Feb. 12, 2007

By Paul Carcaterra

Special to CSTV.com

E-mail here!	PAUL CARCATERRA An analyst for CSTV, Paul was All-American on Syracuse's '95 title team. He is president of No Limit Lacrosse Camps, and developer for Maverik Lacrosse.

        ---   Column Archive   ---   MEN'S LACROSSE 6/4: Singing a Different Tune 5/24: Don't Forget the Blue Jays 5/16: Underdogs Closing In On Baltimore 5/7: Rabil Coming on Strong For Hopkins 5/7: Big Snub For Big Red 4/30: DiNola, Daratsos Keep Navy In Stride 4/23: McMonagle Anchors Big Red Defense 4/16: Duke's Midfield the Difference 4/11: Back To Business 4/9: A Terp and Blue Devil Garner High Praise 3/26: Big Red Hits the Big Time 3/19: Bocklet Has Been The Answer For Fairfield 3/12: Yale's Washabaugh Shows Dominance At First Four 3/5: Blue Devils Still In The Spotlight 2/26: Upsets From Great Coaching 2/19: On the Wall - Early Thoughts 2/13: The Race Is On 2/12: Syracuse's Midfield Trio Looks To Be Dominant In '07   2006 5/23: On the Wall - Down To Four 5/15: On the Wall - Tournament Edition 5/08: On the Wall - Bracket Breakdown 5/01: On the Wall - Making Their Mark 4/24: On the Wall - Another Good One 4/17: On the Wall - Hen Pecked 4/10: Turning Points 4/02: Duke Scandal and More 3/26: Duke is Talk of Lacrosse World 3/20: Parity Joins the Party 3/13: Movin' On Up 3/6: Two Extremes and Much More 2/27: Early Season Thoughts 2/13: Preseason Top Ten 2/10: Preseason All-Americans 2/10: Preseason Notables  

With national champion Virginia losing many key contributors to graduation, the top teams in 2007 look balanced and poised, all with legitimate chances to make a run at a national title this Memorial Day in Baltimore. Will it be the balanced offense of Syracuse, the midfield of Johns Hopkins, the attack units of Duke and Virginia or the defense of Princeton that proves to be the driving force in Division I lacrosse?

1. Syracuse: The Orange is loaded with offensive talent. A midfield of Steve Brooks, Patrick Perritt and Greg Rommel has coaches scratching their heads wondering which midfielder to guard. Syracuse also boasts one of the top attackmen in the nation in Mike Leveille, as well as two super sophomores, Dan Hardy and Kenny Nims, back at their natural attack spots. However, Syracuse's defense has been inconsistent since 2002. A shutdown close defender must emerge for them to take the title in May. 

2. Johns Hopkins: The Blue Jays feature a scary one-two punch at the midfield in Paul Rabil and Stephen Peyser. Brian Christopher showed as a freshman that he can play at that level, as well. The Blue Jays have not had a true feeder since David Marr in 1996. Freshman Steven Boyle looks to quarterback the offense.  When the Jays have run everything from the midfield, they can be predictable. Therefore, establishing attack presence with Kevin Huntley, Jake Byrne, Boyle and Tom Duerr is critical, as it will give the midfield more opportunities. On the other hand, playing defense is a system at Hopkins and will never be its Achilles heel. Jesse Schwartzman is underrated as a goalie and has proven he can win the big one. Look for an old school finals match-up between Syracuse and Johns Hopkins.

3. Virginia: I love the attack group of Danny Glading, Ben Rubeor and Garrett Billings. It's truly a complete unit with distinct roles. The midfield has no proven scorers other than Drew Thompson. Although he is one of the most complete midfielders in the nation, he has never been asked to dodge a pole. The Cavaliers' defense will be strong with Matt Kelly, Ricky Smith and Kip Turner in net. They lost three great four-year players in Matt Ward, Matt Poskay and Kyle Dixon, who brought scoring power and leadership.  Virginia's certainly a final four team again, but standing alone as the best on Memorial Day would be a stretch.

