Top Games of 3/14 - 3/16

[stegmakk]

Friday
MD at UMBC 700:pm

Saturday
Ohio State at Robert Morris 11:00 am
Navy vs. Holy Cross (Dallas, TX) 1:00 pm EASTERN
Syracuse at Johns Hopkins 12:00 pm
Vermont at Penn State 12:00 pm
Drexel at Albany 1:00 pm
Presbyterian at Bellarmine 1:00 pm
Massachusetts at Brown 1:00 pm
Lafayette at Bucknell 1:00 pm
Hobart at Georgetown 1:00 pm
Fairfield at Harvard 1:00 pm
Villanova at Lehigh 1:00 pm
Hofstra at Princeton 1:00 pm
Hartford at Quinnipiac 1:00 pm
Siena at Saint Joseph's 1:00 pm
Loyola at St. John's 1:00 pm
Marist at VMI 1:00 pm
Sacred Heart at Binghamton 2:00 pm
Canisius at Mount St. Mary's 2:00 pm
Dartmouth vs. Notre Dame (Lovett School (GA)) 2:00 pm
Manhattan at Providence 2:00 pm
North Carolina at Duke 3:00 pm
Penn at Yale 3:00 pm
Virginia at Towson 3:30 pm
Rutgers vs. Army (Dallas, TX) 4:00 pm EASTERN
Stony Brook at Delaware 5:00 pm

Sunday
Air Force at Maryland 1:00 pm

[stegmakk]

This is a tough one.
MD/UMBC should be a good match up...but I think there are other bigger games
Cuse @ Hopkins...How will Petro's team come out of the gate? Will they maintain their intensity against a Cuse team that seems to be on overdrive this season? If the orange win, they will shut me up talking smack against them for the rest of the year ;)
Albany/Drexel...If I had emotions and could cry for a team, albany would be it...yes they lost alot, but they are not playing bad...3 of their 4 losses are by 1 goal...3 of their 4 losses are to top 10 teams...they are as close to being a great team as a few extra seconds or an inch to the left on 3 shots...
Hofstra/Princeton...was the hopkins win a fluke? was it their blinding new gear? Will princeton's defense reappear?
UNC/Duke...2 undefeateds...duke's offense versus an excellent UNC defense (and goalie)...

[QBYattackmen15]

i voted for the Duke UNC game. Clearly a high powered match. i eman every aspect of both of their games are flawless. Great Defense, Great goalies, UNC's Goalie being above the 60% range and Dan Loftus with his experience has been great as well. The face-off battle will be close. it will be interesting how physical it gets with the Rivalry. Plus i am also interested in how Dukes High Powered offense and fast paced and atjletic Middies with Nasty shots does against UNC's great defense and goalie. One thing that is different between Dukes game with Loyola and this one is that i dont think that Brad Ross, Crotty, and Shoffal(sp?) can rely on their sick shots form the outside due to the great performance of the UNC goalie. Should be a great game.

[jdturtle02]

So far I've been lucky, needing three overtime games to each 12-0. Have a feeling the goose egg is about to crack (I'll take it sunny-side up). The Top Game on the schedule may be the easiest pick this weekend.

1. Syracuse @ Hopkins -- Syracuse averages 12.37 goals per game, Hopkins 10.16, and the Orange's Danny Brennan leads the nation in face-off win percentage at .727. Syracuse has Kenny Nims, Mike Leveille and Brendan Loftus combining for 27 goals and 11 assists; the Jays counter with Kevin Huntley, Steven Boyle and Paul Rabil putting up 23 goals and 12 assists. But Hopkins appears to have the stronger defense, yielding 7.43 goals per game and holding opponents to a .526 shots on goal percentage. This shapes up as an epic battle, and sophomore net minder Michael Gvozden needs a career day for the Blue Jays. His 7.43 goals against average may slip a bit, but Hopkins at Homewood is always a daunting challenge -- Johns Hopkins 12-10

