Princeton Postgame

[Doug '08]

Goaltender is the hardest and most individual position to play in all of sports.  I think most often, play comes down to confidence and mental focus.  

All you can ever expect from a goaltender is to put you in a position to win the game.  Whether or not Davenport did that last night was debatable the offense certainly had its share of missed opportunities- however two of the three goals he definitely wants back... the third one especially.  Screen or no screen, the "shot" was more of a dump on net than legitimate scoring attempt.  Davenport played with little to no confidence last night, which was obvious to Seminoff and the rest of his teammates based on their interactions in the third period.  While he only allowed three goals, it could have easily been a half dozen as others have mentioned above; he just did not seem on top of his game last night, he was just not focused and dialed into the game.  This is not a personal attack on him, just my observations.

We will almost certainly see Scrivens tonight.

[billhoward]

So it's clear Davenport was having an off night ... or from some angles he looked steady in goal. Hmm. When we win games 6-4 (has that ever happened lately?) the goalie isn't seen as the problem. He is when we lose by a goal.

Hard to feel really down on the team just because we're oh-and-two, even if that's against not very good competition. The team could get a lot better with the return of Nash, and as a young team jells rather than turns to Jello. Plus, if not, we've had a really good run the last couple years taking teams of good-to-excellent skills to levels beyond what most other coaches could affect with the same talent pool.

[evilnaturedrobot]

Davenport wasn't THE problem last night, he was A problem.  One among a chorus.

[amerks127]

The biggest issues I noticed, which seem to be nothing new, focuses on our D.  All of Princeton's goals came on defensive meltdowns, whether it be leaving Jubinville wide open in front of the goal like he was a geek at a high school dance, or the inability to effectively move the puck in the defensive zone and then out of the zone and across the neutral zone.  Princeton didn't score because of opportunities they created themselves, but rather from breakdowns on our part.  I can't count how many times we turned the puck over in our own zone or couldn't maintain possession in the neutral zone.  My friend who plays women's soccer at GWU and had only been to one hockey game in her life said to me, wow, Cornell sucks at the transition game.  It's that obvious.  I can't wait for Nash to come back to take some pressure of Kreuger.

I think a lot of people were angry with Davenport's play because he was fighting long dump-ins on net and he couldn't control the rebounds.  Princeton's second goal came because Davenport couldn't cover the puck nor could our D clear it or pick up Princeton players.  I don't think Davenport played terribly and actually made a couple of nice saves point-blank.

They took some pretty dumb penalties too.  I attributed some, like Patrick Kennedy's, to the fact that he is a rookie, but on the other hand, players like Barlow, Greening, and Mike Kennedy have to stay out of the box.  Nichols and Mugford are meant to be scrappy, but seriously, if you are taking the first shift of every period, try not to get penalties in the first minute.

I thought Riley Nash was the best player out there.  The second goal was completely thanks to Nash who started the rush, collected Greening's rebound, and then fed it back into the front of the net.  The kid has great hands.  As for Scott, first goal aside, he definitely was trying to make things happen offensively all night, even though he had a couple bad passes on the PP.  I just continue to be skeptical about the ability of that line to finish.  Milo, Romano, and Gallagher put up two goals playing together in like 12 games last season, and one came against RPI.

You know, it's going to be tough going this season, and wins won't come easily.  Princeton and RIT were not bad teams.  RIT was (and is) ranked ahead of us, and Princeton beat Yale 6-2 last weekend.  But if the team cannot improve in these areas, they aren't going to win many games.  Greening, Sawada, Krueger, and Gallagher have to step up their games.  It's early going so let's not rule out a trip to Denver yet (yes, I'm joking) but in all seriousness, it's not as though this team lacks talent, it's just that they haven't found a way to put it all together yet.  Schafer did  start mixing lines, and I hope it doesn't stop until he finds some chemistry.

[tvset]

If we unmask the Hockeydude I thnik we will find Davenport's mom.

[tvset]

I think our players are setting up to close to the opposing team's goalie and when there is a rebound it's already past them when it carreens of the goalie . Princeton picked up several loose pucks because of this.


is it "pass them" or "passed them" or "past them" ?

[amerks127]

I actually thank god every time I see a Cornell body in front of the net.

[oceanst41]

Davenport didn't play a bad game last night by any means. He did make a couple point blank saves off of Cornell turnovers or lapses. However, that third goal was a wrister from the blue line and should've been stopped. It was a soft goal, and this team is going to have enough trouble scoring without giving up those kind of goals. The other two goals I can't fault him for as Jubinville was either wide open or getting uncontested chances at rebounds.

[Beeeej]

[quote tvset]I think our players are setting up to close to the opposing team's goalie and when there is a rebound it's already past them when it carreens of the goalie . Princeton picked up several loose pucks because of this.


is it "pass them" or "passed them" or "past them" ?[/quote]

If your "it's" meant "it is," then it's "past them" - if your "it's" meant "it has," then it's "passed them."

Plus it's "too close," not "to close"; "careens" (but really, "careers" or "caroms" is more appropriate than "careens"), not "carreens"; and "off the goalie," not "of the goalie."  And periods usually don't have spaces before them.

(Hey, he asked.)

[cp20]

what about the couple of close ones he nearly let in with no one around him sure looked shaky to me. But then again we must have been watching different games.

[oceanst41]

Well they didn't go in. I was more watching the plays that he did stop like the 2 on 1 that PU had in the 3rd which resulted in a player wide open and literally on top of Davenport for the tip in. He saved it, along with a few others like it.

Either way Scrivens will be starting tonight, so I doesn't really matter what we thought of Davenport last night.

[tvset]

Well   ,    At least I"m PUNCH-U-ALL getting to the games    ......

[Dpperk29]

[quote Cactus12]Everyone on this forum has watched enough hockey to know what they're talking about. [/quote]

not everyone. I would venture to say half.

[tvset]

Post Game: Cornell 4 Quinnipiac 3

        Late in the 3rd period the 2 Cornell Skating Bears substitue in for the last 35 seconds and quickly net goals off a Power Play and a Face-off to win 4 to 3 ...................

[billhoward]

Wow, you and about eight other people in the universe understand career (as a verb) vs careen. William Safire would be proud.