[LAX] Cornell @ Princeton a.k.a. Schoellkopf Southeast

[Tub(a)]

This Saturday at 12pm in Princeton, NJ the Big Red take on the Tigers of PU. It's a big game for the Red, possibly determing whether they get a tourney seed or not.

If you are in the Princeton area (or are willing to make the short 4 hour drive down) I strongly encourage you to come to the game. The Pep Band will be there and it would be great for the Red to have a large contingent of fans.

See you Saturday!

[Greg Berge]

Newsday rankings from 4/12: http://www.newsday.com/sports/lacrosse/ny-laxrankings,0,3233379.htmlstory?coll=ny-sports-utility

[Al DeFlorio]

Princeton was up 5-3 in the second.

[Al DeFlorio]

8 minutes remaining

[Jordan 04]

7 mins to play...

[Jordan 04]

3:45 to play.  Still 11-8.  Princeton ball.

[Al DeFlorio]

Keep 'em crossed.

[Al DeFlorio]

Go clock!

[Jordan 04]

11-9.  1:50 left.  Princeton wins the faceoff.

[Jordan 04]

Uh oh....11-10.  1+ minute left...  Princeton wins the faceoff again.

[Jordan 04]

Tie game.  :23 to go.  :-(

[Al DeFlorio]

[Q]Jordan 04 Wrote:

 Tie game.  :23 to go.   [/q]

Simply unbelievable.

[Jordan 04]

GOAL!!  Redd!!!  Cornell wins!

[Al DeFlorio]

[Q]Jordan 04 Wrote:

 GOAL!!  Redd!!!  Cornell wins![/q]
Also simply unbelievable!

[billhoward]

Most of all, Cornell won and broke an 8-game losing streak against Princeton in the 12-11 OT win here in Princeton. Cornell can make the NCAAs (guaranteed) by winning its last game next week. Also:

- It was impressive to see Cornell take the game to a top five team on their own field.

- Cornell kept its composure most of the game and never let Princeton get up by more than a goal or two in the first half. (Cornell was down 6-5 at the half).

- Cornell's attack was patient and methodical and eventually got the shot that went in. If you were not a Cornell fan, add "dull" to methodical. Thank goodness it was a nice sunny day so you could enjoy springtime at the same time waiting for something to happen on the field. I don't think a lot of kids in the stands would be encouraged to pick up the "fastest sport on foot," seeing how Cornell ran the offense. (It does however appear to be good enough to have Cornell headed for the NCAAs and it is no more painful to see than a Mike Schafer-inspired defense that wins most of its games -- first you win, then you think about beautiful wins.)

- Cornell's clearing needs work, either that or Princeton is really good attacking the clear. Cornell missed more passes than a really good team should. Cornell also lost a couple possessions on offsides. And Cornell's best defense through most of the fourth quarter -- keeping the ball in the Princeton end -- finally succumbed to getting pushed out of bounds when Cornell's attack trotted too close to the end line. This is the first time Greenhalgh seemed able to shake clear of the Princeton defense that I recall (for two goals today) but there weren't a whole lot of other times when he was free in front and waving for the ball. Four other guys getting two apiece seems a good antidote for Sean being held to just two.

- On the other hand, Cornell attacked the Princeton clear aggressively and could have had two extra goals off takeaways.

- Cornell's defense was stupendous throughougt the second half (McMonagle had some very good saves) ...

- ... except for the final 2-1/2 minutes. It was an equally stupendous collapse and to a lot of fans it seemed to have an air of inevitability. Princeton was so good and Cornell was so, I don't know, so unlucky, so deferential, so star-crossed those last 2:30, including losing the faceoffs after the ninth and tenth goals. Cornell nearly cleared with time running out, lost it at midfield, and that led to Ryan Boyle's tying goal with 24 seconds left.

- Cornell won the faceoff after the game-tying goal, went for the Princeton goal and -- arrrgh, choke coming? -- turned it over with six or seven seconds left. The Princeton goalie cleared it the length of the field and Ryan Boyle just missed getting his stick on the ball for what would have been the game-winner for Princeton with maybe 0.5 seconds left.  

- Luck as well as skill was with Cornell to win the faceoff opening overtime (the faceoffs seemed to be able to go either way). The winning goal was not a textbook thing of beauty. Justin Redd just trotted around behind the net, came out front, got forced away, came back, and fired. Not a whole lot of passing. But all winning goals in overtime -- Hornsby's shot that dribbled into the Ohio State net to win the Everblades -- are beautiful enough.

- The 11th Cornell goal was a thing of absolute beauty, touching four Cornell sticks in about 5 seconds (started off by a defenseman or long-stick middie hightailing it across midfield and into the Princeton zone). Had it not gone in, we would have been muttering about one pass too many, but it went in, and all was right with the world.

- There was a near miss for what would have been a Cornell 12th goal and I thought, 12-8 with four minutes to play, now *that* Princeton could not make up.

- Nice to see at least one band showed up for the game. Must have been too far from the Princeton dorms for the Tiger band to march.

This was not the likely NCAA champion wearing white and red today, but it does look like a team that deserves to be in the playoffs and could give a good accounting of itself in the NCAAs and advance past the first round. It showed Princeton's decade-long near-exclusive dominance of the Ivies may be winding down. Today went a long way toward that and makes you forget that if the three one-goal Ivy games had gone the other way, the Big Red could just as easily be 4-6 as 7-3.

First there's the matter of Brown next week.