Its that time of the year again. Round one of the ECAC tournament begins Friday, and St. Lawrence plays host to Brown University. The Saints faced Brown twice this year, going 0-1-1 against the Bears.
St. Lawrence tied Brown 3-3 in the first meeting, before falling 5-3 at home in the second game. In the loss, the big four players for Brown were the reason the Saints fell behind early. In fact, Mark Naclerio, Nick Lappin, Matt Lorito, and Dennis Robertson were the only players who recorded any points at all for Brown. Robertson is their leader from the back end, while the Lorito, Lappin, Naclerio line is one of the more talented trios in the ECAC. They've been split sometimes, and are not as effective when separate. I'd expect to see them together this weekend.
The Saints have their own skilled forwards, who can without a doubt match the N-L-L line. You might have heard of Greg Carey and his brother Matt, who have combined for 33 goals and 77 points this year. Don't forget assistant captain Jeremy Wick, who's 32 points tie him for eleventh in the ECAC with Saint blueliner Justin Baker. And, there's freshman Gavin Bayreuther, who leads the ECAC in points by a defenseman with 33.
The point is, both teams have the talent to score goals, but, the statistics say that only St. Lawrence actually utilizes this talent. SLU ranks third in goals per game with 3.29, while Brown sits at ninth with 2.45. And, the Saints roll out the best power play, not just in the ECAC, but in the country, which operates at a 27.7 percent efficiency.
Enter the defenses. The Saints are eleventh in the conference, allowing 3.38 goals per game, while Brown is ninth, again, allowing 2.59 goals per game. Neither team seems to focus on playing a defense first game, instead choosing the run and gun offensive game. The Saints are clearly proficient at that style of play.
There is two issues for the Saints. First, they need the puck. Winning face-offs and puck battles will help tremendously when it comes to scoring chances. The Saints might not be a big team up front, but they have considerable size on the backend, and the defenseman will need to win battles in behind the net, and gain possession in the defensive zone. Limit Brown's chances by simply denying them the puck.
The other issue for the Saints is their transition game. When it's working, their transitions are tremendous, and can leave defenders spinning. The problem is, it doesn't always work. Turnovers in the neutral zone have killed the Saints at times, leading to odd man rushes, something the Saints have struggled to defend all season. Careful passes through the middle of the ice will be key.
Even if all goes right for the Saints, they still need to have the desire and will to win. Some games they have clearly outworked the opponent, and others, like Quinnipiac at home, not so much. As the quote goes, "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard". Combine both talent and hard work, and you have a heck of a team. Saints have the talent, they just need to work for it.
St. Lawrence tied Brown 3-3 in the first meeting, before falling 5-3 at home in the second game. In the loss, the big four players for Brown were the reason the Saints fell behind early. In fact, Mark Naclerio, Nick Lappin, Matt Lorito, and Dennis Robertson were the only players who recorded any points at all for Brown. Robertson is their leader from the back end, while the Lorito, Lappin, Naclerio line is one of the more talented trios in the ECAC. They've been split sometimes, and are not as effective when separate. I'd expect to see them together this weekend.
The Saints have their own skilled forwards, who can without a doubt match the N-L-L line. You might have heard of Greg Carey and his brother Matt, who have combined for 33 goals and 77 points this year. Don't forget assistant captain Jeremy Wick, who's 32 points tie him for eleventh in the ECAC with Saint blueliner Justin Baker. And, there's freshman Gavin Bayreuther, who leads the ECAC in points by a defenseman with 33.
The point is, both teams have the talent to score goals, but, the statistics say that only St. Lawrence actually utilizes this talent. SLU ranks third in goals per game with 3.29, while Brown sits at ninth with 2.45. And, the Saints roll out the best power play, not just in the ECAC, but in the country, which operates at a 27.7 percent efficiency.
Enter the defenses. The Saints are eleventh in the conference, allowing 3.38 goals per game, while Brown is ninth, again, allowing 2.59 goals per game. Neither team seems to focus on playing a defense first game, instead choosing the run and gun offensive game. The Saints are clearly proficient at that style of play.
There is two issues for the Saints. First, they need the puck. Winning face-offs and puck battles will help tremendously when it comes to scoring chances. The Saints might not be a big team up front, but they have considerable size on the backend, and the defenseman will need to win battles in behind the net, and gain possession in the defensive zone. Limit Brown's chances by simply denying them the puck.
The other issue for the Saints is their transition game. When it's working, their transitions are tremendous, and can leave defenders spinning. The problem is, it doesn't always work. Turnovers in the neutral zone have killed the Saints at times, leading to odd man rushes, something the Saints have struggled to defend all season. Careful passes through the middle of the ice will be key.
Even if all goes right for the Saints, they still need to have the desire and will to win. Some games they have clearly outworked the opponent, and others, like Quinnipiac at home, not so much. As the quote goes, "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard". Combine both talent and hard work, and you have a heck of a team. Saints have the talent, they just need to work for it.
Comments
Post a Comment