The Replacements
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- March
- 17
Alex Kaufmann will be returning to Hen Hud this season. (File photo by Dave Kennedy/The Journal News)
I’ve been getting going on the lacrosse preview and it’s interesting to hear the coaches talk about who they have coming back and who they need to replace and the challenges it poses.
Hen Hud has its attack back, but lost the bulk of its middies. John Jay shouldn’t have trouble scoring, but needs to find three new starters on defense.
Which position is the toughest to break in new starters?
Entering a year, would you rather have experienced defenders, middies or attackmen?
Which position group is the easiest to replace and which is the toughest?
Tell us your thoughts.
This entry was posted
on Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 9:17 pm by Jeff Gold.
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Experienced Middies with out a doubt. Weak middies handicap your defense because your poles always have to slide, no transition to offense, no fast break. The best attack in the world is pretty powerless if they can't get the ball. Good middies can also take a big portion of the scoring load off of a mediocre attack if needed. Give me good middies anytime.
I agree with laxwatcher about having experienced midfielders. But I'd have to go with goalie as the toughest position to replace. With the other positional groups, you can have some success even if all 3-4 of your starting players are not strong. Unless you are replacing your attack or midfield wholesale, your new guys are playing alongside experienced ones that can ease the transition. No such luck for goalies: either he can play or he can't.
I agree with tothepoint. Bringing in an unseasoned goalie has it's challenges. You can work on alleviating the pressure by switching between defensive sets, taking away the best offensive option, but at the end of the game you still need a kid who can come up and make saves. There is a big difference from the Modified/JV level and Varsity when it comes to accuracy and velocity.
No disagreement here. I'd say midfielders as well. First, they affect offense and defense. Second, experienced middies are used to the speed and stamina required to make it through a varsity game. Moreover, possession is everything, and having experienced middies that have been through the vicious battles of fighting for ground balls is priceless.
Here is another question to ponder: Suppose a great athlete—for the sake of discussion, let's say he's 6 feet, 190 pounds and is a great wide receiver who will play football in college—decides he wants to give lacrosse a try in his senior year. His lacrosse experience is extremely limited.
What position would make the most sense for an inexperienced great athlete to learn the fastest to make an immediate impact?
Attack? Fearless, would go to the cage, but probably lacks the necessary stick skills to finish in traffic.
Midfield? Fast, great stamina, but probably would have great difficulty getting ground balls and would have trouble catching outlets/
Defense? Would probably be solid at covering opponents, but would struggle to clear and could be vulnerable to pick plays because of lack of experience.
Goalie? No.
What do you think?
Jeff,
I know of the transformation for both a newbie and a goalie at the D1 level transformed into All Americans by senior year. The position – LSM – has none of the offensive reqs of the short stick middie and has speed/strength to cover opponent's top middie. This was back when multiple LSMs were allowed on the field.
What teams are going with young goalies this season. Are they playing over upper classmen or are they there because there is no other option. i believe both yorktown and C-south Goalies have started since they were freshman or sophs and played fine all thru their careers.
Jeff – Given the guy you described, if he can catch and throw, I'd give him a pole. lack of experience would hurt, but I don't think the pick plays you descibed would kill him. Just hope his teammates can slide well. His lack of experience would hurt too much on offense, (not knowing intricacies of offense),