2. Hofstra @ Princeton -- A statement game for both teams. The Pride has everyone's attention now, but can they follow their win over No. 1 Hopkins with a "w" at Princeton? Jay Card (4 goals against Hopkins) and stopper Danny Orlando (14 saves) make this one more exciting than it looked a couple of weeks ago. The Tigers have had a rough start this season, but their offense seems to be improving. Alex Hewit and the defense, yielding an uncharacteristic 10.67 goals per game, need to step up before the '08 season slips away -- Princeton 10-9

3. Army vs Rutgers (Dallas) -- Black Knight goalie Adam Fullerton anchors a defense that surrenders just 6.00 goals per game, while Justin Bokmeyer, Rob McCallion, Jeremy Boltus, Brooks Korvin and Jason Peyer lead a charge that scores 10.75 goals per outing. That combo nearly upset No. 8 Cornell in Ithaca last Saturday. Rutgers has lost two straight since an opening day win over UMBC, to Delaware 10-8 and to Fairfield 10-7. Considering the Scarlet Knights' upcoming ECAC slate, Rutgers needs a win in Texas badly -- Army 11-7

4. Drexel @ Albany -- The Dragons aren't sneaking up on anyone this season, and still stand at 5-1. The defense has been Drexel's salvation, Bruce Bickford is the 4th-ranked goalie in the nation with a .674 save percentage. The Dragons also have the nation's 4th-ranked face-off man in Nick Kusturiss (.628 win percentage). Albany, at 0-4, can't catch a break. The Great Danes have one-goal losses at Delaware, at Notre Dame and at UMass. The America East pre-season pick may find the win column this weekend, they appear to have the edge on O with Small, Levine, Dale and the Ammann brothers -- Albany 10-7

[lax-crazy]

didn't every one say last week that they wondered how Dukes O would do against Loyola's D... I remember that question......

Duke wins 17-8

[THALAX]

didn't every one say last week that they wondered how Dukes O would do against Loyola's D... I remember that question......

Duke wins 17-8

Yeah except UNC's defense is considerably better than Loyala's.

The UNC-Duke match is a game where you cannot really predict who is going to win. It's a major rivalry and I'm sure both of these teams want to whoop each other. In the past few years, Carolina has managed to get a considerable lead over Duke in the first half, but blow their lead in the second half and lose the game. This season though, Carolina is stronger than ever and they can manage to hold onto leads and not blow the game better this season.

UNC could beat Notre Dame, the (then) #5 team in the country while losing almost every single faceoff and getting out-shot and beat in almost every other category (except for saves), and not have a single goal on attack.

Zimmerman is looking the best he has ever been. It looks like the whole UNC squad is looking improved from last season. Duke looks unstoppable with their 5th year seniors and the Danowski, Greer, Quinzani line, but Carolina is going to give the Blue Devils a serious run for their money.

The thing that will make or break UNC on Saturday is the X. Walterhoefer has sat out the past two games injured and the Tar Heels are getting dominated at face-offs. Duke's Sam Payton will walk all over Carolina's face-off man right now.

[VCULAX1]

does anyone know if the duke unc game will be televised. ? i bet acc select offers it but you have to pay. anyone?

[Prof. Mushroom]

My game of the week is a toss-up between two.

UNC @ Duke
A battle of unbeatens. The impressive defense of UNC facing the Duke's mind-blowing offensive power...thats really all that needs to be said.
I think Duke's stellar attack will be too much for Zimmerman and his D to handle though. Duke wins. 15-10

Syracuse @ Hopkins
I am very interested in this match-up. I want to see how Hopkins comes out against a Syracuse team that seems to be on fire. This is after a surprising and disappointing Hopkin's loss to Hofstra. I am sure they come out fired up from anger. But 'Cuse will looking for revenge after an embarrassing 17-9 home loss to the Blue Jays last year. Hopkins wins this battle. 10-8

[stegmakk]

This is after a surprising and disappointing Hopkin's loss to Hofstra. I am sure they come out fired up from anger.
Understatement of the year!

