LAX: Cornell-Duke NCAA postmortem

[Greenberg \'97]

[Q]billhoward Wrote:


Miscellany: Cornell band was way better than the Duke band (what Duke band) ... huge Cornell turnout and many of the fans wearing "21 BOIARDI" shirts ... can it be more Cornell fans attend away lax games? ...  Princeton Stadium looked so full because all the fans were made to sit on one side, the side facing into the sun but also into the TV cameras. (Nobody on the other side, or in the base of the U.)


[/q]

Forgive me if this has been answered before, but my wife wanted to know: What's the significance of 10-45 in a heart on the Boiardi shirt?  I offered that 10 might be for McEneaney, but that was all I could think of.

As for the game, I know we were trying to be patient on offense, but there's such a thing as too much patience, and as it turned out, most of our goals were scored on the transition.  We had the ball out on the perimeter, waiting for the chance to get close (which Duke rarely gave us -- credit their D), but you have to create chances by sending a cutter through every now and then.

But this is the only game I've seen all season, so I have no business commenting on this team's game plan.

[Trotsky]

[Q]Hillel Hoffmann Wrote:
all four of Cornell's big offensive weapons (Greenhalgh, Nee, Boulukos, Redd)[/q]

The classes of whom are:

Greenhalgh,  Sr
Nee, Sr
Boulukos, Jr
Redd, Sr

Am I right in thinking Cornell might have some trouble scoring next year?

[billhoward]

There are "if-if-if" scenarios like where, say, with a bunch of improbable breaks Clarkson ekes into the NCAA round of eight where it just ain't gonna happen ... and a scenario Sunday where even with Duke the superior lacrosse team, Cornell could have won.

[DAG]

45 is Jay Gallagher -- CU player and assistant coach who died [cancer, I believe] way too young.

[Hillel Hoffmann]

[Q]DAG Wrote: 45 is Jay Gallagher -- CU player and assistant coach who died  way too young. [/q]
Yes, I think you're right, DAG. The 45 in the heart is for Gallagher, who was a defenseman at Cornell in the early 1970s. I remember him as an assistant when I was a student in the early 1980s.

And yes, the 10 in the heart is for Eamon McEneaney.

[Hillel Hoffmann]

[Q]Trotsky Wrote:

 [Q2]Hillel Hoffmann Wrote:
all four of Cornell's big offensive weapons (Greenhalgh, Nee, Boulukos, Redd)[/Q]
The classes of whom are:

Greenhalgh,  Sr
Nee, Sr
Boulukos, Jr
Redd, Sr

Am I right in thinking Cornell might have some trouble scoring next year? [/q]
Yes. Cornell may struggle to do a lot of things next year, at least early.

On most teams, there are roughly 17-18 guys who get significant minutes: 3 attackmen, 6 offensive middies, 3 close defensemen, 2 short-stick defensive middies, 1 or 2 long-stick defensive middies, 1 face-off-&-get-off guy, and 1 goalie. Cornell will lose 7 guys who got major PT in 2005(*): Nee and Greenhalgh (2/3 of the attack), Redd and Rosenberger (1/3 of the offensive middies), Georgalas and Stevenson (2/3 of close d), and Nelson (FOGO). Some of those guys, particularly on the offensive side, are singular talents. It would be unrealistic to expect any current reserve or incoming player, regardless of their projected long-term potential, to immediately fill the shoes of someone like Sean Greenhalgh or Justin Redd.

I'm excited about the incoming recruits. I also can't wait to see what guys like Henry Bartlett (soph A from Philly) and David Mitchell (soph A from Canada) can do. They're the hungry ones who seldom got a chance to play while the graduating seniors led Cornell to two consecutive NCAA quarterfinal appearances.

But I still think that Cornell is likely to take a small but temporary step backward next year. If they get another NCAA berth in 2006, it would qualify as Tambroni's best coaching job to date IMO.


______

*As well as few locker-room leaders who made largely invisible contributions, such as Leary.

[Hillel Hoffmann]

Anyone still coming to Philly for the NCAA Final Four? I hope so. Many people in the lax establishment -- particularly those who weren't pleased that the F4 temporarily left the state of Maryland -- have been skeptical that attendance would be satisfactory in Fluffya. Many people also assume that fans of "northern" teams, with the exception of Syracuse fans, don't travel well. Please come down and help prove them wrong. Lots to do down here -- and plenty of new stuff since your last visit, I bet.

[BCrespi]

I'll be there for the final. While I would have skipped it if our Red were in the semis, Yanks-Red Sox in the Bronx is calling my name on Saturday.  See you folks down there.

[CUlater 89]

[Q]Hillel Hoffmann Wrote:

 Anyone still coming to Philly for the NCAA Final Four? I hope so. Many people in the lax establishment -- particularly those who weren't pleased that the F4 temporarily left the state of Maryland -- have been skeptical that attendance would be satisfactory in Fluffya. Many people also assume that fans of "northern" teams, with the exception of Syracuse fans, don't travel well. Please come down and help prove them wrong. Lots to do down here -- and plenty of new stuff since your last visit, I bet.[/q]

According to yesterday's New York Times, more than 36,300 tickets have been sold.