Lacrosse May 2012

"Donovan Headlines Men's Lacrosse All-Ivy Selections As Unanimous Rookie of the Year" as reported CornellBigRed.com.

The full selections:

2012 Men's Lacrosse All-Ivy
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
*Tyler Fiorito, Princeton (Sr., Phoenix, Md.)

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
*Matt Donovan, Cornell (Fr., Morristown, N.J.)

FIRST TEAM ALL-IVY (11)^
Attack
*Jeff Cohen, Harvard (Sr., Syosset, N.Y.)
Matt Gibson, Yale (Sr., Point Lookout, N.Y.)
Jeff Froccaro, Princeton (Jr., Sands Point, N.Y.)

Midfield
Roy Lang, Cornell (Sr., Mill Valley, Calif.)
Greg Mahony, Yale (Sr., Mercer Island, Wash.)
*Tom Schreiber, Princeton (So., East Meadow, N.Y.)
*Kevin Vaughan, Harvard (Sr., Ridgewood, N.J.)

Defense
Peter Johnson, Yale (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.)
Jason Noble, Cornell (Jr., Orangeville, Ontario)
*Chad Wiedmaier, Princeton (Sr., Chatham, N.J.)

Goalie
*Tyler Fiorito, Princeton (Sr., Phoenix, Md.)

SECOND TEAM ALL-IVY (11)^
Attack
Matt Donovan, Cornell (Fr., Morristown, N.J.)
Daniel Eipp, Harvard (So., Groton, Mass.)
Sam Hurster, Brown (So., St. Louis, Mo.)

Midfield
John Cunningham, Princeton (Sr., Fairfield, Conn.)
Will Koshansky, Penn (Sr., Kings Park, N.Y.)
Chris Langton, Cornell (Sr., Melrose, Mass.)

Defense
Pat Flynn, Dartmouth (Jr., Mountain Lakes, N.J.)
Sam Ford, Brown (Jr., Reisterstown, Md.)
Michael McCormack, Yale (Jr., West Islip, N.Y.)
Jonathan Meyers, Princeton (Sr., Greenwich, Conn.)

Goalie
Will Round, Brown (So., Mt. Lebanon, Pa.)

HONORABLE MENTION (10)
Attack
Parker Brown, Brown (Sr., San Francisco, Calif.)
Kip Dooley, Dartmouth (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn.)
Steve Mock, Cornell (Jr., Huntington, N.Y.)

Midfield
Roger Ferguson, Brown (Jr., Washington D.C.)
Dylan Levings, Yale (So., Massapequa, N.Y.)
Michael Pratt, Yale (Sr., Garden City, N.Y.)
Rob Schlesinger, Brown (Sr., Medfield, Mass.)

Defense
Clay Del Prince, Brown (Jr., Hamburg, N.Y.)
Thomas Keith, Cornell (Jr., Woodbury, N.Y.)

Goalie
Fergus Campbell, Dartmouth (Sr., New Canaan, Conn.)

* - Unanimous selection
^ - due to ties in voting, team expanded from 10 to 11

Friday's a busy day for our teams. Both the women and the men play at 5PM in Ivy tournaments. Links to online video are on the prior linked pages from cornellbigred.com.

Big East

St. John's 8
Notre Dame 7

SU 15
Vill 6

Unfortunately the Tewaaraton Foundation website hasnt put a press release up on their website
But a well deserved recognition for coach Moran

[insidelacrosse.com]

At first, I cursed these scores, because now I think SU wins the Big East easily and therefore makes the Dance. But maybe it would help us in the bubble comparisons if Princeton spanks us again.

TimV
At first, I cursed these scores, because now I think SU wins the Big East easily and therefore makes the Dance. But maybe it would help us in the bubble comparisons if Princeton spanks us again.

....should we be fortunate enough to win the first round and face Princeton.

What he said!!!

Roy 82

TimV
At first, I cursed these scores, because now I think SU wins the Big East easily and therefore makes the Dance. But maybe it would help us in the bubble comparisons if Princeton spanks us again.

