Cornell-Maryland NCAA lax 2013

[billhoward]

Good matchup. Would have been a better quarterfinal or semifinal matchup, but okay. We need the balanced attack of the first Princeton game (Pannell's 9 points split nicely among goals and assists is balanced), a great game in goal, and aggressive defensive play that doesn't lead to penalties. Lacrosse Magazine makes the case for either team being able to win and concludes Cornell is the more likely.

(I started this thread because the NCAA lacrosse tournament thread has been hacked.)

Also: http://www.pressboxonline.com/blog/6006/Division-I-Mens-Lacrosse-Tournament-First-round-Preview predicts Cornell will double Maryland 12-6. But then it also projects two of the eight games will go to OT before (surprise) the favorite wins: Denver over Albany in a 29-goal game, and UNC over Lehigh. Other than Cornell, it projects two upsets: Loyola over Duke by 4 and Towson over TOSU by 2. (Small sample size, but in this story odds of winning seem to be related to which team is closer to Baltimore, our game excepted.) Be nice if a couple prognosticators picked Maryland just so the Terps don't feel they have something else to prove.

[margolism]

Interesting article.  Didnt think that some would predict such a large margin of victory for Cornell.

[Redscore]

Feels like most people favor Cornell.  If one was a pessimist, which i try not to be, this feels to me a bit like the NCAA game against Virginia a couple of years back. Really sucks to meet up like this in the first round and I have nothing but contempt for the NCAA lacrosse selection board.  The goal is clearly to spread the sport around and fairness goes out the window.  All kinds of crappy computer based logic gets thrown around, and even leaving aside the GIGO rule, the same crappy logic gets ignored selectively to engineer the result that they desire.

[semsox]

I disagree with the assessment that most people are going Cornell. Almost every single prognostication I've seen has this a one-goal game, and most have Maryland coming out on top. I'll be at the game, and while certainly not going in expecting a win, if this team is going to be the one left standing on Memorial Day (which they certainly are capable of), they're going to have to beat the best along the way, and it starts on Sunday.

Because of the strengths of our team, I tend to think a team like Maryland is actually an ok matchup for us. Regardless of how good their defense or Amato is, I'm very confident in our team being able to hang 10 goals+ on anybody. The teams that scare me more are the ones that can light it up equally as well as us (think UNC, Albany), as it seems our defensive communication and goaltending have been the thing that has let us down the most in our losses. I hope that the team has a sense of the moment and comes out flying. We saw them play about as well as they could on the big stage in the Big City Classic vs. Princeton, so I'm hoping for a repeat of that performance. LGR

[margolism]

I think the NCAA selection committe wanted to see Cornell-Maryland play this season, two storied teams, two teams coached by Cornell alums, two teams with a championship drought.  Perhaps they figured, with all the parity this season, unexpected upsets, etc.,  this would be the only way to guarantee it.

[billhoward]

The threadbare NCAA declares money is an issue thus the overall top seed gets the second-worst team; instead Notre Dame not Syracuse gets 5-8 Detroit. Bus rides where possible in the first rounds.

[Al DeFlorio]

Inside Lacrosse staff first-round picks: http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2013/05/10/il-staff-picks-ncaa-first-round

[RichH]

If there's one thing that is like crack to most sports media, it's individual stars in team sports.  Cornell has someone who is arguably the biggest star in collegiate lacrosse this year. Regardless of whether they've seen them play, every single preview/prediction is going to focus on the "can the Pannell/Mock machine be stopped?"  Sure, some will go deeper and analyze the depth and team weaknesses (of which there are several striking ones that we've discussed here), but in the end, everybody wants to write/talk about an electric scoring attack and either consciously or sub-consciously wants to see these guys playing on Memorial Day weekend.  Of course they're vulnerable, but if the label of "one of the best ever" is going to be thrown around, that's going to be buried in their heads when making "picks", and they want to see it for themselves.

Frankly, the talk about Maryland being a patient, possession-focused team scares me. Cornell can't score if we don't get the ball, and many of our shots are of the "spectacular" flavor, instead of positional plays and waiting for high-percentage opportunities. That front line seems to take a lot more low-percentage shots, because they simply have the talent to turn low-percentage shots into a higher success rate.  The Harvard game showed me that we're willing to take a lot of penalties, too.  That will cause nothing but trouble now that we're playing with the big boys.

All that said, I think that all the hype about RP-SM can get into an opponent's head, leaving the door open for our middies to have a nice showing.  I actually trust Max VB, Buczek, and English a great deal going into this tournament, and the fact that RP had an explosive game last week only helps.  As always, it's not going to be the offense that will cost Cornell.  What will cost us is if the defensive corps can't stay disciplined and clean, and if "Bad AJ" shows up instead of "Good AJ."

And for fucks sake, win some face-offs.  Please.

[billhoward]

Saturday 5/11 first round games

UNC 16, Lehigh 7 (Lehigh led 2-1 after one, got blown out in the second and that was all for the Patriot League)
Notre Dame 9, Detroit 7 (Detroit led 5-1 at the half, 7-3 after 3)
Yale 10, Penn State 7 (Penn State 5-1 at the half)
Denver 19, Albany 14 (tied 3-3 after one, the Denver steadily built its lead in the second and and had the final 5-goal margin after three).

Yale was the only lower seed to win. Notre Dame needed a 6-0 fourth quarter to stave off the biggest upset ever (probably ever) in NCAA lax tournament history. This was a 5-9 Detroit team coming in to the game. The season is now over for Lyle Thompson of Albany (4 goals), probably one of two Tewaaraton leaders along with Rob Pannell.

Cornell-Maryland is at 1 pm Sunday. Winner meets the Ohio State - Towson winner (3 pm Sunday). College Park, Md., forecast for Sunday: partly cloudy, 66 degrees. LGR.

[Redscore]

Notre Dame also needed a bit of help from the officials.

[Thomas Larson]

I believe you mean "the The Ohio State." They're very particular about that "The".

Cornell up 7-4 early third quarter. Looking strong defensively. Fiore with some big saves. Pannell his usual brilliant self. Three goals already and two assists.

[Jordan 04]

Feels like they should be up more given the face off success and good D/goalie play.  We'll see if it comes back to bite them.

[Jordan 04]

Is there any objective criteria for stall warnings?  

Seems like we're running the same offense as in the first half, but now being called for it, perhaps because we're leading and it's later in the game?

[kingpin248]

Is there any objective criteria for stall warnings?

Short answer: no. Rule 6, section 11:

SECTION 11. a. It shall be the responsibility of the team in possession to try and create a scoring opportunity.
Exception: If the offensive team has the ball in the attack area and the defensive team is not playing the ball, no stall warning will be issued until either (1) the defensive team attempts to play the ball or (2) the offensive team brings the ball outside the attack area. However, a stall warning may be issued when the offensive team has the ball outside the attack area or below the goal line extended regardless of whether the defensive team is playing the ball.
PENALTY – When a team in possession of the ball in its offensive half of the field is given a stall warning, the team is required to take a shot within 30 seconds. A shot is defined as an attempt to score that is on goal (saved by the goalkeeper, rebound off of the goalkeeper, hits the goal pipe, or goal scored). If the 30 seconds expires without a shot on goal, the ball is awarded to the defensive team.

This is a change from prior years, where the stall warning automatically went on in the final two minutes if the team was leading, as well as when the officials judged it necessary.

[billhoward]

Great effort by Cornell, which did lots of little things right, plus the face-off margin, plus Maryland making lots of little mistakes that help them stay out of reach. Plus it seemed as if Cornell had more fans in the stadium than Maryland. Somebody forgot to tell Maryland band show up.