NCAA lax - Cornell-Maryland

Disappointing not to have home field for game 1 but that's not unusual for Cornell in recent years. We started last year's NCAAs at Maryland and played the QF game there as well. This year, 5 pm Saturday vs. Maryland. Cornell was not as good as its 9-0 start (taken to OT by Michigan) and not quite as bad as the 2-4 that ended the season. The Ivies have 3 teams in the tournament including Penn with a 4-seed and home field. Harvard is in, Yale is out, and along with Cornell, at season's end they all were 1 or 2 goals apart in head-to-heads. Harvard was the last team in, Hofstra the first team out. The Cornell-Maryland winner plays the Syracuse-game winner at Hofstra Saturday 5/17.

1. Duke (13-3) vs. winner of Air Force (10-5) (ECAC)/Richmond (6-10) (Atlantic Sun) Sunday, 5:15 p.m. ESPNU

8. Virginia (10-5) vs. Johns Hopkins (10-4) Sunday, 1 p.m., ESPN2

5. Denver (14-2) (Big East) vs. North Carolina (10-4) Saturday, 7:30 p.m., ESPNU

4. Penn (11-3) (Ivy) vs. Drexel (12-4) (CAA) Sunday, 3 p.m., ESPNU

2. Syracuse (11-4) vs. winner of Bryant (14-4) (NEC)/Siena (11-5) (MAAC) Sunday, 7:30 p.m., ESPNU

7. Maryland (11-3) vs. Cornell (11-4) Saturday, 5 p.m., ESPNU

3. Loyola (15-1) (Patriot) vs. Albany (11-5) (America East) Saturday, noon, ESPNU

6. Notre Dame (9-5) (ACC) vs. Harvard (10-6) Saturday, 2:30 p.m., ESPNU

And, if by some intervention of the Norse gods we make it past the Turtles we get...

Sorexcuse!!

It must be a cruel joke the gods are playing upon us.

Johnny 5
And, if by some intervention of the Norse gods we make it past the Turtles we get...

Sorexcuse!!

It must be a cruel joke the gods are playing upon us.

Who would you rather have? Eventually we have to beat Syracuse in a game that matters.

ugarte

Johnny 5
And, if by some intervention of the Norse gods we make it past the Turtles we get...

Sorexcuse!!

It must be a cruel joke the gods are playing upon us.

Who would you rather have? Eventually we have to beat Syracuse in a game that matters.

Selfishly, I would simply like to see Syracuse lose to anyone, rather than have to suffer through us losing to them again.
Petty? Yes. But, my distaste for the gang from Onondaga County Club knows no limits.

We could have been Penn with a first-round vs. Drexel. So close.

Maryland is probably not thrilled to have us show up on their doorstep for a first-round match again. This is a winnable game.

billhoward
We could have been Penn with a first-round vs. Drexel. So close.

Maryland is probably not thrilled to have us show up on their doorstep for a first-round match again. This is a winnable game.

I can only hope.

Maryland is 11-3. Its best wins are 16-8 at Syracuse in February back when Syracuse seemed to be having an off year, and 10-6 hosting Duke March 1. Worst loss April 12 at Hopkins 11-6, along with an 11-8 loss at NC and 6-5 to Notre Dame in the ACC tournament. All their losses were on the road; the closest home win as by 2 over Villanova. Leading scorer Mike Chanenchuk (Ivy rookie of the year at Princeton, then transferred) has another ankle injury, played in last week's Navy game but his only stat was one shot.

billhoward
Maryland is 11-3. Its best wins are 16-8 at Syracuse in February back when Syracuse seemed to be having an off year, and 10-6 hosting Duke March 1. Worst loss April 12 at Hopkins 11-6, along with an 11-8 loss at NC and 6-5 to Notre Dame in the ACC tournament. All their losses were on the road; the closest home win as by 2 over Villanova. Leading scorer Mike Chanenchuk (Ivy rookie of the year at Princeton, then transferred) has another ankle injury, played in last week's Navy game but his only stat was one shot.

I say we win this game.

Christian Swezey, Inside Lacrosse
An incredible streak is on the line in College Park, Md. Dating from 1990, every Ivy League team to beat Virginia in the regular season has reached the Final Four. This stat applies this year because the Big Red defeated Virginia, 12-9, on March 8 in Ithaca, N.Y.

