The biggest asset for the Syracuse lacrosse team is its attack, but how does it stack up to the college lacrosse's other best attack line? We compare, stat-for-stat, the nation's top two attack groupings.
The best word to describe the 2015 Syracuse Orange attack might be "balanced." This line has three weapons that seem to compliment each perfectly. Randy Staats expounded on this saying,
"...we all bring to the table... [something] that someone [else] isn't good at that the other person is good at...so I think that definitely balances everything out and it's going to be tougher on defenses to cover us."
Dylan Donahue added,
"...we can all do a little bit of everything."
Kevin Rice works from behind the net as the quarterback of the offense and has incredible dodging skills. Dylan Donahue, also a great dodger, can snag just about any pass sent to him and could be considered the finisher on this line. Randy Staats has tremendous stick skills and uses his box lacrosse skill set to back down defenders on the crease while possessing the ball; Staats can make tough crease shots look easy.
"...you get surprised every day..some of the stuff he does is unbelievable,"
says Donahue talking about some of the moves that Staats is able to do on the field.
Staats didn't really join this attack line until a few days prior to last year's Maryland Terrapins game. It took some time for the group to understand how to play together, but once they did the line began to click on all cylinders, check out the highlights of the 2014 ACC Semifinals game against Duke if you want to see how good this trio can be. This year, however, the group has had all fall to play together and should start the season off just where it finished in 2014. Rice spoke to this at media day:
"Last year we only had the two weeks of preseason with Randy and at that time he was playing midfield primarily, so he sort of got thrown in before the Maryland game... by the end of last year I thought it showed too that we had each figured out the way we each like to play and, you know, played to our strengths and with the whole fall behind us I think we'll be able to take off running."
I've kind of tiptoed around this question a few times already, so I think it is time to address it. Does Syracuse have the best attack line in the country? There are a few possible suspects that immediately come to mind when talking about solid attack groups:
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
North Carolina Tar Heels
Denver Pioneers
Syracuse Orange
Duke Blue Devils
Johns Hopkins Blue Jays
Out of all these programs, the two that stand out above the others are Syracuse and Denver. No other attack line is as complete as either of these two. I've set up a comparison between the two attack lines below. A couple of things to consider when looking at the stats:
Only Division I statistics are included; statistics from a player's prior Division I school are included
There are four players on the Denver list because Connor Cannizzaro transferred to Denver over the summer and while he will play both attack and midfield, he is traditionally an attackman
The Pioneers play a slightly easier schedule than Syracuse
While very efficient on offense, Syracuse had big problems possessing the ball in certain games last year, possibly downplaying the 2014 stats
In 2014 Denver played 19 games while Syracuse played 16
The four Denver players have started a combined 102 games while the three Syracuse players have started a combined 71games
It is certainly an interesting comparison, but take a look for yourself and decide.
Syracuse Orange
Kevin Rice
Randy Staats*
Dylan Donahue
Years/GP/GS
3/42/36
1/14/9
2/36/26
Career Goals
60**
33
64
Career Assists
78
23
31
Career Points
138
56
95
2014 (G,A,Pts)
36, 44, 80
33, 23, 56
37, 17, 54
2014 GPG (Nat'l Rank, Actual #)
40th, 2.25
28th, 2.36
32nd, 2.31
2014 APG
5th, 2.75
29th, 1.64
85th, 1.06
2014 PPG
5th, 5.00
12th, 4.00
33rd, 3.38
Honors
2015: Co-Captain, 1st Team Preseason All-American, Preseason All-ACC
2014: USILA 2nd Team All-American, Tewaaraton Nominee, All-ACC, ACC All-Tournament
2013: Big East Championship MVP, Big East All-Tournament
2015: 2nd Team Preseason All-American
2014: Tewaaraton Nominee, ACC All-Tournament
2015: Co-Captain
2014: USILA honorable mention All-American, ACC All-Tournament Team
2013: NCAA All-Tournament Team
*Transferred from OCC (stats from OCC not included)
**Rice is 8 goals away from making the top ten in career assists
Denver Pioneers
Wesley Berg*
Jack Bobzien**
Zach Miller
Connor Cannizzaro^
Years/GP
3/52/36
2/33/31
1/18/18
1/17/17
Career Goals
120
57
38
26
Career Assists
47
54
19
8
Career Points
167
111
57
34
2014 (G,A,Pts)
48, 20, 68
42, 21, 63
38, 19, 57
26, 8, 34
2014 GPG (Nat'l Rank, Actual #)
22nd, 2.53
44th, 2.21
54th, 2.11
132nd, 1.53
2014 APG
93rd, 1.05
71st, 1.11
91st, 1.06
NR, .47
2014 PPG
26th, 3.58
34th, 3.32
48th, 3.17
NR, 2.00
Honors
2015: Big East All-Conference, IL Preseason 1st Team All-American
2014: USILA 3rd team All-American, Tewaaraton Nominee, 1st Team Big East, Big East Tourn. MVP, Big East All-Tournament, NCAA All-Tournament
2013: USILA Hon. Mention All-American, 1st Team All-ECAC, Preseason All-ECAC Team
2012: ECAC ROY, ECAC Preseason ROY
2015: Big East All-Conference, IL Preseason 3rd Team All-American
2014: 2nd Team All-Big East, Big East All-Tournament
2013: America East All-Tournament, America East All-Rookie Team
2015: Big East All-Conference, IL Preseason 2nd Team All-American (as a Midfielder)
2014: Big East All-Tournament, Tewaaraton Nominee, IL Freshman of the Year
2014: ACC Freshman of the Year
*Berg is currently 1st in career points, 1st in career goals, and 3rd in career assists in Denver's history
**Bobzien transferred from Hartford
^Cannizzaro will be playing both midfield and attack; transferred from Maryland