I, too, was puzzled by the decision to go back to Alex after Patrick had such a wonderful game against PU. I think I made that puzzlement pretty clear on here, though opinions are a dime a dozen!Peter Brown wrote: ↑Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:23 pmMDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 29, 2019 4:07 pmYes, I was at a HS game so missed it; anyone know where there's a replay?Peter Brown wrote: ↑Sun Apr 28, 2019 4:44 pm I’m just going to (safely) assume you did not watch this game MDLax, and are idly speculating on some plucked and not meaningful stats. Not all goals or shots are equal. Your analysis is similar to an HR director awarding a bonus to the captain of the Titanic because the ship sank ‘fast’ because after all, ‘speed’ was part of his KPI grade.
If a UNC shot was halfway decent in the third quarter, it went in. Burkinshaw couldn’t get his stick on anything. End of half, 6-6. End of 3rd, 12-8 UNC. Meaning UNC put in the same number of goals in one quarter (v Burk) than the first two (v Rode).
Tiffany imo with this move just knocked down Rode’s confidence in a big way. He also elevated the guy who has indicated he’s blowing out after this year, which his teammates might have issues with. As the end of game whistle blew, UVA’s kids did not look ‘victorious’.
My sideline call: bad move. I said earlier this year Tiffany should have kept Burkinshaw as the starter after the Princeton game. He didn’t. He put Rode back in, leading Burkinshaw to put his name in the transfer portal. Like I said, Lars has boxed himself in here.
But, I'm still not following your logic.
Are you saying that Rode was playing well???
Again, he was just 25% after the first couple of minutes.
I certainly didn't say Burkinshaw had a good game, but are you saying that his 4 saves in the 3rd Q versus 5 goals were all on bad shots?
On the argument that Burkinshaw gave up as many goals in the 3rd Q as Rode did in the first half, you do realize that he saw just one less shot in that Q than Rode did in his full half? UNC had the mo. They ran out of gas at the end and mo shifted, thank goodness.
I just don't see how you reach the conclusion that Tiffany's decision, likely with Kip Turner's input, was necessarily wrong. If Rode had been playing 50% ball, he continues. But he wasn't. And, on the other end, UNC's tender was hot. Tough call, sure, but one the coaches are paid to make.
Nor that it somehow dispirited the team, or even that it eroded Rode's "confidence".
That's highly speculative, and quite likely not correct on the team spirit.
For Alex, though, I have some empathy. However, this is the job for which tender's sign up. Buckle up and watch the ball in practice and be ready for the next game. Period.
I say that as a former D1 tender, son of a 3X AA goalie and dad of an all-Ivy goalie; It's rough, but that's the gig.
I'd be willing to bet that Alex will indeed 'buckle up' and be ready...to be the best he can.
And that Patrick will as well.
I'll be surprised if the Hoos go deep in the NCAA's this year, but, hey, who would have predicted this level of rebound in 2019?
Believe it or not, I agree with a lot of what you are saying. Coaches ARE paid to make the hard decisions.
Lars should have kept the hot hand in after the Princeton game (Burkinshaw). Instead, he put him back on the bench. Rode surprisingly started the next game and played well enough from them on to not get benched again, obviously frustrating Burkinshaw (the old adage of 'who do I need to cough-cough around here to be the starter' comes to mind; the kid had 24 saves against a great offensive Princeton squad!).
I do think that goalie drama at UVA would have happened no matter what; both goalies should be starting on a college team and both have years left to play. But, and this is key, Burkinshaw made the bigger mistake by placing his name in the transfer portal; that's a red line for most teammates and one that as a coach, you might not want to cross if you want your team to gel.
Lars risked team unity by putting Burkinshaw back in. You are correct; I do not know all the variables. But my gut tells me Lars made mistakes here, both after Princeton and this weekend versus UNC. We will see how it plays out...I hope for both kids' sake, there's a great outcome, though not at the expense of a much better Loyola squad!
The statistics seemed way in favor of the freshman getting the job thereon, or at least until he had an off day. But we really don't know the backdrop, the behind the scenes, that led to continuing with Rode.
Just like we really don't know the day to day, week to week, of how these guys are preparing, who is hurt, who is not, etc.
And I also don't think we necessarily know the whole story on the portal situation, either.
Of course, speculation is all part of a thread like this!
My bottomline on this one has two main parts:
1) Goalies need to learn that it's a team game and their position is like others, the guy who the coaches believe can best help at any given moment is who will play. Be ready, your moment could be any time.
2) Lars and crew have a good track record with goalies, I'd tend to give them the benefit of the doubt in managing the situation, egos and all.
Last, there've been a lot of naysayers about Lars and his staff, their system, the emphasis on building a healthier culture, etc. They had been pointing to the scoreboard to suggest that Lars and crew were falling short.
I still don't think they have the horses defensively to go deep in 2019, but they've certainly outperformed expectations.
I happen to be a Toomey fan, and fan of multiple Loyola players, so hope your Greyhounds finish strong too... just not at the Hoos' expense!