Cornell versus Maryland

[KI Dock Bar]

The 4th quarter maybe the UGLIEST of the season for the Terps...and they STILL won! Defense wins championships!

[Peter Brown]

Congrats, Terps. Been a pleasure to watch you all year.

Congrats to Cornell for really playing a tough, physical game and never giving up. You guys have a bright future!

And watching Maryland be gassed? And have a ton of uncharacteristic turnovers? Cornell played great defense, for sure. But this is one of the deepest teams in college. The late semifinal clearly had an effect. Cornell could relax and watch Maryland play - the late game is clearly at disadvantage.

I think, in addition to the tough game and late against Princeton, you need to add carrying the weight of trying to remain undefeated as everyone says ‘the greatest’. Social media is heavy on kids like this. On a hot day, you’re just praying for the final whistle. Fitting that Logan and Bubba were last two Terps to run it out.

Both Pugliese and Makar had hand casts on today. But that defense, with McNaney seeing lacrosse balls like I see a beach ball, was too good.

[pcowlax]

Congrats, Terps. Been a pleasure to watch you all year.

Congrats to Cornell for really playing a tough, physical game and never giving up. You guys have a bright future!

And watching Maryland be gassed? And have a ton of uncharacteristic turnovers? Cornell played great defense, for sure. But this is one of the deepest teams in college. The late semifinal clearly had an effect. Cornell could relax and watch Maryland play - the late game is clearly at disadvantage.

You are nuts. You think a 3 hour time difference 2 days ago made an iota of difference? If the game was yesterday morning, sure. They have had 2 nights sleep, it made zero difference. Zero. MD played more D, their starters have t played many full games, they got worn down. To those who point to more winners coming from the first semi…how many of those were upsets vs the favorite just happened to have played first. It makes no physical difference 2 days later.

[DocBarrister]

Congratulations to the Terp. That game on Saturday wasn’t easy and this was a gut performance. Excellent team.

Yep. This Terp team is going to be remembered for a long, long time. Played lacrosse the way lacrosse should be played.

DocBarrister

[LaxPundit07]

Can anyone shed some light on Makar after the game? Super emotional. Not familiar with the story, if there is one.

[b1w7o9y7h]

Great game by both teams. Fun to watch. I would have to think Cornell is the presumptive favorite for next year as they aren't losing much with such a young team.

They will certainly be battle tested running the Ivy gauntlet. Dickie V has suggested Notre Dame join the Ivy League in lax as Columbia leaves a free slot…

[DocBarrister]

His stops get all the attention, but I think his clearing is spectacular. Absolutely amazing to watch.

DocBarrister

[laxjuris]

Cornell is damn good

Great effort by my Big Red, but ultimately too big a hill to climb. Congrats to the Terps who had the target on their back and still did what they had to for the win. Not easy being such a huge favorite with all the expectations that come with it. Great performance by McEnenany, who was the deserved MVP. While Maryland forced Cornell into several poor shots that led to easy saves, he also made plenty of big stops.

[masondixonlax]

Congrats, Terps. Been a pleasure to watch you all year.

Congrats to Cornell for really playing a tough, physical game and never giving up. You guys have a bright future!

And watching Maryland be gassed? And have a ton of uncharacteristic turnovers? Cornell played great defense, for sure. But this is one of the deepest teams in college. The late semifinal clearly had an effect. Cornell could relax and watch Maryland play - the late game is clearly at disadvantage.

You are nuts. You think a 3 hour time difference 2 days ago made an iota of difference? If the game was yesterday morning, sure. They have had 2 nights sleep, it made zero difference. Zero. MD played more D, their starters have t played many full games, they got worn down. To those who point to more winners coming from the first semi…how many of those were upsets vs the favorite just happened to have played first. It makes no physical difference 2 days later.

Your tears are like PEDs to me

[ICGrad]

You are nuts. You think a 3 hour time difference 2 days ago made an iota of difference? If the game was yesterday morning, sure. They have had 2 nights sleep, it made zero difference. Zero. MD played more D, their starters have t played many full games, they got worn down. To those who point to more winners coming from the first semi…how many of those were upsets vs the favorite just happened to have played first. It makes no physical difference 2 days later.

Anyone who's ever competed at an high level knows that the extra 3 hours on such a short turnaround can absolutely make a difference. While Cornell was in full recovery mode Maryland was still duking it out on the field.

[keno in reno]

Congrats, Terps. Been a pleasure to watch you all year.

Congrats to Cornell for really playing a tough, physical game and never giving up. You guys have a bright future!

