Cornell lacrosse Princeton 4/29/23 noon

[billhoward]

This may be the most exciting home game of the year, especially with Syracuse off our schedule (and in 2023 on Princeton's schedule) most years anyway, even if Princeton is operating a notch below Cornell: 6-5 overall versus Cornell's 10-2. 12 noon at Schoellkopf. Saturday is also:

* Senior Day
* Pre-game ceremony (locker room area) honoring Richie Moran (RIP 4/24/22), the coach who took the reins of Cornell lacrosse from Ned Harkness and in his first decade won three NCAA championships and clarified that when it was a playoff not a USILA poll, the North had become the equal of the South and then with Syracuse's and Princeton's run of titles, more than equal.

Cornell is favored but Princeton is rolling (4-1 last 5 games) and sophomore attackman Coulter Mackesy (45-20--65 (CJ Kirst is 55-15--70)) had a 10-point game in their 17-11 win over Harvard at Princeton's fabulous Class of 1952 Stadium / Sherrerd Field (attendance: 1527, capacity 4000). Princeton's non-Ivy losses are to Syracuse 16-13, Maryland 11-5 (in February), Georgetown 13-10 and Rutgers 1`4-13 OT.

Whoever wins is the outright regular season champion, gets the 1-seed for the ILT and faces the winner of Harvard-Yale:

Code Select Expand


[b]School     Ivy  Overall RPI Notes[/b]
Cornell     4-1  10-2    6  Ivy loss Harvard
Princeton   4-1   6-5   16  Ivy loss Penn 9-8 OT
Penn        4-2   6-5   10
Yale        2-3   7-4    8
Harvard     2-3   5-6   33
Dartmouth   1-4   6-5   40  Will finish no worse the .500, fab season by D standards
Brown       1-4   5-8   31
Cornell, Penn, Princeton have clinched Ivy tournament spots.

[b]Common opponents   Cornell  Princeton[/b]
Yale               W20-10    W23-10
Penn               W18-12    L9-8 OT
Dartmouth          W22-11    W17-7
Harvard            L10-8     W17-11
Brown              W16-9     W16-12

Cornell PR story: https://cornellbigred.com/news/2023/4/26/mens-lacrosse-princeton-comes-to-town-with-the-ivy-league-regular-season-title-on-the-line.aspx

[mike1960]

It was a good win against Brown, but I'm still very worried about the lapses in the defensive slides and rotations, and about the lack of ball movement on offense when things tighten up -- not just for this game but also (especially) going into the postseason. If Brown can score 9, how many can Duke score?

[upprdeck]

The big issue is that we don want to lose 2 in a row and who knows they way the system works how far do we fall or even make the tourney with that.   Most Brackets have us like 6-7-8 now.

we could go 0-2 we could go 1-1 we could go 1-2 we could go 2-1 we could go 3-0.

does 0-2 keep us ahead of yale/penn because Princeton is not in at this time but who knows if they beat us

[scoop85]

It was a good win against Brown, but I'm still very worried about the lapses in the defensive slides and rotations, and about the lack of ball movement on offense when things tighten up -- not just for this game but also (especially) going into the postseason. If Brown can score 9, how many can Duke score?

Sure we have occasional defensive lapses, but c'mon, Brown's had a disappointing season but they aren't Monmouth or Canisius and have beaten good teams like Villanova and Penn.

[mike1960]

It was a good win against Brown, but I'm still very worried about the lapses in the defensive slides and rotations, and about the lack of ball movement on offense when things tighten up -- not just for this game but also (especially) going into the postseason. If Brown can score 9, how many can Duke score?

Sure we have occasional defensive lapses, but c'mon, Brown's had a disappointing season but they aren't Monmouth or Canisius and have beaten good teams like Villanova and Penn.

I re-watched some of the Marquette game. There were a couple of times when Marquette swung it around to top left and there was no one within 5 yards of the shooter. Trotsky could have drained the shots from there. So I worry for when we play top-flight teams.

[CU77]

Well I think you are right to worry, but I also think that our coaches and players will do everything possible to be ready. Will that be enough? I hope we'll get to find out.

But first is PU, then Y or Sucks, then PU/PeU again (assuming the best outcome in each case).

[billhoward]

There's a lot of nervousness about our beating Princeton, then our ILT opponents. We're No. 6 for a reason. Interesting that if we beat Princeton and Yale beats Harvard, then the high seed/low seed semifinal has the two best RPI teams.

Code Select Expand


School     Ivy  Overall RPI
Cornell     4-1  10-2    6  
Princeton   4-1   6-5   16  
Penn        4-2   6-5   10
Yale        2-3   7-4    8
Harvard     2-3   5-6   33

[mike1960]

Timeout: Cornell 3-0. Good ball movement. Last goal, Coyle drew a double side left and found Kelleher top center for a step down. Perfect.

[Al DeFlorio]

4-1 Red after one.  Princeton goal after two consecutive Cornell offsides on clears.

[mike1960]

End of the first quarter: Cornell ahead 4-1.  The offense is doing a lot of dodging and moving the ball. So far so good. The defense is bringing the slides early, but Princeton is getting a lot of mostly errant shots off. Ierland has been solid in the net. The only goal was a garden variety dodge against Chris Davis. Davis does a lot of things well but he's not the best one-on-one defense with his short stick.  Cascadden is doing a great job turning his back and using his body to win faceoffs.

[mike1960]

Pass the ball, Billy.

[Ken711]

Cornell 7 Princeton 6 at 1:21 left in 2nd period.  Lots of Cornell turnovers on clears.

[ugarte]

defense falling apart. no structure at all and gaping holes right in front of ierlan.

[semsox]

Tied up at 7. Cornell has the ball with a minute left. Coyle has had a brutal game so far, with some really awful turnovers. Need to get CJ and Long more involved in the offense. Also hopeful Buczek has some halftime adjustments

[Ken711]

7-7 at the half, after a strong Princeton 2nd period ties the game.