Lax Quarterfinals vs. Princeton

[FarEastLax]

With last weekend's win against Hofstra, Cornell advances to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament for the fifth time since 2002--not bad at all, and a sign of how much things have improved following a down period in the 90's.

There was a great run in the late 80's driven by Tim Goldstein and a high-octane offense that was built around him.  The 1987 team was undefeated and made it to the championship game at Rutgers thanks to a thrilling 18-15 semifinal win over Syracuse (we beat them in the Dome that year 19-6).  We lost by a goal in the title game (the team looked tired and tight) to a Dave Pietramala-led Hopkins squad.  Goldstein had 100 points that year including 73 assists.  

The next year, we sqeaked into the tournament with a .500 record (SOS? RPI? Was Richie on the selection committee?) and advanced to the quarterfinals against Carolina.  Carolina was coming off three national titles already in the 80's and had yet to lose a playoff game at home.  Nobody seemed to give us much of a chance.  I went to Chapel Hill for the game (that's the last time I have been able to see Cornell play live), and I remember it was a very hot day at Fetzer Field.  Schimoler stood on his head (27 saves?), and we won 6-4.  In the semifinals, we blew out Virginia 17-6 before losing to Syracuse and the Gaits 13-8 in the final.  

Then came the lost decade of the 90's, with only one tourament appearance: a 1995 first-round loss to Brown.  

Pietrama got the team back to the tournament in 2000, but we lost to the G-men in the first round.  After Tambroni took over, the 2002 team easily beat Stony Brook in the opening round before losing a heartbreaker to 'Ole Virginny in the quarterfinals 11-10 on a last-minute goal by John Christmas.  In 2004 we lost the quarterfinal game at home to Navy 6-5.  McMonagle played a great game, and a star was born.  Navy went on to make it to the final but lost to Syracuse.  

In 2005 we lost to the Duke Dukes in the quarterfinal game 11-8.  It was close at the half, but Duke pulled away in the third quarter before we put up some goals later in the game to make the score more respectable.  

The 2006 first-round loss to UMass was a great disappointment (to me more so than last year's first-round performance vs. the Ohio State States), because that '06 team seemed to have the potential to make a real push for the finals (Virginia, clearly the best team in 2006, was in the other bracket).  Our only losses during the season were at Penn 8-6 and at home against 'Cuse 12-11.  But we couldn't seem to win a faceoff against UMass and lost by one.  UMass went all the way to the title game before losing to 'Ole Virginny.  

For this week's game against Princeton, I don't think we can count on controlling faceoffs and dominating possession like we did at Schoellkopf last month.  We need to move the ball a lot on offense and do a better job of finishing our inside chances than we did against Hofstra; hopefully Hurley can return to earlier-season form.  We will also need decent goaltending to support what I hope will be another solid effort by our close defense.  Does anyone know the latest on Moyer?  Princeton will be motivated in light of their last game against us, and their midfielders lit up UMass last week.

[Swampy]

[quote FarEastLax]With last weekend's win against Hofstra, Cornell advances to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament for the fifth time since 2002--not bad at all, and a sign of how much things have improved following a down period in the 90's.

There was a great run in the late 80's driven by Tim Goldstein and a high-octane offense that was built around him.  The 1987 team was undefeated and made it to the championship game at Rutgers thanks to a thrilling 18-15 semifinal win over Syracuse (we beat them in the Dome that year 19-6).  We lost by a goal in the title game (the team looked tired and tight) to a Dave Pietramala-led Hopkins squad.  Goldstein had 100 points that year including 73 assists.  

The next year, we sqeaked into the tournament with a .500 record (SOS? RPI? Was Richie on the selection committee?) and advanced to the quarterfinals against Carolina.  Carolina was coming off three national titles already in the 80's and had yet to lose a playoff game at home.  Nobody seemed to give us much of a chance.  I went to Chapel Hill for the game (that's the last time I have been able to see Cornell play live), and I remember it was a very hot day at Fetzer Field.  Schimoler stood on his head (27 saves?), and we won 6-4.  In the semifinals, we blew out Virginia 17-6 before losing to Syracuse and the Gaits 13-8 in the final.  

Then came the lost decade of the 90's, with only one tourament appearance: a 1995 first-round loss to Brown.  

Pietrama got the team back to the tournament in 2000, but we lost to the G-men in the first round.  After Tambroni took over, the 2002 team easily beat Stony Brook in the opening round before losing a heartbreaker to 'Ole Virginny in the quarterfinals 11-10 on a last-minute goal by John Christmas.  In 2004 we lost the quarterfinal game at home to Navy 6-5.  McMonagle played a great game, and a star was born.  Navy went on to make it to the final but lost to Syracuse.  

In 2005 we lost to the Duke Dukes in the quarterfinal game 11-8.  It was close at the half, but Duke pulled away in the third quarter before we put up some goals later in the game to make the score more respectable.  

The 2006 first-round loss to UMass was a great disappointment (to me more so than last year's first-round performance vs. the Ohio State States), because that '06 team seemed to have the potential to make a real push for the finals (Virginia, clearly the best team in 2006, was in the other bracket).  Our only losses during the season were at Penn 8-6 and at home against 'Cuse 12-11.  But we couldn't seem to win a faceoff against UMass and lost by one.  UMass went all the way to the title game before losing to 'Ole Virginny.  

For this week's game against Princeton, I don't think we can count on controlling faceoffs and dominating possession like we did at Schoellkopf last month.  We need to move the ball a lot on offense and do a better job of finishing our inside chances than we did against Hofstra; hopefully Hurley can return to earlier-season form.  We will also need decent goaltending to support what I hope will be another solid effort by our close defense.  Does anyone know the latest on Moyer?  Princeton will be motivated in light of their last game against us, and their midfielders lit up UMass last week.[/quote]

Nice summary.

Fortunately, our midfielders appear to match up better with Princeton's than UMass' midfielders did.

In the game against UMass, Princeton did not dominate. In fact, the stats were much closer than the final score. Princeton's defense did a very nice job of sliding to back up players covering dodgers and double-teaming the ball. Our guys are going to have to move the ball and hit the open man quickly when Princeton slides.

[French Rage]

Anyone know of any free (i.e. justin.tv) webcasts?

[Trotsky]

The audio is on RedCast (not free), although it is currently not up.

[Al DeFlorio]

Audio is up.

[TimV]

From the teaser just shown, looks like we're wearing white lids on red unis today.  Game not starting til 2:46 according to ESPNU.

[TimV]

Looks like traditional red.  Good.

[jas27]

Princeton has free audio up and running.

http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10600&KEY=&ATCLID=1579635

[Al DeFlorio]

Blew too many chances to go three up.

[TimV]

Also need to move the ball better.  Too many one on one forays.  Happy for the score though.

[BCrespi]

Would you guys mind posting the occasional score update with your analysis?

Thanks!

[Al DeFlorio]

3-1 Cornell with 10 min left in 2nd period.  Princeton on EMO.

[Al DeFlorio]

Two goals for the second middies.  Nice.

[Trotsky]

5-1, 3 mins to go in the half.

[Al DeFlorio]

Incredible defensive effort this half.