....should we be fortunate enough to win the first round and face Princeton.

Guess not.
May be the worst collapse in Cornell lax history.
Ugly third period.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT HUMB LE HAS THE BIG RED IN AS THE LAST TEAM - BEATING OUT DENVER, Humb Le has been perfect picking the teams for several years,but not sure he will be right this time as he did not take into account the Cornell crash over last 3 games which I'm sure the Committee will But it comes down to them being so close and humb le picks Cornell since they beat Denver on the field. I believe in past years the Committee has ignored head to head in their criteria. Could the Big Red regroup if they make it? I would expect that they can - and should definitely put West back in goal.
BigRedfan

BigRedFan
BELIEVE IT OR NOT HUMB LE HAS THE BIG RED IN AS THE LAST TEAM - BEATING OUT DENVER, Humb Le has been perfect picking the teams for several years,but not sure he will be right this time as he did not take into account the Cornell crash over last 3 games which I'm sure the Committee will But it comes down to them being so close and humb le picks Cornell since they beat Denver on the field. I believe in past years the Committee has ignored head to head in their criteria. Could the Big Red regroup if they make it? I would expect that they can - and should definitely put West back in goal.
BigRedfan

I'd be flabbergasted if this happens. In any case, if Yale should beat Princeton, how could anyone justify selecting Cornell over Princeton for an at large spot.

Al DeFlorio

BigRedFan
BELIEVE IT OR NOT HUMB LE HAS THE BIG RED IN AS THE LAST TEAM - BEATING OUT DENVER, Humb Le has been perfect picking the teams for several years,but not sure he will be right this time as he did not take into account the Cornell crash over last 3 games which I'm sure the Committee will But it comes down to them being so close and humb le picks Cornell since they beat Denver on the field. I believe in past years the Committee has ignored head to head in their criteria. Could the Big Red regroup if they make it? I would expect that they can - and should definitely put West back in goal.
BigRedfan

I'd be flabbergasted if this happens. In any case, if Yale should beat Princeton, how could anyone justify selecting Cornell over Princeton for an at large spot.

Go Tigers!!

If it happens, perhaps Cornell at UMass. Return them the upset favor of the 2006 first round at Cornell.

Johnny 5

Al DeFlorio

BigRedFan
BELIEVE IT OR NOT HUMB LE HAS THE BIG RED IN AS THE LAST TEAM - BEATING OUT DENVER, Humb Le has been perfect picking the teams for several years,but not sure he will be right this time as he did not take into account the Cornell crash over last 3 games which I'm sure the Committee will But it comes down to them being so close and humb le picks Cornell since they beat Denver on the field. I believe in past years the Committee has ignored head to head in their criteria. Could the Big Red regroup if they make it? I would expect that they can - and should definitely put West back in goal.
BigRedfan

I'd be flabbergasted if this happens. In any case, if Yale should beat Princeton, how could anyone justify selecting Cornell over Princeton for an at large spot.

Go Tigers!!

Yale up 11-5 with 6 minutes remaining, of course.

Al DeFlorio
I'd be flabbergasted if this happens. In any case, if Yale should beat Princeton, how could anyone justify selecting Cornell over Princeton for an at large spot.

No longer an academic question with Yale clobbering Princeton, 15-7.

Not a very good finish (?) for Princeton's seniors: 2009 lost to Cornell in the quarterfinals 6-4 when Princeton probably was one of the 3-4 best teams, 2010 first-round loss to Notre Dame, 2011 didn't qualify.

