2019 McDonogh

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2019 McDonogh

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Big pick-up for Loyola. McDonogh middy, Blake Cunneen, is staying in Baltimore.
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Re: 2019 McDonogh

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Ellie Eisner going to Columbia.
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Re: 2019 McDonogh

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I see McDonogh is playing at Manhasset on April 6. Yes, the Eagles are finally travelling up to the Island. Whether that is because the streak has now been broken (as some former LaxPower posters prognosticated) or because there is a new head coach who for the first time this year can set the team's schedule (I assume last year's schedule had already been set when Chris Robinson departed in January 2018), kudos to McDonogh for making the trip north.
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Re: 2019 McDonogh

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njbill wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 12:36 pmI see McDonogh is playing at Manhasset on April 6.... kudos to McDonogh for making the trip north.
That is awesome.
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Re: 2019 McDonogh

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I thought McDonogh opened their season today. I guess not. Looks like the 14th.
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Re: 2019 McDonogh

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McDonogh vs. Manhassett tomorrow, right?
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Re: 2019 McDonogh

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Yup. 11 a.m. I plan on attending.
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Re: 2019 McDonogh

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McDonogh 8 Manhasset 7. Final.
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Re: 2019 McDonogh

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This was an historic game. Not only had McDonogh never traveled to the Island, but the Eagles had never even gone north of the Mason-Dixon line. They have played Island teams before (Farmingdale, St. Anthony’s, Garden City, Hauppauge, though never Manhasset), but all of those games were at home or at the nearby field of one of their fellow IAAM teams (St. Paul’s). I guess all it took was having their winning streak broken and getting a new coach. Big credit to first year head coach Taylor Cummings for agreeing to this game in Manhasset. Hopefully, the Indians will return the favor next year.

Huge crowd which largely favored the Indians, of course. McD’s parents had their own bus so the Eagles were well represented. Love the Manhasset venue, except for those dratted Long Island nets which impair spectator viewing. Nice to see so many young girls (and future lacrosse stars!) at the game, not that they watched much of it (too busy chatting with friends, etc. 😊)

This was the first time I’d seen McDonogh this year. I usually see them at least once, and sometimes as many as five times during the course of a season. This does not look like one of the stronger Eagle squads. No true superstars (well, except the one now coaching) and no stud draw taker. That’s not to say this isn’t a good team; they are an excellent team, just not one of the better McD teams. I think I’ve only seen Manhasset twice before, and not for a few years.

Manhasset scored first at 23:21, but then there was no scoring for eleven minutes. After the Indians doubled their lead at 12:11, the Eagles called a time out. They got on the board at 10:52, but Manhasset responded a couple of minutes later to retake their two goal lead. McD then poured in three in a row to take their first lead of the day, 4-3, at 3:03. The Indians scored with 1:28 to go, and the game was tied at 4 at the break.

I thought Manhasset carried the play in the first half, but not by much. They won the draw 7-2. (It seems there are no more Taylors, Livs, or Maddies in the McDonogh draw cabinet.) What kept McDonogh in the game, and what eventually won the game for them (at least it was a significant factor) was the Eagles redefend which took the ball away from Manhasset all day. The Indians had extreme difficulty clearing the ball, and were unsuccessful a lot of the time. This served to offset the draw deficit McDonogh suffered.

The Indians opened the scoring at 22:03 of the second, but McD quickly tied things back up 30 seconds later. Then the Eagles drew their first yellow of the game at 20:40. More on the officiating below, but I thought this card was iffy. Manhasset took quick advantage, scoring two goals while they were a man up. They then had a free position with a chance to go ahead by three. They didn’t convert the FP, which felt big at the time and still feels big to me. McD got one back, but they got their second yellow (also iffy) at 15:29. Manhasset was unable to score while they were man up this time. That, to me, was a significant indicator that the game had turned in McD’s favor. By now they were carrying the play, shutting Manhasset down all over the field. The Eagles tied the game at 7 at 12:54, then scored what proved to be the game winner at 11:28. McD was able to successfully stall out the last 7-8 minutes of the game. (I think they only turned it over once during that time and quickly got it back.) Manhasset got a chasing yellow (deserved) with 1:13 left. I had draws tied 4-4 in the second half.

Manhasset had a good chance to win this game, but they weren’t able to put it to the Eagles for the full 50 minutes. To McD’s great credit, they weathered the Indians’ blistering charge and, by the middle of the second half, had taken control of the game. By the end, McD was collecting most of the loose balls and, frankly, was really putting it to the Indians who by this point seemed close to helpless under the withering pressure the Eagles brought to bear. McD held Manhasset scoreless for the last 19 minutes of the game. And they scored the last three goals of a one goal game.

It is still too early to predict where these two teams will end up this season, the first in many years without the LaxPower computer to rank teams. Manhasset is just at the very beginning of their season. Cortland is a LONG way away. McD has already had two one goal league games (including a double OT game). One would think the teams would end up at or near the top of the national heap, but who knows what surprises these teenage girls have in store for us.

Ah, the officiating. Only two refs. Seemed very odd to me. Yeah, I know, that is the standard in high school girls lacrosse (at least in the regular season), but this was a REALLY BIG game. It may end up being the game of the year (it’s certainly the leader in the clubhouse). I thought Manhasset got more of the “could go either way” calls than McD did, but not by a huge margin. In my view, the two yellows on McD were undeserved. Both teams were playing very hard, but it wasn’t necessary to issue cards to keep things in line. I thought McD did get a couple of critical calls at the end of the game while they were stalling which had they gone the other way would have turned the ball over to Manhasset. But then Manhasset wasn’t doing anything with it by this point in the game. (They scored their last goal of the game at 19:06 of the second half.)

All in all, a great day of lacrosse.
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