a few thoughts from a non-coach...
topside. i know we are missing a starter but our poles need to close the gate on the GLE. basic 101. the inside roll is a much lower angle shot and harder to feed.
princeton inverted often. we zoned but we left mids open creating inside shots, backside feeds. they're very shifty and picked off and created mismatches (o'leary on sowers). we got inside rolled and sometimes slides came, sometimes not.
when we jumbo, we absolutely have to press the gloves (while our mid recovers to the crease). if you dont, you've given them a free pass to an open backside mid.
a few draws we won, we couldnt pick up the GB. that's a FOGO's entire existence, so we need to fix this. even one of the parents shouted "faceoffs win games" during a lull.
there was even a moment (two in fact) where our mid didnt even chase an open GB, or get off the field quickly when time was of the essence. so i question the desire.
trail checks. have plagued this program for 15 years. even happened to the 2010 team. saturday wasnt even that bad! (maybe one or two)
our slap checks are getting dangerously close to slashing. the refs let both teams play and called very little (3 total flags). this was a physical game and we responded in kind, so intensity was good.
we had too many unforced errors (throwing the ball away) for this stage in the season. princeton was much more efficient (i think only 5 TOs).
this team has 9-10 able bodies on offense. and usually white doesnt get a touch until the second quarter. to me it seems white is a threat on the wing dodge, and he scores it nearly half the time he gets a clean shot.
on that note, if we are going to shoot into the goalie's stick, then let's at least bounce it, shoot off screen, get him off the pipe, etc.
which brings me to long poles on offense. saturday there was one set where we had two out there. and i dont think i've seen one take an outside shot (and score). maybe i missed it.
i understand we like the outside shot, however, maybe we should pull our poles off and get on some of those mids, get them into a rhythm by the first quarter, not the third. id rather see CVG, pickel, or white shoot than a pole.
anyone notice we seem to down 3-0 in nearly every game? when you cant win draws, it's a recipe for disaster; there's no catching up. and yet this team has pulled through and won 4 games.
weak hands. if our shorts cannot use the off hand, we wheel the ball around for 90 seconds until we throw it away. teams know this by now, with all the film out there.
getting hung on the crease. it happens, but it happens a lot to us. it's not really bad but it costs time. lot's of it (in games where we fall behind). i havent seen a slide off the crease or a goalie double.
urgency. down 7 goals in the fourth, we didnt seem to have any urgency to dodge, isolate, pick, go to the cage, etc. i've seen this a few times. i suppose the UVa game we rallied.
man up defense. down a few goals, we let them hold the ball for over a minute and didnt pursue the riskless double team. in fact, princeton did the opposite- pressed us out to the perimeter, and that was even strength, not man up.
i dont know if the staff lost the players, or the players lost the staff, or both. but we came out of the locker room at half lifeless and it showed. no pep.
otherwise, EMO was good, clearing, SOG%, etc. GO SB