UMass-Lowell 3 Cornell 2 (final)

[upperdeck]

Cu whiffs standing in the crease with .40 to go

[ryeguy]

unimpressive is right.

[upperdeck]

A very winnable game, but we make so many simple mistakes and have no team speed at all.. Our D looked to be in Mud most of the game.. and still we controlled large parts of the game but couldnt score from inside 10 ft..

[Al DeFlorio]

Disappointing to fade away like that in the third period.  In any case, any NCAA appearance will depend on winning in Albany, so...

[ugarte]

[quote Al DeFlorio]Disappointing to fade away like that in the third period.  In any case, any NCAA appearance will depend on winning in Albany, so...[/quote]
As I'm sure you'll agree, every game until then still matters. I take very little solace in the prospect of a great tourney redeeming a bleh season.

[ebilmes]

I had just finished typing a long post about this game when the computer in the hotel lobby crashed. Pretty much sums up the evening.

Basically, this is NOT a good team. Lots of bad hockey recently. Had a nice 100+ min scoreless strech going until we scored in the 2nd period. Can't help the goalies' confidence too much when they know Schafer will pull them if they make one mistake. Up 2-1 going into the 3rd, then let them walk all over us. I'm not looking forward to watching tomorrow's game.

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote ugarte][quote Al DeFlorio]Disappointing to fade away like that in the third period.  In any case, any NCAA appearance will depend on winning in Albany, so...[/quote]
As I'm sure you'll agree, every game until then still matters. I take very little solace in the prospect of a great tourney redeeming a bleh season.[/quote]
Didn't say any game doesn't matter.  But any success to be still gained this year requires winning in Albany.  Else it's a "bleh season."

[Although I will confess to taking great solace in the 1980 team redeeming a "bleh (13-13 regular) season" with an ECAC tournament win.]

[Chris '03]

This sentence from the CU athletics page makes my brain hurt:
"Despite a second-period rally that found the Big Red take a 2-1 lead, the River Hawks of UMass-Lowell returned the favor with a pair of markers in the third period, sending the Cornell men's hockey team to a 3-2 loss in the opening game of the Florida College Classic on Friday afternoon at Germain Arena in Estero, Fla."

[ugarte]

[quote Al DeFlorio][Although I will confess to taking great solace in the 1980 team redeeming a "bleh (13-13 regular) season" with an ECAC tournament win.][/quote]
I confess that if it happens in 2008, so will I.

[DeltaOne81]

[quote ebilmes]Can't help the goalies' confidence too much when they know Schafer will pull them if they make one mistake.[/quote]

While I didn't see it, Jason made it sound like a major, boneheaded mistake. At least thats the impression I got. Those who were there, feel free to comment.

At the Winstar again, Elie? They upgrade that computer yet?

[Al DeFlorio]

Clarkson, playing with only ten forwards (apparently the result of team rules violations), lost to Maine 5-3.

[Give My Regards]

[quote ebilmes]Can't help the goalies' confidence too much when they know Schafer will pull them if they make one mistake.[/quote]

Although I didn't see the game either, I don't think this is what happened here.  In the pre-game interview, Coach Schafer talked about holding the players accountable for miscues, and I suspect he was sending a message by benching Scrivens:  "Well, you're clearly not paying attention to what's going on -- go siddown!"  I'd bet that Scrivens, having been given the opportunity to re-dedicate himself, gets the start in the consolation game, and hopefully he responds with a solid effort (rather than sulking).  It wouldn't surprise me to see a few other players ride the pine tomorrow night.

[sah67]

[quote Give My Regards][quote ebilmes]Can't help the goalies' confidence too much when they know Schafer will pull them if they make one mistake.[/quote]

Although I didn't see the game either, I don't think this is what happened here.  In the pre-game interview, Coach Schafer talked about holding the players accountable for miscues, and I suspect he was sending a message by benching Scrivens:  "Well, you're clearly not paying attention to what's going on -- go siddown!"  I'd bet that Scrivens, having been given the opportunity to re-dedicate himself, gets the start in the consolation game, and hopefully he responds with a solid effort (rather than sulking).  It wouldn't surprise me to see a few other players ride the pine tomorrow night.[/quote]

Quote from Schafer per Elliot Olshansky:
"The first goal was inexcusable," Schafer said. "That's why I pulled Ben. He came out and Christmas-wrapped it right to the guy. Goals are so hard to come by, you just can't give one up."

[RichH]

[quote Al DeFlorio]Clarkson, playing with only ten forwards (apparently the result of team rules violations), lost to Maine 5-3.[/quote]

Guh.  At this point, this has to be the worst season for "EZAC" play that comes to mind.  That the usual Hockey Least powers are having a pretty unimpressive year just makes this much more painful.

EZAC undercard to Hockey Least.

[ebilmes]

[quote DeltaOne81][quote ebilmes]Can't help the goalies' confidence too much when they know Schafer will pull them if they make one mistake.[/quote]

While I didn't see it, Jason made it sound like a major, boneheaded mistake. At least thats the impression I got. Those who were there, feel free to comment.

At the Winstar again, Elie? They upgrade that computer yet? [/quote]

It was an incredibly stupid play, but I question whether it was right to pull Scrivens. He's found himself in plenty of similar situations in other games -- he falls down, or comes too far out of net -- and those easily could have led to a goal. This time the puck actually found its way into net.



Davenport was shaky towards the end of the UML game. It's not a good sign when he keeps looking behind him when he doesn't know where the puck is. (Note: This year's tournament program features four pictures of last year's games. Two of the four are of Davenport with the puck behind him in the corner of the net.)

Tonight, Scrivens played much differently than normal (for him). On one breakway, he could have intercepted the puck if he'd come out of the crease, but he seemed really reluctant to stray from between the posts. Some other times, when he might have hit the puck up ice to a forward or at least shot it out of the zone, he was content to push it aside for someone else to take. Definitely more conservative play.

Edit: And no, Fred, the Wynstar computer has not changed.