Cornell lacrosse 2022

Ken711

djk26
Tougher than expected--I'll take it. Yale and Penn up next. This may be the first year I can remember that our in league games will raise our strength of schedule more than our out of league games. Ivy League is a beast this year, and it is great to see after two lost seasons.

I think playing inside because of the weather certainly didn't do Cornell any favors. Glad they won.

I had a similar thought. I've been unable to find save % on any lacrosse data site. But it seemed to me Ierlan was saving a lower % of shots than usual. I wondered if he was having some difficulty seeing the ball indoors.

BTW & FWIW, it was great that while doing my taxes I could just say, "Alexa, play WHCU!" and hear the entire game. Hopefully, tonight I'll be done with Uncle $am's pound of flesh and be able to watch tonight's game on ESPN+.

dag14
I am curious -- were any posters at the game? How much snow has fallen in State College? Are conditions horrendous? I realize that hindsight is always 20/20 but could this game have been played outdoors?

Weather Channel app says 6 inches in the past 24 hours.

Swampy

Ken711

djk26
Tougher than expected--I'll take it. Yale and Penn up next. This may be the first year I can remember that our in league games will raise our strength of schedule more than our out of league games. Ivy League is a beast this year, and it is great to see after two lost seasons.

I think playing inside because of the weather certainly didn't do Cornell any favors. Glad they won.

I had a similar thought. I've been unable to find save % on any lacrosse data site. But it seemed to me Ierlan was saving a lower % of shots than usual. I wondered if he was having some difficulty seeing the ball indoors.

BTW & FWIW, it was great that while doing my taxes I could just say, "Alexa, play WHCU!" and hear the entire game. Hopefully, tonight I'll be done with Uncle $am's pound of flesh and be able to watch tonight's game on ESPN+.

11 saves, 15 goals; Fyock stopped 16 or 17.

Parents in town who were forced to listen instead? Broadcasters? Staff members? [god forbid] players? Just askin!

Where did you all watch the game? I thought it wasn't available?

Very thankful for the win.

mike1960
Where did you all watch the game? I thought it wasn't available?

Very thankful for the win.

Didn't watch. WHCU and liveststs.

Al DeFlorio

mike1960
Where did you all watch the game? I thought it wasn't available?

Very thankful for the win.

Didn't watch. WHCU and liveststs.

Is Barry Leonard ok? That was the most muted and un-energenic end-of-game call in a squeaker. I almost felt I mistook the Q4 for Q3.

We got about 4" so far in Allentown. State College was supposed to get a bit more than us.

RichH

Al DeFlorio

mike1960
Where did you all watch the game? I thought it wasn't available?

Very thankful for the win.

Didn't watch. WHCU and liveststs.

Is Barry Leonard ok? That was the most muted and un-energenic end-of-game call in a squeaker. I almost felt I mistook the Q4 for Q3.

I didn't listen today, but Barry Leonard is solid. He has a couple of really good commentators, Howie Borkan and Tom LaFalce. I try to sync WHCU to live tv games. The only drawback is the radio feed often has long series of obnoxious commercials.

Since they were broadcasting from a practice facility, I suspect it wasn't the greatest setup. For all we know Barry could have been next to the PSU team on the sideline and may have toned it down unconsciously....

dag14
Since they were broadcasting from a practice facility, I suspect it wasn't the greatest setup. For all we know Barry could have been next to the PSU team on the sideline and may have toned it down unconsciously....

Excellent point. I was able to hear loud cheers in the background for PSU scores despite the lack of fans.

I’ve always considered Barry to be a fine broadcaster and some of my favorite lax memories of the past 20 years are played in my head with his calls.

I had a private message confirming that the "broadcast booth" was at the end of the Penn State bench.

You can see the spectators, I'm guessing most are parents on the sidelines from the photo gallery of the game.

[gopsusports.com]

Media poll 3/14/22 D1 Lacrosse
 1. Maryland (6-0) (has been #1 since week 1)
 2. Virginia (5-0)
 3. Princeton was 7 beat #3 Rutgers
 4. Cornell (5-0) no change 
 5. Georgetown
 6. Penn (2-goal loss, 3 1-goal wins)
 7. Ohio State was #10, beat #16 1-3 ND, voters forgiving them the Cornell loss?   
 8. Rutgers
 9. Army
10. NC
11. Yale
15. Brown
17. Harvard 
Also votes among NYS teams, current/past competitors: Lehigh, Syracuse, Hobart, Stony Brook, Bucknell, Penn State, even: Dartmouth.

billhoward

Media poll 3/14/22 D1 Lacrosse
 1. Maryland (6-0) (has been #1 since week 1)
 2. Virginia (5-0)
 3. Princeton was 7 beat #3 Rutgers
 4. Cornell (5-0) no change 
 5. Georgetown
 6. Penn (2-goal loss, 3 1-goal wins)
 7. Ohio State was #10, beat #16 1-3 ND, voters forgiving them the Cornell loss?   
 8. Rutgers
 9. Army
10. NC
11. Yale
15. Brown
17. Harvard 
Also votes among NYS teams, current/past competitors: Lehigh, Syracuse, Hobart, Stony Brook, Bucknell, Penn State, even: Dartmouth.

Big move up by Princeton.

Ken711

billhoward

Media poll 3/14/22 D1 Lacrosse
 1. Maryland (6-0) (has been #1 since week 1)
 2. Virginia (5-0)
 3. Princeton was 7 beat #3 Rutgers
 4. Cornell (5-0) no change 
 5. Georgetown
 6. Penn (2-goal loss, 3 1-goal wins)
 7. Ohio State was #10, beat #16 1-3 ND, voters forgiving them the Cornell loss?   
 8. Rutgers
 9. Army
10. NC
11. Yale
15. Brown
17. Harvard 
Also votes among NYS teams, current/past competitors: Lehigh, Syracuse, Hobart, Stony Brook, Bucknell, Penn State, even: Dartmouth.

Big move up by Princeton.

I'm happy enough letting Princeton take some of the spotlight. I'm only interested in where we sit at the end of the season.

scoop85

Ken711

billhoward

Media poll 3/14/22 D1 Lacrosse
 1. Maryland (6-0) (has been #1 since week 1)
 2. Virginia (5-0)
 3. Princeton was 7 beat #3 Rutgers
 4. Cornell (5-0) no change 
 5. Georgetown
 6. Penn (2-goal loss, 3 1-goal wins)
 7. Ohio State was #10, beat #16 1-3 ND, voters forgiving them the Cornell loss?   
 8. Rutgers
 9. Army
10. NC
11. Yale
15. Brown
17. Harvard 
Also votes among NYS teams, current/past competitors: Lehigh, Syracuse, Hobart, Stony Brook, Bucknell, Penn State, even: Dartmouth.

