Cornell vs. Notre Dame

[billhoward]

A week ago against Army we played a game that could have beaten any team in the country. Against Notre Dame we played another of the underwhelming games we had too many of this year (such as against Brown). It felt as if we didn't play with emotion or intensity and certainly not with consistency. As against Dartmouth, we ran into a hot goalie. And something didn't click in the way we attacked ND's defense. I also thought, even being behind at halftime, that we'd catch fire in the third quarter, spurt past ND, and hold on the in fourth quarter. Then hope for Duke to take down Virginia because I think Virginia is the more dangerous team.

Rob Pannell seemed off at times. We took a lot of shots and got unlucky on too many of them. We lost more than our share of errant passes and took more penalties than usual.

The Duke-Virginia game was sensational and unless ND does something miraculous Monday (such as win), Saturday night's game will be described by the Lax Starts South of the Mason-Dixon Line cabal as the real title game, and they'd probably be right. Plus the weather was sensational - balmy, mid 70s, none of the daytime humidity we had. Virginia made the comeback we failed to make in game one. And then lost it on one of the bone-headed plays of all time - eight seconds to play, coming out of a timeout, Virginia in possession in its own end  near midfield and down by one, one of the three players (plus goalie) back legs it across midfield rather than passes, which of course puts them offside, and thus ends the game.

But okay, did anyone think we'd be in the final four? I thought it would be a nice season to beat Princeton, lose to one other Ivy team, tie for the title, still make the NCAAs, and maybe advance beyond the first round. This was an incredible treat that Cornell got as far as it did. I guess we fans got greedy and expected we'd go all the way once we say the path: Army then Notre Dame. It would be nice to declare a mulligan and replay the ND game, as Princeton probably wishes it could have against ND, and Syracuse wishes it could have against Army, and etcetera. Notre Dame lacrosse truly was our Bemidji State.

Good luck, Irish.

I'm looking ahead to 2011 already.

[Josh '99]

Apologies if this sounds like sour grapes, but:

Why didn't the officials start giving ND the stall warning sooner?  It was obvious that they were content to sit around and waste time as early as the second quarter.

[ben03]

Apologies if this sounds like sour grapes, but:

Why didn't the officials start giving ND the stall warning sooner?  It was obvious that they were content to sit around and waste time as early as the second quarter.

i was saying the same thing ... but then i started paying attention to the style of play that preceded the stall call. first, we were blatantly slowing down the pace, not attacking the goal and consistently taking the ball to X. ND OTOH, was actually moving toward goal and making "attacking" moves from in front of the goal. they were also much better at keeping the ball in and out of the box while in front of the goal - which makes it harder for the refs to implement a justified stall call. it appeared the they were used to this and almost seemed knowledgeable of how to keep the stall from being called, whereas we were not. these were the differences i could discern ... to further bolster this observation when ND started to actually stall and the refs began to get it on them as soon as they could.

IMHO, the refs in both games were about as good as you could ask for ...

[ugarte]

Apologies if this sounds like sour grapes, but:

Why didn't the officials start giving ND the stall warning sooner?  It was obvious that they were content to sit around and waste time as early as the second quarter.

i was saying the same thing ... but then i started paying attention to the style of play that preceded the stall call. first, we were blatantly slowing down the pace, not attacking the goal and consistently taking the ball to X. ND OTOH, was actually moving toward goal and making "attacking" moves from in front of the goal. they were also much better at keeping the ball in and out of the box while in front of the goal - which makes it harder for the refs to implement a justified stall call. it appeared the they were used to this and almost seemed knowledgeable of how to keep the stall from being called, whereas we were not. these were the differences i could discern ... to further bolster this observation when ND started to actually stall and the refs began to get it on them as soon as they could.

IMHO, the refs in both games were about as good as you could ask for ...

I agree with this. ND did a great job of half-stalling. They weren't in a four-corners offense, they were patiently picking their spots - with the advantage of having patience help them both set up good shots and run clock. They always looked to be trying for position but didn't try to force anything because... with the lead, why would they?

I think Cornell played a very good first half an offense but ran into a brick wall in Scott Rodgers. He stopped shots that he had no business stopping and all of Cornell's passing and close-in shooting did them almost no good. Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, Fiore was almost invisible and the defense wasn't leaning on anyone and kept leaving wide open shooting lanes.

In the second half, the offense fell apart. Pannell and Hurley borrowed Fiore's invisibility cloak. It was like the whole team was waiting for someone else to step up. Mock was the only player who really looked like he gave a shit; everyone else looked like they came out of the locker room defeated. And then, in the fourth quarter, the defense fell apart again also. In garbage time, with the game essentially decided, the Irish decided to really make a statement and stretch their lead.

Hurley's goal with ~30 seconds left was almost embarrassing. Notre Dame couldn't have cared less about stopping it. It was like they were saying "You want a goal? Fine. We've got to save something for tomorrow. Enjoy improving your statistics."

I didn't get to watch Duke - UVA (I didn't even watch us until 10PM last night) but I will say this: the two teams playing the best lacrosse right now are meeting in the finals. Notre Dame didn't just win three games, they dominated three straight teams that were supposed to be better than them. Duke comes in after two blowout wins and a close win against the "best" team in the country. That's how a final should be set up.

On the other hand, a game between Duke and Notre Dame is almost like having BP play Enron. Still, good luck to two teams that are playing their asses off at the right time. But especially good luck to Notre Dame because they aren't Duke.

