FF Semi vs. Duke

[Jim Hyla]

About time we got to do this.

[semsox]

I will be making the trek up to Philly for this. I feel we are the best team in the country. I felt the same way when we faced Duke in a semi-final game in 2007. Hoping for a different result this time around.

[phillysportsfan]

Anyone know what section the Cornell tickets are in?

[ugarte]

I want revenge on Duke. Then I want more revenge. Very thirsty for revenge this tournament.

[Towerroad]

I want revenge on Duke. Then I want more revenge. Very thirsty for revenge this tournament.

+1

[KenP]

Interesting geographic battle -- North Carolina versus New York in both games.  Seems like the Confederacy switched to wearing blue.

[Killer]

Interesting geographic battle -- North Carolina versus New York in both games.  Seems like the Confederacy switched to wearing blue.

[Chris '03]

Interesting geographic battle -- North Carolina versus New York in both games.  Seems like the Confederacy switched to wearing blue.

KenP turned the DU/UNC game off after the first.

[Josh '99]

I want revenge on Duke. Then I want more revenge. Very thirsty for revenge this tournament.

On Tierney?  That could be fun.

[margolism]

Should be an interesting matchup this weekend. Cornell this year reminds me of the Duke team that had the Greer-Danowski power combo.  

I wonder if Cornell having two blowout victories [in the tournament thus far] vs. Duke having two squeakers is a positive or a negative.  Duke mentally knows they can come back.  Cornell hasn't been in that situation.  

Some other interesting tidbits I have observed in the stats:
 
- Only Cornell, Denver, North Carolina (OUT), and OSU (OUT) have thus far been able to score 16 goals in at least one game in this tournament.  
- Cornell defense has given up the fewest goals per game (7, tied with Syracuse) thus far in the NCAA tournament.  A very pleasant surprise.
- Almost half of Cornell's wins (6 of 14) were their opponents worst losses of the year, and in at least a few cases, their worst losses in several years.  If you combine "second worst losses",  then more than half (8 of 14) Cornell victories were either the oppositions worst or second worst losses of the season.

Looking at trending stats, Cornell has given up an average of 9 goals per game over their last five games, scoring an average of 15 gpg.  All these teams had winning records.  
Duke has given up an average of 10 goals in their last five games, while scoring 15.2 gpg.  But two of those games were against very weak teams (Rutgers and Marquette, which only won 7 games this season combined.)

Against teams with winning records, Cornell 7-3 against teams with winning records, scoring 13.6 gpg against teams with winning records.  Giving up 8.6 goals per game against teams with winning records.  Differential of 5.  
Duke 7-5 against teams with winning records, scoring 12.2 gpg against teams with winning records.  Giving up 11.4 goals against teams with winning records. Differential of .8.

So while Duke has a very good record, against better teams they typically squeak by, while Cornell has often had a comfortable margin of victory.

I would be curious to see save percentages and face off percentages over the last five games.

[KenP]

Interesting geographic battle -- North Carolina versus New York in both games.  Seems like the Confederacy switched to wearing blue.

Never mind I'll crawl back to my hole in the ground.  **]

[ugarte]

I want revenge on Duke. Then I want more revenge. Very thirsty for revenge this tournament.

On Tierney?  That could be fun.

I was aware that it worked either way! But I don't know that I feel all that revenge-y against Tierney. IIRC we had the upper hand on Princeton at the end of his tenure.

[billhoward]

I want revenge on Duke. Then I want more revenge. Very thirsty for revenge this tournament.

On Tierney?  That could be fun.

I was aware that it worked either way! But I don't know that I feel all that revenge-y against Tierney. IIRC we had the upper hand on Princeton at the end of his tenure.

Man had a long tenure, though. Kicked Cornell around in the nineties.

[Swampy]

I want revenge on Duke. Then I want more revenge. Very thirsty for revenge this tournament.

On Tierney?  That could be fun.

I was aware that it worked either way! But I don't know that I feel all that revenge-y against Tierney. IIRC we had the upper hand on Princeton at the end of his tenure.

Let's not become too elated from our recent success. One of the more interesting things about the path forward is that 3 HOF-calibre coaches stand in the way.

[Al DeFlorio]

Let's not become too elated from our recent success. One of the more interesting things about the path forward is that 3 HOF-calibre coaches stand in the way.

You've got that right.  And that's a big advantage in a game that goes down to the wire, as did the three those coaches won this past weekend.