And watching Maryland be gassed? And have a ton of uncharacteristic turnovers? Cornell played great defense, for sure. But this is one of the deepest teams in college. The late semifinal clearly had an effect. Cornell could relax and watch Maryland play - the late game is clearly at disadvantage.

You are nuts. You think a 3 hour time difference 2 days ago made an iota of difference? If the game was yesterday morning, sure. They have had 2 nights sleep, it made zero difference. Zero. MD played more D, their starters have t played many full games, they got worn down. To those who point to more winners coming from the first semi…how many of those were upsets vs the favorite just happened to have played first. It makes no physical difference 2 days later.

Your tears are like PEDs to me

Not sure how Maryland won that game. Cornell did everything right to pull off the upset. Seems like a great example of the the 2nd semifinal handicap, but Cornell deserves credit for incredible defense too. Great, ugly game.

[Peter Brown]

You are nuts. You think a 3 hour time difference 2 days ago made an iota of difference? If the game was yesterday morning, sure. They have had 2 nights sleep, it made zero difference. Zero. MD played more D, their starters have t played many full games, they got worn down. To those who point to more winners coming from the first semi…how many of those were upsets vs the favorite just happened to have played first. It makes no physical difference 2 days later.

Anyone who's ever competed at an high level knows that the extra 3 hours on such a short turnaround can absolutely make a difference. While Cornell was in full recovery mode Maryland was still duking it out on the field.

I think you’re also underestimating the load of trying to remain undefeated as the entire social media colossus says ‘if you win you’re the greatest’. On a hot day after a tough battle less than 41 hours back, with two critical players in hand casts, I can see how you can drain out as the game closes.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Great game by both teams. Fun to watch. I would have to think Cornell is the presumptive favorite for next year as they aren't losing much with such a young team.

They will certainly be battle tested running the Ivy gauntlet. Dickie V has suggested Notre Dame join the Ivy League in lax as Columbia leaves a free slot…

Dickie knows lacrosse! His grandson is committed to ND!!

[RedIvy]

Congratulations to MD on a great year and a great team.

While the recognition of Cornell’s skill and effort by some is very much appreciated, it does seem disingenuous by others to suggest the close score and competitiveness was due to an off day by Maryland and not the talent, conditioning, preparation and toughness of Cornell. I’m sure Maryland was well prepared to play today and they met a very good competitor in The Big Red that caused the disruption on the field.

As far as the delay Saturday, the first game experienced a similar delay with a large interruption at half (couldn’t head back to the hotel…..) and finished only a few hours before the second.

While it would have been great to win I can’t be more proud of this team and coaches for what they accomplished this year.

“It’s great to be here”

[Kikin]

I think it was the 3 hours but also, the timing of the 3 hours. Getting back to the hotel at 10 pm. No time for post game treatment for injuries and soreness. No time for proper hydration and nutrition vs getting to bed at a decent hour. No time to talk or review immediately post game, you had to get the team back to the hotel just to get food before it got too late. There is a reason, that until today the winner of the late game (second game) has only won the national title twice. Statistics don't lie, and the reality is the second game makes it more difficult and throw a couple of extra hours on top of that with the delay.

[jrn19]

I think it was the 3 hours but also, the timing of the 3 hours. Getting back to the hotel at 10 pm. No time for post game treatment for injuries and soreness. No time for proper hydration and nutrition vs getting to bed at a decent hour. No time to talk or review immediately post game, you had to get the team back to the hotel just to get food before it got too late. There is a reason, that until today the winner of the late game (second game) has only won the national title twice. Statistics don't lie, and the reality is the second game makes it more difficult and throw a couple of extra hours on top of that with the delay.

There's zero chance they got back to the hotel at 10. Game ended at like 9. Post game pressers were at 10ish. It was probably closer to midnight. It's ridiculous they still play this game on a days rest; even Cornell got a way shorter rest than usual with the delay. It's just not fair to the players.

[Farfromgeneva]

Beat team of all time? Cornell wins this game if Mcananey isn't standing on his head, Cornell was getting decent looks all day and I felt as if they physically/athletically were able to hang with Maryland

The 2005 Blue Jays would have kept it close, scored a goal to tie with a few seconds left in regulation, won the faceoff in OT, taken a timeout, and Harrison would have blown by his defender to score the championship-winning goal.

DocBarrister

You’re thinking of Kenny Nims from Abbott then Dan Hardy to Cody Jameison…

[jrn19]

Beat team of all time? Cornell wins this game if Mcananey isn't standing on his head, Cornell was getting decent looks all day and I felt as if they physically/athletically were able to hang with Maryland

The 2005 Blue Jays would have kept it close, scored a goal to tie with a few seconds left in regulation, won the faceoff in OT, taken a timeout, and Harrison would have blown by his defender to score the championship-winning goal.