RichH

Johnny 5

Al DeFlorio

BigRedFan
BELIEVE IT OR NOT HUMB LE HAS THE BIG RED IN AS THE LAST TEAM - BEATING OUT DENVER, Humb Le has been perfect picking the teams for several years,but not sure he will be right this time as he did not take into account the Cornell crash over last 3 games which I'm sure the Committee will But it comes down to them being so close and humb le picks Cornell since they beat Denver on the field. I believe in past years the Committee has ignored head to head in their criteria. Could the Big Red regroup if they make it? I would expect that they can - and should definitely put West back in goal.
BigRedfan

I'd be flabbergasted if this happens. In any case, if Yale should beat Princeton, how could anyone justify selecting Cornell over Princeton for an at large spot.

Go Tigers!!

Yale up 11-5 with 6 minutes remaining, of course.

Here's humb le's analysis (which does not include the Ivy championship game result): [www.laxpower.com]

kingpin248

RichH

Johnny 5

Al DeFlorio

BigRedFan
BELIEVE IT OR NOT HUMB LE HAS THE BIG RED IN AS THE LAST TEAM - BEATING OUT DENVER, Humb Le has been perfect picking the teams for several years,but not sure he will be right this time as he did not take into account the Cornell crash over last 3 games which I'm sure the Committee will But it comes down to them being so close and humb le picks Cornell since they beat Denver on the field. I believe in past years the Committee has ignored head to head in their criteria. Could the Big Red regroup if they make it? I would expect that they can - and should definitely put West back in goal.
BigRedfan

I'd be flabbergasted if this happens. In any case, if Yale should beat Princeton, how could anyone justify selecting Cornell over Princeton for an at large spot.

Go Tigers!!

Yale up 11-5 with 6 minutes remaining, of course.

Here's humb le's analysis (which does not include the Ivy championship game result): [www.laxpower.com]

Screwed, glued & tattooed by a rude dude in the nude.

Amazing that a Canisius team that I thought couldn't beat a D1 team after we dismantled them (sans RP) is going to the tourney while we sit home. But they obviously improved over the season, while we went in the other direction.

Princeton's vaunted D took the day off.

When is the (probably irrelevant) selection show?

Starts in 8 minutes (9 EST) on ESPNU. Tuning in, but not holding my breath. It wasn't supposed to be like this...not this year.

semsox
Starts in 8 minutes (9 EST) on ESPNU. Tuning in, but not holding my breath. It wasn't supposed to be like this...not this year.

I'm choosing to remember that the team put together a hell of an effort in the wake of Rob's injury rather than the free-fall to close the season.

No dice. Princeton and Denver get the at-large bids. UMASS gets jobbed with a 6 seed and will host a vary dangerous Colgate team, while Hopkins gets its usual sweatheart deal as a 2nd seed and hosts a weak Stony Brook squad

scoop85
No dice. Princeton and Denver get the at-large bids. UMASS gets jobbed with a 6 seed and will host a vary dangerous Colgate team, while Hopkins gets its usual sweatheart deal as a 2nd seed and hosts a weak Stony Brook squad

With Cornell not in the tournament, UMass takes Cornell's place as the team screwed by the seeding committee. Sort of like when we were unbeaten in 2007 and got a reduced seed. And the final is in Masachusetts this year. With us not in it, I'd love to see UMass go all the way. But they didn't play a very strong schedule. Anyone think 1-seed Loyola will be in the title game?

I assume we won't use Saturday for a makeup game at Hobart.

billhoward
I assume we won't use Saturday for a makeup game at Hobart.

Making up the Hobart game to end the season might be the only way to make the end of the season even more depressing than it is now.

jtn27

billhoward
I assume we won't use Saturday for a makeup game at Hobart.

Making up the Hobart game to end the season might be the only way to make the end of the season even more depressing than it is now.

Actually the best way to totally ruin this season would be for Syracuse to win the title.
Talk about a Mayan apocalypse.

jtn27

billhoward
I assume we won't use Saturday for a makeup game at Hobart.

Making up the Hobart game to end the season might be the only way to make the end of the season even more depressing than it is now.

Exciting coverage of Rob Pannell completing his last final exam, broadcast live on RedCast.

RichH

jtn27

billhoward
I assume we won't use Saturday for a makeup game at Hobart.

