Here are Starsia's thoughts on the matchup:

Attack

JHU - I actually think Hopkins is a little bit vulnerable on the attack. But what they have is, the way they've been playing the game, they put their very good shooters on their attack. They're smart enough to get themselves open and they're good enough shooters.

Conor Ford has had a great year for them. Kyle Barrie has had a quieter year, but he can hurt you if you ignore him. (Peter) LeSueur is the one left-hander that plays for them and he gives them a little balance on the attack, a little bit of a different look.

If you look at an offense like Virginia or Syracuse, their attackmen play at the goal line extended or below and carry the ball. The Hopkins attackmen are asked to play without (the ball) and finish plays. Ford and Barrie are very, very good shooters and very dangerous in getting open without the ball and finding the seams.

SU - The Syracuse attack is one of the best attacks in the college game. They've got good balance. Michael (Powell) is probably the premier player in the game and is certainly the catalyst on their team. (Brian) Crockett provides good balance - he can carry it a little bit. He's a very good shooter, a very good off-ball player. (Brian) Nee's a good shooter with good balance and good experience. All three guys are dangerous finishing the ball. Nee is not as likely to hurt you off the dodge as somebody else will. I think you've got to put a short stick on Nee, and some teams will put a short stick on LeSueur.

Midfield

JHU - Hopkins is very dangerous, very athletic, very deep. They're deeper than Syracuse. They play seven guys on the offensive end now. They, as much as any team, will play their second midfield as much as their first midfield, and they are very dangerous. Those are the guys they look to to initiate the offense. They are the guys who will carry the ball.

Hopkins will play with the ball above the goal line extended 95 percent of the time. We've had a little success not sliding to their middies because they expect you to do so. (Kevin) Boland's playing very well. They attack the short sticks and are more of a matchup-driven team. Wherever you put your short sticks, that's where they attack you first. If they can't get that, they'll go to (Kyle) Harrison against the pole.

SU - Syracuse has less of a plan. They're going to come at you from everywhere. With (Sean) Lindsay, (Steve) Vallone and (Kevin) Dougherty, you've got as good a first six as Hopkins has. But Syracuse drops off in their second midfield. They're not quite as deep. But I don't think depth in the midfield will be the determining factor in this game.

Defense

JHU - Hopkins is a little bit vulnerable on the defensive end. The knock on Hopkins is you can kind of get what you want. If you choose to hold the ball on them you can. Syracuse can choose to make this a single-digit game. You can keep the score down against them because they don't have anybody who can take the ball away. And if you can get a little lead, Hopkins doesn't want to come out and chase you on defense.

They're not a group that wants to initiate play. They slide to everything, so knowing that, you can take advantage of that if you hold the ball. I don't know that Syracuse wants to get into a shooting match with these guys.

Hopkins will mix it up a little bit more on defense. They'll play some zone. And Hopkins will do more to protect their defense on the offensive side of the ball.

SU - I think Syracuse may be more physical, more athletic, a little less systematic than Hopkins is. I think a big part of this game will be decided by how Syracuse will defend Hopkins. Are they willing to slide to people, where do they put their short sticks, what are the matchups they will choose to defend?

If you force Hopkins to make plays, you are going to put yourself in a trouble situation because Hopkins can finish plays. You may want to defend a little more conservatively, so that may go against type for Syracuse.

You don't want to beat yourself by overplaying somebody. Given easy opportunities, Hopkins is going to put too much pressure on (Jay) Pfeifer in the goal. However they decide to set the tempo on the defensive end is going to decide how this goes.

Goalie

I'd give the big edge in the goal to Syracuse. Pfeifer has just been around the block too many times. He's been in too many games like this. But I think Hopkins is more likely to do things to protect their goalie. We tend to hang our goalies out to dry a little bit. You have to have a stout heart to play goalie for Syracuse or Virginia.

Syracuse has no chance unless Pfeifer plays great. Hopkins has got too many good shooters for your goalie to have a mediocre game. And I think Pfeifer is capable of doing it.

Intangibles

If Hopkins can win faceoffs and get the ball down to their offense, I don't think Syracuse can stop them from scoring. Syracuse has to win the ball at the middle of the field to have a chance.

We were hoping that if we could be 50 percent facing off, we'd have a shot, and that's what happened in our game. I don't think Syracuse can stop Hopkins from getting their looks at the cage unless they have the ball some.

Syracuse has to win faceoffs. I think it's an absolute in this game. If they don't win faceoffs, they don't have a chance. They have to be able to control the ball.

Two keys

Let's consider Hopkins the No. 1 seed and prohibitive favorite. The keys to beating Hopkins are winning faceoffs and outstanding goalie play. Syracuse has the kid in the cage that can win at that level for them. The key is whether they can win enough balls in the middle of the field. - Donna Ditota

© 2004 The Post-Standard. Used with permission.