Big move up by Princeton.

I'm happy enough letting Princeton take some of the spotlight. I'm only interested in where we sit at the end of the season.

Yes, the team is playing great and improving each week. We'll settle all this ranking business on the field.

3/19/22 scores, first week of intra-Ivy competition:
Cornell 13, Yale 12
Princeton 21, Penn 20 OT
Harvard 12, Brown 11
Dartmouth 17, St. John's 12

Yale     2  3  0  7  -- 12
Cornell  4  4  3  2  -- 13 

CJ Kirst       4  0--4
Aiden Blake    3  0--3
Michael Long   0  3--3
Matt Licciardi 2  1--3

Y Jared Paquette 13GA 18SV -- 58.1%
C Chayse Ierlan  12GA 18SV -- 60.0%

A: 468 though it looked like way more than the opening-day ~384.

Cornell had the game in seeming control at the end of the three with that 11-5 lead.

This could help Yale in the polls (11th). Is Princeton's 21 goals enough to move the into third? Does it matter? Odds of any Ivy team getting through unbeaten seems tough.
Only D1 unbeatens now, I believe:
#1 Maryland beating unbeaten Virginia today 23-12 18-12 halfway through the fourth.
#2 Virginia
#3 Cornell
#17~ BU

The Ivy over-performers relative to the pre-season poll are (pre-season placement):
11 Penn
15 Cornell
HM Princeton
(Yale was 7th pre-season)

---

Pre-game comments:
First weekend of Ivy League games. #3 coaches/#4 media Cornell 5-0 hosts #11/#11 Yale 3-1, Saturday 3/19, 12 noon @ Schoellkopf Field. With hockey's early exit from the ECACs, this (and wrestling with 9 at the NCAAs) is the focus for men's sports. Yale beat Villanova by 3, lost 10-6 at Penn State, got by barely ranked UMass in OT and beat Denver on the road by 3. Yale's schedule next 3 weeks: at Cornell, home to Princeton and Penn. Then could possibly win out: BU, Dartmouth, Brown (away), Albany, Quinnipiac, Harvard. To our advantage: FOGO TD Ierlan is a year and a half gone from Yale. Also Saturday: Penn at Princeton 1 pm.

Can't hold onto the damn ball. Look panicked trying to clear.

Where is Petrakis? Can't win a faceoff or even come close.

Al DeFlorio
Can't hold onto the damn ball. Look panicked trying to clear.

Where is Petrakis? Can't win a faceoff or even come close.

Guess we won. Held on, as Yale’s comeback fell short. A 12-5 lead led to a 13-12 win for CU.

We hold on to beat Yale, 13-12. After shutting out Yale in the third quarter and building up a 12-5 lead on an 8-0 run, we collapsed and were lucky to survive. Both goalies played well, with each making 18 saves, but we lost 21 of 28 faceoffs, including all 7 in first quarter.
The bottom line is we are still undefeated, and won our first Ivy game in three years.

dbilmes
We hold on to beat Yale, 13-12. After shutting out Yale in the third quarter and building up a 12-5 lead on an 8-0 run, we collapsed and were lucky to survive. Both goalies played well, with each making 18 saves, but we lost 21 of 28 faceoffs, including all 7 in first quarter.
The bottom line is we are still undefeated, and won our first Ivy game in three years.

And beat the preseason league favorite

Does anyone understand the game well enough to explain why we are consistently below average to bad on face offs? I know they’ve tweaked the rules a bit to make it more of a team effort That fourth quarter just felt utterly hopeless.

I am not passing judgement on the Cornell coaching staff or the players involved in taking faceoffs because I know they all are working as hard as they can and are doing their best to succeed in both winning faceoffs and in winning games. And the team is consistently good at maximizing their ability to win groundballs, including in a faceoff situation. That is a statistic that the coaching staff emphasizes. That being said, I have some thoughts on why we don't have a cadre of TJ Ierlans on our roster.

I have never played lacrosse but I have been watching the game at both the high school and college level for 50 years. So those who have played, feel free to correct me if my observations don't make sense. Or if I could express them more clearly.

It seems to me that it takes a unique set of skills and perhaps a different body type to succeed as a FOGO compared to other positions. Footspeed, agility and exceptional eye/hand coordination are key in all of the other positions. Whether you have a low center of gravity and upper body strength is less important. If you look at the credentials of FOGOs in college, a lot of them wrestled in high school or played linebacker rather than wide receiver so they have been trained to grapple and use their body as much as their stick to gain control.

It also takes a certain mindset to be a FOGO since you perform one function that is not particularly glamourous and then you get off the field. You don't score many goals and playing on some high school teams, it may be that the ability to win faceoffs is not valued in quite the same way as scoring or directly preventing the other team from scoring. [As a corollary, I remember how hard it was in youth hockey to convince talented players and their parents that they should consider being defensemen since all they wanted to do was score goals].

So there are not as many great FOGOs in the recruit talent pool as there are other players. It also may be harder for a recruiter to identify which players who look good in high school are likely to make the transition to success in college given that young men mature at different speeds and in different ways. If you are physically small or "immature" in hs but have great speed and stick skills, whether you put on 50 pounds or grow 6 inches may not make the difference as to whether you become a college AA. If you weigh 130 lbs in hs and can push FOGOs around on the field won't help you if you top out at 150 lbs in college and can't improve your faceoff skills enough to make up for the advantage that a bigger, stronger guy may have in a faceoff.

It is also easier to take a good hs attackman and make him a midi or to transition an offensive midfielder to play longstick midi. If he is a good enough athlete to be recruited to a top D1 program, with the right mental incentive, he should be able to adapt to the new position. [Note Ethan Vedder -- recruited as a goalie but repurposed as a LS midi as an example]. However, the skill set that makes a good FOGO is more unique so fewer recruits who have never played the position are likely to be good candidates to make the transition.

All of this is why I think coaches may struggle to draw in good FOGOs. (1) There are not a lot of them to recruit. (2) It is harder to know which guys who were great in high school are going to adapt well to the college game. (3) If your recruits don't pan out the way you hoped, it is harder to develop a FOGO from among your other players than it is to fill other weaknesses in your lineup [except for in goal].

Our top FOGO, Petrakis, had been doing well, but was called for multiple violations in the PSU game. No video, so we didn't see what happened, but the sheer number of called violations was strongly indicative of a ref who was calling incidental movement as a violation, which should not be happening. (Inconsistency of ref calls on FO is a generally recognized issue in the sport.) This may have spooked Petrakis' timing. After him, Cornell's talent level at the position falls off.

I also agree with everything dag14 said (though I too am only a fan, never a player).