Making up the Hobart game to end the season might be the only way to make the end of the season even more depressing than it is now.

Exciting coverage of Rob Pannell completing his last final exam, broadcast live on RedCast.

How appropriate to end the season with a giant red question mark.

Al DeFlorio
Princeton's vaunted D took the day off.

As did the fans. 1422 turned out to watch Their Princeton Tigers.

Johnny 5

jtn27

billhoward
I assume we won't use Saturday for a makeup game at Hobart.

Making up the Hobart game to end the season might be the only way to make the end of the season even more depressing than it is now.

Actually the best way to totally ruin this season would be for Syracuse to win the title.
Talk about a Mayan apocalypse.

I'm rooting for them, and UMass. Who else?

Jim Hyla
I'm rooting for them, and UMass. Who else?

Wait- we root for ECAC teams in the NCAA hockey tournament, why not Yale in lacrosse? It'd be a nice underdog story.

And my younger son played lacrosse at Yale.

Jim Hyla

Johnny 5

jtn27

billhoward
I assume we won't use Saturday for a makeup game at Hobart.

Making up the Hobart game to end the season might be the only way to make the end of the season even more depressing than it is now.

Actually the best way to totally ruin this season would be for Syracuse to win the title.
Talk about a Mayan apocalypse.

I'm rooting for them, and UMass. Who else?

Anyone north of Princeton.

TimV

Jim Hyla
I'm rooting for them, and UMass. Who else?

Wait- we root for ECAC teams in the NCAA hockey tournament, why not Yale in lacrosse? It'd be a nice underdog story.

And my younger son played lacrosse at Yale.

All good reasons to root for Yale plus: Root for the team that hasn't been to the top lately (ever?). Just keep them away from drained pools.

billhoward

TimV

Jim Hyla
I'm rooting for them, and UMass. Who else?

Wait- we root for ECAC teams in the NCAA hockey tournament, why not Yale in lacrosse? It'd be a nice underdog story.

And my younger son played lacrosse at Yale.

All good reasons to root for Yale plus: Root for the team that hasn't been to the top lately (ever?). Just keep them away from drained pools.

"Go, Eli!!" "Go, Ivy League!!"

(May the citrus rot on the branch.)

Johnny 5

billhoward

TimV

Jim Hyla
I'm rooting for them, and UMass. Who else?

Wait- we root for ECAC teams in the NCAA hockey tournament, why not Yale in lacrosse? It'd be a nice underdog story.

And my younger son played lacrosse at Yale.

All good reasons to root for Yale plus: Root for the team that hasn't been to the top lately (ever?). Just keep them away from drained pools.

"Go, Eli!!" "Go, Ivy League!!"

(May the citrus rot on the branch.)

I'm rooting for Lehigh.

But, the bigger question...the 500 pound gorilla...is, what happened to us?
This year's Cornell team was expected to (maybe) take it all.
Was it just the loss of RP? Donovan going down versus Yale? Maybe the growing parity in D-I lax?
WTF happened??

Why did the wheels come off the bus??

billhoward

TimV

Jim Hyla
I'm rooting for them, and UMass. Who else?

Wait- we root for ECAC teams in the NCAA hockey tournament, why not Yale in lacrosse? It'd be a nice underdog story.

And my younger son played lacrosse at Yale.

All good reasons to root for Yale plus: Root for the team that hasn't been to the top lately (ever?). Just keep them away from drained pools.

I can think of three reasons to root for Yale. First, A. D. White (2 degrees) and my brother (one) both went to Yale. (A.D. also dropped out of Geneva College -- now called Hobart -- because academic standards were so low, he said he'd learn more just by going to a library. If you've been on Laxpower's Cornell 2012 forum, you'll understand this significance of this.) Second, Yale last won the Ivy championship in 1990 (as well as in 1956, 1969, 1988, and 1989) and last shared the NC in 1883 (with Harvard and Princeton), which by comparison makes the Cubs look good. So good luck Yale! Third, and most important, I don't recall where I saw it, maybe on Cape Cod. But I saw someone with a Yale sweatshirt, the back of which said "HARVARD SUCKS!" That's good enough for me.

