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May 26, 2008

by Clare Lochary, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

Here we are again at a Hopkins-Syracuse NCAA Division I men's lacrosse final.

The nation's two independent powerhouses are 2-2 in title games, the most recent one being the Orange's 13-12 win in 1989. Even when they aren't play each other, they're still Memorial Day staples - one of the two teams has appeared in eight of the last nine championships. Both programs have nine NCAA championships, and will be competing for a record-setting 10th trophy.

That said, while Hopkins and Syracuse are undoubtedly the game's Goliaths, don't discount the Davids. The game's increasing parity has colored the 2008 title game, even if the jerseys are still orange and robin's egg blue.

After Syracuse's disastrous 2007 season (5-8, first missed NCAA tournament in 25 years) and Hopkins' rough 3-5 start in 2008, both teams realized they couldn't coast on talent and tradition. They needed to make adjustments in the increasingly competitive lacrosse world, and the result is two finely-honed, well-balanced teams that will compete for the national title.

"I think we've kind of both gone through a difficult period," said Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala. "They've kind of looked at themselves and made a couple changes. You look at us, and we've done the same thing. We [coaches] do a couple different things and the players do the same. And lo and behold, here were are."

Among Pietramala's more heralded adjustments: shifting Michael Kimmel to the second midfield and bumping Mark Bryan up to the first line to offer those units more balance.

Meanwhile, Orange head coach John Desko shuffled his staff in the offseason, moving longtime defensive coordinator Roy Simmons III to offense, lacrosse operations director Lelan Rogers to defense and longtime offensive coordinator Kevin Donahue to defense and special teams.

Consensus is the 2008 championship won't be a traditional battle of Hopkins defense versus Syracuse offense. The winner of today's match-up will need a complete game to bring home the hardware. Here's a look at the teams' respective units:

ATTACK

"We bleed Orange, so expect a lot of transition," said Desko. We would expect no less of junior Kenny Nimms and senior All-American Mike Leveille, who got the game-winner against Virginia in double OT in the semifinals. This attack has cut a wide path through the NCAA tournament, averaging 14.3 goals per game, so Hopkins goalie Mike Gvozden will need to be on his game (see below).

Another of Peitramala's midseason adjustments was to simplify his offensive systems. The heart of Hopkins' attack is senior Kevin Huntley, who scored four goals in the semifinal win over Duke. Huntley tallied the same mark in Hopkins' regular season OT loss to Syracuse, so the Orange attack will need to find a way to stifle Huntley's creative shooting.

MIDFIELD

While Hopkins concentrated its semifinal efforts on stifling Duke's legendary attack unit, its final focus will be Syracuse's midfield line. Senior Steven Brooks got the regular season game-winner against the Blue Jays, so no one will miss him or his first line cohorts Dan Hardy and Brendan Loftus. (The Blue Jays might want to take a page out of UVA's book - Wahoos defensive middie Will Barrow kept Brooks scoreless in their semifinal game.)

But the Orange's second midfield is just as dangerous. Matt Abbott came out of nowhere to claim his first career hat trick against Virginia, and Desko thought enough of freshman Jovan Miller to give him a chance at the game-winner in OT. (Virginia goalie Bud Petit made a superior save.) Miller had a break-out game against the Blue Jays in the regular season, and his good jump shot and great energy could bedevil the Hopkins defense.

Hopkins midfielder and Tewaaraton finalist Paul Rabil had a quiet regular season day against Syracuse (1g, 1a) thanks to the efforts of freshman longpole Joel White. But Desko remains wary about the senior's ability to create from the outside.

"Rabil can really stretch out. His ability to shoot on the run with both hands from a little further than most people is really dangerous," said Desko.

AT THE 'X'

Syracuse's Danny Brennan has been hot lately (19 of 27 in the semis), but when the teams met in the regular season, Desko threw John Carrozza into the mix, and the two amassed an 18-of-26 advantage on Hopkins faceoff specialist Stephen Peyser. This weekend's refs have been strict about any faceoff funny business, so Peyser must deploy his famous quick start carefully.

DEFENSE

Desko's coaching staff flip-flop was based on the reasoning that the respective coaches could share the knowledge they've gleaned from years of scouting other teams with the Orange. This strategy has paid great dividends at the defensive end. Kyle Guadagnolo is a first-team All-American, but Sid Smith is also a monster longpole who can jam up the Hopkins attackers.

For the Blue Jays part, they should have no qualms unleashing long-stick midfielder Matt Bocklet, the way Gvozden is playing.

GOALIE

Gvozden, a sophomore, and Syracuse freshman keeper John Galloway are both first-time championship weekend starters. It seems to suit Gvozden better. His heart grew three sizes in one day against Duke, when he posted 17 saves and banished any memory of the nervous kid who took the brunt of the criticism during Hopkins' five-game losing streak.

By contrast, Galloway has been struggling. He had just nine saves against Virginia, and needed lots of help from his defense to stay afloat. His semifinal performance has been weighing heavily on his mind, but as a true freshman to start in an NCAA championship, he may be able to dig deep and find his game, too.