SF #6 Virginia vs #7 Maryland Saturday @2:30

[tech37]

If you can time the backup right, full length shot in face of active 10 man, empty net is a fantastic option that teams should do more of.

I usually don’t like tinkering with the rules but that desperation full length fling to no one should be possession to the other team if not caught or on cage.

I think there should be some adjustment to the rule. There are some terrible heaves that get called a shot.

Definitely not saying I love the rule but for now it is what it is and if there is an empty net and the D is ever in trouble from the ride, there is no reason not to chuck it at net.

I agree. You can park 2 attackmen near the end-line before the ball crosses midfield to back-up and also throw the deep pass (usually in the corner). The key to any 10 man ride is to have pressure on the ball. Maryland has to be ready to shoot at midfield, if they dont have pressure on them.

Don't allow empty-net shots from behind midline at all. If a team can't figure out how to clear, bad on them. I always hated the "get out of jail free" card.

[cmbtp88]

Give me the TERPS. UVA D I think is not as strong as many think. After watching last week's game. I honestly think that JHU blew it with awful possessions and sloppiness in the 4th. A Maryland offensive that has seem to comeback to life with how they move the ball is going to make this D look silly. Also, you have Nunes in cage? or is it morris? having some goalie controversy going into the final four is recipe for disaster. Also the TERPS D is back to locking down and Luke at the X will be a reason why TERPS go back to the Natty game.

VA D in the last 3 qtrs played very well. Hopkins awful possessions were because of the Defense not that they just played bad. I think Hopkins slowed their O down too much in second half thinking they could milk the clock, a mistake against a team like VA. MD may have advantage at the X, hard to tell, every game they said VA was at a disadvantage at the X VA either won the matchup or was very close to 50-50. Funny enough FO for VA has been their most consistent group this year despite all the injuries they have had there. Goalie, Nunes is a ? but Morris has proved he can play at a very high level. Question is will VA offense be able to put up 15 goals against MD D. If they do they win, I don't think MD offense will put up more than 10 against VA D. My opinion. Just not enuf lethal weapons on that O to put up huge numbers against VA D. My opinion only....it is troubling for VA to have this goalie situation in the tourney tho....really don't know, could go either way. But for some strange reason I don't think this game is going to be as close as everyone thinks it is, I would take the over and think one team handely wins.

[blue angels]

Give me the TERPS. UVA D I think is not as strong as many think. After watching last week's game. I honestly think that JHU blew it with awful possessions and sloppiness in the 4th. A Maryland offensive that has seem to comeback to life with how they move the ball is going to make this D look silly. Also, you have Nunes in cage? or is it morris? having some goalie controversy going into the final four is recipe for disaster. Also the TERPS D is back to locking down and Luke at the X will be a reason why TERPS go back to the Natty game.

Maryland could well win as they are a great team, but your analysis of what happened in the Virginia HOP game is way off. After Virginia changed goalies, down 4-0, they owned the middle of the field from the 2nd quarter on. Virginia led in shots, ground balls, face offs, & caused turnovers by very wide margins. It wasn't close in any statistical category except for goal play. The Hop goalie stood on his head, time after time, stealing point blank shot after shot. Yes, it went to overtime and the score was tight, and HOP could have pulled it out, but the more talented team eventually won so not buying that HOP just blew it.

[AreaLax]

I wonder if Tills will practice an offense for the open net ride. Position long stick players identified in as the most accurate and practice field length shooting from advantageous angles

They do practice shots from defense end. That’s been going for a while

[BigTom5]

While I could see this game play out in a variety of different ways, my gut tells me that Maryland pulls put a win on Saturday. Beyond the potential advantages at FO and in the goal, I think the biggest advantage Maryland has will be on the sideline. Tillman and crew make great adjustments, and having the regular season film to look over this week will lead to a great gameplan. While Maryland’s offense is not very athletic, they should be able to manufacture goals against a defense that has been undisciplined for long stretches of the season. Maryland will take away Shellenberger and make Millon be the primary initiator. While Millon is a great talent and produces awesome highlights, he is not an efficient player. Even last week in one of his better games where he put up 6pts, he had 3 turnovers and 4 shots saved cleanly which are all possession enders.

[coda]

If you can time the backup right, full length shot in face of active 10 man, empty net is a fantastic option that teams should do more of.

I usually don’t like tinkering with the rules but that desperation full length fling to no one should be possession to the other team if not caught or on cage.

