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Rutgers Men's Lacrosse Beats Wagner

Looking at the partial stats, we still need to shoot better. 46 shots and 13 goals. They looked to be sitting in a zone all game, so that would explain some of the miscues. Step in the right direction after the last two games though.

Kids needed to put up a number after the last two games. Nice to see 9 goals from the midfield. 3 each from Toliver, Goss, Trasolini. Need those guys to take pressure off of the attack by scoring and opening up the field.

Hopefully this gives them confidence going into Monmouth with Army looming. Saw Army Cuse and Army looked real good (as did Cuse). If they didn't lose every faceoff, Army would have likely won that game.
 
A win is a win is a win, but ... Rutgers has never lost to Wagner. Before today the average margin of victory had been 12+ goals. This is as bad as 2012 when RU won 9-5. Last year was 20-5 and year before 20-10. Wagner has won 3 games between 2013 and 2014 combined.

So, do you think RU has a problem being tied 10-10 in the fourth? Giving up 10 goals to Wagner is a really, really bad sign for the season after the goals that Richmond put up. If the defense and staff can't figure it out against Wagner at home? Ugh.

Time to step up on Saturday. Need to hold Monmouth to 4 or 5 and the offense needs to score at least a dozen. Monmouth lost to UMBC, 4-2 the other day. Monmouth is a second year program that Rutgers toyed with last year, 20-4.
 
I didn't see the game until the fourth quarter, which looked domiant for RU. 10 goals seems like a lot to give up to them, I will give you that. I see two goalies played, which means they are still working that out.

Going to check out the full stats now but 13 goals on 46 shots needs to get better. You sink an acceptable % of those and the score looks like something like 19-10. 46 shots is a lot of shots for a lacrosse team. That is a good thing. Need to score more though.

Defense is young and was never a strength this season. It needs to get better. Scoring more goals will help the defense and from watching the team, much of that comes down to shooting when you have that many.
 
Quick glance at the stats. We almost doubled them up on groundballs, which is great. Had a nice day at the faceoff spot, which is an area we must do well in to win.

Extra man was 2 for 2 which is much better than we have seen the last couple of games. Had two more turnovers than they did, which I can't really comment on because I didn't see most of the game. Were they forced or unforced?

We had 39 shots not 46 which is a little better than originally thought. 4 RU penalties which they converted on 3. Need to do better in both of those departments.

Hard to say exactly why the game was closer than we would like from what I saw and the stats. But when you dominate the faceoff spot, you are getting possessions. We did that. Gotta hope the goalie position gets cemented and the D keeps growing. Playing 2 new guys at close, one of whom is a freshman, is going to take a little time.

A win is a good place to teach from.
 
That quote only proves that coachspeak transcends the boundary of any one sport. What do you want a coach to say publicly when his team is tied in the 4th with a team that his guys beat by 15 at their place last year and that's gone 3-23 the last two seasons? I have a feeling a mic in the locker room might have picked up some un-coachspeak about what better not happen agaiin on Saturday against Monmouth.
 
Coach Brecht has high expectations, I'm sure he wasn't pleased. Better to not be so after a win though. I expect them to play well Sat.

Wagner is a cupcake but they are growing. They have a good young staff and are better than last year. People are wondering how programs like Marquette can get so good so quickly and it comes down to one thing- support. These newer programs are already getting top level support. We need to step up our game in this department.

This post was edited on 2/26 3:45 PM by Caliknight
 
Also, as a coach of a "new program" you are not saddled by scholarship commitments made by the prior coach. Those kids can very often slow the process down as you don't have their money to offer to top kids. Sure, you could cut kids/ take $$ away, but the ripple effect of such a decision is just as bad due to the PR fallout.
 
Cali -- Wagner is better than last year? Well, shouldn't RU be better than last year too?
 
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