A mini collection of thoughts from the weekend.
Duke Doomsday Clock
Holding at 11:55PM.
Following a Thursday victory over Virginia, there was a glimmer of hope for the Devils but then Brown thumped Yale and Army did the same to Cornell over the weekend.
The talk in the second half of the Virginia game focused on Adler standing on his head.
Adler finished the game with 20 saves. On the other end of the field, Virginia gave freshman Matt Nunes the hook with seven minutes to play.
If Duke can clear better than 31-37 and be better than 12-29 at the faceoff, Adler probably doesn’t have to make 20 saves, but he certainly cannot be below 50% ever again.
What can we expect from Adler against Notre Dame and UNC?
Outside of Brennan O’Neill, are we sure Duke knows who they are on offense?
Sean Lulley had a mini flash of being the best offensive weapon for the Devils but #34 is the guy. O’Neill has 39 points in their last seven contests. His worst performances came in wins over High Point and Manhattan.
The issue with Duke has been the consistency around O’Neill. The aforementioned Lulley wasn’t a starter right away. Montgomery didn’t play fall ball. Aidan Danenza hasn’t exactly had a sophomore slump but 16 points isn’t enough for someone who played all freshman year.
Owen Caputo scored once. This is just the second time he’s scored in back to back games dating back to February 6th. Caputo had 25 points last year. He has just 12 in 2022.
Cameron Badour scored for the first time since March 1st which is the only other time he’s scored this season. The goal came early in the 3rd quarter. Not in mop up time.
Ohio State transfer Grant Mitchell has only scored four times despite playing in eleven games.
Freshman Reed Landin has hat tricks in back to back games after only scoring three times in his previous seven games.
Of course, Andrew McAdorey’s point streak ends against Virginia despite the team scoring 17 goals. He has certainly earned his spot on the first line by contributing 34 points which is good for fifth on the team. Pretty impressive for a freshman middie.
Montgomery failed to register a point as well. Like McAdorey, it was the first time he didn’t get onto the score sheet all year.
There are so many names. So many shifting roles. Don’t forget about Dyson Williams, Joe Robertson, and Cameron Mule.
In crunch time, who is Duke’s closing six? Do they know? Do the kids feel comfortable in those roles?
As of today, we feel comfortable saying that Duke would be in the tournament.
Of course, they still rematches with Notre Dame in South Bend and then UNC.
Win both and you’re in.
Lose one and you’re staring down the barrel of a long summer of what if’s.
To the Captains!
Christopher Newport started their program in 2007.
This weekend, they beat Salisbury 17-7. This morning they moved to the #1 spot in the D3 coaches poll.
Congratulations to Coach Thompson, the assistants, and the players. What an accomplishment.
That venue is perfect. Great job by the students to pack the stands.
Our Best Tweet from the Weekend
Are You Listening?
We’ve now released ten episodes of our podcast, LPG Coach’s Companion.
Which one is your favorite so far?
Episode 1 – Brian Brecht (Rutgers) & Bryan Kelly (Calvert Hall)
Episode 2 – Robyn Rooney (Wantagh) & Emily Boissonneault (Pitt)
Episode 3 – Lars Tiffany (Virginia) & Casey D’Annolfo (Tufts)
Episode 4 – Jack Kensil (Byram Hills) & Kelly Gallagher (Tampa)
Episode 5 – JB Clarke (Tampa) & Tom West (Bolles)
Episode 6 – Allison Kwolek (Clemson) & Kate Livesay (Middlebury)
Episode 7 – Joe Alberici (Army) & Johnny Rodriguez (Mater Dei)
Episode 8 – Kerstin Kimel (Duke) & Jack Cribbin (Lindenwood)
Episode 9 – Summer Koepplin (St. Anthony’s), Jenna McNicholas (Taft), and Robyn Rooney (Wantagh)
Episode 10 – Joe Amplo (Navy) & Nic Bell (Taft)
If you’re trying to be a better coach, you’re going to listen to every episodes more than once.
Two episodes drop every week.
