Cornell lax 2014 post-mortem

Poll

How good will Cornell lax 2015 be?

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40 votes were received.

Buczek, Donovan, Knight could lead Red to FF or better	11		28%
Like 2014, at/near top of Ivies, hard to make deep NCAA run	19		48%
Soft recruiting year, trouble making NCAAs	3		8%
Cannot be determined with the information available	7		16%

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This would have been a more upbeat year if we finished rather than started the regular season 9-0. Once you're there, it was hard to imagine going 2-5 the rest of the way. The disappointments included:

* Lost all four one-goal games, something of a reversal from recent past years, IIRC, when Cornell won more than half
* Difficulty holding a lead against a good team (going back to Syracuse 2009, our talent hasn't been as deep; Quint Kessenich in IL recently claimed that's an issue for all non-scholarship schools especially at midfield)
* Faceoff play especially when it was Cornell's career leader at faceoff-X
* Penalties from aggressive defensive play
* Best player was superb but couldn't propel Cornell to the needed victory in playoffs, post-season. Just like last year.

Against that, Cornell still wildly outperformed anyone's expectations: to have the longest unbeaten start, to be in the tournament, to be one goal away from the quarterfinals, to be ranked No. 2 at mid-season, to have four freshman starters including mdfield 1 and 2 make significant contributions and to have goaltending in good hands through 2017. That's amazing.

Now the hard part: What will the 2015 team be like? The sudden coaching change hurt recruiting, but how much? Is it the incoming class affected or the one after that? Our best hope is that the waverers due to arrive fall 2016 liked what they saw of this year's Big Red. Better always to exceed expectations. Too bad the exceeding part slowed down when April arrived. And we went out in greater style than Harvard. There is always that.

I agree, the team performed above expectations and I have hopes for next season.

The only logical answer is the last answer. However, a fun poll should never offer an "I Don't Know" option. If you don't have an opinion then don't take the poll.

Roy 82
The only logical answer is the last answer. However, a fun poll should never offer an "I Don't Know" option. If you don't have an opinion then don't take the poll.

Strong disagree. People who don't know will still take the poll except their vote would get weighted the same as someone who feels properly informed. Allow the option to shrug at the poll and you screen them out of the results that "matter." of course

I have to think next year's team on paper will be stronger than this one. Our key losses are O'Neil (who has been truly unheralded for his do-it-all play the past two years), Freshour (who played tough, but took what felt like an enormous number of penalties by being overly aggressive), Paoletta (who came out of nowhere to have a very nice year this year), and Tesoriero (who numbers wise had an above-average year, but sometimes came up short when it mattered).

We likely have the entire starting attack returning, a 1st-team AA midfielder and POTY candidate in Buczek, 2/3 of our starting poles, and what looks like a stud goalie entering his sophomore year. In the same way that people stepped up this year, I'm assuming we'll have some deeper roster players from this year who will seemingly come out of nowhere and produce. While the coaching is a distraction, I assume Noel will have it worked out in the near future, hopefully with Coach Kerwick assuming the full-time position. A lot to look forward to for next year's team.

semsox
I have to think next year's team on paper will be stronger than this one. Our key losses are O'Neil (who has been truly unheralded for his do-it-all play the past two years), Freshour (who played tough, but took what felt like an enormous number of penalties by being overly aggressive), Paoletta (who came out of nowhere to have a very nice year this year), and Tesoriero (who numbers wise had an above-average year, but sometimes came up short when it mattered).

We likely have the entire starting attack returning, a 1st-team AA midfielder and POTY candidate in Buczek, 2/3 of our starting poles, and what looks like a stud goalie entering his sophomore year. In the same way that people stepped up this year, I'm assuming we'll have some deeper roster players from this year who will seemingly come out of nowhere and produce. While the coaching is a distraction, I assume Noel will have it worked out in the near future, hopefully with Coach Kerwick assuming the full-time position. A lot to look forward to for next year's team.

I hope we will have a coach who can muster a coherent offense. I watched the five losses and the lackluster win over Brown and saw extended periods when the offense looked completely lost on the field (e.g. 1st, 2nd, and 4th quarters of Ivy semifinal and second half of Maryland game; 2nd and 3rd periods of Hofstra game; and there were more). With players like Buczek, Donovan, and Lintner on the field, this is simply unacceptable.

Second line mids took one shot in the Penn and Maryland games. Edmonds, an attackman, took a total of three in 120 minutes against likely the third pole. Something went terribly wrong with the offense in those last seven games and it was never corrected. I'd like to see who else might be available to coach these guys.

ugarte

Roy 82
The only logical answer is the last answer. However, a fun poll should never offer an "I Don't Know" option. If you don't have an opinion then don't take the poll.

Strong disagree. People who don't know will still take the poll except their vote would get weighted the same as someone who feels properly informed. Allow the option to shrug at the poll and you screen them out of the results that "matter." of course

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Sorry, but two out of four of my friends disagree. One agreed and the other one didn't know.

I believe you are correct for ensuring better accuracy but I am saying that it makes for boring conversation (although not as boring as this digression.)

I wish I had a Cornell lacrosse game to watch this weeked.

But there isn't one, so I'm looking forward to 2015. Too early, maybe, but here's my question:

Does anyone have any information on who the out of conference opponents will be next year?

I assume we will have a home date with Michigan after playing them on the road this year. Does that apply to Hofstra, too? And we play Hobart every year, right? And it's our turn to visit the Carrier Dome.

If we have Hofstra, Michigan, Hobart, Syracuse, that leaves three (??) more out of conference games? If the pattern hold from this year, that means 2 more NYS teams and 1 more ACC team? I would love to see us play Albany, and would also love to get my absolute least favorite lacrosse team back on the schedule...DUKE.

djk26
I wish I had a Cornell lacrosse game to watch this weeked.

But there isn't one, so I'm looking forward to 2015. Too early, maybe, but here's my question:

Does anyone have any information on who the out of conference opponents will be next year?

I assume we will have a home date with Michigan after playing them on the road this year. Does that apply to Hofstra, too? And we play Hobart every year, right? And it's our turn to visit the Carrier Dome.

If we have Hofstra, Michigan, Hobart, Syracuse, that leaves three (??) more out of conference games? If the pattern hold from this year, that means 2 more NYS teams and 1 more ACC team? I would love to see us play Albany, and would also love to get my absolute least favorite lacrosse team back on the schedule...DUKE.

I agree that we should try to get Albany on the schedule. We need to play good programs to be good. It is an easy trip and would be great for NYS lax.

I am also rooting for either Albany or Bryant for the rest of the season.

Unless Michigan paid us a fab amount of appearance money, this has to be a home-and-home.

Albany, West Point, Stony Brook would all be good opponents from NYS. Canisius not so much; we've already got a soft NYS opponent in Hobart but there's the long tradition and there are coaching ties. Dropping just south into PA there's Bucknell which is a good opponent most years if we play them. Them or Lehigh. Cornell seems to like to boost NYS lacrosse by scheduling in-state games. I assume (?) Hobart, Colgate, Syracuse, Binghamton are day trip games; it lets the students be students better than the NCAA banners and ads proclaiming support for D1's 400,000 student-athletes.

I would imagine a trip back to Charlottesville as well to play UVA

semsox
I would imagine a trip back to Charlottesville as well to play UVA

I think the UVA series is done, though, since Cornell played them on the road in 2013 and at home in 2014

billhoward
Dropping just south into PA there's Bucknell which is a good opponent most years if we play them. Them or Lehigh.

Or...Penn State...