Cornell 6 @Brown 15 (final) MLax 4/18/15

Cornell  1  3  2  0  -  6
Brown    4  2  6  3  -  15

Running notes: Brown up 4-1 in the first, 5-3 in the second. Another opposing-team goalie appears to be working on a career game. Nice defensive work by Cornell to come up with a loose ball, lost, regained, chugged upfield, to Donovan, lead cut to 5-4. Plays like this give you hope. Then Cornell could not convert on 3-4 good possessions. Cornell holds for last shot, gets stall warning, shot doesn't go, Brown chugs upfield, scores with :01 left, Cornell thought in-crease (Brown announcers agreed), referees finally decide: goal. End of half: Brown 6, Cornell 4. Cornell outshoots Brown 22-15, Brown outsaves Cornell 15-6 (78% to 50%). Can a goalie save 78% of SOG for the full game? Brown announcers on Ivy webcast pretty good. But: another camera operator who seems to be reading a textbook while occasionally moving the camera.

Third quarter: Buczek cuts it to 6-5 2-1/2 minutes in. Brown hits 2 pipes then scores a minute later, 7-5 Brown. 8-5 30 seconds later after Cornell loses faceoff. Faceoffs were even in the first half. Up to 9-5 6 minutes into the third, biggest lead so far. Buczek's third of the day cuts lead to 9-6 8 minutes in. Dylan Molloy returns it to 4 goal lead with his 51st goal (1st of the day) on the next faceoff. Up to 11-6 with 4:45 left. Comeback going to be tougher with Brown winning at faceoff, 10-9 so far. Now 12-6 with 3:13 to play in third. End of 3: Brown 12-6. Jack Kelly 17 saves, Christian Knight 8.

4th quarter: Cornell needs a goal every 2-1/2 minutes, if Brown held scoreless. Hogan misses point blank in the second minute. Brown up to 13-6 4 minutes in. Then 14-6, now 6 to play. Cornell scoreless for 20 minutes with 90 seconds to play. Final: 15-6. Saves 21-10 Brown.

Quick thoughts:
* As Quint Kessinich wrote, Cornell started hot, hasn't show quite as much in the second half of the season.
* Could this be the first time in a half-decade that someone other than Cornell has the best Ivy attack?
* Faceoff prowess seems overrated until you don't win the day. Brown, 13-11
* Another seeming career day for one of the opposing team's players, here goalie Jack Kelly.
* Looks as if we could go on the road for the playoffs even with a win over Princeton next week. Brown has beaten both Princeton and Cornell.

These are some of the remaining possibilities from what CU'77 posted a couple days ago:

B>C,Pr>H,Pe>D,C>Pr,B>D: B,C,Pr,Y 
B>C,Pr>H,Pe>D,C>Pr,D>B: C,Pr,Y,Pe 
B>C,Pr>H,Pe>D,Pr>C,Y>H: Pr,Y,B,C 
B>C,Pr>H,Pe>D,Pr>C,B>D,H>Y: Pr,B,C,Y 
B>C,Pr>H,Pe>D,Pr>C,D>B,H>Y: Pr,C,Y,Pe

Ivy winners this week were Princeton Friday, Brown and Penn today. Princeton hosts the tournament by beating Cornell. If Dartmouth were to upset Brown next week (is that possible seeing Brown play today?) and if Cornell were to beat Princeton, that's a scenario for Cornell to host (boldface above).


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Two huge games to close out Cornell's 2015 lax regular season, Saturday 1 pm at Brown and then home against Princeton Saturday 4/25. Weather has improved in Providence and now shows a forecast of 70 degrees and mostly sunny.

See CU '77's list of all possible outcomes for who's in the tournament and hosting: [elf.elynah.com] Cornell is in the four-team Ivy tournament regardless, and if Cornell wins out, we host. If higher ranked teams win this weekend (Cornell > Brown, Princeton> Havard), then the playoff host is the Princeton-Cornell winner. After that, it gets tricky. A two-loss team could host the tournament. We hold the first tiebreaker (head to head) against Yale (3-2 Ivy), don't have the outcomes yet vs. Brown or Princeton. A Harvard win at Princeton tonight would help but we'd still need to beat Princeton. A Brown loss at Dartmouth 4/25 is long-odds possible. See Al DeFlorio's 2010 recap of lax tiebreaker rules: [elf.elynah.com] Basically:
1. In the case of two-way ties between teams in the final standings, the higher seed will be determined on the basis of head-to-head competition.
2. In the case of a multiple ties (more than two teams with the same record), the following procedure will be used:
a. The highest seed will go to the team with the best cumulative records against all other teams tied at that spot. [more rules follow including possible random draw for who hosts]

Princeton athletics pre-game story [www.goprincetontigers.com] lists some possibilities:
"... none of the seven Ivy teams has been eliminated to date. ... For Harvard, who hosted last year’s Ivy tournament, the postseason starts today [4/17 @ Princeton], as this is essentially an elimination game for the Crimson, who would be out of the race with a defeat... The Ivy League tournament will be in either Princeton or at Cornell or Brown. It cannot be hosted by any other team. The only way Brown can host it would be to have a three-way tie or four-way tie for the championship. A Cornell win over Brown this weekend would mean that the tournament would have to be in either Princeton or Ithaca. Should Princeton and Cornell both win this weekend, then the outright championship would go to the team that would then win in Ithaca next week. If one of Princeton and Cornell wins this weekend while the other loses, then the team that wins would clinch at least a share of the Ivy League championship."