In OT: Princeton 21, Penn 20. Interesting stat from the game, more total shots (94) than ground balls (89).

arugula
Does anyone understand the game well enough to explain why we are consistently below average to bad on face offs?

You're walking into this one:
It's the system.
Yes, the rules were tweaked to make it unlikely anyone again would approach TD Ierlan's Albany-Yale-Denver career average of 75%. Then Saturday the 2022 Bulldogs won 21 of 28: 75%.
The ultimate rule change may yet be: Other team gets the ball after a goal. It has been proposed, not sure how seriously.
Or face off as in women's lacrosse?

billhoward
The ultimate rule change may yet be: Other team gets the ball after a goal. It has been proposed, not sure how seriously.

It was tried one year in the late 70s. I hope never to see it again.

CU77
Our top FOGO, Petrakis, had been doing well, but was called for multiple violations in the PSU game. No video, so we didn't see what happened, but the sheer number of called violations was strongly indicative of a ref who was calling incidental movement as a violation, which should not be happening. (Inconsistency of ref calls on FO is a generally recognized issue in the sport.) This may have spooked Petrakis' timing. After him, Cornell's talent level at the position falls off.

I also agree with everything dag14 said (though I too am only a fan, never a player).

FWIW Petrakis was a top 15 recruit his senior year of HS, and I think the 2nd ranked HS FOGO that year. He also wrestled in HS, and I think may have been a NYS runner-up in wrestling. So it’s not like we can’t recruit blue chip FOGOs. Keep in mind the FOGO rules have changed the past couple of years, so someone who excelled under the old rules may not be as successful today.

That being said, like CU77 I surmise that Petrakis may have been thrown off by last week’s multiple violation debacle at Penn State. He’s proven he can go toe-to-toe with top guys like Sissleburger and Inacio, so we can hope he bounces back fast.

"Ierlan's 18 Saves, Adler's Lockdown D, Kirst's Four Goals Lead Big Red Past Yale"
[www.insidelacrosse.com]

CU77

billhoward
The ultimate rule change may yet be: Other team gets the ball after a goal. It has been proposed, not sure how seriously.

It was tried one year in the late 70s. I hope never to see it again.

Why?
.

CU77's link to the Inside Lacrosse game story shows two Yale Men's Lacrosse tweets the and one from USA Lacrosse Mag, none from Cornell. If you search "Twitter cornell men's lacrosse" via Google, the first result is freaking Cornell College. That should not be. Maybe it's a one-day quirk, but still.

Twitter, Instagram and TikTok seem dumb to many but it's how a lot of people get their news and how HS/prep athletes track college sports programs.

Cornell's sports PR office is not overstaffed (well, nobody had to go to LP this weekend) but there are plenty of social-media savvy students who need internship credits and/or extra cash. Put them to work. They've got the bandwidth to process photos from the field or grab video clips (as Yale did).

George64

CU77

billhoward
The ultimate rule change may yet be: Other team gets the ball after a goal. It has been proposed, not sure how seriously.

It was tried one year in the late 70s. I hope never to see it again.

Why?
.

And while we're at it, bring back the 1970s OT rule that it's the score after (?) 4 minutes of OT then sudden death.

George64

CU77

billhoward
The ultimate rule change may yet be: Other team gets the ball after a goal. It has been proposed, not sure how seriously.

It was tried one year in the late 70s. I hope never to see it again.

Why?

Because it's boring, and because the face-off is one of lax's distintive features. We don't need to make every game a basketball clone.

billhoward
CU77's link to the Inside Lacrosse game story shows two Yale Men's Lacrosse tweets the and one from USA Lacrosse Mag, none from Cornell. If you search "Twitter cornell men's lacrosse" via Google, the first result is freaking Cornell College. That should not be.

Twitter, Instagram and TikTok seem dumb to many but it's how a lot of people get their news and how HS/prep athletes track college sports programs. Cornell College doesn't have a Bill & Melinda Gates Hall, we do. Make use of it.

Cornell's sports PR office is not overstaffed (well, nobody had to go to LP this weekend) but there are plenty of social-media savvy students who need internship credits and/or extra cash. Put them to work. They've got the bandwidth to process photos from the field or grab video clips (as Yale did).

Lots of schools post in-game twitter updates, Cornell does not. Not the first thing I would spend money on (where is that indoor facility???), but it does kinda suck.

CU77

billhoward
CU77's link to the Inside Lacrosse game story shows two Yale Men's Lacrosse tweets the and one from USA Lacrosse Mag, none from Cornell. If you search "Twitter cornell men's lacrosse" via Google, the first result is freaking Cornell College. That should not be.

Twitter, Instagram and TikTok seem dumb to many but it's how a lot of people get their news and how HS/prep athletes track college sports programs. Cornell College doesn't have a Bill & Melinda Gates Hall, we do. Make use of it.

Cornell's sports PR office is not overstaffed (well, nobody had to go to LP this weekend) but there are plenty of social-media savvy students who need internship credits and/or extra cash. Put them to work. They've got the bandwidth to process photos from the field or grab video clips (as Yale did).

Lots of schools post in-game twitter updates, Cornell does not. Not the first thing I would spend money on (where is that indoor facility???), but it does kinda suck.

Cornell tweets in-game updates for all sports from one account. This is todays MLAX thread, though it’s a bit sparse. (Some teams also do updates from the main accounts.)

🚨 GAMEDAY! #YellCornell 🚨

#3 @CornellLacrosse

🆚 #11 Yale
🏟 Schoellkopf Field
⏰ 12 p.m.
📺 [t.co]
📻 WHCU ([t.co])
📈 [t.co]
📃 [t.co]

(📸: Ryan Griffith & Eldon Lindsay/Cornell Athletics) pic.twitter.com/Mswokf8HUf

— CornellSportsGameday (@CUBigRedGameday) March 19, 2022

?s=21

CU77

billhoward
CU77's link to the Inside Lacrosse game story shows two Yale Men's Lacrosse tweets the and one from USA Lacrosse Mag, none from Cornell. If you search "Twitter cornell men's lacrosse" via Google, the first result is freaking Cornell College. That should not be.

Twitter, Instagram and TikTok seem dumb to many but it's how a lot of people get their news and how HS/prep athletes track college sports programs. Cornell College doesn't have a Bill & Melinda Gates Hall, we do. Make use of it.

Cornell's sports PR office is not overstaffed (well, nobody had to go to LP this weekend) but there are plenty of social-media savvy students who need internship credits and/or extra cash. Put them to work. They've got the bandwidth to process photos from the field or grab video clips (as Yale did).

Lots of schools post in-game twitter updates, Cornell does not. Not the first thing I would spend money on (where is that indoor facility???), but it does kinda suck.

