Cornell 3 Princeton 2 Post Game Thread

[ajec1]

Sorry, the pep band is poor...:`-( Don't worry, we will be in attendance at every remaining game north of the Mason-Dixon Line (the south scares me...I have to have winter).

[ebilmes]

This is somewhat unrelated to the game, but have other people found that WHCU comes in pretty poorly on North Campus, or is this just a problem with my radio? I resorted to the Princeton audio at points because of heavy static.

[CowbellGuy]

As if it wasn't bad enough, WHCU lowers their wattage at night. I'm at the very top of the South Hill and I still get awful reception.

[ugarte]

First of all, a game at Princeton without a pep band is like a Princeton game against Harvard. Booooo, pep band priorities! The football season ended over a month ago! (Good luck tomorrow, gridders!)

I can't believe I left with 8 minutes left in the game. Stupid dinky schedule. They really should coordinate with the Athletic Department on departure times. Anyway, on to the game...

The first 5 minutes of the 3d period were about as bad as I've seen Cornell ever play. Memories of the 11-0 loss in New Haven. In between the second and third periods, someone sitting in front of me asked "How did this team beat Clarkson on the road?" After Princeton scored their second goal, I said "That's how."

[curmudgeon=high]Dear Cornell fans, stop yelling "shoot" or "ice it" every time Princeton touches the puck. I'm not saying you have to get tired of it as fast as I did, but you do have to get tired of it eventually, right?[/high]

Count me in the not-yet-impressed with Nash category. Also, not that impressed with Davenport between the pipes. He does come out of his net too much. He also blocks a lot of pucks that he should be catching. It is almost like he'd rather have a scramble in front of him than a face-off.

The first Princeton goal was a thing of beauty.

Still, glad to escape with a win. I liked watching Romano a lot; Bitz too.

I have no idea if this makes any sense. I need some sleep.

[Doug '08]

I just got back to campus after an awesome road trip.  Overall, Davenport was very solid in net, spectactular late.  He made his most amazing save of the season with under a minute to go in the third, go going post to post and getting horizontal to make a kick save on a one timer from point blank range.

Although ugarte, and others are right, he handles the puck WAY too much.  It wouldn't bother me so much if he was actually GOOD at it, his carelessness lead to two turnovers tonight, along with him getting knocked on his ass once, which was totally his fault.

I continue to be impressed with his namesake, taylor, and see him as a legitimate top pair defensemen, especially on the PK.  He has certainly come a long way from last year.  Definitly our most improved player so far.

Princeton really looked terrible for the majority of the game, although they had a few stretches where it because quite clear why they were able to beat clarkson at their barn.  That beind said though, there is no reason the game should have been as close as it was- we were far and away the better team.

Overall I'd the team played an average game, but there seemed to be very little intensity and emotion at all.  Sawada, Mugford, Bitz, and others are going to have to step it up and show some intensity when playing Q tomorrow if we want to come away with a 4, or even 3 point weekend.

[Townie]

[quote Omie]I know Davenport has been pretty solid in goal and has kept us in the games but he is certainly not great. He did a great job of keeping us in the game against Dartmouth in the 2nd and 3rd periods but he also let in 2 goals in 7 shots in the 1st which is partly why we trailed the whole game. And tonight he had awesome saves but also let in 2 shots in 3 mins, granted it was also the D's fault.[/quote]

Omie:  In the Dartmouth game, both were power play goals scored from the backdoor: passes across the slot to the backdoor hanger.  He had no chance on either of them.  Those goals were the result of sloppy PK around the net.  Troy has been mostly solid.  While he needs to improve his puckhandling skills outside the crease, his shot-handling skills have provided the confidence a young team needs from a goalie.  Remember too:  this is his first real season with The Red.  And as you note, the D is also a major part of the equation.

I'm excited about this team!  In my mind, the soph and frosh classes represent a true "Core", similar to the class of '03.  If Mike keeps recruiting this type of player, I think in a year or two they again could be legitimate national contenders.  I miss the old physical teams, but I also enjoy this new direction.

[billhoward]

The man speaks several truths and half truths.

A game at Princeton without a pep band is like a Princeton game against Harvard. ... The football season ended over a month ago!

That's two in one paragraph. If the replacement organ music were used on Iraqi insurgents, they'd talk a lot faster than this unsophisticated waterboarding stuff.

Stupid dinky [NJT] schedule. They really should coordinate with the Athletic Department on departure times.

Like it would make a difference except for Cornell and Harvard. If 1% of the attendees use it to get back the mother ship train, that'd be less than a full person per game.

The first Princeton goal was a thing of beauty.

Half-truth. it was preceded by a moment of horror when we allowed the attacker to be around the defense and more or less alone (other than his stick and puck) at the faceoff circle.

Also, not that impressed with Davenport between the pipes.

Vs. Princeton, he seemed less impressive in person than in the pixelated world of CSTV. But he also roamed behind less than on TV; maybe that's a good thing to work off nervous energy.

