Hausmann, Garcia Among Standouts in 12-6 Brunswick Win at Darien

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In a public vs. private matchup between two of Connecticut's national powers, the Brunswick Bruins defeated the Darien Blue Wave by a score of 12-6 on Thursday night at Darien High School. <br><br>The game featured players committed to top-tier college programs, including Notre Dame, Princeton, Penn State, Loyola, Tufts, Georgetown, Brown, Virginia, Syracuse, and more. On a field like that, it's hard to rise above the others, but these five players jumped out. <br><br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["14810"],"_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":"u003cp style=u0022font-weight: 400;u0022u003eHausmann missed last year with an injury, so his return is a welcome one for the Bruins, who got four goals from the senior captain. What stood out most was his awareness, along with his ability to identify situations to attack. Good dodgers identify a matchup and a good time to dodge. Great dodgers also identify what the team's defense is doing and where help will come from, if any.u003c/pu003ernOn two of Hausmann's goals, the ball had gone from defense to offense and ended with him, and teams were beginning to sub. While there was a player on Hausmann, you could see that he didn't feel guarded, and the Darien defense wasn't ready to support. A quick dodge and shot later, it was a goal for the Bruins. Hausmann is also excellent at reacting to where his defender is playing him. He rolls away from a defender that over-commits to one hand and can shoot out of that roll extremely well. Covering Hausmann requires excellent position at all times and disrupting his hands at all times, and he'll punish a mistake made.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["16386"],"_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":"u003cp style=u0022font-weight: 400;u0022u003eGarcia opened the scoring just 30 seconds into the game, beating his man with a quick left-to-right split from top center, and scoring low running down the alley as Darien did not slide to him. On that possession, Garcia dodged and shot like a midfielder. Throughout the game, however, Brunswick would move him around. He would take a shorty behind the net to dodge out of an invert, drawing slides and moving the ball above the goal for quality looks. Above the net, Garcia won off the dodge with straight-line speed and shooting. Behind the goal, he became a change of direction dodger to free his hands and feed.u003c/pu003e","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["14521"],"_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":"u003cp style=u0022font-weight: 400;u0022u003eAlthough Diaz-Matos was u003ca href=u0022https://preplacrosse.com/2024/03/face-offs-goalie-play-propel-brunswicks-11-5-win-over-radnor/u0022u003ehighlighted by Carey Smith after the Bruins' win over Radnor (Pa.)u003c/au003e, he was too much of a force in the game not to get written up once again. Arguably a top three face-off specialist in the nation regardless of class year, you could count on one hand how many faceoffs he lost in this one. And three of those came on violations, not Darien beating him. What made Diaz-Matos stand out was that it wasn't a carbon copy exit every faceoff. He won his fair share going forward, but he didn't force the clear advantage he had. He reverse exited, he popped the ball to wings at multiple spots, and handled a variety of counters well. Diaz-Matos also quickly identified that the Darien strategy became to try and disrupt the ground ball, not contest the faceoff itself, so he adjusted to get the ball out quickly, but also near himself, so he could pick it up, run to space, and maintain possession. The whole bag of tricks was on display.u003c/pu003e","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_3_player":["23229"],"_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":"u003cp style=u0022font-weight: 400;u0022u003eThe Darien defense had to handle a possession disadvantage most of the night, but their poles looked ready for the challenge. The game plan looked to slide aggressively, be active for free doubles, and try to cause some chaos. Bonner was a major part of that. On wings for faceoffs, he was quick in to try and cause chaos on exits for Diaz-Matos. He turned some clean exits into ground ball battles. Off the ground, he was as good as any pole in the game, in the mix for any ball that hit the turf. When good things were happening for the Darien defense, Bonner was usually close by.u003c/pu003e","_player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":4,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6610581ea9109"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["14886"],"_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":"u003cp style=u0022font-weight: 400;u0022u003eAgain, with a possession disadvantage, Darien needed to get strong goalie play. Hagen delivered. He's excellent at positioning in net and using his big body to cut down angles for shooters. On multiple occasions during the game, Hagen was able to go back to front, meaning track a pass from behind the goal to a shooter above it, position, and make the save on a shot that changed levels. It's a very challenging sequence for a goalie to execute well, particularly against shooters of the caliber that Brunswick has, and Hagen made multiple saves this way. He was also good in tight, again using his frame to close down space and smother shots that came from in tight. Brunswick scored 12, but none of them felt easy.u003c/pu003e","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6610581ea916b"} /-->