OT: Lax

[Philip Fibiger \'01]

Hofstra's now up 7-0. It's sounding pretty ugly.

[Ben \'03]

It's now 8-1

[kingpin248]

Hofstra continues to dominate, retaking a seven-goal lead. 12:56 to go.



Post Edited (03-08-03 15:10)

[Ben \'03]

Make that an eight goal leadwith under ten to play. . .12-4 ::help::

[kingpin248]

BTW, to answer Greg's questions - yes, the NCAA men's lax tournament is 16 teams this year. Seven conferences receive AQ's - America East, Colonial Athletic Association, ECAC, Great Western, Ivy, MAAC, and Patriot League.

[kingpin248]

It's finally over.  The Big Red was sloppy all day.  It seemed like every few minutes I heard the words "another Cornell turnover."

Hofstra is certainly a very good team, but this doesn't bode well for the rest of Cornell's season.

[Al DeFlorio]

Losing the goalie to illness really hurt, but I don't think there's any excuse for the inability to score.  Much of the offense is back and Nee is back from a season missed due to injury.

[jeh25]

But how many faceoffs can we be winning without Sollog?

[Al DeFlorio]

John E Hayes '98 '00 wrote:

> But how many faceoffs can we be winning without Sollog?
I don't think Sollog's departure was a surprise.  Hofstra won 12 of 22 face-offs yesterday.  Can't blame the loss on that.

[Hillel J. Hoffmann \'85]

Believe it or not, the face-off situation now appears healthier than I would've predicted now that they seem to have settled on freshman midfielder Joe D'Arrigo (the man who is currently leading the nation in the little-appreciated stat of "most ways last name is creatively butchered by radio and PA announcers") most of the time.

I haven't seen Cornell play yet--for now the only things I trust are first-hand reports from knowledgeable people like Ben (who has played the game). But given what I've heard from those who've seen this team play more than once, Cornell's struggles run deeper than the expected problems in goal and at the X. The problems seem to be profound, systemic, and perhaps terminal: Total disorganization on both sides of the stripe, stunningly sluggish starts, turnovers galore.

Maybe a lack of team speed may have been exposed. There have been injuries. And sure, the tragic situation with Miller was a major distraction. But NONE of these issues excuse the total meltdowns we've seen so far. If the situation continues into league competition--the Ivy opener is at Yale on Saturday the 22nd--then I think it's fair to be concerned about leadership at all levels.

[ugarte]

We beat Canisius, and we are off the schneid.

http://cornellbigred.ocsn.com/sports/m-lacros/recaps/031103aaa.html

[Al DeFlorio]

Unfortunately, Cornell beating Canisius in lacrosse is like North Dakota beating them in hockey--cupcakes both, and neither much of a meal.

Penn State--which has beaten Yale, 17-15, and lost at Georgetown, 11-9--will be a better test of Cornell's competitiveness come Saturday.

[Ben \'03]

From www.insidelacrosse.com:

[Q]
Penn State led the nation in man-down defense (87.7%) last year. The Lions return every defensive starter in addition
to a deep veteran midfield. Once again, this is a team that nobody will enjoy playing and could be grabbing one of the
16 slots in the NCAA Tournament. If so, they will be a formidable first-round opponent. [/Q]

The Nittany Lions are currently ranked #14 with a record of  1-2. Beating       Fairfield 18-6 and losing to #9 Notre Dame 10-9 and #5 Georgetown 11-9.

Cornell Wins v. (unranked) Colgate & Canisius:

CU Offense AVG/GM: 13.5
CU Defense AVG/GM: 6.5
Face off winning %: 0.733
Shots: 49
Ground Balls: 40

Cornell Losses v. #5 Georgetown & #12 Hofstra:
CU Offense AVG/GM: 5.5
CU Defense AVG/GM: 13.0
Face off winning %: 0.300
Shots: 27
Ground Balls: 33


With our lack of offensive production against teams actually play defense, our boys might be in for another long day on the turf.
Question of the week: Which team shows up on Saturday???::worry::

[Al DeFlorio]

Penn State beat Yale yesterday, 17-15.

[Al DeFlorio]

Cornell overcame a 7-5 third-period deficit to beat Penn State 9-8 this afternoon.  18 saves for Brandon Ross.