DMac wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2019 9:48 am
I think that very much depends on the type of Dmen you've got. If you're playing with a bunch lumbering, heavy-footed Dmen, guess you better face him and hope the rest can cover all the green the 5v5 game offers. If I have a quick footed Dman with good reaction time and a D pole he can can use like a swordsman, I'm not facing him. Tough to shut Teat out, but I'd take my chances that way and adjust if I have to.
Very interesting match up, we'll see how it all plays out.
Cornell 14, Yale 12.
tomato, tomato.
i believe that line of thinking is hubris. and in the hypothetical.
towson has a pretty good defense, no?
they limited cornell's possessions via the faceoff, and still let up 18 goals.
has anybody employed shutting him off yet? they are scoring at an absurd approx 50% rate against some good competition thus far. what was their rate in games where he was shut off last year?
sure, it's a new year. but same coaches and tho with some new faces, there are also a lot of the same guys back. this offense torches defenses 6 v 6.
Teams have shut Teat off this year only to pay a price from a much improved Piatelli and Petterson. Look at the Big Reds attack scoring distribution this year vs last.
The first shut off last year was the last game of the regular season vs Princeton.
Personally, I'd rather have a defenseman like Fake available to slide, as opposed to faceguarding Teat. I guess we'll know in a few hours. Go Big Red!!
faircornell wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:46 am
Personally, I'd rather have a defenseman like Fake available to slide, as opposed to faceguarding Teat. I guess we'll know in a few hours. Go Big Red!!
I agree, wondering if last years result will force any over reaction. I think Yale coaching is just to good for that and they have considered the development of the other players around Teat.....
faircornell wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:46 am
Personally, I'd rather have a defenseman like Fake available to slide, as opposed to faceguarding Teat. I guess we'll know in a few hours. Go Big Red!!
Maryland didn't use their top D-man to shut off Teat.
Why Change FO, Raz was 4 of 12 loosing all 8 to our offensive side, I’ll take that againstTD..... 0 for X after with some breaks. Maybe shoulder??
Defense way to aggressive on slides and doubles leaving crease wide open for doorstep goals, I don’t think we have the experience for that, second slide to the crease is just not there, defense looks out of sorts, ball watching...
Trouble with the 10 man ride/clearing problems
As mentioned earlier, shooting efficiency way off and to his credit Star with some good saves
Congratulations to Yale-- simply much the better team today.
Solid efforts from Petterson, Piatelli, and Ierlan. Not much to be pleased about after that, and plenty of disappointment. Many defensive breakdowns, including from Doria, who had been very solid previously. And a team like Yale makes you pay. On offense, not Teat's finest-- failed to finish early chances and forcing his way into double teams after that. Very little from the midfields today. To say that McCulloch is yet to get untracked this season is an understatement. And Telesco looks like the only consistent threat on the second line.
Short stick d mids also had an off day, and clearing was a big problem. Obviously, Yale had a lot to do with our problems, but many of our wounds were also self-inflicted. Played hard till the end, and think we will improve-- there is plenty of room to do so!
First credit to Yale, they played well and executed:
Great team defense
Very few turn overs
Great ground ball play
FO dominance as expected
Yale is a very good team I don’t see any weakness, they are a top 3 team...
Besides a very good offense who can be slowed down (as Yale showed us today) the Big Red have too many weak points at this time in the season to really be considered a top 5 or even top 10 team.
Defense is a work in progress at best, Pulver made that much of a difference. I think this in all positions on D, base and midfield. I do think Irelan is solid in goal but can’t defend doorstep shots due to ballwatching defense.
As I’ve mentioned before FO is an obvious disadvantage and this increases the vulnerability of an already vulnerable D..... (not a good combination) Having said that I would not be surprised to see this begin to shift as we begin to play teams with less dominant FOGO’s.
This will be a loss to a top 5 team as will Penn State. Coaches and Captains need to work on incremental improvement and know from here any additional loss risks a post season birth. There will be many bubble teams.
I think coaches should consider moving Salvator to base D with Doria and Wallace with Adler and Bartaltto considered at long stick. D needs to have a impactful change, good week to see how this can work. I also think they need to review Short stick mids, I’m not sure Buseck is the best to be out there.
Besides winning the bulk of the face offs, Yale won the GB battle as well. Starr made big saves early when it was still a game and Cornell had problems finishing in the first half. The ball bounced Yale's way in front of the Cornell goal numerous times and apparent stops or turnovers became Yale goals. Cornell was sloppy on offense, Teat was off and forced things a little, and the close D had some issues. I haven't looked at the stats, but I would guess it was Cornell's weakest game clearing the ball.
Yale is a very good team and when you give a team that many opportunities, the margin for error is tiny. Cornell cannot rely on creating turnovers and spectacularly high offensive efficiency to win every game, particularly against top 5 teams.
We all knew this was a tough three game stretch, particularly with the face off difficulties combined with playing three top FOGOs.
I'll take the one win and let's see what happens as the team moves into the heart of the Ivy schedule.
Lots of air miles for me this week as I made the trip back to CT for the Yale game. As I posted early last week, given Yale's anticipated big edge on face-offs, Cornell would have to do everything else very well. A small margin for error. Unfortunately, Yale did a lot of things right (besides face-offs) and Cornell didn't do enough.
