BYU 11, Colorado College 9 FINAL (Friday March 28th)
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:27 pmLacrosseHub's Prediction: BYU 13, Colorado College 8
BYU will travel to Grand Junction, Colorado to face Colorado College. The Cougars are looking to bounce back after a tough loss against Minnesota-Duluth. In the most recent MCLA polls, BYU dropped to #6. Colorado College is 6-2 on the season after a disappointing 2007 campaign.
Colorado College returned the majority of their team from last year with the exception of a goalie. Their key wins have been an overtime victory against CSU and a blow out against then ranked Washington & Lee. Their key losses have been to RPI and Mt. Ida. According to LaxPower they are currently ranked #79 in Division 3. Colorado College is averaging 10.7 goals per game on offense and letting up 9.6 goals against on defense. Their offense has been impressive in their victories but they are trying to find answers in the goal.
Although Colorado College's offense has scored lots of goals in their victories, their offensive leaders need to be more consistent. In their game against Mt. Ida, midfielders Dugan and Combs combined for a 3/23 shooting performance. (This is even worse than my buddy, Mike Hines, career average of .204%) They will need to dodge hard and stick their shots. Their success creates opportunities for other Colorado College players. Although BYU's defense has had a tendency to give up lots of goals, they did a great job against Minnesota-Duluth. Colorado College's offense will struggle against BYU's athletic defenders. BYU's defense will have to be more physical around the crease than they were against Minnesota-Duluth. Also, BYU's goalie, Kikimoto is one of the best goalies that Colorado College will play against. Look to Kikimoto to make 12+ saves in the game.
BYU's offense will need to play at a higher level than they did against Minnesota-Duluth. If they can limit the turnovers and sloppiness around the net, BYU should be able to score 12+ goals. Their attack and midfield will have many opportunities off the dodge but they need to make smart decisions when they have space. In many instances, their offensive players should make the extra pass instead of forcing feeds to the crease. Colorado College will have an extremely hard time matching up against Grow, Heir, Manning and Austin.
In their two losses, Colorado College's extra man unit has been atrocious. They were 0-10 on EMO. If they want to win on Friday night they will have to execute when they are a man up. BYU's man down defense was very strong against Minnesota-Duluth. Colorado College will continue to struggle and this may cost them a close game. The x-factors in the game will be which team can control the face offs and Colorado College's goalie situation. Both teams have been strong on face offs. In a high scoring game, the extra possessions can make or break a team. Colorado College's freshman goalies, Max Pluss and Scott MacArthur, have been splitting time in goal and their efforts have been erratic. They only combined for 7 saves against Washington & Lee and 5 saves against Mt. Ida. Pluss and MacArthur have to combine for more than a .500% save percentage for Colorado College to win.
BYU will travel to Grand Junction, Colorado to face Colorado College. The Cougars are looking to bounce back after a tough loss against Minnesota-Duluth. In the most recent MCLA polls, BYU dropped to #6. Colorado College is 6-2 on the season after a disappointing 2007 campaign.
Colorado College returned the majority of their team from last year with the exception of a goalie. Their key wins have been an overtime victory against CSU and a blow out against then ranked Washington & Lee. Their key losses have been to RPI and Mt. Ida. According to LaxPower they are currently ranked #79 in Division 3. Colorado College is averaging 10.7 goals per game on offense and letting up 9.6 goals against on defense. Their offense has been impressive in their victories but they are trying to find answers in the goal.
Although Colorado College's offense has scored lots of goals in their victories, their offensive leaders need to be more consistent. In their game against Mt. Ida, midfielders Dugan and Combs combined for a 3/23 shooting performance. (This is even worse than my buddy, Mike Hines, career average of .204%) They will need to dodge hard and stick their shots. Their success creates opportunities for other Colorado College players. Although BYU's defense has had a tendency to give up lots of goals, they did a great job against Minnesota-Duluth. Colorado College's offense will struggle against BYU's athletic defenders. BYU's defense will have to be more physical around the crease than they were against Minnesota-Duluth. Also, BYU's goalie, Kikimoto is one of the best goalies that Colorado College will play against. Look to Kikimoto to make 12+ saves in the game.
BYU's offense will need to play at a higher level than they did against Minnesota-Duluth. If they can limit the turnovers and sloppiness around the net, BYU should be able to score 12+ goals. Their attack and midfield will have many opportunities off the dodge but they need to make smart decisions when they have space. In many instances, their offensive players should make the extra pass instead of forcing feeds to the crease. Colorado College will have an extremely hard time matching up against Grow, Heir, Manning and Austin.
In their two losses, Colorado College's extra man unit has been atrocious. They were 0-10 on EMO. If they want to win on Friday night they will have to execute when they are a man up. BYU's man down defense was very strong against Minnesota-Duluth. Colorado College will continue to struggle and this may cost them a close game. The x-factors in the game will be which team can control the face offs and Colorado College's goalie situation. Both teams have been strong on face offs. In a high scoring game, the extra possessions can make or break a team. Colorado College's freshman goalies, Max Pluss and Scott MacArthur, have been splitting time in goal and their efforts have been erratic. They only combined for 7 saves against Washington & Lee and 5 saves against Mt. Ida. Pluss and MacArthur have to combine for more than a .500% save percentage for Colorado College to win.