I think there should be some adjustment to the rule. There are some terrible heaves that get called a shot.

Definitely not saying I love the rule but for now it is what it is and if there is an empty net and the D is ever in trouble from the ride, there is no reason not to chuck it at net.

I agree. You can park 2 attackmen near the end-line before the ball crosses midfield to back-up and also throw the deep pass (usually in the corner). The key to any 10 man ride is to have pressure on the ball. Maryland has to be ready to shoot at midfield, if they dont have pressure on them.

Don't allow empty-net shots from behind midline at all. If a team can't figure out how to clear, bad on them. I always hated the "get out of jail free" card.

I commented on this earlier. There are far too many heaves that get called a shot. That said, until they adjust the rule, you have to work in today's framework. That means you shoot.

[Hoxwurth]

While I could see this game play out in a variety of different ways, my gut tells me that Maryland pulls put a win on Saturday. Beyond the potential advantages at FO and in the goal, I think the biggest advantage Maryland has will be on the sideline. Tillman and crew make great adjustments, and having the regular season film to look over this week will lead to a great gameplan. While Maryland’s offense is not very athletic, they should be able to manufacture goals against a defense that has been undisciplined for long stretches of the season. Maryland will take away Shellenberger and make Millon be the primary initiator. While Millon is a great talent and produces awesome highlights, he is not an efficient player. Even last week in one of his better games where he put up 6pts, he had 3 turnovers and 4 shots saved cleanly which are all possession enders.

Virginia has been sliding less in the past two games, and the defense has done well in 6v6 as a result. Not sure Maryland is going to be able to dodge to force slides, so Maryland will need to shoot effectively to punish the Virginia defense. While Maryland shot well against Duke, the Terps have not been a great shooting team in 2024, so I wouldn't expect them to score a ton of goals in settled sets.

My big question is whether Maryland can take care of the ball. Duke didn't punish Maryland severely enough for the sloppiness (in part due to McNaney), so Maryland was able to pull ahead when the turnovers stopped and Jameison turned into a sieve. Absent another Nunes disastrous start, Maryland shouldn't expect such soft goalie play again.

[coda]

While I could see this game play out in a variety of different ways, my gut tells me that Maryland pulls put a win on Saturday. Beyond the potential advantages at FO and in the goal, I think the biggest advantage Maryland has will be on the sideline. Tillman and crew make great adjustments, and having the regular season film to look over this week will lead to a great gameplan. While Maryland’s offense is not very athletic, they should be able to manufacture goals against a defense that has been undisciplined for long stretches of the season. Maryland will take away Shellenberger and make Millon be the primary initiator. While Millon is a great talent and produces awesome highlights, he is not an efficient player. Even last week in one of his better games where he put up 6pts, he had 3 turnovers and 4 shots saved cleanly which are all possession enders.

Virginia has been sliding less in the past two games, and the defense has done well in 6v6 as a result. Not sure Maryland is going to be able to dodge to force slides, so Maryland will need to shoot effectively to punish the Virginia defense. While Maryland shot well against Duke, the Terps have not been a great shooting team in 2024, so I wouldn't expect them to score a ton of goals in settled sets.

My big question is whether Maryland can take care of the ball. Duke didn't punish Maryland severely enough for the sloppiness (in part due to McNaney), so Maryland was able to pull ahead when the turnovers stopped and Jameison turned into a sieve. Absent another Nunes disastrous start, Maryland shouldn't expect such soft goalie play again.

McNaney was only 50% in that game. He havent seen 2022 McNaney yet. Maryland fans are hoping to see that version of McNaney this weekend.

[Hoxwurth]

While I could see this game play out in a variety of different ways, my gut tells me that Maryland pulls put a win on Saturday. Beyond the potential advantages at FO and in the goal, I think the biggest advantage Maryland has will be on the sideline. Tillman and crew make great adjustments, and having the regular season film to look over this week will lead to a great gameplan. While Maryland’s offense is not very athletic, they should be able to manufacture goals against a defense that has been undisciplined for long stretches of the season. Maryland will take away Shellenberger and make Millon be the primary initiator. While Millon is a great talent and produces awesome highlights, he is not an efficient player. Even last week in one of his better games where he put up 6pts, he had 3 turnovers and 4 shots saved cleanly which are all possession enders.

