 percent season opening performance against Siena, but was only 40.9 percent against Cornell’s new FOGO Domenic Massimilian. Massimilian is turning out to be a pretty good FOGO in his own right as he followed up that performance with a 21-27 game against Hobart. But enough of that though, Cornell’s not in this game. Army has a season average of 64.9 at the X, so this will be a great battle for Williams and the Orange faceoff unit as a whole.
This game will be on ESPN3 at 7pm EST and is absolutely a can’t miss game. It features two of the highest scoring offenses to date, two of the toughest defenses, a great faceoff battle, and a renewed rivalry. It will be a great way to cap off an excellent weekend of lacrosse.
