Lacrosse previews

Cornell Athletics has posted men's and women's lacrosse previews. Here's a link to the men's version: [www.cornellbigred.com]

Not too many surprises. It confirms some of the changes that have been foreshadowed elsewhere:

1. Former short-stick defensive midfielder George Calvert is being converted into an old-school, two-way midfielder (see also quote about shift in midfield philosophy below).

2. Freshman Rob Pannell, one of the biggest pleasant surprises of the offseason, may unseat a starter at attack.

3. In addition to Cornell's killer senior midfield trio of Seibald, Glynn and Romero, middies likely to win spots on the second line are Shane O'Neill, tall freshman Roy Lang and Calvert.

4. As discussed in another thread, Schmeisser Award candidate Matt Moyer is likely to be joined on the starting defense by Andrew MacDonald and Max Feely. (Derkac will play the pole.)

5. The goalie situation was presented as a wide-open competition between Jake Myers, Kyle Harer and Mat Martinez.

In some ways, the biggest eyebrow-raiser was this two-sentence passage:

"A fundamental change in Cornell’s style of play will have a direct impact on the number of players that will be considered short stick defensive midfielders. As the Big Red attempts to run an up-tempo, transition game, the coaching staff will focus on utilizing more two-way midfielders."

Cool. Call it the MattAbbottization of Cornell lacrosse.

I won't be doing a full-blown lacrosse preview this year. There's no need. These days, it's so much easier for fans to get information; there's not much more I can add. Also, the original mission has evaporated. Once upon a time, when people didn't care much about Cornell lacrosse, I thought that one small way I could combat the lack of interest was to try to mobilize the hockey fan base. I don't believe those previews moved the needle much. The real cure, of course, was winning. Anyway, now that people seem to care about Cornell lacrosse again, there's no need for 3,000+ words of preseason bloviation to crank up some buzz. I'll still bloviate, but in smaller chunks.

Hillel Hoffmann
Cool. Call it the MattAbbottization of Cornell lacrosse.

Or maybe just a return to the way lacrosse was played in the 60s and 70s

Al DeFlorio

Hillel Hoffmann
Cool. Call it the MattAbbottization of Cornell lacrosse.

Or maybe just a return to the way lacrosse was played in the 60s and 70s

Amen. Hope it happens. I'll believe it when I see it.

Hillel Hoffmann
Anyway, now that people seem to care about Cornell lacrosse again, there's no need for 3,000+ words of preseason bloviation to crank up some buzz. I'll still bloviate, but in smaller chunks.

But we LIKE reading your bloviation!

Josh '99

Hillel Hoffmann
Anyway, now that people seem to care about Cornell lacrosse again, there's no need for 3,000+ words of preseason bloviation to crank up some buzz. I'll still bloviate, but in smaller chunks.

But we LIKE reading your bloviation!

Agreed. And I was one of the people who got on the bandwagon (even before the winning) because people like Hillel explained the game and players in a way that it was relatively easy to get into.

Thank you.

Al DeFlorio

Hillel Hoffmann
Cool. Call it the MattAbbottization of Cornell lacrosse.

Or maybe just a return to the way lacrosse was played in the 60s and 70s

Or the way Syracuse still likes to play it.

Jim Hyla

Al DeFlorio

Hillel Hoffmann
Cool. Call it the MattAbbottization of Cornell lacrosse.

Or maybe just a return to the way lacrosse was played in the 60s and 70s

Or the way Syracuse still likes to play it.

It's exciting that JT thinks he has the personnel to play that style.

Last year's SU game was pretty demoralizing. The Orange was bigger, faster, stronger, and seemed to toy with Cornell. They looked like they could have named the score. Of course, they did win the crown.

Jim Hyla

Al DeFlorio

Hillel Hoffmann
Cool. Call it the MattAbbottization of Cornell lacrosse.

Or maybe just a return to the way lacrosse was played in the 60s and 70s

Or the way Syracuse still likes to play it.

Those guys? They've only MADE the NCAA tournament half of the time, the last 2 years.