Ivy standings as of Friday 4/17 before Princeton-Harvard

Cornell      3-1  @Brown, Princeton
Princeton    3-1  Harvard (Fri 6pm start for ESPNU), @Cornell 
Yale         3-2  @Albany, @Harvard
Brown        2-2  Cornell, @Dartmouth (holds tiebreaker vs. Princeton)
Penn         2-3  Dartmouth, Virginia 
Harvard      1-3 
Dartmouth    1-3

The Cantabs could have helped us out here, but no, they lose to Princeton by one, 12 to 11. Harvard outscored Princeton 4-0 in the fourth, two in the last two mins, got it to 12-11 on a man down with :35 to play. Harvard becomes first team to not qualify for the playoffs. See ya.

We now need to beat both Brown and Princeton, I believe, to host.
* Cornell beats Brown, loses to Princeton, Princeton hosts.
* Cornell loses to Brown, beats Princeton, all 3 finish 4-2, Brown hosts. Brown would hold tiebreaker over both Cornell and Princeton. (Assuming Brown closes with win over Dartmouth. Yale with losses to Cornell and Princeton would not host even finishing 4-2.)

Ivy standings as of Friday 4/17 after Princeton-Harvard

Princeton    4-1  W12-11 Harvard (Fri 6pm start for ESPNU), @Cornell
Cornell      3-1  @Brown, Princeton
Yale         3-2  @Albany, @Harvard
Brown        2-2  Cornell, @Dartmouth (holds tiebreaker vs. Princeton)
Penn         2-3  Dartmouth, Virginia 
Dartmouth    1-3
Harvard      1-4  Out of playoffs

Tweet from Princeton golf team:

Just watched thrilling @TigerLacrosse win over Harvard on @ESPNU. Can only imagine how exciting the game would be if we knew all the rules.

— Princeton Golf Team (@princetongolf) April 18, 2015

Dupe

As Howie Borkan mentioned on the radio Cornell could not get an inside scoring game going and it has been a recurring theme in the latter part of the season. Borkan also mentioned that goalies are haveing career days against Cornell and I would agree with him that the shot placement has to be a factor this season. Kerwick has some issues to address before the Princeton game next Saturday.

rss77
As Howie Borkan mentioned on the radio Cornell could not get an inside scoring game going and it has been a recurring theme in the latter part of the season. Borkan also mentioned that goalies are haveing career days against Cornell and I would agree with him that the shot placement has to be a factor this season. Kerwick has some issues to address before the Princeton game next Saturday.

When goalies get super-hot against Cornell in multiple games, maybe our shooters were off. Meanwhile, how did the Brown sophomore, Dylan Molloy, 51 goals this season, not wind up at Cornell? Maybe he likes Brown's easygoing approach to grammar?

Brown media guide
Why Brown? [Molloy:] "I chose Brown for it's Academic reputation and it's open curriculum. When I visited Brown University I felt very comfortable on the campus and I could see myself attending school there and thriving academically. I am excited to play on the Brown lacrosse team with a great group of hard working, dedicated athletes." [www.brownbears.com]

This has to be the most stunning result of a Cornell lacrosse game in recent memory, right?

BearLover
This has to be the most stunning result of a Cornell lacrosse game in recent memory, right?

You mean since Memorial Day weekend 2009? The game that never happened? I'm sure someone is cutting and pasting, as we speak, a Should He Stay or Go vote from Hockey to Other Sports. This Brown team did lose to Penn 14-11 and Yale 16-10 last week. Sometimes a small adjustment such as shot placement as RSS77 notes, could make a difference.

BearLover
This has to be the most stunning result of a Cornell lacrosse game in recent memory, right?

Depressing afternoon at Brown, but a great dinner on Federal Hill. This team has no offense. Ball movement is slow. Dodgers don't find the open man when doubled. There is no moving and cutting. Shot selection is dreadful.

Brown, by contast, had tic tac toe passes to scorers on the doorstep. Dylan Molloy was doubled early throughout, and broke up the game in the third period with two passes to an open cutter for two easy scores after being doubled. Watched the game with a former Canadian box lacrosse attackman who was very critical of Cornell's predictable offense.

Cornell is not on the NCAA bubble anymore. It's win the Ivy tournament or break out the golf clubs.

Al DeFlorio
Cornell is not on the NCAA bubble anymore. It's win the Ivy tournament or break out the golf clubs.

What makes you think they're any good at golf? I mean, have you seen the way they play lacrosse?