OT: Lacrosse preview

After a characteristically dreadful series of preseason scrimmages, the Cornell men's lacrosse team will make its regular-season debut this Saturday at Hofstra. Time for a quick preview.

It's hard not to feel gloomy after watching Johns Hopkins and Loyola have their way with Cornell earlier this month. But there are plenty of reasons to feel optimistic about 2004: 1) Despite losing two-time first-team All American defenseman Ryan McClay, Cornell's best player since the late 1980s, they return an experienced team. 2) They landed what I consider to be their second best recruiting class in the last decade. 3) The team that has owned the Ivy League for eons, Princeton, suffered devastating losses to graduation. 4) It's an even year, which means we get Syracuse at home--and in recent years, home victories over Syracuse have earned Cornell NCAA tournament berths. 5) And here's the real wildcard: As some of you may know, the legendary Lax Swami just picked Cornell to finish 7th in the nation. He was right when he picked Cornell to finish 7th in 2002 (when most of us were pessimistic), and he was right when he picked Cornell to finish out of the money in 2003 (when most of us were optimistic). Hmmmm...

ATTACK? WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED ATTACK? For the first time in about 15 years, Cornell's strongest and most experienced unit will be its [gasp] attack. The versatile and underrated Andrew Collins (national co-leader in points), crafty finisher Sean Greenhalgh (third in nation in goals), and Dave Pittard all return as starters. Also returning are capable reserves and extra-man specialists (Nee, Spoonhower). Matter of fact, they return almost all their midfield scoring too--J.P. Schalk is the only significant loss. Now don't expect high scores, explosive play, improvised magic in unsettled situations, or any of that. God forbid. But expect high efficiency and a fairly deadly EMO.

THE KING IS DEAD. OK, the king isn't dead. Not even close. I think Princeton will still win the Ivies this year, once they work out the kinks in non-conference games. But the Tigers could be in deep doo-doo. Graduation flushed their roster as clean as toilet bowl in a Day Hall corner office. No Davis. No Hartofilis. No Gould. No Lieberman. No Dumont. No White. No Daly. No MacColl. Well, yeah, they get two brilliant attackmen, including former Ivy POY Ryan Boyle. But according to their official website, they return only four players who have ever started a college lacrosse game. The door's wiiiiiiiide open for a team like Cornell or Dartmouth (they were NOT a fluke) to take the Ivy AQ.

WHO'S IN GOAL? The 2004 team ain't going anywhere without improved play in goal. The incumbent is former Washington & Lee transfer Brandon Ross, who had to step in for projected started Kyle Miller after Miller was diagnosed with a serious illness just before the 2003 season. The ittybitty Ross had a few great games (against Penn State, for example), but generally seemed overmatched, especially early in the season. Tambroni landed two excellent freshmen, Yorktown's Ethan Vedder (see www.thejournalnews.com/allstars/spring03/s_blax.htm ) and Matt McMonagle of Philadelphia's Episcopal Academy. Both freshmen have looked great, and a few days before the opener, the competition still isn't over. Ross is the sentimental choice; my money's on Vedder, the hot hand du jour. No matter what happens, the future looks good here.

THE THIRD MAN. The only other big roster mystery is at close defense. Kyle Georgalas' move from long-stick middie to defense in the middle of last season seems to be permanent. Tim DeBlois is the other returning starter. But who's the third? For two consecutive years, Cornell has had at least one alarmingly weak defender as a starter (I won't name names). Any hope for improvement? I'm skeptical. On the official roster, former short-stick defensive middie George Boiardi and freshman Mitch Belisle (Severna Park, MD) are now listed as defensemen--perhaps a sign of desperate experimentation. I had hopes that freshman Andrew Clayton (Suffern) would emerge as the starter (see www.thejournalnews.com/allcounty/spring03/c_blax.htm ), but he seems to be playing long-stick middie. At this point, the two most likely candidates to begin the season as the third starting close defender are Casey Stevenson (a townie) and Mike Pisco, two former HS All Americans who have been largely invisible so far.

DUDE, WHERE'S MY FOGO? Cornell struggled mightily with a faceoff-by-committee approach early last year. It was a horrible thing to see. As the season wore on, former Fairfield transfer Scott Raasch emerged as the leader. He was fantastic in the season-ending victory over Hobart, dominating the Statesmen's juggernaut FO man, Booth. Things started looking even brighter when Tambroni landed freshman John Condzella (Shoreham-Wading River), arguably the best HS faceoff man on Long Island last year. But Condzella has left the team, likely due to a difficult injury rehabilitation situatilllon. Look for Raasch to continue as the primary FO guy, but with opponents like Georgetown's Andy Corno coming up early in the season, this could be a problem area again.

