Cornell-Princeton on Saturday

[Hillel Hoffmann]

[quote TimV]I'm confident about Myers in goal.[/quote]
[quote metaezra]Princeton has an attack?[/quote]
[quote ugarte]The only way Cornell loses is if Princeton brings their A+ game....This is NOT a Princeton team that should cause pregame jitters.[/quote]

Woofilicious.

I'm not confident in Myers.

Yes, Princeton does have an attack.

And yes, Princeton should cause pre-game jitters -- even without their fab junior middie and leading scorer, Kovler, who is out for the season after breaking his ankle in practice last week.

Anyone remember the 2006 Princeton game, the last road game in this series? That was a better Cornell team, with an All-America goalie, a more consistent defense, a ferocious ride, and a solid attack that created a ton of high-percentage inside shots. That day, Princeton played a C- game (it would have been an F if it hadn't been for Hewit). The Tigers couldn't clear the ball and got off only 13 shots. Yet Cornell only won by one.

This year, Cornell can't seem to create nearly as many high-percentage shots -- and when they create good shots, they often don't finish them. Cornell's defenders and goalie are inconsistent and, even worse, turnover and penalty-prone.

Meanwhile, Princeton has done a pretty good job of improving their offensive production. Their shooting percentage and shots-on-goal percentage are higher than Cornell's -- not by much, but I bet most people assume it's the opposite -- and their man-up and man-down units are far more effective than ours. That could suck, given how few penalties they take and the fact that the 2008 Cornell team draws yellow flags like a racetrack during a biblical hailstorm.

I'm not saying Princeton should be favored. But I'm expecting a one-goal game.

[scoop85]

[quote Al DeFlorio][quote scoop85][quote FarEastLax]We could easily be in the same boat, having beat three teams by one goal: Navy, Yale and Army.  The wins against the Army and Navy are looking better as the season goes on.[/quote]

The Yale and Navy games were certainly nail biters. Army is a bit different, as we led 9-6 before they got two late goals; that game never really seemed in doubt.[/quote]
Well, there was some doubt in my mind when an Army guy fired a close-in shot (fortunately stopped by Martinez) with one or two seconds on the clock.

My impression watching that game was Cornell did have an edge in play and that seems to be confirmed by the game statistics.  But we did come pretty close to giving it away at the end.[/quote]

Yeah, I guess I forgot about that last shot ...::woot::

[Al DeFlorio]

So far our "best wins" are crashing and burning today:

Navy losing to Hopkins 6-3 at the half [12-5 final]

Army losing to Duke 7-3 at the half [10-6 final]

Denver lost to Ohio State 20-13 after trailing 13-3

[Edit:  Other results - Virginia 11, Dartmouth 7; Maryland 9, Penn 4; UNC 13, Hofstra 9; Georgetown 8, UMass 3

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

It means we just have to do it ourselves.

See you in Princeton in two hours.

LGR!

[Al DeFlorio]

Yikes! Seibald on attack today with Hurley and Finn.  Glynn, Espey, and Romero on the first-line midfield.

[Rita]

[quote Al DeFlorio]Yikes! Seibald on attack today with Hurley and Finn.  Glynn, Espey, and Romero on the first-line midfield.[/quote]

Al, can you explain your anxiety to a lax newbie? From what I have figured out thus far, Seibald is the "heart and soul" of the team, the man you go to when you need a face-off win or a goal.

With Seibald on the attack is the concern that our defense will suffer?

From what I understand, Princeton has some key injuries, so is moving Seibald to attack a way to exploit that?

Thanks.

[jtwcornell91]

Well, that's some horrible line noise on RedCast.  (I'm probably the only one without ESPNU access.)

[Rita]

[quote jtwcornell91]Well, that's some horrible line noise on RedCast.  (I'm probably the only one without ESPNU access.)[/quote]

No you are not alone,  Hillel doesn't have access either, but part of that is "self-imposed" (i.e. due to Passover).

I'm taping (I think/hope) the game for him, would you like a copy? ;-)

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote Rita][quote Al DeFlorio]Yikes! Seibald on attack today with Hurley and Finn.  Glynn, Espey, and Romero on the first-line midfield.[/quote]

Al, can you explain your anxiety to a lax newbie?[/quote]
Not anxiety, Rita, just surprise.  I'm guessing it has something to do with assignment of Princeton's longsticks, and trying to generate more offense.

I am a bit concerned about not having Seibald on the defensive side during transitions.

[Jacob '06]

Anyone know where I can find livestats to get the scoring?

[TimV]

He can still chase the ball Al, another middie will just have to stay onside..