Cornell 1 at Harvard 2 postgame

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote Tub(a)][quote kaelistus]On another note: The crowd was horrible. The place had a lot of empty seats. I was really surprised how ineffective Cornell was in filling up their arena compared to years past.[/quote]

I'm pretty sure those empty seats were season ticket holders who decided to go to New Haven instead and didn't/couldn't sell their seats.[/quote]
That's my take as well.  Jim Hyla said they put up for sale the section normally occupied by the Harvard band, and those seats were just about filled.

[redhair34]

Anyone think there's a slight chance we see Davenport in goal tonight?

[Cactus12]

I would think, given the low goal totals over the past few games and (IMO) the importance of establishing a no.1 goalie, that Scrivens will start.

[RichH]

[quote kaelistus]On another note: The crowd was horrible. The place had a lot of empty seats. I was really surprised how ineffective Cornell was in filling up their arena compared to years past.[/quote]

Another thing to consider is that this is a rare year where the Harvard game isn't the "destination game" circled on the calendar for many fans in the Northeast.  That one apparently comes next week.  I didn't see the same number of CU fans outside asking for extras I normally do.

[Townie]

We played with confidence and spirit...very aggresive.  I thought we were going to win, and easily could have.  Both teams played very well and clean.  I was a fun game to watch.

Break-out:  big improvement.  We only stumbled a few times but generally moved the puck with confidence.  We penetrated their trap towards game-end pretty handily;

PP: showed improvement, some real solid moments;

PK: up and down, but sound overall;

There were at least 3 times when we didn't finish prime scoring chances.  Harvard missed one or two also.

Scrivens: the 1st goal was back-door...we was hung out.  Second goal resulted from confusion to Scrivens' right.  I had a perfect view from behind the shot.  After our inability to control the puck in front, the puck squirted out to the shooter in Scrivens' right face-off circle who beat Ben stick-side over his blocker...another short-side goal.  The shot was about 20 feet, and Ben should have had a good look at it.  I felt this goal was weak, as once again faulty positioning resulted in a short-side goal.  He still does not inspire a great deal of confidence, but neither does Troy.

[billhoward]

[quote Townie]He [Scrivens] still does not inspire a great deal of confidence, but neither does Troy.[/quote]

In this decade, seeing All-America goalies Underhill, Leneveu and McKee, a good goalie will seem average and an average-for-the-upper-reaches-of-D1 goalie will seem subpar.

And we're still wrestling with those issues of whether it was great goaltending or great defense in front of the goalies.

[Townie]

[quote billhoward][quote Townie]He [Scrivens] still does not inspire a great deal of confidence, but neither does Troy.[/quote]

In this decade, seeing All-America goalies Underhill, Leneveu and McKee, a good goalie will seem average and an average-for-the-upper-reaches-of-D1 goalie will seem subpar.

And we're still wrestling with those issues of whether it was great goaltending or great defense in front of the goalies.[/quote]

I believe great defenses allowed the two Daves to break records.  However, there will always be times when a goalie is tested, the result of which may determine game momentum.  Leneveu and the sophomore McKee did that consistently, and were fundamentally sound.  What I'm seeing now is faulty positioning resulting in weak/short-side goals, ugly rebounds resulting in scoring chances, questionable puck-handling....basic goaltending.  On the up side, I think Ben is improving steadily, and should continue as The Starter.

The team "personality" is beginning to emerge with the right ingredients to be a legitimate ECAC contender: gifted offensive players with an effective combination of size, speed, brute strength and hockey sense; a solid corps of defensemen with a good combination of size and speed/skill (Davenport has stepped up nicely); depth (two key starters are out); heart and sound leadership (best since Knoepfli).  They continue to improve with game experience.  IMO, the one element lacking to be competitive at the next level is tight goaltending.  My hope is Ben (or Troy) will have the upside to be that goalie, because I don't believe he's there yet.

[Chris '03]

First game I've been able to get to this season.

My main impressions:
- Harvard played a different style than I'm used to seeing. I'm used to seeing more set plays and backdoor passes. Friday there was a lot more crashing the net and hoping to score amid chaos. In the third Dufault got open on the back post a few times but never got the puck. Usually they have guys like him camped there whenever they are setup in the offensive zone.

- Richter was solid but unspectacular. He made 2-3 key saves and Cornell missed the net by inches a bunch of times.

- Scrivens was frantic but effective. He won't get away with juggling the puck like that all the time. Reminds me a little of young Underhill who was fond of covering the puck with his stick hand for a few years.

- Berk was was in over his head.

- Riley Nash is a model of composure with the puck everywhere on the ice.

- A lot of penalties went uncalled both ways. I'm perfectly fine with that. The game flowed well and neither team was particularly disadvantaged.

- It's fun to watch people watch RichH shout stuff.

- Boo the band for not playing love story at the start of the second.

- Boo Harvard for beating Yale.

[redhair34]

[quote redhair34]

-That fourth line didn't see much ice time and I wish they could have seen less.

[/quote]

They made up for it last night:-)

[Trotsky]

[quote Chris '03]- Boo the band for not playing love story at the start of the second.[/quote]The band played Love Story prior to the opening lineups.  Isn't then when they always play it?

[oceanst41]

Not much to say that hasn't been said already, but I'll echo some things that I saw out there.

A 1-1 tie coming out of the first period and on the road was a good start for this Cornell team.

The second period definitely showed the team's ability to play and skate with any team in the ECAC.

The third period was a disappointing effort, especially with the late PP chance producing next to nothing.

As a side note, I also thought Biega's most noticeable play on the night was his leg on leg trip of M. Kennedy(?).

[mnagowski]

Special kudos to the band for playing Pinball Wizard after the game ended.

[bothman]

Cornell fans,

Good game on Friday night.  It really could have gone either way and I think the biggest difference is that Richter > Scrivens.  Been a long time since Harvard could say that its goalie is better than Cornell's, but I think this may very well be the case.

On that note and looking to the future, it will be interesting to see how the Matt Hoyle vs Mike Garman match up pans out.  Two heralded goalies - both moreso than Richter and Scrivens / Davenport.

Good luck the rest of the way and see you in Albany.

[Omie]

The RinkRat has a pretty nice entry about the Faithful, Lynah East, and Schafer's weight loss. Nice pics too.

http://slog.cstv.com/rinkrat/2007/11/the_beasts_of_lynah_east.html

[Trotsky]

[quote bothman]Good luck the rest of the way and see you in Albany.[/quote]Likewise.  I like this edition of the Crimson.  They hit.