Game of the Week Previews
#5 Cornell vs #12 Army:
- Cornell is fresh off a Monday night Overtime victory against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome and will look to keep that momentum going against another upstate New York rival. Army is currently 9-2 with a two-goal win against Colgate in their last outing a week ago.
- Cornell is dangerous all over the field from starting at the faceoff X with Angelo Petrakis who has dominated his competitors this year giving CJ Kirst, John Piatelli and Michael Long tons of chances to get their shots.
- Army will look to contain the dangerous Cornell offense with their experienced close defense that is headlined by senior goalie Wyatt Schupler, who has been consistent all year between the pipes.
Syracuse vs North Carolina:
- These two teams meet in what must be seen as a down year for both programs. Syracuse has had trouble piecing together wins this year, only winning back-to-back games once this year. They come into this game on a three-game losing streak after dropping Monday’s contest to Cornell in OT
- North Carolina is having a much better year than the Orange, but their offense has slowed up in the last two games scoring just six goals against Duke and four goals against UVA. Coach Joe Breschi will make sure his team is prepared for this matchup in hopes of capturing their first ACC win of the season.
- Chris Gray (UNC) and Tucker Dordevic (SYR) are first team all Americans in my opinion. They have the ability to take over games when the balls are in their sticks. I’m sure both coaches have been highlighting these players all week in practice and will make sure they are covered tightly all game, because if either gets any separation, you might as well mark it down as a goal.
#4 Yale vs Brown:
- Yale, Cornell and Princeton are clearly the top teams in the ivy league, but Brown may not be far behind after beating Penn last week. The Ivy League is loaded this year and a win for Brown State here could go a long way into making the conference tournament
- Yale has rattled off four straight wins after a back and forth game with Cornell that saw the Bulldogs fall a goal short. Since then they have beaten Princeton, Penn, BU, and Dartmouth; four very solid teams. If Yale wants to keep their momentum going they need to execute on both sides of the field to halt Brown’s upset bid
- Yale is right behind Cornell who sits atop the Ivy league with a little over two weeks until the regular season is over. Brown is on the outside looking in as they are in the fifth seed in the ivy league right now. With a couple games to go this year, watch for the intensity to turn up for these in conference games.
Weekend Best Bets:
Rutgers -2.5 over Michigan:
- This number is lowered due to Rutgers’ loss at Maryland last Sunday and then making the trip to Ann Arbor this weekend. Rutgers has only two losses on the year, and both are to top five teams in the nation in Princeton and UMD. Rutgers may start slow in this one, but I see them dominating this game once they get settled in and beating a Michigan team that has dropped five straight games.
Maryland -5.5 over Ohio State:
- At this point, the Maryland spread has been a staple of my weekly picks but can you blame me? They are undefeated this year and a covering machine. Maryland has not met a team yet who can keep up with their depth all over the field, and I don’t think they will until Georgetown. Ride with the terps again this week and do it with confidence until they prove us wrong!
Dog of the Weekend: Boston U +1.5 over Loyola:
- BU is undefeated outside of their games versus the Ivy League. This is a great bounce-back spot for the terriers who come into this game as the dogs. I really just haven’t seen enough from Loyola who has dropped a bunch of close games against good teams. I see this game staying tight throughout with BU winning outright.
Subscribe to the Morning Blitz our daily sports newsletter here.