Speed Quarters: NCAA Division I Men
by Matt DaSilva | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
Ten questions whose answers will go a long way to determining
which four teams emerge from this weekend’s NCAA Division I
men’s lacrosse quarterfinals and advance to the final four in
Foxboro:
1. Is Tyler Fiorito the best goalie left
standing?
Numbers suggest so. Fiorito, a freshman, has the best save
percentage (.591) of any remaining starter. He reflects shades of
the goalie he beat last week, UMass’ Doc Schneider, who led
the Minutemen to a final four as a freshman in 2006. Combining
big-game experience with big-save ability, however, you’d
have a hard time arguing against Johns Hopkins’ Michael
Gvozden, who made 12 saves last week and seems to raise his game a
level in NCAA tournament play. Must be a Hopkins thing.
2. Will Cody Jamieson contribute on a larger
scale?
The wait is over. Syracuse treaded lightly with Cody Jamieson, the
Native American standout who awed the junior college ranks at
Onondaga and is a highly regarded pro prospect out of the Canadian
junior ranks. Questions over his eligibility lingered throughout
the regular season up until the end, when he finally got the green
light. The attackman started in Syracuse’s first-round win
over Siena and produced three goals. Jamieson has game-breaking
talent, if not the experience yet to back it up. It’ll be
interesting to see how Orange head coach John Desko dispatches him
against Maryland.
3. What will North Carolina get out of Ben Hunt, if
anything?
The Tar Heels’ biggest midfield threat took a hard check
early against UMBC in the first round and spent the remainder of
the game on the sideline nursing his shoudler with an ice bag. No
word on whether he’ll play Sunday. UNC head coach Joe Breschi
bumped senior Mathias McCall and freshman Thomas Wood up in the
rotation on the top two midfield units to compensate. The Heels
need Hunt to keep Duke’s defense honest.
4. Does size matter?
And no, we’re not just talking about Maryland’s
attack, as tempting as another plug for LM's May cover story
sounds. There are other size mismatches, such as diminutive Johns
Hopkins faceoff specialist Matt Dolente (5-foot-7, 165 pounds)
against Virginia’s Chad Gaudet (6-foot, 200 pounds) –
can Dolente get in and out before Gaudet gets all former Ivy League
running back on him?
5. Which Brian breaks the bank Sunday?
Here’s a decent wager: Hopkins-Virginia comes down to the
wire and the ball winds up in the stick of either the Jays’
Brian Christopher or the Wahoos’ Brian Carroll. These two
midfielders boast arguably the hardest shots of anyone in the
country. Carroll’s got five man-up goals and three
game-winners this year. Christopher has four and three,
respectively, with all three game-winning goals coming in overtime
– including the clincher against Brown, a scorcher that
befuddled Jordan Burke, one of the nation’s steadiest
goalies.
6. UMBC had no answer for Billy Bitter. Does
Duke?
The sophomore attackman managed the most dominant performance in
recent NCAA tournament memory, tying a UNC record with eight goals
– on his first eight shots, mind you – in the Tar
Heels’ first-round win over the Retrievers. That gave Bitter
69 points this season, one more than Duke’s Ned Crotty for
the most in Division I. But don’t bill this as Bitter versus
Crotty. The Blue Devils’ defense has a better chance of
neutralizing Bitter than the Tar Heels’ defense has of
neutralizing Crotty.
7. Will Maryland stick with Brian Phipps in the cage and
Grant Catalino at midfield?
It will be interesting to see which of the Terps’ behemoths,
Will Yeatman or Grant Catalino, will draw hyperactive Syracuse
defenseman Sid Smith. But it might be moot. Catalino ran with
Maryland’s first midfield in the win over Notre Dame, meaning
he might draw an advantageous matchup with smaller Syracuse
long-stick middie Joel White. And all indications are that Terps
head coach Dave Cottle will eschew the goalie-by-committee rotation
with Jason Carter and stay with Phipps between the pipes. But
still, that element of the unknown has to have the Orange on its
heels.
8. Is Johns Hopkins’ defense a concern?
Head coach Dave Pietramala did not hold back in calling the
defense’s performance in a first-round win over Brown
“the most undisciplined we’ve been all year.” And
the Jays looked shaky, particularly in allowing several
second-chance opportunities and failing to get physical when
warranted. Can the unit back bounce against Virginia?
9. Which game has blowout potential?
Duke-North Carolina. Tar Heels freshman goalie James Petracca, who
held his own against Duke in the ACC championship game, got lit up
by UMBC in a first-round goal fest won by UNC thanks to Shane
Walterhoeffer’s domination of faceoffs.
10. Where’s the upset?
Hard to call any quarterfinal result here an upset, but Maryland
could dethrone defending champion Syracuse if the Orange play into
the half-field game. Six-on-six is Terps coach Dave Cottle’s
bread and butter.
Visit "Mayhem Central" for updated brackets LMO's coverage of all postseason college lacrosse tournaments. Won't be near the tube or computer this weekend? Follow scores live on LMO's mobile scoreboard.