A TOUGH SCHEDULE, A BRUTAL START. Cornell upgraded their schedule by adding North Carolina (games against UNC, Binghamton, and Stony Brook replace Penn State, Colgate, and Canisius). For the first time in my memory, Cornell plays in the "South" twice. And Cornell has never had a more difficult two-game stretch to open the season: first at Hofstra this Saturday, then at Georgetown next Saturday. A win against one of those teams could make the season, but Cornell has been awful in early-season games of late. With games against six teams that have the potential to finish in the top 10, the table is set for earning a few of those critical "quality wins" (a.k.a. wins against teams that finish in the top 15 of the season-ending RPI rankings) that could earn an at-large NCAA tournament berth. Unfortunately, four of these six games are on the road.

A few other notes:
* Cornell will be on TV at least once this year. The game against Dartmouth--potentially a critical match-up--will be broadcast by CSTV on Saturday, April 17.
* Schoellkopf Field will host the "North" NCAA quarterfinals this year on Sunday, May 23. The "South" quarters will be in Charlottesville, VA.
* For the first time in my memory, Cornell's freshmen include five HS All-Americans (not that HS AA status means Jack Scheisse): Vedder, A. Clayton, Brian Clayton (a middie), Belisle, and Casey Lewis (another middie).
* Another Canadian has landed: David Mitchell, a member of Canada's excellent U-19 team, won't get much playing time this year, but he has great potential. He's a bit of a mystery because he's from Saskatchewan, not exactly a hotbed of Canadian lax.
* Cornell has two "new" assistant coaches: Ben DeLuca '98 takes over as chief assistant and D-coordinator and Pat Dutton '99 takes over as junior assistant.
* Ivy trend to watch: Check out Harvard's freshman class, the best non-Princeton recruiting class in the Ivies in a long time.
* Cornell has landed a few productive offensive players from Long Island as early commitments for 2005. If you live on LI, check out Espey of St. Anthony's (he's the son of the Stony Brook coach), Turri of West Islip, and Glynn of Lindenhurst.

Are lacrosse games broadcast on the internet?

Greg Berge '85 wrote:

Are lacrosse games broadcast on the internet?

Check this: [www.laxswami.com]

Seems to me last year's Cornell games were part of the CornellPass package.

Greg, if you're asking about internet TELEcasts, then there isn't much available. I've heard that some of "Lacrosse Game of the Week" telecasts on Baltimore's WMAR have been archived, but I've seen no evidence of this. (See www.insidebaltimore.com/sports/04-02-06-lacrossesched.shtml for a schedule of their broadcasts...Cornell isn't included this year.) Lax Swami believes it's inevitable that CSTV will put its college lacrosse telecasts on the Internet now that CSTV and OCSN are in the same family.

For radio netcasts, Al's link to laxswami.com should do the trick.

Hope to see you at the Georgetown game now that you're a local. Just be mentally prepared for the Hoyas to eat Cornell alive. Some people, including Swami, think that Georgetown is a sure bet for the Final Four--and perhaps beyond.

I hope to make any games we play in the DC/MD/VA area that don't conflcit with hockey.

Hillel, tremendous preview, thanks. I hope you're able to provide insight/analysis throughout the lacrosse season.

Cornell Athletics just posted an official season preview: [cornellbigred.ocsn.com]

There are a few interesting tidbits buried inside:

* There's a provocative hint that Dave Pittard and Kevin Nee are competing for the third attack spot. Don't know if that's true. Nee has been bothered with chronic leg injuries that have impacted his development--he came here with enormous potential as a pure finisher (a talent that, unfortunately, is sorta redundant with Greenhalgh's skill set). Perhaps he has recovered to the point where he can actually nudge Pittard. At the very least, Nee will be a huge asset in EMO situations.

* It appears that middie Ian Rosenberger, who emerged as a surprising offensive force in 2002, has returned from an unspecified absence in 2003 (injury?). If he's back, then Cornell's midfield depth could indeed be as much of a factor as the press release implies.

* I'm relieved to see that George Boiardi is NOT gonna pick up the long stick. Phew. He really was too good as a short-stick defensive middie.

* Middies Riordan and Nelson are both being touted as "most improved" since last year. I really thought that Nelson was the best of the gaggle of Gilman guys who landed in 2002, but he hasn't played much. Again, if it's true that Riordan and Nelson have matured, then Cornell really could start to run 2-3 o-midfield lines. Haven't seen that in a while.