Virginia has been sliding less in the past two games, and the defense has done well in 6v6 as a result. Not sure Maryland is going to be able to dodge to force slides, so Maryland will need to shoot effectively to punish the Virginia defense. While Maryland shot well against Duke, the Terps have not been a great shooting team in 2024, so I wouldn't expect them to score a ton of goals in settled sets.

My big question is whether Maryland can take care of the ball. Duke didn't punish Maryland severely enough for the sloppiness (in part due to McNaney), so Maryland was able to pull ahead when the turnovers stopped and Jameison turned into a sieve. Absent another Nunes disastrous start, Maryland shouldn't expect such soft goalie play again.

McNaney was only 50% in that game. He havent seen 2022 McNaney yet. Maryland fans are hoping to see that version of McNaney this weekend.

Well, we haven't seen McNaney with that stacked 2022 defense in front of him either. Great chicken and the egg problem.

[Finster]

While I could see this game play out in a variety of different ways, my gut tells me that Maryland pulls put a win on Saturday. Beyond the potential advantages at FO and in the goal, I think the biggest advantage Maryland has will be on the sideline. Tillman and crew make great adjustments, and having the regular season film to look over this week will lead to a great gameplan. While Maryland’s offense is not very athletic, they should be able to manufacture goals against a defense that has been undisciplined for long stretches of the season. Maryland will take away Shellenberger and make Millon be the primary initiator. While Millon is a great talent and produces awesome highlights, he is not an efficient player. Even last week in one of his better games where he put up 6pts, he had 3 turnovers and 4 shots saved cleanly which are all possession enders.

Virginia has been sliding less in the past two games, and the defense has done well in 6v6 as a result. Not sure Maryland is going to be able to dodge to force slides, so Maryland will need to shoot effectively to punish the Virginia defense. While Maryland shot well against Duke, the Terps have not been a great shooting team in 2024, so I wouldn't expect them to score a ton of goals in settled sets.

My big question is whether Maryland can take care of the ball. Duke didn't punish Maryland severely enough for the sloppiness (in part due to McNaney), so Maryland was able to pull ahead when the turnovers stopped and Jameison turned into a sieve. Absent another Nunes disastrous start, Maryland shouldn't expect such soft goalie play again.

McNaney was only 50% in that game. He havent seen 2022 McNaney yet. Maryland fans are hoping to see that version of McNaney this weekend.

Well, we haven't seen McNaney with that stacked 2022 defense in front of him either. Great chicken and the egg problem.

It seemed to me (in the stands) that McNaney handled bounce shots from Duke rather easily; it was the high heaters he had trouble with. Not sure if that’s been true his career, or just one game.

[Pork42]

While I could see this game play out in a variety of different ways, my gut tells me that Maryland pulls put a win on Saturday. Beyond the potential advantages at FO and in the goal, I think the biggest advantage Maryland has will be on the sideline. Tillman and crew make great adjustments, and having the regular season film to look over this week will lead to a great gameplan. While Maryland’s offense is not very athletic, they should be able to manufacture goals against a defense that has been undisciplined for long stretches of the season. Maryland will take away Shellenberger and make Millon be the primary initiator. While Millon is a great talent and produces awesome highlights, he is not an efficient player. Even last week in one of his better games where he put up 6pts, he had 3 turnovers and 4 shots saved cleanly which are all possession enders.

Virginia has been sliding less in the past two games, and the defense has done well in 6v6 as a result. Not sure Maryland is going to be able to dodge to force slides, so Maryland will need to shoot effectively to punish the Virginia defense. While Maryland shot well against Duke, the Terps have not been a great shooting team in 2024, so I wouldn't expect them to score a ton of goals in settled sets.

My big question is whether Maryland can take care of the ball. Duke didn't punish Maryland severely enough for the sloppiness (in part due to McNaney), so Maryland was able to pull ahead when the turnovers stopped and Jameison turned into a sieve. Absent another Nunes disastrous start, Maryland shouldn't expect such soft goalie play again.

McNaney was only 50% in that game. He havent seen 2022 McNaney yet. Maryland fans are hoping to see that version of McNaney this weekend.

Well, we haven't seen McNaney with that stacked 2022 defense in front of him either. Great chicken and the egg problem.