[www.insidelacrosse.com]

toddlose

billhoward
Maryland is 11-3. Its best wins are 16-8 at Syracuse in February back when Syracuse seemed to be having an off year, and 10-6 hosting Duke March 1. Worst loss April 12 at Hopkins 11-6, along with an 11-8 loss at NC and 6-5 to Notre Dame in the ACC tournament. All their losses were on the road; the closest home win as by 2 over Villanova. Leading scorer Mike Chanenchuk (Ivy rookie of the year at Princeton, then transferred) has another ankle injury, played in last week's Navy game but his only stat was one shot.

I say we win this game.

I second

Towerroad

toddlose

billhoward
Maryland is 11-3. Its best wins are 16-8 at Syracuse in February back when Syracuse seemed to be having an off year, and 10-6 hosting Duke March 1. Worst loss April 12 at Hopkins 11-6, along with an 11-8 loss at NC and 6-5 to Notre Dame in the ACC tournament. All their losses were on the road; the closest home win as by 2 over Villanova. Leading scorer Mike Chanenchuk (Ivy rookie of the year at Princeton, then transferred) has another ankle injury, played in last week's Navy game but his only stat was one shot.

I say we win this game.

I second

I'll pass this strategy on to the coaching staff.

[www.insidelacrosse.com] says Maryland has a 60-40 chance of winning Saturday's game. It also projects the odds of each team winning succeeding rounds and winning the NCAAs. For what it's worth.

Maryland, Duke and Loyola each have an 11%-12% chance of winning it all. We have the 11th best chance of winning, 4.5%, with Penn and Harvard just behind Cornell. (Syracuse, the 2-seed, is the 8th most likely tournament winner.) Assuming all 3 Ivies survive round 1 (Penn is favored 55-45, Harvard is a 58-42 underdog), our chances fall less quickly than the other two.

Cornell's odds of winning this round and the ones before are:

Maryland     39.8%
Quarterfinal 21.2%
Seminfinal    9.7%
Final         4.5%

So Cornell needs to roll a critical hit on a d20. I didn't think they'd get in to the tourney, so I'll take that.

Supposedly Harvard was the last team to make the field. I guess this means the Ivy tournament worked this year as I presume the additional win and loss against strong opponents was a net gain for Harvard. Or do people think their fate wasn't altered by those two games?

Brian Coughlin, Inside Lacrosse
Using offensive and defensive efficiencies, as well as possession margins — all adjusted for SOS — the probability of each team winning the NCAA tournament was derived.

billhoward
[www.insidelacrosse.com] says Maryland has a 60-40 chance of winning Saturday's game. It also projects the odds of each team winning succeeding rounds and winning the NCAAs. For what it's worth.

Maryland, Duke and Loyola each have an 11%-12% chance of winning it all. We have the 11th best chance of winning, 4.5%, with Penn and Harvard just behind Cornell. (Syracuse, the 2-seed, is the 8th most likely tournament winner.) Assuming all 3 Ivies survive round 1 (Penn is favored 55-45, Harvard is a 58-42 underdog), our chances fall less quickly than the other two.

Cornell's odds of winning this round and the ones before are:

Maryland     39.8%
Quarterfinal 21.2%
Seminfinal    9.7%
Final         4.5%

The Maryland probability appears to be based on their having an overwhelming edge over Syracuse in a prospective second round match-up. Syracuse has higher percentage to advance out of round one, so it has to be in round two that Maryland moves ahead of Syracuse. I don't buy that for a minute. Coughlin must give heavy weighting to a team's winning face-off percentage as a key to what appears to be his holy grail: possession.

I'll be going +1, stopping first on Maryland's Eastern shore to see a 1 pm DIII matchup, Lynchburg-Washington, then on to Byrd Stadium again this year, again vs. the Terps.

At Maryland, I see from game notes that Maryland now wants to charge for parking. I don't which named lot is which but at least for the first round game last year, there was no charge to park next to the stadium (100 yards away) on a surface lot. Maybe this is football rules re-linked for lax.