The Baltimore Sun's lacrosse blog is reporting that last year's starting goalie, Jake Myers, is out for six weeks with a groin injury.

The report also muddies the water about likely starters at defense and long-stick midfield. Maybe the safest way to say it is this: Based on what we're hearing so far, the four players with six-foot sticks most likely to start against Binghamton are going to be Moyer, Derkac, and MacDonald, joined by either Feely or Decker. We'll see who ends up playing what position.

[weblogs.baltimoresun.com]

ithacat

Jim Hyla

Al DeFlorio

Hillel Hoffmann
Cool. Call it the MattAbbottization of Cornell lacrosse.

Or maybe just a return to the way lacrosse was played in the 60s and 70s

Or the way Syracuse still likes to play it.

It's exciting that JT thinks he has the personnel to play that style.

Last year's SU game was pretty demoralizing. The Orange was bigger, faster, stronger, and seemed to toy with Cornell. They looked like they could have named the score. Of course, they did win the crown.

Demoralizing loss notwithstanding, Cornell has held their own against Syracuse over the past four seasons; while we can certainly hope for more, there's no shame in those results.

(Winning the last two at the Dome and losing the last two at Schoellkopf is an interesting reversal from the last couple of years under Pietramala and the first couple under Tambroni, when Cornell took advantage of some pissy weather in Ithaca for a couple of wins but couldn't get much going at the Dome.)

Josh '99

ithacat

Jim Hyla

Al DeFlorio

Hillel Hoffmann
Cool. Call it the MattAbbottization of Cornell lacrosse.

Or maybe just a return to the way lacrosse was played in the 60s and 70s

Or the way Syracuse still likes to play it.

It's exciting that JT thinks he has the personnel to play that style.

Last year's SU game was pretty demoralizing. The Orange was bigger, faster, stronger, and seemed to toy with Cornell. They looked like they could have named the score. Of course, they did win the crown.

Demoralizing loss notwithstanding, Cornell has held their own against Syracuse over the past four seasons; while we can certainly hope for more, there's no shame in those results.

(Winning the last two at the Dome and losing the last two at Schoellkopf is an interesting reversal from the last couple of years under Pietramala and the first couple under Tambroni, when Cornell took advantage of some pissy weather in Ithaca for a couple of wins but couldn't get much going at the Dome.)

I think it's been a pretty good battle between these two teams for this decade. Not every game has been close, but neither team has dominated the final outcome. Last year, however, was scary...Again, that turned out to be a very talented SU team.

Josh '99

(Winning the last two at the Dome and losing the last two at Schoellkopf is an interesting reversal from the last couple of years under Pietramala and the first couple under Tambroni, when Cornell dishonored the history of the game by hosting games outdoors (and in the rain no less!) for a couple of wins but couldn't get much going at the Dome (where lax was designed to be played).)

FYP.

Josh '99

Hillel Hoffmann
Anyway, now that people seem to care about Cornell lacrosse again, there's no need for 3,000+ words of preseason bloviation to crank up some buzz. I'll still bloviate, but in smaller chunks.

But we LIKE reading your bloviation!

Seconded. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm a hockey fan first, but your Lax preview has been the content I most look forward to on this forum each year. Lacrosse is my second favorite college sport to watch and certainly my second favorite Cornell team to root for. But whereas I grew up living and breathing hockey, I didn't start watching lacrosse until I got to Cornell, so your previews helped a lot to foster my appreciation and (modest) understanding of lacrosse, thanks.

Chris '03

Josh '99

(Winning the last two at the Dome and losing the last two at Schoellkopf is an interesting reversal from the last couple of years under Pietramala and the first couple under Tambroni, when Cornell dishonored the history of the game by hosting games outdoors (and in the rain no less!) for a couple of wins but couldn't get much going at the Dome (where lax was designed to be played).)

FYP.

Cornell and Johns Hopkins scimmaged in Baltimore today,ending up, to the extent it's meaningful, in a 9-9 tie. Some notes for both teams are at this link -

Cornell-Hopkins

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