Goalie is only as good as the defense in front of them . Limit shots from the middle of the field like the 2022 your golden. McNaney has been rusty at times for sure. Missing last year didn't help, a little older those aches and pains might be enhanced, mix in some hard grad classes ok. I think classes ended Friday before Duke. So now you have the whole week to concentrate just on Virginia. Let's see what we get

[coda]

While I could see this game play out in a variety of different ways, my gut tells me that Maryland pulls put a win on Saturday. Beyond the potential advantages at FO and in the goal, I think the biggest advantage Maryland has will be on the sideline. Tillman and crew make great adjustments, and having the regular season film to look over this week will lead to a great gameplan. While Maryland’s offense is not very athletic, they should be able to manufacture goals against a defense that has been undisciplined for long stretches of the season. Maryland will take away Shellenberger and make Millon be the primary initiator. While Millon is a great talent and produces awesome highlights, he is not an efficient player. Even last week in one of his better games where he put up 6pts, he had 3 turnovers and 4 shots saved cleanly which are all possession enders.

Virginia has been sliding less in the past two games, and the defense has done well in 6v6 as a result. Not sure Maryland is going to be able to dodge to force slides, so Maryland will need to shoot effectively to punish the Virginia defense. While Maryland shot well against Duke, the Terps have not been a great shooting team in 2024, so I wouldn't expect them to score a ton of goals in settled sets.

My big question is whether Maryland can take care of the ball. Duke didn't punish Maryland severely enough for the sloppiness (in part due to McNaney), so Maryland was able to pull ahead when the turnovers stopped and Jameison turned into a sieve. Absent another Nunes disastrous start, Maryland shouldn't expect such soft goalie play again.

McNaney was only 50% in that game. He havent seen 2022 McNaney yet. Maryland fans are hoping to see that version of McNaney this weekend.

Well, we haven't seen McNaney with that stacked 2022 defense in front of him either. Great chicken and the egg problem.

Goalie is only as good as the defense in front of them . Limit shots from the middle of the field like the 2022 your golden. McNaney has been rusty at times for sure. Missing last year didn't help, a little older those aches and pains might be enhanced, mix in some hard grad classes ok. I think classes ended Friday before Duke. So now you have the whole week to concentrate just on Virginia. Let's see what we get

No offense, but there are a lot of goalies that would kill to have that Maryland defense in front of them. I put that defense in the same league as PSU and Hopkins (Irelan 56.4% and Fraycon 57.1%). McNaney finished 5th in save percentage among Big 10 goalies. Taylor from Michigan is the closest Big 10 goalie in save percentage to McNaney at 49.4%. I will guarantee you, that Taylor would swap defense in a heart beat. You can say the same for Stoller at Rutgers, who was at 54.1%. If you are adjusting for defenses, you could make the argument McNaney had the worst season of any Big 10 goalie.

[Pork42]

While I could see this game play out in a variety of different ways, my gut tells me that Maryland pulls put a win on Saturday. Beyond the potential advantages at FO and in the goal, I think the biggest advantage Maryland has will be on the sideline. Tillman and crew make great adjustments, and having the regular season film to look over this week will lead to a great gameplan. While Maryland’s offense is not very athletic, they should be able to manufacture goals against a defense that has been undisciplined for long stretches of the season. Maryland will take away Shellenberger and make Millon be the primary initiator. While Millon is a great talent and produces awesome highlights, he is not an efficient player. Even last week in one of his better games where he put up 6pts, he had 3 turnovers and 4 shots saved cleanly which are all possession enders.

Virginia has been sliding less in the past two games, and the defense has done well in 6v6 as a result. Not sure Maryland is going to be able to dodge to force slides, so Maryland will need to shoot effectively to punish the Virginia defense. While Maryland shot well against Duke, the Terps have not been a great shooting team in 2024, so I wouldn't expect them to score a ton of goals in settled sets.

My big question is whether Maryland can take care of the ball. Duke didn't punish Maryland severely enough for the sloppiness (in part due to McNaney), so Maryland was able to pull ahead when the turnovers stopped and Jameison turned into a sieve. Absent another Nunes disastrous start, Maryland shouldn't expect such soft goalie play again.

McNaney was only 50% in that game. He havent seen 2022 McNaney yet. Maryland fans are hoping to see that version of McNaney this weekend.

Well, we haven't seen McNaney with that stacked 2022 defense in front of him either. Great chicken and the egg problem.

