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hang up defense maryland ohio state
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Hang Up Defense: Maryland v. Ohio State — #FilmBreakdown

Last week we looked at how an offense can take advantage of a hang up situation and this week we’re going to look at how to properly execute a hang up defense.
There are two typical ways of defending the situation and it will depend on a few factors such as the athleticism of the goalie or how aggressive the defensive coach likes to be.
Here Maryland trusts their goalie to act as an actual defender in their hang up defense:
1. Due to Maryland playing aggressive help defense, the player at X is left alone because his defender is out of position on the backside.
2. The Maryland defender quickly realizes he’s stuck above the cage and positions himself on one side. Meanwhile, the goalie is communicating that he’s leaving the cage and covering the opposite side. At one point we see the goalie point to the defender making sure he knows the plan.
3. Notice all other defenders are trying their best to lock off players above the cage, forcing a 2v1 with the Goalie and Defender against the player at X.
4. The goalie shades heavily to one side, trying to force the player left toward the defender. Notice the goalie has one foot in the crease which makes it virtually impossible for the ball carrier to slip underneath him.
5. The defender waits until he feels the ball carrier commit towards him to attack, allowing the goalie time to regain position in the net.
6. The defender actually over commits giving the buckeye player a step but recovers by getting his stick under the inside elbow and lifting.