On to the semis: Cornell 12, Albany 11 (recap thread)

[ugarte]

That game was amazing. I wasn't worried at the beginning of the game when we went down 3-0. I started to worry with 2:45 left, with a one goal lead and the extra man, when Cornell went into the four corners and didn't even attempt to score with the advantage. Once Cornell lost possession I shrugged and thought "tie game." Then Levine's sweet move tied it up. I was worried the rest of the game, mostly because of Queener (and the inability to stop Alpizar on his sweet "baseline" move - it was like watching a mini-Olajuwon on his goals.

All of the praise for Queener, however, shouldn't cloud how equally amazing McMonagle was - and without the showboating in the offensive zone. That probably hurt Albany more than it helped overall even though Cornell couldn't score on the empty net.

Wow.

Wowwowwow.

JHU is rolling over the Hoyas, so I guess we've got them next. In Baltimore. Feels a lot like hockey. Do they have an Olympic sheet?

EDIT: I almost left this thread without saying anything about Pittard and Belisle. Fucking amazing.

[Chris '03]

[quote ugarte]


JHU is rolling over the Hoyas, so I guess we've got them next. In Baltimore. Feels a lot like hockey. Do they have an Olympic sheet?
[/quote]

They're on the other side of the bracket. Duke/UNC is up next.

[billhoward]

Lots of credit due Albany. They deserve to be in the semifinals too, more than say Hopkins (even as it's now going +9 on Georgetown now). Amazing quick shots. Also Jordan Levin the middie was great.

But Cornell was greater. McMonagle stoned Albany even though he gave up 11. And the pipe shot of Seibald's that didn't go in, but literally rocked and momentarily lifted the right pipe. Seibald brought life to the faceoff X and he could have scored three times off faceoffs with a bit more luck.

So the big question has got to be: Should Cornell have held the ball when it had a one-minute EMO with 2:45 to go? I said to the people around me, "Tambroni and the team must have worked out the percentages and it says the odds favor holding onto the ball, not going for the goal. But it hasn't worked in the past - we've won but couldn't hold possession. Like last year at Princeton." I think we (Cornell) miscalculate how agressive can be a desperate team. Like Princeton down by 1 last year, like Albany down by 1 this year.

[edit add:]Great that Cornell resolved the penalties problem for the Albany game. Only 3 on Cornell, none resulting in a goal. Let's hope that continues next weekend.

OK, bring on (?) Duke.

[Will]

I know someone recorded it and can post a torrent of the game, right? :-D

[Beeeej]

What.  A.  Game.

SO glad I made the trip, even though I ended up with a thoroughly unexpected sunburn.  I'm absolutely exhausted just from watching a lacrosse game.  I don't like them that close, but when we pull it out at the end I'll live with it.

I never thought I'd say it, but I'm mildly disappointed to be going to France for the next two weeks.

[Liz '05]

My favorite play of the game (already mentioned on the game thread):

Max Siebald chasing down an Albany player and diving to take Albany and his stick down, somersaulting to get back up while Cornell picked up the ball and ran it in on offense.  AMAZING play.  AMAZING game.  Totally worth the drive

Oh, and I now totally understand why Siebald is a Tewaarton finalist - he did everything today, excellently and while injured (or so the tape around his ankle made it look).  It didn't come across in the webcasts the way it does in person - he's just an incredible player.

[billhoward]

[quote Liz '05]Oh, and I now totally understand why Siebald is a Tewaarton finalist - he did everything today, excellently and while injured (or so the tape around his ankle made it look).  It didn't come across in the webcasts the way it does in person - he's just an incredible player.[/quote]

And the glass is nearly half-empty: After next weekend, Max will only have two years left.

[ugarte]

Can someone please explain the 400 infractions that were called against Cornell on the faceoffs? Not individually, of course, just generally.

Tip to billhoward for reminding me how we got killed at the x until Siebald took over. Jeez. I thought we might never get the ball.

[ugarte]

[quote Beeeej]SO glad I made the trip, even though I ended up with a thoroughly unexpected sunburn.  I'm absolutely exhausted just from watching a lacrosse game.  I don't like them that close, but when we pull it out at the end I'll live with it.[/quote]
If you are so exhausted, why does the liveblog say

Those looking for a big crowd in Baltimore next weekend should be rooting for the Danes. Their fans are fantastic.

Obviously you should have been making more noise.

[Jacob '06]

Liz, any chance you are going to make it to Baltimore next weekend?

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

OK, having survived that game without having a stroke...

That field was extremely wet.  During warmups, every time the ball hit the turf, it splashed.  I think because of that we had a lot of trouble staying on our feet, especially at the top of the box.  

I was a little down after it went 3-0, but I knew we had enough offense to turn it around.  Even when it was 6-5 at half-time, I kept thinking about the Duke game this year and knew we could come back.  Once we took our first lead, I felt we were going to do it...until we started playing four corners.  Then I started getting nervous.

Despite the amazing game he had, it was clear early on that Max could not make a hard cut.  There was one point where he was running upfield and the Albany player caught him from behind.  That scared me.  But by the second half it seemed like he caught a second wind.  I also noticed he was running straight at the net and pulling the D with him, so he didn't have to cut.

We have GOT to do something about our inability to win face-offs!!!  In OT, everyone around me basically concluded that we'd have to win it in the first OT, because if we had to take another face-off we'd lose it.  

Queener was just plain amazing.  I wish we'd have made him pay for that play in the 1st quarter where he gave up the ball in our end.  And he made some amazing saves.  But does anybody know why the subbed him out when Albany went on the EMO?

[Jacob '06]

[quote Jeff Hopkins '82]  But does anybody know why the subbed him out when Albany went on the EMO?[/quote]

He regularly plays attack on their EMO. He was out there with an attack stick.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

[quote ugarte][quote Beeeej]SO glad I made the trip, even though I ended up with a thoroughly unexpected sunburn.  I'm absolutely exhausted just from watching a lacrosse game.  I don't like them that close, but when we pull it out at the end I'll live with it.[/quote]
If you are so exhausted, why does the liveblog say

Those looking for a big crowd in Baltimore next weekend should be rooting for the Danes. Their fans are fantastic.

Obviously you should have been making more noise.[/quote]

The Albany fans were definitely into it.  They even had a few guys in full body paint.  But they pretty much only made noise when they scored, and their only cheer was "Aaaaalbany...Aaaaalbany" like we do "saaaaafety school."  I tried throwing a "sucks!" betwwen the Albanies, and a "Let's go Red" at the end, but nobody would join in on it.  And we definitely outnumbered them and made more noise consistently.

I also stuck around for the second game.  I would say the fans during that game were "polite."  The Hopkins fans did their "...we want more" bit after every goal, but other than the occasional "Go Hop!" from a fan or two and some polite applause when they had a successful clear, it was pretty damn quiet.

And a plug for the Pep Band.  When I told a Hopkins fan during the second game that the size of the band was limited by the NCAA to 25 players, he said it was impressive how big a sound our band had.

[DeltaOne81]

[quote Jacob '06][quote Jeff Hopkins '82]  But does anybody know why the subbed him out when Albany went on the EMO?[/quote]

He regularly plays attack on their EMO. He was out there with an attack stick.[/quote]

Yup, amazing huh?

[DeltaOne81]

[quote ugarte]Can someone please explain the 400 infractions that were called against Cornell on the faceoffs? Not individually, of course, just generally.[/quote]

I can't say I was watching too too specifically this game, but usually its just 'false starts', i.e. flinching/moving before the whistle. Unlike in hockey where that's a do-over, in lax its a procedure violation and the other team gets possession. That's what its been most of the year.