4. Duke: Similar to Virginia, Duke has a superb attack and an unproven midfield. Senior Peter Lamade rarely got a pole playing alongside Matt Zash the past few years. Their defense is the best in the country with Casey Carroll, Tony McDevitt and Nick O'Hara. Matt Danowski is on everyone's Player of the Year list.  The great ones carry their teams to a title and only time will tell if he does. If the midfield can have players emerge, this is a team to be reckoned with. 

5. Princeton: I really like the defensive system coach Bill Tierney invented, and his junior goalie Alex Hewit is the best in the game right now. That does not bode well for opponents. It is hard enough to put numbers on the board against the Tigers with that defense, let alone the top goalie in the nation. Scoring ten goals in a game will most likely give you a win against Princeton. The last few years they have lacked a midfield presence. Although some freshmen, such as Mark Kovler and Josh Lesko, showed promise at the midfield position last year, I still do not think they are the type of players who can create offense against strong long poles. Princeton's attack unit also needs to get better, but the bottom line is, Hewitt, Dan Cocoziello and Zach Jungers will keep them in every game.

6. Georgetown: It's another typical Georgetown team in 2007 with solid players on both ends of the field.  A problem for Georgetown over the years is that they have never had one or two players on offense that could take over a game. This year looks to be the same. However, monster midfield recruits Scott Kocis and Andrew Brancaccio look to be those players down the road. Georgetown has had the luxury of having incredible individual defensive players in the past in Kyle Sweeney, Brodie Merrill and Reyn Garnett.  Although Jerry Lambe is good, he is not on that same level. Miles Kass has to be able to play at an All-American level in the goal to give Georgetown a shot, because the offense is still not yet there.

7. Navy: Three starters back on defense will make the transition easier for Colin Finnegan or whoever coach Richie Meade puts between the pipes for Navy. Billy Looney is a stud at the midfield and is a player who has no trouble getting separation from defenders, but hitting the cage can be problematic for this star. Tommy Wallin needs to break-out at the midfield. Jon Birsner was the best feeder in America last year, so that loss at attack will be bigger than Matt Russell in the cage. A set-up man for Ian Dingman and Nick Mirabito will decide Navy's season. Expect the Midshipmen to be able to contend with any team, but a final four birth is unlikely. 

8. Maryland: No team lost more on offense than the Terps. And their two best returning offensive players would not crack starting lineups for Syracuse, Johns Hopkins or Virginia. Maxwell Ritz was a nice fifth or sixth option for Maryland in 2006. This year he will be asked to be a 50-point scorer. This season, the Terps will have to deal with the biggest offensive uncertainty that the program has had in a long time. The good thing is that the other side of the field is stacked, led by Steve Whittenberg and Ray Megill. This unit as a whole might be better than 2004 because of its strong defensive midfield presence, and that's saying a lot, especially since Maryland had Chris Passavia and Lee Zink, two all-time greats. 

9. Loyola: This is a do-or-die year for the Greyhound program. They have a slew of four-year starters on the squad and have not made the playoffs since Dave Cottle left in 2001. This could be a year for the Greyhounds to put the program back on the map. Andrew Spack and Dan Bauers lead a group of seven seniors who all will be regulars on the offensive end. The defense also has veterans in Steve Hess and brothers Eddie and Michael Graham. But goalie Alex Peaty will be the X-factor. The Canadian stopper was a prized recruit two years ago. Loyola is a team that is capable of going on a run. They will need to do it for the program's sake.

10. UMass: Some strong players return from a team that made it all the way to the NCAA finals. The bad news is that none of them were game changers. Jim Connolly, Brett Garber and Brian Jacovina were all great role players alongside star Sean Morris. This year they will be asked to be the leaders. Still, UMass lacks a dodger on offense. Veteran defenders like Jack Reid made the transition from high school to college much easier for goalie Doc Schneider as a freshman last season. This year, he will need to win games by himself for the Minutemen to have a chance.