Cornell site >>> TAILGATING: The University of Maryland's Department of Public Safety provides detailed Tailgating Tips.
Cornell site >>> [www.umpd.umd.edu]
PARKING: After 4 p.m. on weekends, there is no charge for parking in Lots Z1 or 1b or in Regents Drive Garage. Lots R2 and R3 are limited to vehicles displaying current valid permits for the respective lots at all times. Fans arriving on campus before 4 p.m. on weekdays should park in Union Lane Garage (located between Cole Field House and Stamp Student Union). Rates are $2.00 per hour ($10.00 per day maximum). The garage may only be accessed via Campus Drive and Union Lane, at the top level of the garage.

Terps have already started playing dirty.

1-0 Cornell with 5:00 left in the first quarter. (Buczek)
2-0 with 1:20 left in the first (O'Neill)
3-0 with 11:20 left in the second (Donovan)
4-0 with 10:13 left in the second
[Cornell goal waved off for, i guess, a crease violation]
[Knight has a million saves. Amazing so far.]
4-1 with 6:01 left in the second
[Stepped away]
6-4 Cornell after 3Q
[Stepping away again]
7-7 with 8:12 remaining. MD looking very strong.
53 seconds left, Maryland TO. GAAAAAHHHH
Second Maryland TO with 9 seconds left.
Total defensive breakdown (or, if you want to be generous, excellent pass across the field to a guy in space), Maryland with the GWG with 2 seconds remaining.

This team did all it could all year, but do we always have to be the team that comes back but falls short, and lets everyone come back and beat us? It really feels like crap!!!!

Did everything we could to give this one away in the second half. Tough to lose like that.

Al DeFlorio
Did everything we could to give this one away in the second half. Tough to lose like that.

Couldn't get the ball off the ground in the second half for our life, and too many unforced errors. Too bad

Very disappointing loss but to be honest, Maryland was better everywhere but in goal. I'd have been more than happy to have had Knight carry us to the QF but I think the better team top-to-bottom won. They were better at the X, had more ground balls, seemed to score more from ball movement…

Knight's a beast, though.

We have taken so many unnecessary penalties this year by cross-checking someone right after he scores a goal. Led to two second half Maryland goals today, each of which brought them back into the game. The late Donovan unforced turnover and Buczek's badly-thought shot that turned it over to Maryland late just compounded the problem. And Cornell's inability to muster a consistent offense just puzzles me after watching them shred Virginia and Penn in succession mid-season. The winning goal was predictable. Someone should have been in Chanenchuk's face from the restart.

Poor wing play on the face offs has plagued the team since the 9-0 start. If Tesoriero could not pick up the ball cleanly we just weren't going to get possession.

rss77
Poor wing play on the face offs has plagued the team since the 9-0 start. If Tesoriero could not pick up the ball cleanly we just weren't going to get possession.

Totally agree. All those damn face-offs were lost off wing play....

If Maryland was clearly better, the final score suggested two teams that could beat each other on different days. Maryland had no answer for Cornell in the first half. The second half was the opposite. Cornell's defensive play to keep attackers from circling around from behind was phenomenal esp. first half. Maryland was better on faceoffs in the second half (8x10 vs 3x7 first half), their wingmen were better, but it also felt as if every bounce went Maryland's way in the second half. Same goes for GBs.

Some other possibilities: Maryland adjusted better at halftime than Cornell. Cornell wore itself out. Cornell couldn't separate the physical part of the game from the late hit (Maryland 2x5 on man up including 2x2 second half, Cornell 1x2). Cornell didn't build up the killer lead that made a comeback impossible (Virginia 2009 semifinals, Penn RS this year). Also bad luck: How often will Matt Donovan mishandle at pass late in the game? You also think back to Donovan's disallowed third goal of the first half when he circled the cage only to step on the line?

The underlying reason we lost: Letting Hofstra beat us in OT 4 weeks ago and losing home field for the playoffs. That or not beating Penn in the Ivy first game.

Attendance was listed as 2210. 1,000 had to be Cornellians. It was a great atmosphere for about 3 quarters. Now let's hope Syracuse or someone else takes down the Terps so Maryland not Cornell is the team that has gone the longest without repeating an NCAA title.

