After Further Review: Hopkins-Navy
A CSI: Lax-style look at some trends that emerged from Johns Hopkins's 12-5 win over Navy on Saturday.
1.) Rest is Helping Stephen Peyser
Johns Hopkins freshman MF Matt Dolente won 6 of 10 faceoffs against Navy and 3 of 5 against Maryland. Those are important contributions: As we wrote in the mid-season review, Hopkins needed Dolente to get going because Peyser was getting worn down taking every faceoff and playing with the first midfield.
In overtime against Syracuse, Peyser in particular looked tired--and not only did he lose the faceoff in overtime, but he was defending Steven Brooks when Brooks got his hands free and scored the winner.
Peyser's newfound energy was seen in the opening faceoff of the fourth quarter. He won it cleanly and scored on a 12-yard, left-handed shot after he beat a longstick defender. The Blue Jays also have given him a shift or two off from the first midfield in the past two games.
2.) Peyser is the most unique faceoff man in the game.
Maryland and Navy double-poled the wings on faceoffs against Peyser. But Peyser rendered the tactic moot because he oftens wins the ball to himself; i.e., there is no groundball chance and really there's no chance for the defenders to crash on him.
By the end of the Navy game, the Mids had a pole and a shortstick on the wings. The pole went immediately to the defensive end, the shorty immediately to the offensive end. Navy had no chance to make it a one-on-one groundball battle with Peyser because Peyser was so much bigger than Navy faceoff specialist Mikelis Visgauss.
3.) Why Navy's Offense Is Struggling
Early in the season, sophomore MF Patrick Moran established his home-run shot--an angled shot from 8-10 yards off the wing. With that shot, he scored two goals against Georgetown, one against Maryland and one against Colgate. On Saturday, he tried the shot once--and sophomore goalie Michael Gvozden made the save.
Meantime, Navy Insider Dick Long believes that Navy's emphasis on controlling the ball on offense is making it play tight.
Navy's game plan was to attack the Hopkins goalie so as to make him make saves while Hopkins wanted to play Navy tight man on man and be slow to slide. Hopkins was successful and Navy was not. Navy shot selections in angle and distance were suspect (being kind) creating basically turnovers going the other way. Hopkins played their defense to make Navy beat them one on one and it was successful.Navy's defense is still one of the top in the country but not scoring goals on the other end makes every possession critical. Navy needs to find some "creators" on offense or rely on on-ball picks to get a step. Rely on their defense by playing some offense.
4.) Hopkins Might Be the Best Shooting Team in the Country
Look at the stats from the first quarter. Johns Hopkins had nine shots; five were goals, three were saved, one hit the post. And this against the defense that came into the game ranked No. 1 in scoring defense.
This does not bode well for Towson tomorrow; the Tigers have had goalie problems all year.
5.) Navy Might Be in Trouble Against Colgate
The Midshipmen seem to lack energy the past two weeks. Really, their recipe this year has been similar to the Baltimore Ravens--go vanilla on offense and let the defense win games. As Long points out above, however, the defense needs some help.
Navy has a real decision to make in terms of the starting goalie. Junior Tommy Phelan held the Red Raiders scoreless for nearly 52 minutes in the regular season game, an 8-3 Navy win. But junior Matt Coughlin appears to be healthy.
Navy needs to take better shots. We counted at least five or six times when Gvozden didn't move his stick to make a save--and that's the definition of a poor shot.
6.) Hopkins Was Well Prepared
By our count, senior MF Paul Rabil was matched up against Navy senior D Jordan DiNola only twice. Once, DiNola forced a turnover. The other was a wash. Hopkins made it difficult for DiNola to find Rabil because they moved the man DiNola was defending to the other side of the field from Rabil--and that made it almost impossible for a switch. Rabil didn't have a monster game, but it seemed like Navy was freaked out a little bit that it couldn't go to what it wanted on defense.
By Christian Swezey |
April 22, 2008; 10:29 AM ET
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Posted by: Mike | April 22, 2008 12:33 PM
So Rabil went 1G and 1A when he didn't draw the opponent's best defender most of the day? Unless that explains why fellow senior Kevin Huntley got JHU off to a flying start, I don't know how Rabil's presence (or lack of scoring) deserves the attention. Maybe the Navy game will cause future opponents to focus on Huntley more and Rabil less....that strategy might pay off by reducing the number of Hopkins goals.
Posted by: Timbosky | April 22, 2008 1:02 PM
If you focus more on Huntley and less on Rabil, you think Rabil won't produce? Rabil's mere presence on the field creates opportunities for everyone else because he demands so much attention. Give him less attention at your own risk, he very well might put up five or six points. It's pick your poison, pay less attention to Rabil, and he will produce. Pay him more attention and Kevin, or Peys, or whomever will get better looks. And we know how the Jays seem to get it going in April and May the past few years.
Posted by: jays_laxer | April 22, 2008 5:06 PM
Excellent points. Navy played tight on offense and never really seemed to test Gvozden. High to high stick side shots all game long. Easy saves resulting in Navy, sadly, never being in the game.
Posted by: Tom | April 23, 2008 11:47 AM
Excellent points on Navy's offense. They have played the possession game all season. The difference between early and late season is Navy's defense can bring the game home most of the time in Patriot Leaque play.
Posted by: Roscoe | April 24, 2008 10:31 AM
Excellent, excellent insights. You really know what you are talking about. Thanks so much... your further review is awesome!
Posted by: Rus | April 24, 2008 11:18 PM
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Fantastic post. Couldn't agree more, especially about Navy's offense. They seem like they value posession so much that it's to the detriment of working to create a quality shot.