Johnny 5
But, the bigger question...the 500 pound gorilla...is, what happened to us?
This year's Cornell team was expected to (maybe) take it all.
Was it just the loss of RP?

yes

semsox

Johnny 5
But, the bigger question...the 500 pound gorilla...is, what happened to us?
This year's Cornell team was expected to (maybe) take it all.
Was it just the loss of RP?

yes

Sun got in our eyes.

First round, Saturday 5/12

Colgate 13, UMass 11 (Colgate outscores UMass 4-1 4th Q)
Duke 12, Syracuse 9
Loyola 7, Canisus 3 (after 3) [add: Loyola 17-5]
Denver, UNC night game [add: Denver 16-14]

What a stage for UMass: Unbeaten going into the playoffs, Final Four in Gillette Stadium. And then this. God help us Cornell fans if Colgate makes it to Foxboro. They'll have to fence off the gorge.

billhoward
First round, Saturday 5/12

Colgate 13, UMass (Colgate outscores UMass 4-1 4th Q)
Duke 12, Syracuse 9
Loyola 7, Canisus 3 (after 3)
Denver, UNC night game

What a stage for UMass: Unbeaten going into the playoffs, Final Four in Gilette Stadium. And then this. God help us Cornell fans in Colgate makes it Foxboro. They'll have to fence off the gorge.

Dunno. I'm sure rootin' for 'em to beat Duke.

Al DeFlorio

billhoward
First round, Saturday 5/12

Colgate 13, UMass (Colgate outscores UMass 4-1 4th Q)
Duke 12, Syracuse 9
Loyola 7, Canisus 3 (after 3)
Denver, UNC night game

What a stage for UMass: Unbeaten going into the playoffs, Final Four in Gilette Stadium. And then this. God help us Cornell fans in Colgate makes it Foxboro. They'll have to fence off the gorge.

Dunno. I'm sure rootin' for 'em to beat Duke.

You betcha! Go underdogs!!
And, remember, you can't spell sucks without SU!!!

Virginia 6 Princeton 5
Notre Dame 13 Yale 7

nyc94
Virginia 6 Princeton 5
Notre Dame 13 Yale 7

Credible job by Princeton and a nice shot with 5 seconds left that would have tied the game. Yale seemed to revert to the norm after its super Ivy tournament weekend. So their seasons lasted a week more than ours. Now, root for Colgate. Or Lehigh, which is up 8-6 on Maryland in the third.

billhoward

nyc94
Virginia 6 Princeton 5
Notre Dame 13 Yale 7

Credible job by Princeton and a nice shot with 5 seconds left that would have tied the game. Yale seemed to revert to the norm after its super Ivy tournament weekend. So their seasons lasted a week more than ours. Now, root for Colgate. Or Lehigh, which is up 8-6 on Maryland in the third.

And down 10-9 at the buzzer.

Al DeFlorio

billhoward

nyc94
Virginia 6 Princeton 5
Notre Dame 13 Yale 7

Credible job by Princeton and a nice shot with 5 seconds left that would have tied the game. Yale seemed to revert to the norm after its super Ivy tournament weekend. So their seasons lasted a week more than ours. Now, root for Colgate. Or Lehigh, which is up 8-6 on Maryland in the third.

And down 10-9 at the buzzer.

Lehigh was unable to come up with some key ground balls and had too many turnovers in the 4th quarter, leading to their demise. Very entertaining game -- I was just hoping for a different result.

billhoward
God help us Cornell fans if Colgate makes it to Foxboro. They'll have to fence off the gorge.

Why would this be true? Not that I think you're serious about suicide but... why would Cornell fans even be bothered by Colgate making the Final Four?

ugarte

billhoward
God help us Cornell fans if Colgate makes it to Foxboro. They'll have to fence off the gorge.