A sentence from the Cornell athletic statement on Andy Noel's retirement and accomplishments.

In the past quarter century, Noel has successfully upgraded a number of department facilities including the renovations of Schoellkopf Hall, Lynah Rink, the Cornell Rowing Center, Hoy Field, Niemand*Robison Field and the Friedman Wrestling Center. He led the charge to build the Merrill Family Sailing Center, Marsha Dodson Field and the Noyes Fitness Center, and he was at the helm as Outdoor Education completed a massive transformation of the Lindseth Climbing Wall, a signature achievement for the entire campus. Noel has recently closed in on finishing a fundraising campaign toward a field house to be constructed on the university's central campus. Many other transformative projects took flight under his leadership – included among them the creation of McGovern Fields, installation of synthetic fields at Schoellkopf and Hoy Fields, scores of office and locker room enhancements, and the resurfacing of the Barton Hall track and scoreboard.

Interesting tidbit from that sentence is the site location..."constructed on the university's central campus". I assume that means it won't be built at the Game Farm Rd complex where the new baseball field is going.

Cornell ministry of information
closed in on finishing a fundraising campaign toward a field house...

That sounds good. Better if you don't count the qualifiers. I'm sure it will happen (the fundraising part), but when? And how big -- will it be big enough for a full-field scrimmage, which means ~130 yards long? And high enough to allow for the occasional snowy February game? Let's hope this isn't an 85% solution.

Weder
Cornell tweets in-game updates for all sports from one account.

Never heard of it. It's never been re-tweeted by the lax team account AFAIK. And it had exactly one in-game update today, with nothing more than a score; no video clips (which is what tweets are good for, scores we get from Live Stats).

As Donald Trump would say: Sad!

bball had a jump ball after every score for 50 years.. that doesnt seem to have hurt the sport to get rid of it..

upprdeck
bball had a jump ball after every score for 50 years.. that doesnt seem to have hurt the sport to get rid of it..

Go back further, the ball was thrown into a backboard-mounted peach basket and had to be retrieved. I worked with a reporter assigned to cover the Tip-Off Classic (college) in Springfield, Mass., and she conflated then and now and wrote that because it was a special game, TOC would be played with peach baskets. (That was caught by copy editors, fortunately.) She interviewed honorary tournament chair Bob Cousy, called him Mister Couszeny and at the interview's end, asked him to relate his relationship to basketball in Massachusetts. Sometimes I weep for the profession.

CU77

George64

CU77

billhoward
The ultimate rule change may yet be: Other team gets the ball after a goal. It has been proposed, not sure how seriously.

It was tried one year in the late 70s. I hope never to see it again.

Why?

Because it's boring, and because the face-off is one of lax's distintive features. We don't need to make every game a basketball clone.

In certain sports, the need for a specialized player is unavoidable (hockey goalie, football placekicker, baseball pitcher), but in lacrosse the outsized importance of the FOGO is easily remedied — give the ball to the scored-on team behind their goal. They still have to effectively clear and that is not a given (Cornell was 15 for 25). Should a FOGO who wins three quarters of the face-offs determine the outcome of a game? I think not. Fortunately, on Saturday afternoon, it didn’t, but it was close.
.

George64

CU77

George64

CU77

billhoward
The ultimate rule change may yet be: Other team gets the ball after a goal. It has been proposed, not sure how seriously.

It was tried one year in the late 70s. I hope never to see it again.

Why?

Because it's boring, and because the face-off is one of lax's distintive features. We don't need to make every game a basketball clone.

In certain sports, the need for a specialized player is unavoidable (hockey goalie, football placekicker, baseball pitcher), but in lacrosse the outsized importance of the FOGO is easily remedied — give the ball to the scored-on team behind their goal. They still have to effectively clear and that is not a given (Cornell was 15 for 25). Should a FOGO who wins three quarters of the face-offs determine the outcome of a game? I think not. Fortunately, on Saturday afternoon, it didn’t, but it was close.
.

Furthermore, suppose Yale had tied the game, sending it into “sudden victory” OT. Very likely, the face off would have gone to Yale and we’d be 5-1, rather than 6-0. Need to change lax OT, too, while we’re at it.
.

George64

CU77

George64

CU77

billhoward
The ultimate rule change may yet be: Other team gets the ball after a goal. It has been proposed, not sure how seriously.

It was tried one year in the late 70s. I hope never to see it again.

Why?

Because it's boring, and because the face-off is one of lax's distintive features. We don't need to make every game a basketball clone.

In certain sports, the need for a specialized player is unavoidable (hockey goalie, football placekicker, baseball pitcher), but in lacrosse the outsized importance of the FOGO is easily remedied — give the ball to the scored-on team behind their goal. They still have to effectively clear and that is not a given (Cornell was 15 for 25). Should a FOGO who wins three quarters of the face-offs determine the outcome of a game? I think not. Fortunately, on Saturday afternoon, it didn’t, but it was close.
.

if you want to keep the faceoff i think a better remedy is to limit the GO not the FO by having a minimum time on the field after the faceoff. if your FOGO is a liability in the regular flow of the game you'll see the position drift a little towards all-purpose play.

George64

George64

CU77

George64

CU77

billhoward
The ultimate rule change may yet be: Other team gets the ball after a goal. It has been proposed, not sure how seriously.

It was tried one year in the late 70s. I hope never to see it again.

Why?

Because it's boring, and because the face-off is one of lax's distintive features. We don't need to make every game a basketball clone.

In certain sports, the need for a specialized player is unavoidable (hockey goalie, football placekicker, baseball pitcher), but in lacrosse the outsized importance of the FOGO is easily remedied — give the ball to the scored-on team behind their goal. They still have to effectively clear and that is not a given (Cornell was 15 for 25). Should a FOGO who wins three quarters of the face-offs determine the outcome of a game? I think not. Fortunately, on Saturday afternoon, it didn’t, but it was close.
.

Furthermore, suppose Yale had tied the game, sending it into “sudden victory” OT. Very likely, the face off would have gone to Yale and we’d be 5-1, rather than 6-0. Need to change lax OT, too, while we’re at it.
.

i have no problem with SV in lax. want the ball? win the faceoff or get a turnover.

ugarte

George64

George64

CU77

George64

CU77

billhoward
The ultimate rule change may yet be: Other team gets the ball after a goal. It has been proposed, not sure how seriously.

It was tried one year in the late 70s. I hope never to see it again.

Why?

Because it's boring, and because the face-off is one of lax's distintive features. We don't need to make every game a basketball clone.

