VeryRustyRed wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 1:08 pm
A few additional thoughts on yesterday's game.
-In 2020, the 2nd middie line of Licciardi, Lombardi, and Coyle basically split PT with the 1st line. Close to dead even minutes. They were very productive, at times more so than the first line. In the first two games this year, the 1st line is getting a bit more PT and the the 2nd line seems less productive. Yesterday, Wolf who plays one-handed, seemed to be doing a disproportionate amount of carrying, especially in traffic (dangerous for a one-handed guy). I'd like to see the ball in Coyle's hands more of the time. And certainly for Lombardi to get more looks; he has a very deceptive shot for a goalie - he generates a tremendous amount of whip on his shot. If Long doesn't play on Tuesday and beyond, I'd definitely like to see Coyle and Lombardi invert more. Lombardi was a devastating x dodger in HS at Salisbury.
-Piatelli forced things a bit vs UA and again yesterday. He remains the go to guy, but I'm sure his game misses Long. And everyone now has to deal with defensive attention that was previously focused on Teat.
-As posted yesterday, the defense had an excellent day. And Ierlan was lights out. There were, however, several instances...especially in the first half where the 6 defenders were not connected - Lehigh had several excellent looks from good shooting locations that missed the cage wide. A few looked like they definitely had Ierlan beat. It was not a good shooting half for Lehigh.
Good observations VRR. I wanted to add a few of my own (or maybe just amplify your good points):
* After watching the game online again, I am a generally a little disheartened that Cornell could not put away an undermanned Lehigh team much earlier in the game. Bad possessions, bad shooting and some bad decision making were contributors in my view.
* Chayse Ierlan was by far the MVP of the game. Bailed out his team frankly. Without his stellar performance there is a chance Cornell does not come out of there with a win. Hard to imagine. Additionally, some strong work from Petrakis in the second half was another big factor.
* Our defense was just good - not great. Lehigh essentially had only two dodgers of concern - 22 and 10. As a result, Cornell was able to press out all day on defense and overplay many of their weaker players. This works against weaker offenses and worked yesterday - but beware the Statesmen, Buckeyes and the entire Ivy League, among the rest on our schedule. We get so stretched out sometimes and end up with 2-3 players bunched up in one area. The other disappointing trend with the defense is that we seem to regularly give up an inordinate number of good looks to other teams in the last 10-15 seconds of the shot clock - in other words, great work for 45-50 seconds and then we get stretched out or are out of position at the end and opponents then get a great look. I am at a loss for why. Again, thank God for a great goalie.
* Cornell shot very poorly I thought in general. I felt 41 was forcing things all day. He is obviously our smartest and generally best player. But yesterday was a rough day. Our big middie 27 had a highlight alley dodge goal. Very impressive. But then followed it up on the very next possession with a bad turnover. Killed any momentum we might have built. He is obviously a very good player but I thought he shot poorly yesterday. My one tip: On step downs he is much more successful shooting overhand high to low and/or off hip. The sidearm cranks are much less effective for him. He is going to get so many opportunities and just needs to become a little better of a shooter. Its amazing how the best step down shooters are still the most fundamentally sound. We also hit 2-3 pipes on great looks - but those things will happen in nearly all games.
* Aws VRR noted, the play with about 1 minute left in the first half was mind numbing. Cornell clears and essentially can run the clock way down and look for a quality shot. Instead, #6 takes it to X and makes a poor decision to dodge. Off balance and falls backwards into a double team. Luckily, Cornell was bailed out by a cross check call. A fortunate break. But why is that player (who is not a strong dodger) trying to dodge from an unfamiliar position when the offense should be killing at least 30 more seconds off the clock? And then we commit a penalty in the same man up? A brutal reversal of fortune. We got away with those types of plays yesterday - but we won't down the road against high quality opponents.
* The offense really missed Mike Long. It just felt like the flow was off all day. 31 did an admirable job with a couple of nice assists - but he played very far behind the goal and was not a threat to shoot at any time. Good defensive coaching will easily pick up on that and exploit it. The X attackman has to be a threat to turn the corner at all times and being close to the crease makes that type of play possible. Keeps the defense honest and opens up the key passing lanes.
* On a smaller side note - our wing play has to be better when we face a top fogo. 17 made a couple of nice plays, but that was really it. We have the athletes to do better. Crash in from the wings and go get the ball - or at least try like crazy.
Obviously, a "bad" win is still better than a good loss. We take it and move on. This is D1 lacrosse and LEH is still a quality opponent. But this team can be much better. I remain very positive about this team's ceiling and look forward to Tuesday. LGR!
VF