Give credit to Albany for dismantling Loyola 13-6. I thought Loyala was overrated; the committee sort of recognized it by dropping the #1 polls team to #3 seed. Notre Dame took down Harvard 13-5 (not unexpected except maybe for the margin) and Denver handled North Carolina 9-5, all Saturday. Denver has ejected NC three straight years now. Penn plays Drexel today; that should not be close. [Edit add: It was not close, 16-11, but I thought it was Penn that was going to win. Not so.] So now with top seeds Syracuse and Duke to play today, since it can't be Cornell, who do you want to see and not see win it all? I'd like to see Albany make a deep run, that and Penn. Rather have Syracuse win than Duke. I'm neutral about Notre Dame or Denver. Since we beat Virginia, it wouldn't hurt to see them do well [add: nope; upset by Hopkins].

ugarte
Total defensive breakdown (or, if you want to be generous, excellent pass across the field to a guy in space), Maryland with the GWG with 2 seconds remaining.

Yep. Should have played straight man-to-man with only 9 seconds on the clock. Instead, seemingly every defender got sucked into the ball, resulting in an easy tic-tac-score. Terrible defensive fundamentals - the ball can't score; your man can.

Bleep! Four of eight first round games were upsets with 5, 6 and 7 goal margins. But not the one we cared about. Maryland plays Bryant to go the final four.

Drexel 16, Penn 11
Hopkins 14, Virginia 8
Bryant 10, Syracuse 9
Albany 13, Loyola 6
Notre Dame 13, Harvard 5
Denver 8, UNC 5
Duke 20, Air Force 5
Maryland 8, Cornell 7

billhoward
Bleep! Four of eight first round games were upsets with 5, 6 and 7 goal margins. But not the one we cared about. Maryland plays Bryant to go the final four.

Drexel 16, Penn 11
Hopkins 14, Virginia 8
Bryant 10, Syracuse 9
Albany 13, Loyola 6
Notre Dame 13, Harvard 5
Denver 8, UNC 5
Duke 20, Air Force 5
Maryland 8, Cornell 7

If Cornell had held on, four of the six "A" league teams would have gone home, and three of the four "original" ACC teams--the ones with the "thoroughbreds." Really a shame.

Yes, a real shame. But, nothing to be ashamed of.

And, the season wasn't a total failure....



Tactless?? Yeah, I suppose so. Sorry.
But, if the finals came down to a game between SU and a team captained by Vladamir Putin I'd be cheering in Russian.
I am thinking about therapy, though.

Bryant with the shocker, No need to cheer for Putin. This helps a bit, but not that much...

Syracuse may be leading in D1 lax early round chokes against overwhelming underdogs. But they still do work in the odd NCAA title, too. Upsize the balloon caption font and you've got yourself a nice T-shirt or sign for next year's game at Syracuse.

I guess the good news for Syracuse is there was no large banner this year reading MASTERS OF MEMORIAL DAY.

billhoward
Syracuse may be leading in D1 lax early round chokes against overwhelming underdogs. But they still do work in the odd NCAA title, too. Upsize the balloon caption font and you've got yourself a nice T-shirt or sign for next year's game at Syracuse.

Bill,
We went with your concept. Ordered shirts.
Small problem. WB lawyers called. Not happy.
They say logo makes Porky look like bloated, mouthy, a-hole.
Called my layer, Joe, to see what he knew. Not much, but he took my retainer.
Sides talking. However, project on hold for now.
Too bad. Max pre-ordered 100. No word from Rob yet.
Will keep you updated.

Maryland 16, Bryant 8. Maryland's 11% chance (says IL) of winning it all looks a lot better now. Goes without saying that the winner of the Cornell-Maryland game almost got a pass into the finals weekend once Bryant upset Syracuse. <sob>

Semifinals in Baltimore: Duke 15, Denver 12 and Notre Dame 11, Maryland 6. This is a repeat of the 2010 game, 6-5 Duke in overtime (off the faceoff). Duke is going for 3 titles in 5 years. That probably makes us Notre Dame fans.

Maryland keeps intact its record of being the D1 champion (1973, 1975) with the longest dry spell since. Cornell is next (wins 1971, 1976, 1977). The Terps are 0-7 in title games since, Cornell 0-4.

