[MLax] Syracuse @ Cornell

[Tub(a)]

Cuse wins 12-11 on a missed shot where the Cuse goalie beat the Cornell player to be closest to the ball.

Very disappointing loss.

[scoop85]

observations:

1.  McMonagle had a great second period, but could not come up with that one huge save in the fourth.  I thought both goalies played well overall.

2.  It seemed that SU picked up every ground ball around mid-field -- a huge difference in the game.

3.  Perritt was the key down the stretch. He and Seibald were fantastic, and will have great battles the next few years.

4.  I don't know the stats, but we did not do terribly overall on face-offs; it just seems we rarely got the key face-off.

5.  We had a number of chances to take a two goal lead, but simply could not get over that hump.

6.  Must Cornell teams always torture me with unbearably tense games? ;-)

[redhair34]

[quote scoop85]observations:


5.  We had a number of chances to take a two goal lead, but simply could not get over that hump.

[/quote]

That was the difference.  Once we got those one goal leads, we'd have an unforced turnover or a low percentage shot.  It was a very frustrating loss.  Dare I say it felt a tad like a choke (until we came back from 2 down to tie it at 11).  On a brighter note, Seibald is an absolute phenom.

[TimV]

Two of Perit's goals came against our short stick mid who lost position with bad footwork and didn't close in and use upper bvody push-out.  Most other SU goals just great offense.:-/

[redhair34]

[quote TimV]Two of Perit's goals came against our short stick mid who lost position with bad footwork and didn't close in and use upper bvody push-out. [/quote]

Yeah that was Bush two times in a row :-(.  Usually he's pretty reliable. Peritt is incredibly quick.

[Hillel Hoffmann]

Well that sucked.

What a gutsy performance by Syracuse, damn them. With Coluccini starting to play a high level and some emergent freshmen, they are much better than their record. I didn't think Syracuse would have the conditioning to do what they did in the fourth quarter last night. Perritt had an extra burst when he needed it late, didn't he?

I thought Syracuse recreated Penn's success by keeping Mitchell and Haswell from getting the ball near the crease more than a handful of times. Sure, Boulukos and Seibald did plenty of damage with their dodging and shooting, but Cornell's not going to go all the way with an offense that's totally dependent on those two guys, formidable though they may be. You just can't count on a big percentage of those long-range bombs to go in -- nor can you count on scoring goals created by slides that happen only because one of your superstar dodgers has dodged himself onto the turf.

It's great to see such a high level of discussion for lacrosse on this forum. I second everything scoop85, TimV and redhair34 said, especially about the brilliant play of McMonagle and Seibald for Cornell and Coluccini and Perritt for Syracuse. In addition, Panarelli, who struggled in last year's Cornell-Syracuse game, was a man among boys in ground-ball situations.

Some of Cornell's defensive weaknesses were exposed a bit last night. Yevoli torched his man early in the first quarter a couple of times. Last night was the first time I've seen slides coming too late or not at all (on at least one of Perritt's huge fourth-quarter goals, for example) -- and in one mysterious case, there was an ill-advised slide from the crease that should never have happened, leaving a guy near the crease wide open. Aaaaaarrgggghhhh.

I would love a chance to play Syracuse again in the playoffs.

[atb9]

The laser by Seibold over the left shoulder of the goalie from 8 yards out to make it 3-2 at the end of the 1st was beautiful.

[billhoward]

Are there two teams wearing Cornell's lacrosse uniform? We can blow out Army 13-1 and take it to then-#2 Duke on their home turf ... and turn around and lose to lower-ranked Penn and Syracuse. Usually Cornell gets better as the season goes on. This team seems to be the opposite. What we're frittering away here is possible home field advantage and a lower-ranked opponent in the quarterfinals ... except there's always the chance if we don't win the Ivies, we might be looking at the tournament from the outside.

Princeton will be a real battle now.