NCAA Round 1 - Maine

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Even on tv I still noticed how passive the Maine defenders were.  I saw multiple times where their guys just seemed to cower and allow a Big Red player the space to make a play.

In one of the articles I read on CHN or USCHO, Mack or Penny said they were surprised how much room they had.  They just took advantage of it and let the shot fly.

That was Mack.  He said it in the post-game interview.

[DL]

That was the first time Cornell looked this way the entire season.

I don't see the game quite the same on tv as I do from my perch at Lynah but I saw a lot of pleasant things in their approach.  Someone earlier mentioned how they didn't overpass and that was true on all three goals.  Penney did a great job of buying time to get into an even better scoring position.  Mack showed us earlier in the season that he has the scoring touch and proved it by making a b-line for the net on both of his goals.  I can see in my mind's eye an unnecessary pass being made in each of these situations, especially on the third goal with Stanley streaking for the net but the guys did a great job of keeping it simple and taking matters into their own hands.  Even on tv I still noticed how passive the Maine defenders were.  I saw multiple times where their guys just seemed to cower and allow a Big Red player the space to make a play.  At the other end of the rink I thought Cornell used their speed to get into the right positions to make the defensive play the rest of the night after the Maine goal.  It looked to me like most of those plays were stick on puck instead of having to lay out to block a shot.  They played the way they needed to play to win that game.  Pretty neat to see they have some variety to their game.  Hopefully that makes it tough for any opponent to get a book on them.

I was shocked how sharp (aside form the Maine goal) the team looked, how well positioned guys were to jump on the puck and streak to the other end and make a go at the goal instead of cycling it around a dozen times only to have it poked away... you know, the way we look when we're on power plays that never work out.

[Faithful84]

Some highlights from Cornell fan section 26:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW87gKU1wZI

[Faithful84]

Last week's Dartmouth highlights too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCWkxPdxM3c

[arugula]

Rewatching the game, that third period was a masterpiece defensively.