Whilst sitting behind the Hopkins bench during 2nd or 3rd quarter, Matt Drenan on Hopkins dropped a pass. When he came over on the bench, I swear Petro looked more possessed than I have seen him. Hofstra still had the lead, but man, Petro looked livid.
That was just a dropped pass...I have nightmares as to what their week must have been like getting ready for Cuse...
I was joking with a friend that if I was playing again I don't know if I would want to play for Petro (Bill Tierney-hell yes)...but thinking again as I type, even though Petro is more "emotional", sometimes (and in this case), that is EXACTLY what is needed...a great coach whose emotions (good and bad) get the team's emotions percolating just as much...

[Prof. Mushroom]

Understatement of the year!

Whilst sitting behind the Hopkins bench during 2nd or 3rd quarter, Matt Drenan on Hopkins dropped a pass. When he came over on the bench, I swear Petro looked more possessed than I have seen him. Hofstra still had the lead, but man, Petro looked livid.
That was just a dropped pass...I have nightmares as to what their week must have been like getting ready for Cuse...
I was joking with a friend that if I was playing again I don't know if I would want to play for Petro (Bill Tierney-hell yes)...but thinking again as I type, even though Petro is more "emotional", sometimes (and in this case), that is EXACTLY what is needed...a great coach whose emotions (good and bad) get the team's emotions percolating just as much...

You are right...perhaps I should change that to "I am sure they will come out fired up from Coach Petro's anger (or suffer the consequences) "....

[stegmakk]

http://laxspot.com/blogs/thoughts_from_a_dinosaur/index.php?pst_id=100187
^Thoughts about this week...
Summarized:
Hofstra proves they aren't a fluke...
I like Cuse's d-middies and overall matchup...and would give them the W any other week......
Duke continues to make everyone look silly...

[Midman03]

stegmakk i was sitting right behind the hopkins bench too. i was in the front row. i probably saw you just didn't know who you were.

[lax-crazy]

Yeah except UNC's defense is considerably better than Loyala's.

The UNC-Duke match is a game where you cannot really predict who is going to win. It's a major rivalry and I'm sure both of these teams want to whoop each other. In the past few years, Carolina has managed to get a considerable lead over Duke in the first half, but blow their lead in the second half and lose the game. This season though, Carolina is stronger than ever and they can manage to hold onto leads and not blow the game better this season.

UNC could beat Notre Dame, the (then) #5 team in the country while losing almost every single faceoff and getting out-shot and beat in almost every other category (except for saves), and not have a single goal on attack.

Zimmerman is looking the best he has ever been. It looks like the whole UNC squad is looking improved from last season. Duke looks unstoppable with their 5th year seniors and the Danowski, Greer, Quinzani line, but Carolina is going to give the Blue Devils a serious run for their money.

The thing that will make or break UNC on Saturday is the X. Walterhoefer has sat out the past two games injured and the Tar Heels are getting dominated at face-offs. Duke's Sam Payton will walk all over Carolina's face-off man right now.

I hate to say it... but I told you so

[jdturtle02]

Well I knew my picks might take a hit this week, but sure didn't expect to go 3-3. Hopkins and Albany both lost by one, the Jays in an epic overtime battle with Syracuse. It was a great game, and definitely had a NCAA tourney feel to it. Called two games outside the "gameday poll" ... Maryland lost in triple overtime to UMBC -- congrats Retrievers! -- and I couldn't resist the Notre Dame vs. Dartmouth thread. Good thing, the Irish win evened my record this week. So, I'm 15-3 on the season ... with three one goal losses. I didn't make a pick in the Duke-Carolina game because I think whoever said in these threads "it looks like Duke and everyone else" may be right. I am surprised the Devils put up 19 on the UNC defense, but not by the big win. An important game for sure, just not as intriguing as a lot of others. Only outcome that really got me was Albany's continued slide, thought for sure they were going to surprise the Dragons at home.