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Delaware impressed me with their size and speed - like Duke, they
were better at our game than we were. They followed Dom's playbook
to the letter. I am disppointed that we lost but that was a darn good
tem yesterday.
The Canadian guys were pretty sepcial (Hall was hurt earlier in the
year) and the freshman Canadian kid was pretty good,too (Dickson, I
think). They accounted for 6 of their goals I think.
Delaware also was very physical and were willing to live with the
consequences as we converted 0 EMO opps (BIG NEED TO BE
ADDRESSED). If there is one thing I felt we were unprepared for it was
the EMO - we knew going in that the fouled alot and yet we looked very
hapless on man up. We have been ineffective all year and it really
caught up with us in this game.
I felt really bad about it but Kip had a bad game - period. He looked
tentative at times and it looked like he wasn't attacking their shots;
many of the goals weren't his fault but there were at least two or three
he normally eats up. He was out of position badly on one goal and
Clausen made a save on another. I hate for his career to end on this
note but it wasn't his best game. I don't know whether the lihgt had
someting to do with it but both goalies had to deal with it.
Face-offs are an issue for the foreseeable future as I am not aware of
any meaningful capability on the roster although measuring against this
guy is a little unfair - he was that good. We didn't really give up a lot of
quick goals but we had to work harder than we like.
They were great at pressuring with their defenders and, other than
Glading, we had no response. I don't know if Ben is still hurting but I
have to believe he is based on his movement yesterday. In any event,
they outmuscled our attack and we didnt really create anything other
than Danny's goals; I didn't think we would have that much trouble with
them. After all, Providence put up 15 or 16 goals on these same guys.
I still think we need to get Ryan Kelly on the field more - he is one of
the few guys physically capable of going through one of these big
defenders.
It is tough when you are facing a hot goalie - and thier goalie was hot.
We helped with too many saveable outside shots and his confidence
grew as the game went on. He was good but we helped (as we always
seem to do even when we win) I know we like to push it and take lots
of shots but we gave the ball back too many times with ill-advised
shots - even if they were the best we could manage.
We need to work on our passing while clearing. Our guys ran right into
trouble too often. It seems that "clearing with our feet" was our model
this year but Delaware was a physical match for us and we had trouble
outrunning them.
We need to be more physical on defense. We seem to be going for
take-away checks alot and not punishing them with a double or a slide.
Late in the game we had no choide but to try and take the ball away but
we hurt ourselves too often when we were still in reach with poor or ill-
advised attempts at stripping the ball. Duke is a very physical
defending team that uses size and strength to defend and doesn't relay
on the take-away check - I felt like both Ricky SMith and Mike Timms
were too quick to try the take-away. To be fair, Ricky is as good as
any in the game at that but he wasn't as effective yesterday. Timms
loks a bit hurt to me but I also believe that coaches recognize his
technique and are instructing the players he guards to account for his
length and reach.
Our d-mids could be better as well - they didn't seem as physical
yesterday. Again, I want people to be punished (like Ben, Danny and
Garrett were all year) when they shoot and/or score. Will seems
reluctant to put people on the ground.
What I like (in spite of yesterday): we again will have one of the best
attacks although how we man the unit should be looked at. I really
would like to see Kelly on the field more. What about Gavin Gill?
Midfield is a big question mark in my mind - Huguely and Carroll were
solid for freshman but what will their roles be next year? Jack Riley and
Giannone seem to be pretty solid but we need more from our midfield to
play our preferred game. Alot was asked of Drew this year and he had
his moments but our biggest step back this year was in the midfield.
As good sas they may be, I have a hard time believing that the Brattons
or any other freshman will solve this issue for us.
Defense shoudl be OK. Kelly and Clausen return and despite a couple
of errors yesterday, Clausen will be a great one before it is done. I'm
not sure aobut the third pole but I have to believe Shaw gets serious
consideration, Nizolek, too.
Bud has earned the right to be the startr going in to fall ball and I hope
he gets the job, if for no other reason than he has been patient and
dedicated to the program. Generally, I am not a big fan of tall goalies
but Bud has shown he can do the job at times. Consistent PT will help
him. I have heard good things about both Wade and Eimer and the kid
coming in Ghitelman is supposed to be very good. This could be
interesting.
We lost to a very good team yesterday - they were big and fast and
they had momentum; they were skilled, too and their goalie was very
solid. Hard to overcome all of that without your A game and we didn't
have our A game.
We exceeded my expectations during the regular season this year
nonetheless (overall) and we were rewareded with a very tough first
round draw. I hope that from a coaching standpoint (EMO, defensive
strategy and slide package) and personnel standpoint (physicality,
midfield scoring) we will adress things over the summer. Go 'hoos.
Current Thread:
Observations and Needs to be Addressed -- gborocavMon May 14 2007 5:44:49 PM
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