... but heck, we're a half-dozen games into a season with a rookie lineup and the best, PM-me-wby-I'm-crutches, defenseman out till the new year.

[redice]

From today's Ithaca Journal:  "Of the 14 goals allowed by Davenport this year, nine have come on a power play by the opposition."

Only 5 even-strength goals, that's solid!!

He's playing a superb positional game while not allowing a lot of rebounds.   Does his strong positional play make him appear less flashy?  Yep!!   Is that a bad thing?  Nope!!   Controlling rebounds is something that some goalies never do well.   I think we should be pleased with his play.   And, at the same time, look forward to improvement.  

Coach Schafer is seeing a lot more of him that we do.   And he's not giving Scrivens or DiLeo any playing time at all.  I trust Mike's judgement on this one!!

[gatitita '05]

[quote ugarte]First of all, a game at Princeton without a pep band is like a Princeton game against Harvard. Booooo, pep band priorities! The football season ended over a month ago! (Good luck tomorrow, gridders!)[/quote]

again, the band has limited funds (and most are generated from band alumni!).  It's not because of football.  There are plenty of times where we have taken busses in the middle of the night to make hockey and football in the same weekend.  I hope the alumni band makes up for it tonight!

[billhoward]

[quote gatitita '05][quote ugarte]First of all, a game at Princeton without a pep band is like a Princeton game against Harvard. Booooo, pep band priorities! The football season ended over a month ago! (Good luck tomorrow, gridders!)[/quote]

again, the band has limited funds (and most are generated from band alumni!).  It's not because of football.  There are plenty of times where we have taken busses in the middle of the night to make hockey and football in the same weekend.  I hope the alumni band makes up for it tonight![/quote]
That's the spirit: Outscource the music to local talent. If it's alumni musicians, at least you're keeping it in the family. Didn't an NCAA hockey team 2-3 years back rent a local high school band for the playoffs?

[Lauren '06]

[quote billhoward][quote gatitita '05][quote ugarte]First of all, a game at Princeton without a pep band is like a Princeton game against Harvard. Booooo, pep band priorities! The football season ended over a month ago! (Good luck tomorrow, gridders!)[/quote]

again, the band has limited funds (and most are generated from band alumni!).  It's not because of football.  There are plenty of times where we have taken busses in the middle of the night to make hockey and football in the same weekend.  I hope the alumni band makes up for it tonight![/quote]
That's the spirit: Outscource the music to local talent. If it's alumni musicians, at least you're keeping it in the family. Didn't an NCAA hockey team 2-3 years back rent a local high school band for the playoffs?[/quote]
The concept of the band making it to every ECAC game is a relatively new phenomenon, or so I've been told.  While it's good that the band's been making it out consistently enough that people mistakenly assume it's natural for them to be everywhere, it's an unrealistic standard for every year, particularly since long-distance playoffs have been coming frequently in recent years.

[Brian Deerr '04]

I believe that was SLU(t) with the high school rent-a-band.  The alumni band is planning on bringing about 25 for tonight's game, so we'll be able to make some noise.

As discussed with ugarte on the slightly too early train back to Penn Station, I do agree that Davenport gives up a few too many rebounds and leaves the net too often for me to be totally comfortable.  At the same time, however, he was pretty solid positionally and I really can't fault him on either of the two goals allowed.  The second one appeared to be redirected on the way in through traffic.

Regarding Nash, I wasn't especially impressed with his defense, although he did step around a Princeton player (who was probably distracted by watching Goeckner-Zoeller trip over his own name) to set up one of our goals.  

The intensity didn't seem to be there in the 3rd period - the team looked very tentative.  I'd imagine we can probably put this down as a learning experience for the young team, which is especially nice since we can also put it down in the W column.

[billhoward]

It's probably better, academically, if the alumni band takes up the slack on the road - most probably have only one or two papers still due.

But seriously: Once you see the band (marching, pep, alumni) at many events, you really do take them for granted.

[Rita]

[quote billhoward][quote gatitita '05][quote ugarte]First of all, a game at Princeton without a pep band is like a Princeton game against Harvard. Booooo, pep band priorities! The football season ended over a month ago! (Good luck tomorrow, gridders!)[/quote]

again, the band has limited funds (and most are generated from band alumni!).  It's not because of football.  There are plenty of times where we have taken busses in the middle of the night to make hockey and football in the same weekend.  I hope the alumni band makes up for it tonight![/quote]
That's the spirit: Outscource the music to local talent. If it's alumni musicians, at least you're keeping it in the family. Didn't an NCAA hockey team 2-3 years back rent a local high school band for the playoffs?[/quote]

Wasn't it Mercyhurst when the made the NC$$'s in 2005, in Worcester?

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote Rita]Wasn't it Mercyhurst when they made the NC$$'s in 2005, in Worcester?[/quote]
Might have been, but for sure it was St. Lawrence--I think in Albany.