In certain sports, the need for a specialized player is unavoidable (hockey goalie, football placekicker, baseball pitcher), but in lacrosse the outsized importance of the FOGO is easily remedied — give the ball to the scored-on team behind their goal. They still have to effectively clear and that is not a given (Cornell was 15 for 25). Should a FOGO who wins three quarters of the face-offs determine the outcome of a game? I think not. Fortunately, on Saturday afternoon, it didn’t, but it was close.
.

Furthermore, suppose Yale had tied the game, sending it into “sudden victory” OT. Very likely, the face off would have gone to Yale and we’d be 5-1, rather than 6-0. Need to change lax OT, too, while we’re at it.
.

i have no problem with SV in lax. want the ball? win the faceoff or get a turnover.

Really disagree. Too easy to score a goal in lacrosse. Why not have SV in basketball then? Win the tip or get a turnover. SV makes sense in sports where scores are hard to come by, like hockey or even soccer.

CU77

billhoward
The ultimate rule change may yet be: Other team gets the ball after a goal. It has been proposed, not sure how seriously.

It was tried one year in the late 70s. I hope never to see it again.

It was '79, My freshman year.

I vividly remember "1...2...3...4! We want more...faceoffs!"

And I agree. Don't eliminate the faceoff.

CU77

billhoward
The ultimate rule change may yet be: Other team gets the ball after a goal. It has been proposed, not sure how seriously.

It was tried one year in the late 70s. I hope never to see it again.

As a casual lacrosse fan, I hate the current faceoff rule. It feels terribly unfair for one position to have such a massive role in determining the outcome, especially when that position is so divorced from everything else going on in the game. It’s also very unfun to watch a game where the team you are rooting for receives many fewer possessions than its opponent. I’d prefer the team that got scored on to get the ball. The idea about having to start from behind your own goal is interesting.

if a guy takes a FO they he doesnt leave the field until the ball does or the other team gets it back. pretty simple.

Why do "casual fans" want to turn every sport into basketball? If you like basketball, there's no shortage, go watch basketball! Me, I hate basketball and always have. Most boring sport on the planet.

CU77
Why do "casual fans" want to turn every sport into basketball? If you like basketball, there's no shortage, go watch basketball! Me, I hate basketball and always have. Most boring sport on the planet.

It's not even the casual fans, it's the media and marketing morons who consult on these things, because they lack any imagination and can only cover things one way.

cf. elections

George64
Furthermore, suppose Yale had tied the game, sending it into “sudden victory” OT. Very likely, the face off would have gone to Yale and we’d be 5-1, rather than 6-0. Need to change lax OT, too, while we’re at it.

Need to restore lax to the initial rule for overtime: team with more goals in 4 minutes of extra play wins, then sudden death. The 1976 championship, Maryland-Cornell, was 12-12 at the end of regulation and Cornell won the overtime 4-1 but Maryland would have won under the present rules.

Basketball may be the sport that requires the most skill. Height helps.

Is FOGO most analogous to placekicker? Short-relief pitching? Baseball has a three-batter minimum before a specialty reliever can be relieved.

CU77
Why do "casual fans" want to turn every sport into basketball? If you like basketball, there's no shortage, go watch basketball! Me, I hate basketball and always have. Most boring sport on the planet.

It’s not just basketball, it’s practically every other sport (football, baseball, tennis, …) that alternates possession. Lacrosse is the exception.

billhoward
Basketball may be the sport that requires the most skill. Height helps.

Not since they stopped spinning the ball on their finger.

Put ball through ring, then repeat 100 times. Yawn.

BearLover

CU77
Why do "casual fans" want to turn every sport into basketball? If you like basketball, there's no shortage, go watch basketball! Me, I hate basketball and always have. Most boring sport on the planet.

It’s not just basketball, it’s practically every other sport (football, baseball, tennis, …) that alternates possession. Lacrosse is the exception.

And hockey...

David Harding

BearLover

CU77
Why do "casual fans" want to turn every sport into basketball? If you like basketball, there's no shortage, go watch basketball! Me, I hate basketball and always have. Most boring sport on the planet.

It’s not just basketball, it’s practically every other sport (football, baseball, tennis, …) that alternates possession. Lacrosse is the exception.

And hockey...

True, but in hockey the puck is turned over or up for grabs every 30 seconds or so, and there are about four goals per game.

BearLover
True, but in hockey the puck is turned over or up for grabs every 30 seconds or so, and there are about four goals per game.

Sometimes there are 4 goals in 6 minutes. 
12/4/2021, Potsdam 
Cornell	        1	1	2	0	0  --	4
Clarkson	0	0	4	0	0  --	4

Clarkson, third period
14:43
17:07
18:27
19:58.8

I don’t follow lacrosse especially closely but see we are 6-0. What type of record would we need to get an at large to the NCAA should we fall short in the Ivy Tourney?

NCAA Faceoff stats 3/21/22

We are 40th of 72 teams, .008 behind Yale, who is 35th (even with the big day against us) and .023 AHEAD of Princeton (who looks to me like the best team in the league) Penn, Harvard, and Brown. Top team in Ivies for faceoff % is... Dartmouth?! Even with being dominated last game. Petraikis was an excellent recruit, as was Psyllos as a fo specialist. Sometimes one guy, in one game, just has the other guy's number. Where we need to improve is wing play - our wings were repeatedly boxed out. It's a problem with the unit, not the individual. And in spite of this, our defense was good enough to defeat a faceoff loss to get the ball back often, and our offense scored enough to stay ahead. Halftime score was C 8 Y 5 while we were losing FOs by 11-3 including violations. We'll be all right, especially if we get better wing play.

I did think a time out should have been called when Yale scored 4 in a row to make it 9-12.

CU2007
I don’t follow lacrosse especially closely but see we are 6-0. What type of record would we need to get an at large to the NCAA should we fall short in the Ivy Tourney?

If Cornell does not win the Ivy League tournament, it has to be one of the seven best teams not selected. The D1 tournament has 16 spots. Nine teams are in leagues with automatic qualifiers. That leaves 64 other teams (men's D1 has ~73 teams) vying for those nine spots.

These are the NCAA recent selection criteria; there may be some tweaks for 2022. [www.ncaa.com]

NCAA
DIVISION I SELECTION CRITERIA:
The committee will utilize the following criteria to select and seed teams:
• Strength of schedule index.
• Results of the RPI.
- Record against ranked teams 1-5; 6-10; 11-15; 16-20; 21+
- Average RPI win (average RPI of all wins)
- Average RPI loss (average RPI of all losses)
• Head-to-head competition:
- Results versus common opponents.
- Significant wins and losses (wins against teams ranked higher in the RPI and losses against teams ranked lower in the RPI).
- Locations of contests.
• Input from the regional advisory committee (comprised of lacrosse coashes from all AQ conferences).