Why would this be true? Not that I think you're serious about suicide but... why would Cornell fans even be bothered by Colgate making the Final Four?

Colgate in hockey and lacrosse had one outstanding player (Austin Smith hockey, Peter Baum lacrosse) who, had he scrolled five colleges further in the dropdown list for the common app and not stopped at C-O-L, would be in Ithaca. As sure as God made journalists with modest skills, someone is going to start off a story, "In most years, you can almost pencil in an upstate New York School as an odds-on favorite to have a 50-50 chance of making the final four, either Syracuse or that red school starting with C-O. Now it's happening again but it's not Cornell." I want to cry, once for the profession, once for Cornell. Still, I'll root for Colgate, as I did for Yale (what a letdown after Ivy Tournament week), Princeton (almost pulled it off), and Lehigh (couldn't hold that lead).

billhoward

ugarte

billhoward
God help us Cornell fans if Colgate makes it to Foxboro. They'll have to fence off the gorge.

Why would this be true? Not that I think you're serious about suicide but... why would Cornell fans even be bothered by Colgate making the Final Four?

Colgate in hockey and lacrosse had one outstanding player (Austin Smith hockey, Peter Baum lacrosse) who, had he scrolled five colleges further in the dropdown list for the common app and not stopped at C-O-L, would be in Ithaca. As sure as God made journalists with modest skills, someone is going to start off a story, "In most years, you can almost pencil in an upstate New York School as an odds-on favorite to have a 50-50 chance of making the final four, either Syracuse or that red school starting with C-O. Now it's happening again but it's not Cornell." I want to cry, once for the profession, once for Cornell. Still, I'll root for Colgate, as I did for Yale (what a letdown after Ivy Tournament week), Princeton (almost pulled it off), and Lehigh (couldn't hold that lead).

Baum's father is a Colgate grad, so I don't think he had much interest in scrolling further down the list.

I'll take Colgate. It's like Ivy League Lite.

But, remember.......

billhoward
God help us Cornell fans if Colgate makes it to Foxboro. They'll have to fence off the gorge.

They already did. About two years ago.

jtn27

billhoward
God help us Cornell fans if Colgate makes it to Foxboro. They'll have to fence off the gorge.

They already did. About two years ago.

And, shockingly, it had nothing to do with Colgate.

Well at least Tierney didnt get to the Final 4 again, managed to get himself a T in the process with his usual antics

phillysportsfan
Well at least Tierney didnt get to the Final 4 again, managed to get himself a T in the process with his usual antics

Do you need more or fewer milligrams of Ritalin coming down from 5,000 feet altitude to maintain the same calming effect? Is it like baking powder? Meanwhile, the Patriot League that looked so good last week held its own this week only briefly, with Colgate and Duke tying 4-4 in the first. Then Duke put in 11 straight. Looks like a Southern-flavored final four, albeit without Hopkins.

jtn27

billhoward
God help us Cornell fans if Colgate makes it to Foxboro. They'll have to fence off the gorge.

They already did. About two years ago.

But they keep cutting a hole in the fence over by Chi Psi.

This picture was in the Boston Globe today to promote this weekend's lacrosse tournament. Note the teams, the score and the time remaining. So close.

I needed to be sedated after I saw that picture.

Redscore
I needed to be sedated after I saw that picture.

Fool that I am, I threw a $100 pair of aviator Ray-Bans against a tree after that game.
My wife says it's just that I'm irrational in my distaste for Syracuse sports; especially lacrosse.

Guilty as charged.

I was doing OK until you said "the score."

Fargin' bastich icehole!

Noble and Lang Named All-American, Langton Selected for North/South Game.

Loyola up 6-3 on Maryland after 3 quarters. This is only their second trip to the title game after losing 21-9 to Syracuse in 1990 (which SU had to vacate because Paul Gait was ineligible).