DocBarrister

You’re thinking of Kenny Nims from Abbott then Dan Hardy to Cody Jameison…

Now that's just cruel to Cornell

[Peter Brown]

Ok, we have all been wanting to see this matchup but no one wanted to bring it up until it was final.
The BEST ATTACKMAN in the country LOGAN WISNAUSKIS vs THE BEST CLOSE D POLE in the country; GAVIN ADLER.

Gavin has shut them all down and now he gets the best. This will be must see Lacrosse at its finest.
GOBIGRED
Joewillie78

Do you think Adler will cover Logan? Logan is such an off-ball player, and Adler usually covers the opponent's best initiator. I could see him on Khan.

But Princeton did send Baughan to Wisnauskas yesterday, which was different than the first time they played. Baughan and Finlay nearly shut out Khan and Malever in their first match up (Billings took Wisnauskas, who went 4 and 2). Yesterday, they changed those match ups, and Khan went 3 and 2 and Logan had 4 goals.

What I'm more curious about is Cornell's defensive midfield. The Terps starting midfield has 52, 49, and 40 point scorers. Princeton actually bumped one of their close defenders up to DeMaio yesterday, as DeMaio was on a point scoring binge prior to yesterday but was held to a single assist.

Kyle Long is the distributor of the group, and he is probably the fastest player on the team. DeMaio is a shooter with deceptive dodging. And you all know Donville.

How does Cornell defend that group.

And when MD's second midfield line comes in, you get Owen Murphy (39 points), who is a Connor Kelly clone. You get Jack Brennan (19 point), who is a classic, athletic, downhill dodger who can shoot with either hand. And the third spot, if he's healthy, is Jack Koras (15 points), who is cutter and finisher that will sometimes beat his defender behind the goal on inverts. The tricky part about the second midfield line is that Malever actually runs through the box as a midfielder when that group is in, as Murphy plays on the wing.

How does Cornell defend that group of midfielders?

At the other end, Cornell's starting attack is responsible for 63% of Cornell's total goals, 54% of Cornell's total assists, and 60% of Cornell's overall point scoring. I'd guess that Makar takes Kirst, Zappitello takes Long, and Rahill takes Piatelli. UVA and Princeton did everything they could to get Rahill out in space to defend dodging threats, as his best skills are in off-ball defense and coordinating the defense. If you watched Maryland's defense over the past couple of months, their slide and recoveries have been as beautifully coordinated as the offense's ball movement.

Does Maryland slide off of a Piatelli? Can Piatelli dodge Rahill in space? Princeton inverted Mackesy to get Rahill defending up top like a LSM, and that's where Mackesy got his only goal...on an alley dodge. He was 1-8 shooting on the day.

Rutgers got caught ball-watching several times yesterday, and Cornell finishers had a field day in front of RU's Kirst. Maryland's defense is notoriously slow to slide, especially to their shorties. They'll leave their shorties out on an island and won't slide at all to them. If Cornell's midfielders can't win their match-ups, Maryland's defense won't give up anything except for 15 yard shots. Cornell needs someone besides Long to draw slides.

Regarding Demaio from yesterday, he had a few relatively open looks at the net and simply didn’t put the ball on cage. One shot was way off. He’s an intense guy, and I bet he’d like to have that game back. I’m thinking he’s going to go off tomorrow.

If Pugliese is out, the entire team will need to step it up. I think Makar and Fairman will also need some lift by others; Makar took a big hit, and Fairman took a ball to the head.

Princeton abused Alex Smith all game. Not fast enough imo. Is he injured, too?

Joe Willie owes me a few cold suds. This prediction was more than accurate.

[Farfromgeneva]

Beat team of all time? Cornell wins this game if Mcananey isn't standing on his head, Cornell was getting decent looks all day and I felt as if they physically/athletically were able to hang with Maryland

The 2005 Blue Jays would have kept it close, scored a goal to tie with a few seconds left in regulation, won the faceoff in OT, taken a timeout, and Harrison would have blown by his defender to score the championship-winning goal.

DocBarrister

You’re thinking of Kenny Nims from Abbott then Dan Hardy to Cody Jameison…

Now that's just cruel to Cornell

Eh- we have a 100yr old rivalry and you better bet as a upstate NY guy I was all in on Cornell for the upset today. But games over now so their enemies until after we play them next winter/spring.

Congrats to you MD fans and to Cornell fans. I never thought I’d see them hanging around this team in the finals even a few weeks ago.