NCAA lax - Cornell-Maryland

[billhoward]

I'll be going +1, stopping first on Maryland's Eastern shore to see a 1 pm DIII matchup, Lynchburg-Washington, then on to Byrd Stadium again this year, again vs. the Terps.

At Maryland, I see from game notes that Maryland now wants to charge for parking. I don't which named lot is which but at least for the first round game last year, there was no charge to park next to the stadium (100 yards away) on a surface lot. Maybe this is football rules re-linked for lax.

Cornell site >>> TAILGATING: The University of Maryland's Department of Public Safety provides detailed Tailgating Tips.  
Cornell site >>> http://www.umpd.umd.edu/umpd2a_detail.cfm?DB_OEM_ID=29700&id=1491
PARKING: After 4 p.m. on weekends, there is no charge for parking in Lots Z1 or 1b or in Regents Drive Garage. Lots R2 and R3 are limited to vehicles displaying current valid permits for the respective lots at all times. Fans arriving on campus before 4 p.m. on weekdays should park in Union Lane Garage (located between Cole Field House and Stamp Student Union). Rates are $2.00 per hour ($10.00 per day maximum). The garage may only be accessed via Campus Drive and Union Lane, at the top level of the garage.

[French Rage]

Terps have already started playing dirty.

[ugarte]

1-0 Cornell with 5:00 left in the first quarter. (Buczek)
2-0 with 1:20 left in the first (O'Neill)
3-0 with 11:20 left in the second (Donovan)
4-0 with 10:13 left in the second
[Cornell goal waved off for, i guess, a crease violation]
[Knight has a million saves. Amazing so far.]
4-1 with 6:01 left in the second
[Stepped away]
6-4 Cornell after 3Q
[Stepping away again]
7-7 with 8:12 remaining. MD looking very strong.
53 seconds left, Maryland TO. GAAAAAHHHH
Second Maryland TO with 9 seconds left.
Total defensive breakdown (or, if you want to be generous, excellent pass across the field to a guy in space), Maryland with the GWG with 2 seconds remaining.

[Redscore]

This team did all it could all year, but do we always have to be the team that comes back but falls short, and lets everyone come back and beat us?  It really feels like crap!!!!

[Al DeFlorio]

Did everything we could to give this one away in the second half.  Tough to lose like that.

[scoop85]

Did everything we could to give this one away in the second half.  Tough to lose like that.

Couldn't get the ball off the ground in the second half for our life, and too many unforced errors. Too bad

[ugarte]

Very disappointing loss but to be honest, Maryland was better everywhere but in goal. I'd have been more than happy to have had Knight carry us to the QF but I think the better team top-to-bottom won. They were better at the X, had more ground balls, seemed to score more from ball movement...

Knight's a beast, though.

[Al DeFlorio]

We have taken so many unnecessary penalties this year by cross-checking someone right after he scores a goal.  Led to two second half Maryland goals today, each of which brought them back into the game.  The late Donovan unforced turnover and Buczek's badly-thought shot that turned it over to Maryland late just compounded the problem.  And Cornell's inability to muster a consistent offense just puzzles me after watching them shred Virginia and Penn in succession mid-season.  The winning goal was predictable.  Someone should have been in Chanenchuk's face from the restart.

[rss77]

Poor wing play on the face offs has plagued the team since the 9-0 start.  If Tesoriero could not pick up the ball cleanly we just weren't going to get possession.

[Redscore]

Poor wing play on the face offs has plagued the team since the 9-0 start.  If Tesoriero could not pick up the ball cleanly we just weren't going to get possession.

Totally agree.  All those damn face-offs were lost off wing play....

[billhoward]

If Maryland was clearly better, the final score suggested two teams that could beat each other on different days. Maryland had no answer for Cornell in the first half. The second half was the opposite. Cornell's defensive play to keep attackers from circling around from behind was phenomenal esp. first half. Maryland was better on faceoffs in the second half (8x10 vs 3x7 first half), their wingmen were better, but it also felt as if every bounce went Maryland's way in the second half. Same goes for GBs.

Some other possibilities: Maryland adjusted better at halftime than Cornell. Cornell wore itself out. Cornell couldn't separate the physical part of the game from the late hit (Maryland 2x5 on man up including 2x2 second half, Cornell 1x2). Cornell didn't build up the killer lead that made a comeback impossible (Virginia 2009 semifinals, Penn RS this year). Also bad luck: How often will Matt Donovan mishandle at pass late in the game? You also think back to Donovan's disallowed third goal of the first half when he circled the cage only to step on the line?

The underlying reason we lost: Letting Hofstra beat us in OT 4 weeks ago and losing home field for the playoffs. That or not beating Penn in the Ivy first game.

Attendance was listed as 2210. 1,000 had to be Cornellians. It was a great atmosphere for about 3 quarters. Now let's hope Syracuse or someone else takes down the Terps so Maryland not Cornell is the team that has gone the longest without repeating an NCAA title.

Give credit to Albany for dismantling Loyola 13-6. I thought Loyala was overrated; the committee sort of recognized it by dropping the #1 polls team to #3 seed. Notre Dame took down Harvard 13-5 (not unexpected except maybe for the margin) and Denver handled North Carolina 9-5, all Saturday. Denver has ejected NC three straight years now. Penn plays Drexel today; that should not be close. [Edit add: It was not close, 16-11, but I thought it was Penn that was going to win. Not so.] So now with  top seeds Syracuse and Duke to play today, since it can't be Cornell, who do you want to see and not see win it all? I'd like to see Albany make a deep run, that and Penn. Rather have Syracuse win than Duke. I'm neutral about Notre Dame or Denver. Since we beat Virginia, it wouldn't hurt to see them do well [add: nope; upset by Hopkins].

[Robb]

Total defensive breakdown (or, if you want to be generous, excellent pass across the field to a guy in space), Maryland with the GWG with 2 seconds remaining.

Yep.  Should have played straight man-to-man with only 9 seconds on the clock.  Instead, seemingly every defender got sucked into the ball, resulting in an easy tic-tac-score.  Terrible defensive fundamentals - the ball can't score; your man can.

[billhoward]

Bleep! Four of eight first round games were upsets with 5, 6 and 7 goal margins. But not the one we cared about. Maryland plays Bryant to go the final four.

Drexel 16, Penn 11
Hopkins 14, Virginia 8
Bryant 10, Syracuse 9
Albany 13, Loyola 6
Notre Dame 13, Harvard 5
Denver 8, UNC 5
Duke 20, Air Force 5
Maryland 8, Cornell 7

[Al DeFlorio]

Bleep! Four of eight first round games were upsets with 5, 6 and 7 goal margins. But not the one we cared about. Maryland plays Bryant to go the final four.

Drexel 16, Penn 11
Hopkins 14, Virginia 8
Bryant 10, Syracuse 9
Albany 13, Loyola 6
Notre Dame 13, Harvard 5
Denver 8, UNC 5
Duke 20, Air Force 5
Maryland 8, Cornell 7

If Cornell had held on, four of the six "A" league teams would have gone home, and three of the four "original" ACC teams--the ones with the "thoroughbreds."  Really a shame.

[Johnny 5]

Yes, a real shame. But, nothing to be ashamed of.

And, the season wasn't a total failure....

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t147/Coelacanth64/ThatsAllFolks_100.jpg

Tactless?? Yeah, I suppose so. Sorry.
But, if the finals came down to a game between SU and a team captained by Vladamir Putin I'd be cheering in Russian.
I am thinking about therapy, though.

::cheer::