Maryland forgets to bring their A or B game, can't score in the final three quarters, Loyola rolls 9-3 to the NCAA title. Some years, 9 goals in Gillette is enough to win <sob>. It felt as if the field this year wasn't as strong going into the title game and the Terps were unworthy finalists, but Loyola looked sharp. Nice that an ECAC team wins a national championship. Nice that an unranked team made it as far as Maryland did. And Maryland remains one team (1975) that has waited even longer than Cornell since its last NCAA lax title.

Josh '99
Loyola up 6-3 on Maryland after 3 quarters. This is only their second trip to the title game after losing 21-9 to Syracuse in 1990 (which SU had to vacate because Paul Gait was ineligible).

9-3 Loyola, final. First ever championship for the Greyhounds, always nice to see.

Josh '99

Josh '99
Loyola up 6-3 on Maryland after 3 quarters. This is only their second trip to the title game after losing 21-9 to Syracuse in 1990 (which SU had to vacate because Paul Gait was ineligible).

9-3 Loyola, final. First ever championship for the Greyhounds, always nice to see.

A few other superlatives, both positive and negative:
Eric Lusby, who injured his knee in the 2010 first round game at Schoellkopf, scored four goals to take the record for most goals in a single tournament (17).
Loyola is the first #1 seed to win since 2006. Maryland sets the record for fewest goals by a team in a championship game (previously 4 by Syracuse, 1985).
Announced attendance today was 30,816 - lowest since the championship went into NFL stadiums in 2003.

Attendance at the NCAA lacrosse final four weekend was the lowest in a decade, which has the NCAA worried that more fans should be seeing this wonderful pageant in person. They're considering downsizing to smaller stadiums or moving the finals weekend back into June. See [insidelacrosse.com].

John Jiloty
This year’s championship weekend attendance of 79,595 (31,774 Saturday, 17,005 Sunday and 30,816 Monday) was the lowest for the Final Four since 2002, the last time the event wasn’t held in an NFL stadium. And at nearly 20,000 fans off last year’s total and more than 40,000 from the high of 123,225 (52,004 for the Semifinals) who watched in Baltimore in 2007, the downward trend — weekend attendance increased every year from 2003-2007 and has decreased every year since — is definitely alarming ... Lacrosse fans were talking about the potential of selling out an NFL venue five years ago, and now it’s a more likely possibility that the event moves to a smaller stadium after Philadelphia (2013) and Baltimore (2014) host the next two Final Fours.

The story is a little tough to follow, either the prose itself or the thoughts of those quoted, such as our own ex-ECAC commissioner Phil Buttafuoco (now Executive Director of Lacrosse at Gillete Stadium), “People are starting to make a lot of decisions that are affecting this event. We need to collectively evaluate how we can get the event back on track to where we all want it to be, and identify where we can make those improvements and make a commitment to do it.”

Maybe the NCAA is overthinking this: The 2012 finalists were from Maryland, North Carolina and Indiana, 300-plus miles away, and Loyola is a dinky school. It's hard for 4,000 undergrads to fill Gillette Stadium. If the final had been UMass-Cornell ...

billhoward
Maybe the NCAA is overthinking this: The 2012 finalists were from Maryland, North Carolina and Indiana, 300-plus miles away, and Loyola is a dinky school. It's hard for 4,000 undergrads to fill Gillette Stadium. If the final had been UMass-Cornell ...

Attendance wasn't much better last year in Baltimore (36,000 vs. 31,000 for the championship game), where one of the teams playing on Monday was the state's flagship campus, located a short drive down the interstate from the stadium, having nearly 40,000 students, and with hundreds of thousands of alums within easy driving distance. It was 92 degrees in Baltimore yesterday, with a heat index close to 100. Anyone for a cold frosty?

Al, I thought I made a logical argument (Gillette located too far from the final four teams) that would have worked other than the facts you cited (attendance already slipping last year when the finalists were local). Perhaps the NCAA is starting to worry about sticker shock from ticket prices which are about $100 (?) for semifinals and finals together. They need the money to keep producing those "Go Pro in Something Other Than Sports" spots and research ways to show athletes have higher GPAs than similar non-jocks, although I don't think those stats extend to the final four teams in basketball. The Kentucky projected graduation rate among starters the last two years is what, zero?