... the Division I Men’s Lacrosse Committee will select and seed the top eight teams for the Division I Championship. The top eight teams will be seeded and separated in the bracket; the remaining eight teams will be placed geographically, without compromising the integrity of the bracket.

I believe that last part means teams 9-16 can be placed so a team that draws well might be closer to home.

Polls 3/21/22 (week 6) [www.insidelacrosse.com]
Media poll
1. Maryland
2. Princeton (was 3)
3. Viginia (was 2)
4. Cornell no change
5. Georgetown
...
6. Penn (loses by 1 goal to Princeton, no change)
14. Yale (loses by 1 goal to Cornell, -3)
15. Harvard
17. Brown

USILA Poll [usila.org]
1. Maryland
2. Virginia <-- gets beat bad, doesn't drop
3. Princeton <-- wins by 1 goal, in OT, moves up 1
4. Cornell <-- wins by 1 goal, moves down 1
5. Georgetown
...
7. Penn -1
11. Yale n/c
15. Harvard +4
17. Brown -4
HM also receiving votes includes Syracuse.

Recall that in those fabulous Harkness/Moran years late 1960s and 1970s, before the first, 1971, tournament, wasn't it the USILA voters that couldn't manage to vote Cornell into the top spot? Always a southern school that came out #1. Okay, that was way back. Joplin and Hendrix were still alive. Karen Carpenter, too. She could sing, but the lyrics.

Also, Inside Lacrosse writer Terry Foy's Top 20: [www.insidelacrosse.com]
Terry Foy Top 20
1. Maryland '
2. Princeton (" Princeton’s win over Georgetown is more impressive than the best win on Virginia’s resume (at North Carolina.)
3. North Carolina
4. Georgetown
5. Cornell ("CJ Kirst, Aiden Blake and Gavin Adler could all be in the running for the Player of the Year awards at their respective positions. (Of course Kirst isn’t going to surpass the dozen or so No. 1 attackmen ahead of him in vying for that award right now, but he’s averaging nearly five points per game and, with just six career games under his belt, figures to improve at a faster rate than all of his upperclassmen peers).)"
...
6. Penn
9. Harvard ("Harvard is playing with grit, which is not something that’s been said very often about the Crimson over the last decade."
16. Yale
17. Brown

billhoward

BearLover
True, but in hockey the puck is turned over or up for grabs every 30 seconds or so, and there are about four goals per game.

Sometimes there are 4 goals in 6 minutes. 
12/4/2021, Potsdam 
Cornell	        1	1	2	0	0  --	4
Clarkson	0	0	4	0	0  --	4

Clarkson, third period
14:43
17:07
18:27
19:58.8

That's another game that didn't happen.

OK, riddle me this. USILA poll has us at number 3 last week. We beat a good, ranked Yale team and ...drop in the polls. No respect for this team yet, despite a reasonably tough schedule. Need to beat Penn Saturday.

arugula
OK, riddle me this. USILA poll has us at number 3 last week. We beat a good, ranked Yale team and ...drop in the polls. No respect for this team yet, despite a reasonably tough schedule. Need to beat Penn Saturday.

without doing any research... probably because we nearly collapsed against yale and we keep winning close games?

upprdeck
if a guy takes a FO they he doesnt leave the field until the ball does or the other team gets it back. pretty simple.

Personally, I'd like to see a return to c. <1970's when midfielders played two ways. One reason the FOGOs can GO is they're joining the crowd to switch midfielders offense -> defense and vice versa. Back in the old days, a player who took face offs also played a regular shift immediately afterward.

Of course, back then the field was always uphill, both ways!

billhoward

CU2007
I don’t follow lacrosse especially closely but see we are 6-0. What type of record would we need to get an at large to the NCAA should we fall short in the Ivy Tourney?

If Cornell does not win the Ivy League tournament, it has to be one of the seven best teams not selected. The D1 tournament has 16 spots. Nine teams are in leagues with automatic qualifiers. That leaves 64 other teams (men's D1 has ~73 teams) vying for those nine spots.

Some corrections: there are now 10 leagues, the ASUN was added this year. There will be 2 play-in games among the bottom 4 (as ranked by the selection committee) of the 10 league champions. There will be 8 at-large selections, chosen by the committee from teams that did not win their league's tournament. Note that the ACC (UVa, Cuse, Duke, UNC, ND) is NOT one of the 10 leagues that gets an autobid, because they do not have the minimum of 6 teams.

lacrossereference.com currently gives Cornell a 95%+ chance of getting into the NCAA tournament (either as Ivy Tournament Champ or as an at-large).

Cornell will be favored against all remaining opponents except Penn and Princeton, both away games. Lose both of those, and lose again to one of them in the Ivy first round, and Cornell MIGHT be out, even with wins in all other games. Losing to Cuse in the Dome is also a distinct possibility, as well as blowing a home game the team should win against Army or Brown or Harvard.

tl;dr: probably in with 3 or fewer losses, might be in or out with 4, very likely out with 5.

Oscar Wilde
The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable.

Unbeaten #12 BU (6-0) plays at #17 Harvard (4-1) tonight 7 pm. Sort of a one-game Beanpot of Lax (BC and Northeastern doing not much with Canada's other sport). Cantabs led 5-4 at the half, built a 4-goal lead midway through the fourth, final 13-10.

So the top 20 is down to two unbeatens, Maryland and Cornell, and five one-loss teams. BU's wins of 5-12 goals over UMass, Colgate (18-6), Bucknell looked good at the time; now only Bucknell is even in the "also receivng votes" category. Reality may set in the rest of the way with games against Yale, Princeton, Loyola, Lehigh and Army.

Another midweek game 3/22, Dartmouth sports PR headline reads, "Dartmouth Has Strong First Half in Loss to No. 9 Ohio State." Per the box score Tuesday night:

Dartmouth   4  2   0  0  --  6
Ohio State  4  2   5  1  -- 12

Trivia: Duke is 8-3. No other top 20 team has played more than 9.

billhoward

Oscar Wilde
The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable.

Unbeaten BU plays at Harvard tonight 7 pm. Sort of a one-game Beanpot of Lax with BC and Northeastern doing not much with Canada's other sport. Cantabs 5-4 at the half.

Now 12-9 Harvard; OSU 12, Dartmouth 6 in the 4th

Back from vacation and saw the replay of the Yale game. I thought Cornell played well against a very good Yale team. It was a game of runs. Cornell surged ahead, and Yale made a last-minute push. Our offense found lots of opportunities to score against some seriously strong Yale defenders. Overall, Yale did look physically stronger than Cornell. Maybe more time in the weight room? They physically knocked our players off the ball a few times.

It's a little worrying that in the first few minutes we couldn't clear the ball. Yale doubled the ball and caused all kinds of problems, at times later in the game as well.