[Swampy]

Apologies if this sounds like sour grapes, but:

Why didn't the officials start giving ND the stall warning sooner?  It was obvious that they were content to sit around and waste time as early as the second quarter.

i was saying the same thing ... but then i started paying attention to the style of play that preceded the stall call. first, we were blatantly slowing down the pace, not attacking the goal and consistently taking the ball to X. ND OTOH, was actually moving toward goal and making "attacking" moves from in front of the goal. they were also much better at keeping the ball in and out of the box while in front of the goal - which makes it harder for the refs to implement a justified stall call. it appeared the they were used to this and almost seemed knowledgeable of how to keep the stall from being called, whereas we were not. these were the differences i could discern ... to further bolster this observation when ND started to actually stall and the refs began to get it on them as soon as they could.

IMHO, the refs in both games were about as good as you could ask for ...

I agree with this. ND did a great job of half-stalling. They weren't in a four-corners offense, they were patiently picking their spots - with the advantage of having patience help them both set up good shots and run clock. They always looked to be trying for position but didn't try to force anything because... with the lead, why would they?

I think Cornell played a very good first half an offense but ran into a brick wall in Scott Rodgers. He stopped shots that he had no business stopping and all of Cornell's passing and close-in shooting did them almost no good. Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, Fiore was almost invisible and the defense wasn't leaning on anyone and kept leaving wide open shooting lanes.

In the second half, the offense fell apart. Pannell and Hurley borrowed Fiore's invisibility cloak. It was like the whole team was waiting for someone else to step up. Mock was the only player who really looked like he gave a shit; everyone else looked like they came out of the locker room defeated. And then, in the fourth quarter, the defense fell apart again also. In garbage time, with the game essentially decided, the Irish decided to really make a statement and stretch their lead.

Hurley's goal with ~30 seconds left was almost embarrassing. Notre Dame couldn't have cared less about stopping it. It was like they were saying "You want a goal? Fine. We've got to save something for tomorrow. Enjoy improving your statistics."

I didn't get to watch Duke - UVA (I didn't even watch us until 10PM last night) but I will say this: the two teams playing the best lacrosse right now are meeting in the finals. Notre Dame didn't just win three games, they dominated three straight teams that were supposed to be better than them. Duke comes in after two blowout wins and a close win against the "best" team in the country. That's how a final should be set up.

On the other hand, a game between Duke and Notre Dame is almost like having BP play Enron. Still, good luck to two teams that are playing their asses off at the right time. But especially good luck to Notre Dame because they aren't Duke.

I agree with most of what everyone has said. Certainly, I'm going to have to hold my nose and root for ND tomorrow. Maybe if ND joins the Big 10 we won't have the far more obnoxious Big East much longer.

Here are two more points. (1) Young teams and inconsistency go together. Even if we do no better next season, we have every right to expect to see the same team on the field week after week. (2) We don't have the kind of dodgers or midfield scoring threats to keep the ND defense from packing the front of the goal. Rodgers was a beast, and except for our early spurt, ND's defense kept our offense at bay. Our offense doesn't match up well with their defense. On the other hand, our defense seemed reticent to play the body. Even when we double-teamed their dodgers, we used sticks instead of bodies, and their players just ran through us. Perhaps this is because our defense is rather small, as the TV announcers pointed out.

My two wishes for next year is that we get the midfield more involved in scoring and that at the defensive end we start clocking more players in close, rather than just at the midfield.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Swampy hit my points.  Our shot selection and impatience on attack reflected the youth of our team.  And our inconsistent mid-field (certainly as compared to last year) let Notre Dame pack in around their goalie.

[Towerroad]

The bottom line for me is that this years team played above expectations. The team is young and showed flashes of what we hope will come and predictable stumbles.

We got lucky making it to the semi's. If Army had not caught lighting in a bottle and beat Syracuse our season would have probably ended being ground up in the Orange machine and we would have said it was a successful season given the teams youth.

I agree with others that our midfield play needs to become more of a threat on attack. I do however, like our ground ball performance over the last few weeks. We also put a lot of shots on Rogers body instead of at his feet or the pipes.

[jaybert]

i know nothing about lacrosse, but am watching the ND/Duke game.  from what i can gather, ND's goalie is a beast.

[scoop85]

5-4 ND with 10:20 left.  Crotty having same problems breaking through the ND defense that Pannell did.

[nyc94]

Duke won 6-5 in OT (lowest-scoring title game in history) scoring the winning goal 5 seconds into OT.

[semsox]

Steve Mock was named to the All-Tournament team.  Nice recognition for the effort he had in all 3 games.

[Jim Hyla]

For those who want to look favorably to next year, a Post-Standard article by one of it's lacrosse reporters on our young team.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

For those who want to look favorably to next year, a Post-Standard article by one of it's lacrosse reporters on our young team.

Thanks, Jim.  That was encouraging.

Wait till next year!

[ajh258]

For those who want to look favorably to next year, a Post-Standard article by one of it's lacrosse reporters on our young team.

Derkac recounted how the team started fall ball by getting beaten badly by Bucknell but bounced back and refused to believe it was destined for mediocrity.

What's up with using the word "mediocrity" to describe our teams? Cornell fans are spoiled.

[ugarte]

For those who want to look favorably to next year, a Post-Standard article by one of it's lacrosse reporters on our young team.

Derkac recounted how the team started fall ball by getting beaten badly by Bucknell but bounced back and refused to believe it was destined for mediocrity.

What's up with using the word "mediocrity" to describe our teams? Cornell fans are spoiled.

If losing to Bucknell was actually a bellwether for the season, I'd say mediocrity would have been an earned description.