Here are my observations, both offense and defense.
Offense vs. Yale D:
-Yale looked to have done a great scouting job; they had clearly viewed Towson tapes. Unlike Towson who did not extend on D and let Cornell run its offense from well within mid-field (without a lot of pressure), Yale really pressed out (far more so in the 1st half when they set the tone). Cornell's offense is ball movement, player movement - "flow". Yale really pressed out and while they didn't jump passing lanes, they pressured passing lanes. Not the flow we had in previous games.
-Cornell did have some great 1st half looks off of excellent sets, but Yale's goalie was superb. If he doesn't make those saves on shots I thought were money in the bank, the game is close to even at half. Even with the face-off edge.
-As I've previously written, the 1st line mids are really hurt by having only one dodger; McCulloch (who did not have a very good day) is a step-in shooter whose shots have been missing the cage and Donville, while I love his game, plays at times more like an attackman than a traditional middie. At this point, I would move Telesco to the 1st line (when he touches the ball - good things happen!) and McCulloch to the 2nd. Tough choice for Coach M to make, but I think it will be very difficult to beat an elite D like Yale with only one dodger.
Cornell D vs. Yale O:
-In last year's ILT final vs. Yale, Cornell's decision making on shows and slides was as good as it gets. In particular Doria - he was perfect in understanding how much leash he could give Gaudet (who I think had maybe one goal). Not so yesterday - IMO, far too many unnecessary shows and slides. One or two passes later, a great look and a goal. Picture perfect opportunities for a guy like Gaudet.
-Yale has a lot more quickness and speed on O than I thought. Tevlin (#12) seemingly got separation all day. In those cases where we did need to slide; again, one or two passes later, bingo. What a good passing team.
-With so much possession time for Yale, the Cornell D inevitably got fatigued in the 2nd half.
-Personally, I think the Cornell D is very susceptible to teams with good speed and quickness. However - I keep asking myself, except for Pulver, we're basically playing with the same starting poles as short sticks...with very different execution and results. ???
For those who posted last week that high offensive execution beats high face-off win %: a huge face-off win % with Ierlan was pretty much a "given." Cornell's offensive efficiency, however, vs. a Yale team is not a given - it's a whole different ball game than playing the Hobarts, Albanys, and Towsons of the world.
Looking past Tuesday, next Saturday is a huge game against a MUCH BETTER THAN EXPECTED Penn team, with a FOGO transfer from Hofstra who has been very dominant. Getting to 50% will be extremely important. Not doing so puts so much pressure on both the Cornell offense and defense.
Last edited by VeryRustyRed on Sun Mar 17, 2019 7:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.
RedIvy - just read your post.
Very interesting thought about moving Salvatore to close d. Certainly worth an experiment.
In the 2+ games I've seen Adler, I'm impressed with his quickness and speed.
As for the short sticks, unlike last season, the coaches are not going with any set rotation(s). I may be wrong, but it seems like there's a different pair on the field every 6 on 6 defensive situation. Can't help matters. I assume it's related to the face-off win/loss record.
VeryRustyRed wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2019 1:12 pmLots of air miles for me this week as I made the trip back to CT for the Yale game.
I'm impressed with your dedication in following the team, VRR!
"The Season" episode 2 has been airing sporadically on ESPNU, and I assume will show up online eventually. Well worth catching for any Cornell fan. I liked what I saw from Milliman in the locker room. He's the kind of coach I'd like my kid to play for. I also like the slogan "50 man mission". Not sure when that originated.
I was traveling, and missed the game, but have just had the opportunity to watch the replay. My comments are as follows:
1. Yale had a very good day. Cornell showed flashes of brilliance. I came away thinking that our chances in a rematch were much better that I had anticipated.
2. Starr had a solid day in the cage for Yale. For Yale #41, Brandau, and #44, Gaudat, looked great. Fake had an excellent day covering Jeff Teat. JT#51's lone goal showed why he deserves a faceguard.
3. Chayse Ierland had a solid day. It seemed like there were several "doorstep" goals that a goalie can't do much about. I anticipate his field leadership and poise will only grow from here.
4. Depending on the measure used, our offense was effective when it had the ball. We just did not have the ball enough. Petterson and Piatelli looked especially good. One statistic that I read was that we scored 40% of the times that we had the ball.
5. If face-offs are an ongoing issue, valuing possessions is an ongoing need for work.
6. I am not sure of the final number, Yale had 50+ possessions. While anything can always be better, that is a big load for any defensive unit. Personally, I think that the issue is best addressed in continuing to build depth in order to withstand ongoing onslaughts. It's hard for any defender to look their best with such significant time playing against a highly skilled offense.
faircornell wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 1:47 am
Personally, I think that the issue is best addressed in continuing to build depth in order to withstand ongoing onslaughts. It's hard for any defender to look their best with such significant time playing against a highly skilled offense.
Tomorrow's game versus St Bonaventure should be a good opportunity to work on the things that need to be worked on, get some playing time for the bench, and some rest for the starters. Will be around 40 degrees at Schoellkopf by 5:00.
Then a BIG game on Saturday against a very good Penn team, also at Schoellkopf. Penn coming off a 19-10 pounding of Princeton. Goalie Junkin made 18 saves and faceoff went 22-32.