Of course, the main problem for us in this game is the faceoff. We've done a pretty good job in the past few games, but this game we were just dominated 21-7.

On the plus side, Chayse made some awesome saves. CJ had another great game, and Aiden Blake is a sharpshooter from outside. The team looks in rhythm with Mikey Long at X. This weekend should be another good one.

Cornell 6-1, 1-1    1  3  4  3  –  11
Penn    4-2, 1-1    3  6  3  3  –  15 

Cornell
Michael Long   2-3--5
CJ Kirst       3-2--5
John Piatelli  4-0--4
Chase Ierlan   15GA 12SV .444

Penn
Sam Handley    3-3--6
Dylan Gergar   1-4--5 
P Burckinshaw  11GA 15SV .570

Cornell got within 3 late in the third, Penn opened a six-goal lead, 14-8, in the first 3-1/2 minutes of the fourth, Cornell got 3 of the 4 goals scored in the last 5 minutes to make it sort-of respectable, 15-11.

Stats that hurt Cornell:
Clobbered on faceoffs, Penn 21x30
Almost doubled on ground balls, Penn 46-24

Stats that helped or didn't hurt Cornell:
Clears: Cornell 18x21 vs. 19x24
Turnovers: Cornell 14, Penn 20
Shots on goal: Penn 27-26 (shots at goal, Penn 52-42)
Man-up: Cornell 3x5, Penn 2x3 (2 Cornell EMO goals were last 5 minutes)

---

#3 (USILA) 1 pm 3/26 at #7 Penn. Which Penn looked really good in a 22-21 loss at Princeton last week. Penn senior Sam Handley #26 had 3-4-4-3 points in the first four games then 3-8-11 at Princeton. Despite Cornell's higher ranking, this seems like a toss-up. One thing in Cornell's favor is when CJ Kirst got shut down a bit on attack, John Piatelli more than took up the slack. And Cornell can't go just 25% on faceoffs two weeks in a row, can we?

Not going to be easy. Penn gets an early goal in the first minute. Then scoreless the next 10 minutes of the first . Which means Cornell is playing good D, too. CJ Kirst finally ties game 11-1/2 minutes in. Two more Penn scores, 3-1 Penn end of first period.

Q2: Penn dominates faceoffs, slowly adds to the lead. Penn Sam Handley is the real deal, 5 points so far. Both goalies look good. Easier to score off fast breaks, both teams, before the defenses set up. Cornell gets margin down to 7-4 with 2:15 to play. Halftime: Penn 9-4. Ouch.

Q3: Penn may get to 20 two weeks in a row. Unlike Princeton last week, we may not hit 21. 11-4 five minutes in, correction, 11-6 5:50 in. A breath of life returns. 11-7 midway through the period. 11-8 with 4:00 to play off Kirst's third goal. Cornell getting a little more physical. Penn scoreless for almost 10 minutes, goal in the last minute, period ends: Penn 12-8. Could have been 11-9. #CouldHaveBeen


Q4: Coulda been 11-9 is now 14-8 Penn, 3-1/2 minutes in. Cornell now needs six in the last 8 minutes. Just keep winning faceoffs and ... Cornell got 3 of the quarters 7 faceoffs but too late. Cornell gets 3 goals in the final five to make the final score 15-11.

Burkinshaw stoning us close-in. Losing faceoffs.

Penn is playing absolutely outstanding defense. They are aggressively sliding and being in the right positions.

Looks like Cornell will be trying to find cutters on offense. Let's hope it works.

Defensive lapses. That's twice we left a shooter alone in front of the goal.

Losing ground balls and faceoffs. Just an awful half.

Penn was 21-19 on faceoffs against Princeton. 11-2 against us today so far. I ask again, why are we consistently terrible at the x. Everything else is good and it’s all being undermined by the x. A shame to have one aspect ruin everything. Down 9-4 and could be worse but for Ierlan.

Some astute lady sitting near me mentioned how Cornell can't win a face-off. Penn's defense aside, that's a huge difference right now

arugula
Penn was 21-19 on faceoffs against Princeton. 11-2 against us today so far. I ask again, why are we consistently terrible at the x. Everything else is good and it’s all being undermined by the x. A shame to have one aspect ruin everything. Down 9-4 and could be worse but for Ierlan.

The FOGO position is a mess. Not only do we consistently lose cleanly, we also lose when we manage to fight for the ball and our wing play lets us down. Worse, with all the procedure penalties, the FOGO position is creating man-down situations.

Cornell will make a run in the second half, but without some faceoff wins, it's hard to see how we take home a W today.

Yes. That’s so frustrating too when the fogo fights to a draw and we don’t get to the ground balls. Strange that coach to coach it’s the same problem.

Our defense is going to really have to step up for us to have any chance at all.

Great D.

Unfortunately, if Blake's injury was as bad as it looked, I think it's a pretty significant downgrade of the ultimate ceiling of this team.

semsox
Unfortunately, if Blake's injury was as bad as it looked, I think it's a pretty significant downgrade of the ultimate ceiling of this team.

Quite right. We don’t have the evident depth to overcome the loss of one of our top 2 middies. Just the worst thing in what has been an awfully rough day.

Tough loss. But a loss can be useful to motivate guys to work harder and be better for the final stretch.

mike1960
Tough loss. But a loss can be useful to motivate guys to work harder and be better for the last stretch.

True, but if Blake is gone for a long time or the season, all that may not really matter.

scoop85

mike1960
Tough loss. But a loss can be useful to motivate guys to work harder and be better for the last stretch.

True, but if Blake is gone for a long time or the season, all that may not really matter.

He couldn't put weight on it, so it doesn't look good. We'll see. But it's next man up. Wirtheim is playing well.

Few thought Cornell would be this good this year. Maybe they improve a little more going forward.

mike1960

scoop85

mike1960
Tough loss. But a loss can be useful to motivate guys to work harder and be better for the last stretch.

True, but if Blake is gone for a long time or the season, all that may not really matter.

He couldn't put weight on it, so it doesn't look good. We'll see. But it's next man up. Wirtheim is playing well.

Few thought Cornell would be this good this year. Maybe they improve a little more going forward.

Overall I’m thrilled with how the season has gone, and we’ve beaten some really good teams. But the injuries may be catching up with us, and we’ll need some guys to step in and elevate their game. And we need to do a better job on ground balls, which historically has been a strength.

The whole league is looking remarkably good, particularly when you consider how mostly bad Ivy hockey was this year. Optimistic outlook: First loss in three years.

A post on FanLax mentioned it looked like Blake collided with a Penn player and/or had his foot stepped on. Given he was putting no weight on his leg, it would seem best case scenario is a high ankle sprain, which would likely be several weeks. Hope we're all wrong and he's back in just a few weeks.

arugula
I ask again, why are we consistently terrible at the x.

