Fall Ball Report: Hobart, Rutgers, UMass Battle North of The Border

Hobart attackman Ryan Archer (Photo: Hobart and William Smith Athletics)

Rutgers, UMass, and Hobart traveled north of the battle to compete in a series of scrimmages on Sunday at Upper Canadian College in Toronto, Ontario. All three scrimmaged were streamed by UCC for FREE.

Scores (Unofficial)

UMass vs Rutgers – 9-20

Hobart vs Rutgers – 12-15

Hobart vs UMass – 8-10

Team by Team Breakdown

Hobart

With Stephen Brundage taking over as the Statesmen’s offensive coordinator over the summer, Hobart’s offense looked very good in both scrimmages, especially early on. The Statesmen’s defense was very effective, but had some lapses and appeared to not be as in tune yet as their offensive counterparts.

Hobart’s offense was very sound throughout the early parts of both scrimmages. Their sets of pairs and ball movement worked like a charm and allowed them to get inside looks against both UMass and Rutgers. They were simply attacking the goal and looking for quality shots ever possession, although there were sometimes when they did try to force too much.

Senior attackman Eric Holden looks poised to play a big role in this offense once again, finding the back of the net multiple times and being a key figure and leader on the offensive end in both scrimmages. Junior attackman Ryan Archer also made a big impact and sophomore attackman Jason Knox played very well as a facilitator and scoring threat from behind the cage and up top at the midfield. The midfield didn’t produce as much, but they were able to get some quality shots from up top and guys cutting from up top for inside shots.

Freshman Troy Barthelme got a lot of minutes at the midfield and was one of the more impressive players at the midfield for Hobart. The long freshman can play all over the field and be a scoring threat or a facilitator, setting picks and moving the ball to get his teammates Grade-A scoring chances.

The Statesmen defense did allow multiple inside looks and had their fair share of lapses in both scrimmages, but they weren’t necessarily horrific in any way. When packed in tight the defense as a whole was very successful, but when they got drawn out more things started to go array. LSM Dan Ryan was a bright spot on that end of the field. Ryan was able to lock down his defender, made timely slides, and helped push offense in transition, as well.

Sam Lucchesi gave the defense a huge boost and saved them in many situations where the opposing team should have scored easily. The senior goalie was very solid in both scrimmages and was by far the Statesmen’s most consistent player of the day on the back end, despite being left on an island many times.

Rutgers

The Scarlet Knights came out slow in both scrimmages, but once they got into a rhythm and got the ball humming their offense got going for real and looked very similar to how they operated last season. Rutgers mainly initiated from behind the cage at x and the midfield but was able to get plenty of set shots on either wing, as well.

Adam Charalambides looked like his usual self, getting to the rack and being a thorn in the side of the opposing defense. He was the clear number one in both scrimmages, putting up multiple goals, helping to move the ball very well, and drawing plenty of attention from the opposing defense. Kieran Mullins didn’t stand out like usual, but the Scarlet Knights’ depth of scoring was on full display with Brennan Kamish- who transferred from Detroit Mercy prior to last season- really making a difference as a sniper from the midfield. Kamish was able to get his hands free and send it to the back of the cage multiple times.

Multiple other Scarlet Knights impressed on offense, as well, including junior Tommy Coyne who looks to have stepped his game up multiple notches and should look to have an even greater role in the offense this season as a guy that can make an impact at both attack and midfield.

Defensively, this Rutgers defense looks much different than last season with the graduation of goalie Max Edlemann and defenseman Kyle Pless. The Scarlet Knights defense needs improvement. Against UMass, they allowed three quick goals in the opening minutes and against Hobart they got beat in transition multiple times.

Senior Garrett Bullett looked the best out of the bunch on defense, continuing to make an impact all game. Junior Jack Thompson shined, as well. Rutgers rotated a lot of guys on the back end which did lead to some major lapses in both contests.

In goal, junior Cleveland State transfer Stephen Russo and Kevin Carbone- a grad transfer from Binghamton- really played very well, saving plays after a defensive lapse. Russon looked the best and got the start in their first scrimmage against UMass. Carbone also played well and got the nod against Hobart.

UMass

The Minutemen showed some flashes but overall struggled at times due to growing pains on the defensive end. Offensively, they showed much depth and were able to find the back of the net with ease early on in both scrimmages and were able to move the ball very well.

Sophomore Gabriel Procyk looked the most polished on the offensive end, but senior midfielder Jeff Trainor and senior attackman Devin Spencer also played well and made impacts. UMass also showed some very good depth on the offensive end with midfielder Jack Geiger being able to get some very good looks on cage and sophomore Scott Del Zotto playing at attack and midfield, showing some very good promise.

UMass played a much more set offense and did not really get out and run in transition too often. Setting things up behind the cage at x seemed to be a focus of theirs, but the midfield and attackman on the wings were also able to get the offense moving, as well. The Minutemen were also able to get a lot of good looks inside on the doorstep, especially early on in both scrimmages. The offense also played very well off the ground and played with that “gorilla” intensity at points in the game.

Lapses on defense were pretty rampant for UMass as there were plenty of mistakes made on the back end in both scrimmages, especially later on in the contest. With all the lapses that they did have, sophomore Adam Towey and senior LSM Dan O’Brien were two bright spots, being able to cause havoc at times, put the ball on the carpet, and helped jumpstart the offense.

Overall, it is apparent that the loss of Sean Sconnone in goal and LSM/D Isaac Paparo is huge, but this defense has time to figure things out and improve before the season gets underway in February.

Redshirt freshman Dom Elmo got the start in the Minutemen’s first scrimmage against Rutgers and freshman Matt Knote got the nod in their second scrimmage against Hobart.