I can't root for either team. Hoping for a giant sink hole in the middle of the field Monday afternoon.

Killer
I can't root for either team. Hoping for a giant sink hole in the middle of the field Monday afternoon.

I appreciate this sentiment, but in this case the tiebreaker is Duke.

Seriously, fuck Duke.

Kyle Rose

Killer
I can't root for either team. Hoping for a giant sink hole in the middle of the field Monday afternoon.

I appreciate this sentiment, but in this case the tiebreaker is Duke.

Seriously, fuck Duke.

Well said.

Duke.

Johnny 5

Kyle Rose

Killer
I can't root for either team. Hoping for a giant sink hole in the middle of the field Monday afternoon.

I appreciate this sentiment, but in this case the tiebreaker is Duke.

Seriously, fuck Duke.

Well said.

Duke.

NCAA results is making it very hard for me to remain a fan.

Fuck.

All the playoff teams that lost by 1 along the way, like Albany 14-13 in OT to Notre Dame, saw this game and felt they couldn't have done any worse than the Irish, who were getting blown out in the third, closed to 1 late, then lost by 2. Now Duke has 3 titles in 5 years.

billhoward
All the playoff teams that lost by 1 along the way, like Albany 14-13 in OT to Notre Dame, saw this game and felt they couldn't have done any worse than the Irish, who were getting blown out in the third, closed to 1 late, then lost by 2. Now Duke has 3 titles in 5 years.

And, Ben DeLuca has a national championship to add to his resume'.

Johnny 5

billhoward
All the playoff teams that lost by 1 along the way, like Albany 14-13 in OT to Notre Dame, saw this game and felt they couldn't have done any worse than the Irish, who were getting blown out in the third, closed to 1 late, then lost by 2. Now Duke has 3 titles in 5 years.

And, Ben DeLuca has a national championship to add to his resume'.

I guess that makes up for the lack of a paycheck.

[www.insidelacrosse.com]

The most high-profile coach in lacrosse currently not holding a paid coaching position, DeLuca is widely expected to be a top candidate for any future head coach opening in the sport. Throughout the season and leading up to the championship, he’d received emails, letters and text messages from former players, the parents of former Cornell players and Big Red alumni, who were rooting for him and the Blue Devils as they made their way to post-season and onto M&T Bank Stadium.

RichH

Johnny 5

billhoward
All the playoff teams that lost by 1 along the way, like Albany 14-13 in OT to Notre Dame, saw this game and felt they couldn't have done any worse than the Irish, who were getting blown out in the third, closed to 1 late, then lost by 2. Now Duke has 3 titles in 5 years.

And, Ben DeLuca has a national championship to add to his resume'.

I guess that makes up for the lack of a paycheck.

[www.insidelacrosse.com]

The most high-profile coach in lacrosse currently not holding a paid coaching position, DeLuca is widely expected to be a top candidate for any future head coach opening in the sport. Throughout the season and leading up to the championship, he’d received emails, letters and text messages from former players, the parents of former Cornell players and Big Red alumni, who were rooting for him and the Blue Devils as they made their way to post-season and onto M&T Bank Stadium.

The truth will out??

Johnny 5

billhoward
All the playoff teams that lost by 1 along the way, like Albany 14-13 in OT to Notre Dame, saw this game and felt they couldn't have done any worse than the Irish, who were getting blown out in the third, closed to 1 late, then lost by 2. Now Duke has 3 titles in 5 years.

And, Ben DeLuca has a national championship to add to his resume'.

Anyone can do it by being an assistant to John Danowski. DeLuca might have done it on his own if he could have figured out how to stop Duke from scoring nine straight goals in a fourteen minute span a year ago.

Al DeFlorio
Anyone can do it by being an assistant to John Danowski. DeLuca might have done it on his own if he could have figured out how to stop Duke from scoring nine straight goals in a fourteen minute span a year ago.

Al, careful or they're going to have you declawed.

RichH

NCAA results is making it very hard for me to remain a fan.

Fuck.

And then this great thing happened:
[www.npr.org]

Pre-announcement story:
[www.npr.org]

Yeah, this is good. Congrats to the Thompsons. I would like to see Albany on our dance card on a regular basis.

That is cool. I like that choice.