Bad luck. Petrakis was very good at the start of the season, in the top 10 in opponent-adjusted ranking by lacrossereference.com. Then the PSU game happened with a quick whistle on FO violations, and he hasn't been the same since. Petrakis was a top FOGO in HS on LI. Senior Tim Graham, who was FOGO for the Australian national team and held his own at the world championships, is injured. That's the way it goes. It's not like the coaches forgot to recruit any FOGOs.

FWIW, Yale beat Princeton. So any given Sunday Saturday, right?

Also, I was watching some of the Syracuse-Duke game today. The announcers said that the Ivies could send as many as five teams to the NCAA's.

With Blake and Lombardi out we need to see if some of the underclassman can step up. There are about 50 on the roster-correct? Was watching the Yale-Princeton game and noted that Shay, the Yale coach, was gradually putting some first year players out there, Concerning faceoffs I believe the rules makers goal is to create 50/50 balls with more wing play but what we are seeing is that no matter how the f/o rules are tweaked some guys find a way to dominate.

rss77
With Blake and Lombardi out we need to see if some of the underclassman can step up. There are about 50 on the roster-correct? Was watching the Yale-Princeton game and noted that Shay, the Yale coach, was gradually putting some first year players out there, Concerning faceoffs I believe the rules makers goal is to create 50/50 balls with more wing play but what we are seeing is that no matter how the f/o rules are tweaked some guys find a way to dominate.

Unlike hockey, where GK is the most important position, modern lacrosse has two key specialist positions: GK & FOGO. Lots of hockey teams have dedicated goalie coaches; IMHO, a top lacrosse team needs two specialized coaches: goalie & FOGO. While any good coach who's played lacrosse can coach things like ground balls & clears, I think only former GKs & FOGOs can give the special insight these positions demand.

Who are Cornell's GK & FOGO coaches?

No surprise, the first loss cost Cornell 3 spots in the D1 media poll for March 28. Maryland remains #1. Three of the four top 20 teams are also in the basketball final four: UNC, Duke, Villanova. (St. Peter's has no varsity lax team.)

Media poll 3/28/22
1.  Maryland
2.  Virginia +1 positions (didn't take them long to bounce back from their loss) 
3.  Georgetown +2
4.  Penn +2
5.  Rutgers +2
6.  Princeton -4 (lost to Yale)
7.  Cornell -3
8.  Yale +6  
9.  North Carolina  --
10. Harvard +5  Gave BU its first loss, beat Dartmouth (1 win above .500), the one unranked Ivy team
16. Duke 
19. Villanova 
Also got votes: Brown et al
Also didn't get votes (so why was the Cornell game so close?): Penn State

Quint Kessenich also has Cornell 7th at [laxallstars.com] – I believe he's used "snow bank wins" before which contrasts to the Cornell teams in the era of just before and during the national championships era: an early loss then unbeaten or one more loss the rest of the way.

Quint Kessenich, Lax All Stars
The Big Red dropped a league game to Penn this weekend and appear to be leaking oil with injuries and a lack of reinforcements. Big games are played with leaves on the trees. Snow bank wins mean very little in May. They tried to play catch up against the Quakers and came up short. Maryland is now the only undefeated team in men’s D1 lacrosse. John Piatelli scored four times and CJ Kirst finished with five points. Gavin Adler, a senior defender from Hewlett, Long Island, continues to flash and play his way into the discussion for top defender honors. Adler, Virginia’s Cole Kastner, and Georgetown’s Will Bowen would be my tip trio right now.

Cornell faces Colgate on Tuesday night and are at Dartmouth on Saturday. Big Red still have future dates with top caliber squads Harvard, Syracuse, Army, Brown, and Princeton. Time to get healthy and find a second wind.

billhoward
No surprise, the first loss cost Cornell 3 spots in the D1 media poll for March 28. Maryland remains #1. Three of the four top 20 teams are also in the basketball final four: UNC, Duke, Villanova. (St. Peter's has no varsity lax team.)

Media poll 3/28/22
1.  Maryland
2.  Virginia +1 positions (didn't take them long to bounce back from their loss) 
3.  Georgetown +2
4.  Penn +2
5.  Rutgers +2
6.  Princeton -4 (lost to Yale)
7.  Cornell -3
8.  Yale +6  
9.  North Carolina  --
10. Harvard +5  Gave BU its first loss, beat Dartmouth (1 win above .500), the one unranked Ivy team
16. Duke 
19. Villanova 
Also got votes: Brown et al
Also didn't get votes (so why was the Cornell game so close?): Penn State 

5 Ivy schools in the top 10.

Ken711
5 Ivy schools in the top 10.

Becoming the quintessential Ivy League sport along with crew and (horse) polo.

Read The Atlantic's 2020 story on the mad race by upscale families to get their kid into a sport that gives the kid a leg up on admission to a high-end school. The story has been discredited by The Atlantic for a number of reasons including the author's too-close involvement in the story. But it's still up there on the site. [www.theatlantic.com]

There's a breathtaking section where a group of Connecticut Gold Coast parents with kids playing HS lax talked, apparently seriously, of getting Stanford to start a varsity lacrosse program, they'd endow the sport and their kids would get into Stanford to be founding student-athletes.

One of the things that tripped up author Ruth S. Barrett was the story's assertion that at least one family had put up a back-yard "Olympic size" outdoor rink for the kids to pursue hockey, apparently the fact checkers not realizing that few homes in Fairfield County had room for a 200 x 85 surface and few neighbors would let a zoning variance like that go through.

billhoward
No surprise, the first loss cost Cornell 3 spots in the D1 media poll for March 28. Maryland remains #1. Three of the four top 20 teams are also in the basketball final four: UNC, Duke, Villanova. (St. Peter's has no varsity lax team.)

Media poll 3/28/22
1.  Maryland
2.  Virginia +1 positions (didn't take them long to bounce back from their loss) 
3.  Georgetown +2
4.  Penn +2
5.  Rutgers +2
6.  Princeton -4 (lost to Yale)
7.  Cornell -3
8.  Yale +6  
9.  North Carolina  --
10. Harvard +5  Gave BU its first loss, beat Dartmouth (1 win above .500), the one unranked Ivy team
16. Duke 
19. Villanova 
Also got votes: Brown et al
Also didn't get votes (so why was the Cornell game so close?): Penn State 

Cornell should be favored in the rest of the games this year until (and perhaps even then) the final game against Princeton. So we may not win them all, but we should have a decent record for a bid to the tournament.

Syracuse is the one I really want the team to win. It's a tough task: They play on a Monday with a rest of only two days after playing a very good Harvard team.