Syracuse Lacrosse: Previewing the Hobart Statesmen

Opponent

School: Hobart

Mascot: Statesmen

Coach: Greg Raymond

Location: Geneva, NY

Conference: NEC

Game Location: Boswell Field

Game Time: 7 PM

Television/Radio: Spectrum Sports, TK99/105, $tream

Weather: 56 Degrees, Partly Cloudy

All-Time Syracuse Record Vs. Opponent: 74-26-2

Previous Matchup: 13-6 Syracuse win

Opponent Ranking: N/R

Quick Facts

2017 Record: 4-5

2017 Conference Record: 1-1

2016 Conference Postseason Results: NEC Champions

2016 NCAA Tournament Postseason Results: 5-18 Loss to Towson in First Round

2017 Team Statistics

Total Goals– Shot Attempts: 107-350

Total Opponent Goals– Shot Attempts: 109-345

EMO Goals (Percentage): 6 (.214)

EMO Goals Against (Percentage): 9 (.346)

Team Shooting Percentage: .306

Opponent Shooting Percentage: .316

Shots on Goal Percentage: .591

Opponent Shots on Goal Percentage: .612

Groundballs: 222

Opponent Groundballs: 254

Turnovers: 116

Caused Turnovers: 45

Faceoffs: 122/240

Clearing Percentage: .857

Opponent Clearing Percentage: .890

Penalties: 25 PIM

Today we have the annual meeting between the Hobart Statesmen and Syracuse Orange who will faceoff for their 103^rd meeting. Per usual, these two squads will be battling over the Kraus-Simmons Trophy which has been awarded each year since 1986. The Orange have only relinquished the trophy on three occasions, most recently in 2013.

Hobart is 4-5 overall in 2017 having dropped its last game to Sacred Hear 7-8. These two squads do have one common opponent in Siena who the Statesmen beat 16-15. While the Hobart defense is certainly a weak point, its offense can put up some big numbers as HWS has scored 15+ goals in five of its nine games.

ATTACK

Don’t sleep on this Hobart offense, the Statesmen put up the 20^th most points per game in college lacrosse. They absolutely burned Cornell for 16 goals and scored 15 in a loss to Penn State. The Syracuse defense has to be sharp on its slides but the Statesmen can also score from deep. The groundball battle should be dominated by ‘Cuse as Hobart is 62^nd in the country in groundballs per game and have only won the GB battle three times this season.

Chris Asianian is the Statesmen leader in assists and points with 15 and 28 respectively. The 2016 NEC Rookie of the Year had a big breakout season last year. Senior Sean Donnelly put up 15 goals and 29 points last season and has six goals and seven assists this season. The final attackman is Frank Brown who is second on the team in appoints this season and has a .660 shots on goal percentage.

MIDFIELD

Freshman Justin Scott is a natural attackman but has been playing midfield this season and leads Hobart with 19 goals. Scott had the game winning goal against Siena in a 16-15 Hobart win. Max Romm is 18^th in the country in shooting percentage at .462 and leads Hobart in shots on goal percentage amongst all players with more than 10 shots on cage. Bryan Hancock is the third midfielder on the starting line and the Colorado native has put up 12 goals and five assists in 2017.

FACEOFF

Matthew Pedicine should take the majority of faceoffs for Hobart on Wednesday. The sophomore has a .577 faceoff winning percentage this year and is 22^nd in division I. J. Andrew Spallanzani had a huge freshman year winning .575 percent of his faceoffs but has slipped this year with a .456 winning percentage. In last season’s game, Spallazani went 6-14 while Pedicine took 2-7 from Ben Williams.

DEFENSE

Defense is the weak point for this team. Hobart is the 56^th best scoring defense in the country, allowing 12.11 goals per game. The defense clears the ball just 85.7 percent of the time and is near the bottom in caused turnovers per game.

Connor Flood started the last game against Sacred Heart at close defense and has three starts overall this season. Arik Andreen heads up Hobart with nine caused turnovers and lead all non-faceoff players in groundballs with 15. D. Bennett Moore has started each game other than the Penn State matchup, but with 39 career starts under his belt he is likely to be a starter on Wednesday.

GOAL

Jackson Brown should be the starter in goal for Wednesday’s game. The senior had a big 2015 and 2016 holding save percentages above .523 in each season. This year, however, his statistics have dropped and he has the 46^th best save percentage in the game at .495 while 53^rd in the nation in goals against average.