They'll probably conlude it's the running blog by the student papers that kills attendance.

Peter Baum, the Colgate junior, won the Tewaaraton Trophy Thursday. [blog.syracuse.com] "Baum won from a group of finalists that included Duke’s C.J. Costabile, Massachusetts’ Will Manny, Loyola’s Mike Sawyer and Virginia’s Steele Stanwicke, who won the award last year. The women’s finalists included [winner Maryland’s Katie] Schwarzmann, [Syracuse's Michelle] Tumolo, Florida’s Brittany Dashiell, North Carolina’s Becky Lynch and Northwestern’s Taylor Thornton."

Unlike last year, when Rob Pannell and Steele Stanwick split player of the year awards, this year Baum also won the USILA's Enners Award as the Outstanding Player of the Year. [www.usila.org] Does "Outstanding" as a prefix to "Player of the Year" sound redundant? Why not just go all the way and say Totally Outstanding Meta World Peace Player of the Year and see if the USILA can engrave that on a watch.

I didn't realize Baum has one year to go, assuming no freak injuries.

Baum definitely won the award out of circumstance. If Duke won, pretty sure Constabile would have won it. Loyola did win, but Sawyer was overshadowed by Lusby in the post-season (had Lusby been the finalist instead of Sawyer, he would have won it). If UVA didn't win the title last year, Rob almost certainly would have won it.

On the bright side, hopefully Rob will have another shot at it next year.

semsox
Baum definitely won the award out of circumstance. If Duke won, pretty sure Constabile would have won it. Loyola did win, but Sawyer was overshadowed by Lusby in the post-season (had Lusby been the finalist instead of Sawyer, he would have won it). If UVA didn't win the title last year, Rob almost certainly would have won it. On the bright side, hopefully Rob will have another shot at it next year.

Still trying to figure out what makes the Tewaaraton player of the year award the hotter trophy than the USILA's Enners player of the year award.

semsox
Baum definitely won the award out of circumstance. If Duke won, pretty sure Constabile would have won it. Loyola did win, but Sawyer was overshadowed by Lusby in the post-season (had Lusby been the finalist instead of Sawyer, he would have won it). If UVA didn't win the title last year, Rob almost certainly would have won it.

On the bright side, hopefully Rob will have another shot at it next year.

I don't understand why the Tewaaraton folks feel compelled to name five finalists before the final four, especially since post-season outcomes clearly affects the results (i.e., as in 2011). Although I have no problem with Baum winning the award, it would have been interesting to see how it had shaken out had Lusby been in the running.

billhoward

semsox
Baum definitely won the award out of circumstance. If Duke won, pretty sure Constabile would have won it. Loyola did win, but Sawyer was overshadowed by Lusby in the post-season (had Lusby been the finalist instead of Sawyer, he would have won it). If UVA didn't win the title last year, Rob almost certainly would have won it. On the bright side, hopefully Rob will have another shot at it next year.

Still trying to figure out what makes the Tewaaraton player of the year award the hotter trophy than the USILA's Enners player of the year award.

Effective marketing. It's a shame. Baum deserved both the Tewaaraton and the Enners, regardless of the NCAA tournament outcome.

billhoward
Peter Baum, the Colgate junior, won the Tewaaraton Trophy Thursday.

Colgate came really close to getting both the Hobey Baker and Tewaarton in the same year.

Cornell95
Unfortunately the Tewaaraton Foundation website hasnt put a press release up on their website
But a well deserved recognition for coach Moran

[insidelacrosse.com]

Nice Inside Lacrosse piece on Richie: [insidelacrosse.com]

Official announcement of the incoming class: [cornellbigred.com]

Matt Rewkowski heading to Georgetown: [www.washingtonpost.com]