Amherst 2010

2009 Recap: 2009 was a solid year for the Jeffs, winning pretty much every game they were supposed to. Of course, the caveat to that is that they lost the games that they were supposed to lose, although they did manage to keep many of their losses close. Offensively, senior attackman Brett Miller did most of the heavy lifting, scoring ten goals and dishing out twenty-nine assists as the primary creator. Amherst's offense generally boiled down to Miller initiating a dodge from behind the cage, looking to bang the ball inside to Thomas McDonnell (33/4/37) or rotating the ball quickly up the wing for a dodge from one of of the Jeff's midfielders, usually Milone, Redwood or Fox. Defensively, Amherst was led by senior keeper Matt Pietroforte, whose impact cannot simply be measured in statistics. He played an instrumental role in aligning and instructing his defense, in addition to being the emotional leader for the team. Whoever wins the starting gig this year has to replace much more than just Pietroforte's ability to stop the ball.

2010 Trend: Downward

What's hot: The Lord Jeffs return a decent amount of points, including an elite finisher inside in McDonnell and some talent through the midfield, namely Milone, Redwood and Fox, the latter two of whom posted strong freshman campaigns. Unless there is another Brett Miller waiting in the wings (which seems unlikely), expect the Amherst offensive strategy to shift to a system based more on dodging through the midfield. As long as McDonnell is inside, teams will have to be very wary of cheating too much on their slides lest the dodger zip a quick pass to McDonnell for an easy dunk. The best defenses get a good jump on their slides through smart off-ball play, putting a premium on players like McDonnell who can finish under duress and keep a defense honest in their slide package.

What's not: It is far easier to say that the Amherst offense will shift its orientation to the midfield than to actually see it function in practice. Milone, Redwood and Fox managed only 22 combined assists last year, and only time will tell whether or not they have the requisite skill and vision to function effectively as both dodgers and feeders. If Amherst can't get the ball inside to McDonnell, they will struggle to score enough goals to win games. On defense, there are huge shoes to fill in goal as well as at close defense, where two starters graduate including talented defender Chris Fitzpatrick. Considering these challenges and the fact that this isn't an overly deep or talented team, it seems unlikely that 2010 will yield a better year than 2010 did.

What we should be talking about: Who came up with the mascot of Lord Jeff; How many points Thomas McDonnell would have if he played with D.J. Hessler; Whether or not McDonnell has the highest goal to assist ratio in the NESCAC among players who scored at least twenty points; Why a small guy like Redwood got significant run as a defensive midfielder in addition to his offensive duties; What color scheme would be better than purple and white (pretty much anything)