NCAA Lax Semis - Cornell 11 @ Duke 12 (FINAL)

[French Rage]

[quote ugarte]Oh man. How disappointing. A great, great, great 4th quarter and it all comes undone on one play. The team wasn't prepared to play defense and gave Duke space on a play when they just needed to create havoc for a short time.

Enough negativity. That team showed more guts and talent in that quarter than I could possibly have imagined. I was thisclose to checking to make sure I wasn't watching Friday Night Lights: Lacrosse. Incredible comeback and I'm not going to let the final score ruin it for me.[/quote]

Agreed.  Can't wait for next season.

[DeltaOne81]

I feel like Charlie Brown right now... UUUGGGGGGGHHHH!

What is it with us and letting Duke get major leads? Two years ago and this year. If we hadn't forgotten how to dish a pass in the 2nd & 3rd quarters... alright, alright... but an incredible effort to come back. Its a shame our D wasn't set on the semi-transition play and had a short-stick covering Greer. But they should be very very proud of themselves, lets just play the whole game next year

And thank you Seniors

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote DeltaOne81]Its a shame our D wasn't set on the semi-transition play and had a short-stick covering Greer.[/quote]
I think Nathan was covering Greer the entire game.

[Tom Pasniewski 98]

Just in from watching with some friends.  What a game.  What a comeback.  Duke's heartbreaking goal was only so heartbreaking because of Cornell staying focused and staying in the game and rallying so well.  I hope some media portray this as a comeback that fell just short and not the destiny of 'America's team'.  What a truly great season to be proud of.

[jy3]

tough loss after an amazing comeback. two entire different 3rds of the game. cornell and duke looked good with cornell looking better in the first part of the game then a dismal duke domination during the middle 30 minutes then cornell dominated at the end. duke has a bunch of people who can score and doubling up greer to give someone else an uncontested shot would have been a mistake. i had expected them to collapse inside to allow the low percentage distance shot so as not to give greer a good look but he made the play to allow the shot.
excellent season, had hoped for the story book ending to a great come back.

[Al DeFlorio]

USILA All-America teams announced:

1st team:  Seibald, Belisle, McMonagle

2nd team:  Pittard, Mitchell, Glynn

HM:  Moyer

Hewit made second team over Loftus, which would not be how I'd have voted.

Complete list here: http://www.laxpower.com/all-amer/aa-list.php?SelYear=2007&SelDiv=MD1

[Al DeFlorio]

Sun writer's game blog: http://cornellsun.com:80/node/23462

[Rita]

Well, when people ask why we are called the "Big Red" we can tell them it refers to the blood from our hearts being broken on sudden defeats in major athletic contests.

What a game! I watched this while rowing a marathon and almost fell off the rowing machine when Cornell tied it up. I admit, I did get worried when it reached 10-3.. I have learned that goals come quickly in this sport, but I thought that was an almost insurmountable lead that Duke built up. What a great effort by the team. The sequence in the last minute where they had the ball but lost it, then got it back really showed this team's heart and tenacity.

I was worried about this match up, it is very hard to beat an opponent three times in a row over a relatively short period of time.

BTW, has anyone heard from Hillel? He seems to be the one of the biggest fans of the team and he must be crushed.

[scoop85]

I was at the game today and have so many emotions; but perhaps most of all I am so proud of this team's effort today facing daunting odds.  I have every belief that had we gotten to OT we would have pulled this off, but it just wasn't meant to be.

[scoop85]

[quote Al DeFlorio]Sun writer's game blog: http://cornellsun.com:80/node/23462[/quote]

Excellent job.  I too was intrigued by Tambroni's use of Finn, Pastrick and Corbolloti in the second half.  It surely worked to get us back into the game.

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote scoop85]I too was intrigued by Tambroni's use of Finn, Pastrick and Corbolloti in the second half.  It surely worked to get us back into the game.[/quote]
Good experience for them, too.  Lot of holes to fill next year.

[dbilmes]

I just got back from Baltimore (it's a long round trip from CT in one day!). What an emotional roller coaster, especially in the last 17 seconds. The effort we gave to come back in the second half was incredible. I was even more impressed with the team after the game, as they deliberately went to three different sections of Cornell fans, and then the pep band, saluting each group. How many big-time college sports teams would take the time the do that after such a heartbreaking defeat? I am so proud of this wonderful group of players.

As for the game itself, we committed too many turnovers during Duke's mid-game run, and each one seemed to come back to haunt us. Our transition defense was also poor for much of the game, including the last 17 seconds. But we also let two Duke players with long sticks score transition goals. It was a bad omen we failed to score on a 3-on-1 breakaway in the opening seconds. But given all that, we staged a remarkable comeback, and Mitchell kept us in the game on a day when Seibald was nowhere to be found for much of the game (perhaps due to injury from two weeks ago, or from the cheap shot hit he took from a Duke player in the opening minute of Saturday's game?). We also did an excellent job on faceoffs, although we desperately needed one more with 17 seconds left. Danowski and Greer are an amazing offensive duo for Duke, and we couldn't shut them down when we had to.

Even so, it turned out to be a great game and I'm glad I was there, sweating it out in more ways than one. The best part of our comeback was watching the stricken looks on the faces of the Duke fans in the section near me. It left them speechless for once!

[billhoward]

Hillel was at the game with a young son in tow so he may be torn between being a good father & today showing the lad aroud Baltimore vs. trying to get on line and provide a postmortem for us.

[oceanst41]

Now that I have had a night to mull it over I realize this was a half and half game. Half the game Cornell controlled (the bookend quarters for the most part) and the middle was controlled by Duke. I am also half depressed Cornell lost by a goal on what was effectively the last play of the game, but also half tremendously impressed that they rallied from 7 goals down to even force it to come down to the last play.

At least this is what I'm telling myself. :-/

[Hillel Hoffmann]

[quote Rita]BTW, has anyone heard from Hillel? He seems to be the one of the biggest fans of the team and he must be crushed.[/quote]

I'm alive and well and enjoying Baltimore, lacrosse, and life in general.

That comeback was one of the greatest moments in Cornell sports history; I feel privileged to have witnessed it in person.

My son cried and cried when Duke took a 7-3 lead. He spent most of the third and fourth quarters slumped in my lap, inconsolable. He said that he just knew Duke was going to win when it was 10-3. We told him that they wouldn't give up. And they didn't. Sure, he started crying again a few minutes after Greer scored the game-winning goal and he realized that Cornell had lost, but it a learning moment on a near-biblical scale. Too bad Mastercard has ruined the word "priceless." There are times when no other word will do.