* The release reminded me that I should've mentioned something about sophomore middie Joe Boulukos. Boulukos (brother of former Cornell lacrosse player Evan Boulukos) is arguably the most talented and promising player on the roster. He was erratic last year, showing flashes of the take-no-prisoners "power forward" play that made him of the nation's top prospects out of high school. But his shooting was WAY off, and he seemed to struggle with a switch to midfield from attack. Boulukos made the US U-19 team in the offseason, and looked fantastic during tryouts and preliminary games. Unfortunately, he took a collosal hit in a preparatory game and had to bow out of the tournament with multiple leg injuries (http://www.cornellsun.com/articles/8837 ). I've heard he has worked hard on rehab, and seems to have recovered. A year of learning--plus an offseason of mental focus--could make him a force. Watch out.

Hillel J. Hoffmann '85 wrote:


* I'm relieved to see that George Boiardi is NOT gonna pick up the long stick. Phew. He really was too good as a short-stick defensive middie.

I'm *still* a little upset they reduced the number of allowed long sticks from 5 to 4. Of course, that might because I'm a little small for close D and not conditioned enough to be a LSM.

[Writing from Ithaca after witnessing first live, in-person Cornell hockey game of '03-'04.]

There's a revealing aritcle in today's Post-Standard (see link below) about something that's been gnawing at me for months: Why the heck is Cornell playing Hofstra two years in a row in Hempstead? The answer's lame, but I think Tambroni is doing the right thing.

Also some confirmation of the goalie up-in-the-air goalie situation. They suggest McMonagle is a contender. Fascinating.

[www.syracuse.com]

Down goes UVa!

Air Force 7, #2 Virginia 6, Final
#1 Hopkins 10, Penn 9, Final
#11 Cornell 13, #13 Hofstra 11, 4th Quarter

Last I saw was 14-12 with a minute to go. McMonagle in goal.



Post Edited (02-28-04 15:40)

FINAL: #11 Cornell 14, #13 Hofstra 12

Chris '03 wrote:

FINAL: #11 Cornell 14, #13 Hofstra 12

According to the article posted by Hillel, Hofstra was #11 and Cornell #12. What are the different ranking organizations that were the sources of the various rankings?

Also, great road win to start the season.

What a pleasure to listen to Barry and Howie describe this game ... for free, on a radio. Do I HAVE to go back home to Washington? I wasn't at the game, so the following analysis shouldn't be taken too seriously. I'd love to hear from folks who attended.

This was Cornell's first season-opening win in three years. McMonagle got the surprise (?) start in goal, Pisco and Stevenson both got minutes as the "third" defender, and Nee got the start over Pittard (I think ... I missed the beginning). It ended up being a game of runs. Cornell led 5-3 after one quarter, then Hofstra scored 5 unanswered goals. Then Cornell went on a jag of their own, scoring the next 5 goals. Hofstra pulled within two after their excellent soph attackman Keysor scored three near the end of the third quarter, but they never got closer than 12-13. Defensively, Cornell was led by DeBlois, who was great on clears. McMonagle had a nightmarish second quarter, but recovered nicely, making some critical saves in the third quarter. As I posted on laxpower.com, this is obviously a different Cornell offense. Boulukos was a beast, scoring five times, all on quick-release missiles (Barry called them "bazookas". He is the real deal. Cornell seemed to be running (at least) two offensive midfield lines, as advertised: the first line was Boulukos, Redd, and freshman Brian Clayton; the second line was Rosenberger, Riordan, and freshman Lewis. Hofstra tried to stop Cornell by denying Collins the ball in the second half (he had four assists in the first half), and they did so successfully for almost the entire half. The difference between this season and last season: When Collins was neutralized, the middies took over and created their own shots.

Wow, and they crushed us last season. Can't wait for two weeks from now!

Virginia, defending national champ, lost to both Air Force and Denver this weekend. Might be an interesting season.

Is this score right?

#13 Georgetown 11, #8 Cornell 3, 4th Quarter

[Q]Chris '03 Wrote:


Is this score right?

#13 Georgetown 11, #8 Cornell 3, 4th Quarter

[/Q]

Sadly, it is. Final: 14-4.

A deeply disturbing performance, one of the worst I've seen in any Cornell sport at any time. The score -- and even the stats, as lopsided as they were -- don't capture the Hoyas' total domination. Cornell disorganized, undisciplined, error-prone, selfish, and lacking commitment. That makes it three years in a row of ineptitude against Georgetown ... and another nasty rainstorm, although at least this one was temporary, as opposed to 2002.

Yeah, they really looked awful -- Cornell just didn't seem to come ready to play -- passes were thrown over the heads of teammates, ground balls almost awlays seem to end up in Georgetown sticks, etc. In fariness, however, Georgetown, despite being blown out by Maryland a week ago looks like a pretty good team.

Nice turnout of Cornell fans, by the way. Too bad we didn't have more to cheer about.