Immovable Objects: New Canaan’s Poles Are the Toughest in CT

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>New Canaan has produced some exceptional defenders in their long history: current Penn coach Mike Murphy, Hall of Fame member Tyler Hardy, countless All-Americans... the list is very long. <br><br>Allowing an average of 4.6 goals per game, The 2024 Rams boast one of the most talented groups of poles - not just in the state, but in the country - and a proud addition to the history books for the program. The unit runs deep, rotating multiple players through close defense and LSM. The offense might think it's getting a break when the Michigan commit heads to the sideline, but he's being replaced by a BU commit. This is a real scenario that happens. The entirety of the unit has been excellent this year, but the poles, goalies, and face-off unit jump off the page. <br><br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["27329"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Standing out in a sea of standouts isn't easy, but Tamasco has been a showstopper. He missed a few games due to injury and plays like he is making up for lost time. Unofficially, I had Tamasco with four ground balls, three caused turnovers, two goals, and an assist before the starters were subbed out, and he did that from the close defense position in the game against Wilton. Tamasco sees the entire field at once, not just in settled sets on defense, but in transition. He identifies open areas in the clear and moves to them, and understands when to push transition himself, when there is no transition opportunity, and every situation in between. He's physical, moving dodgers off their line, and his footwork is excellent. At 6'2, 190 lbs., he has a physical advantage over most attackmen he'll guard this year. Currently a senior, Tamasco will head to Richmond after a postgrad year.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["14533"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"Another talented prospect in the uber-talented group of New Canaan poles, Lyden plays the most aggressive style. While Tamasco and [player_tooltip player_id='14855' first='Dillon' last='Stephens'] guard their men with footwork first, Lyden is constantly hounding his man's hands with slaps and lifts. Even simple transfer passes get impacted by Lyden. As aggressive as he is, he never plays himself out of position. He doesn't chase the stick, or throw home run sort of checks that sacrifice his body position and give his man a step on him. There's a mix of discipline and aggressiveness to his game. Lyden has looked comfortable in an LSM role and down low. In man-down situations, he strings from the inside up to the top of the box, disrupting the player who is top center on the EMO. At all times, the coaching staff has put him in a position to do maximum damage with his aggressive style.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["14855"],"_player_evaluations_2_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"Stephens is all substance and no style, and I mean that in the best possible way. In the vein of high-level college defenders like Kenny Brower or Brendan Lavelle, you won't see Stephens going over the head, you won't see big swinging checks on his man, you won't see high-risk defensive plays. He plays hips, moves his feet, lifts his man's hands when they are getting ready to pass or shoot - it's all the fundamentals that coaches start impressing on day one, but at an elite level. What you do see is impeccable footwork, and the correct angle taken every time. Stephens very rarely gets beat cleanly. Even if an attackman does get a step on him, his recoveries are exceptional, often so good the team doesn't need to slide behind him. He's handled some of the toughest matchups in the country. He held Darien's [player_tooltip player_id='14811' first='Brady' last='Pokorny'], a Notre Dame commit and arguably the best attackman in the FCIAC, to just one assist in their game.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_3_player":["27332"],"_player_evaluations_3_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"I've always considered the faceoff specialist an honorary member of the defensive unit. At the end of the day, the critical part of his job is making sure the other team isn't playing offense as much as they want to. What could be more defensive than that? O'Neil is the latest in what is becoming a very strong tradition of dominance at the face-off spot for the Rams. Currently a junior, he has had an excellent year at the X. Against Wilton, I unofficially had him not losing a faceoff all day. O'Neil has a current comp to a college player like Machado Rodriguez at Yale. Rodriguez plays at 100 mph at all times. It's maximum velocity. O'Neil, on clean wins, plays the same way. He wants to push up the field, he wants to attack the goal. He looks for chances to push tempo and force defenders into decisions about sliding to him to stop the shot. At New Canaan, a clean win forward for O'Neil means the point of the break has to decide between staying home, or sliding to O'Neil and leaving Michigan-bound sharpshooter [player_tooltip player_id='15203' first='Doster' last='Crowell'] on the point. Not an enviable position. O'Neil's face-off unit as a trio will often include one of the above-mentioned poles or BU-bound [player_tooltip player_id='27334' first='Brayden' last='Robie'], plus two-way midfielder [player_tooltip player_id='27337' first='Thomas' last='Garcia'].","_player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":4,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-664386ddbc7f9"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Goalies</strong> - As if all that wealth at pole isn't enough, New Canaan runs two deep in goal. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='27338' first='Cam' last='Lyden'] and freshman [player_tooltip player_id='27339' first='Jack' last='Crowell'] both see time between the pipes. In a low-scoring battle against Darien, each recorded six saves. Lyden took the first half against Wilton and gave up one goal early in the first quarter. That was it for the first half. Crowell took over in the second half and gave up no goals. This defense and goaltending held Wilton to just one goal in a game. It helps that the defense in front of these two is as good as it is, both the pair are both very promising prospects. Lyden is particularly impressive on low shots. His ability to both explode toward the shooter and to drop his top his hand low to get to the ball is the first thing you'll notice about him. His stance naturally sits pretty low, so he is already well-positioned to get to shots on the ground, but he can also pop up for the shots that aim for high corners. Crowell plays his arc very well and cuts angles from shooters. For a freshman on varsity, he plays with a tremendous amount of comfort. He doesn't get anxious and leave the pipe on sharp-angle shots, he doesn't take himself out of a position to try and steal a save here or there. He stays true to fundamentals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->