Goalie is only as good as the defense in front of them . Limit shots from the middle of the field like the 2022 your golden. McNaney has been rusty at times for sure. Missing last year didn't help, a little older those aches and pains might be enhanced, mix in some hard grad classes ok. I think classes ended Friday before Duke. So now you have the whole week to concentrate just on Virginia. Let's see what we get

No offense, but there are a lot of goalies that would kill to have that Maryland defense in front of them. I put that defense in the same league as PSU and Hopkins (Irelan 56.4% and Fraycon 57.1%). McNaney finished 5th in save percentage among Big 10 goalies. Taylor from Michigan is the closest Big 10 goalie in save percentage to McNaney at 49.4%. I will guarantee you, that Taylor would swap defense in a heart beat. You can say the same for Stoller at Rutgers, who was at 54.1%. If you are adjusting for defenses, you could make the argument McNaney had the worst season of any Big 10 goalie.

Ok agree you can make that argument. Agree on the defense comparison this year with the teams mentioned. Down year for McNaney. 2022 had the defense and an offense that didn't turn the ball as much, they cleared better ect. Can we compare offense efficiency, time of possession in the Big 10 as well this year? Was Maryland playing more defence this year? Not sure if you have those stats. In the end McNaney still gets to play this weekend those other good goalies are not.

[molo]

How will Morris adjust to starting in a semifinal game? He was solid in the goal against Hopkins, unsurprisingly, but more than held his own outside the goal in the 10 man ride, which, for those who saw the game on tv and not live, where you see what goes on in the middle of the field, was where UVA sent Hopkins into a scoring drought.
Lars mentioned that he didn’t know how 44 was still upright. He and 34 took most of the face-off wings. Wayer was superb and Yager, who was not taking wings, was outstanding in coverage. I’ve previously noted UVA’s lack of ssdm depth behind Chizmar and Yager. Unless I a
mistaken, UVA never sent out the entire second rope unit together. 43 took some wings, as did 20, but I don’t think 10 and 20 were used together. The rotation had Chizmar or Yager with 10 or 20. Further, Terenzi ran as either a second middie or once replaces Schutz on the first. He is a better option at dm than the backups, but it appears that now he’s an o middie in an attempt to provide some punch to the second unit, which included Cory and the two lefties, 2 and 18. Terenzi was getting about a pint a game on transition as a dm but I’m not sure he’s scored as an offensive middie.
Weirman has the advantage at the dot. He tends to win face-offs to himself, but UVA will win their share if their FOGOs can get the wings involved.
Maryland’s comeback against Duke was one of the most memorable performances of the year. Wierman, their d, their experienced goalie, and a coach who excels at making adjustments in game render them a formidable opponent more than capable of winning this game. I’m still not entirely sold on their offense. but they seem to be peaking at the right time.

[molo]

Will Cormier go one for 11 again? Not likely. Will Millon get six points again? Maybe not but maybe four. Will Schutz, who I think was ranked a little high on some AA lists, contribute some offense? Finally, will 1 limit 1, as he has in the past, or will Shellenberger, probably the best player to wear the blue and orange, cement his legacy? If the offense clicks, which will mean UVA takes the gb battle, they advance. It’s great to see both these teams back in the FF. I think the odds are about right. UVA by a couple.

[coda]

While I could see this game play out in a variety of different ways, my gut tells me that Maryland pulls put a win on Saturday. Beyond the potential advantages at FO and in the goal, I think the biggest advantage Maryland has will be on the sideline. Tillman and crew make great adjustments, and having the regular season film to look over this week will lead to a great gameplan. While Maryland’s offense is not very athletic, they should be able to manufacture goals against a defense that has been undisciplined for long stretches of the season. Maryland will take away Shellenberger and make Millon be the primary initiator. While Millon is a great talent and produces awesome highlights, he is not an efficient player. Even last week in one of his better games where he put up 6pts, he had 3 turnovers and 4 shots saved cleanly which are all possession enders.

Virginia has been sliding less in the past two games, and the defense has done well in 6v6 as a result. Not sure Maryland is going to be able to dodge to force slides, so Maryland will need to shoot effectively to punish the Virginia defense. While Maryland shot well against Duke, the Terps have not been a great shooting team in 2024, so I wouldn't expect them to score a ton of goals in settled sets.

My big question is whether Maryland can take care of the ball. Duke didn't punish Maryland severely enough for the sloppiness (in part due to McNaney), so Maryland was able to pull ahead when the turnovers stopped and Jameison turned into a sieve. Absent another Nunes disastrous start, Maryland shouldn't expect such soft goalie play again.

McNaney was only 50% in that game. He havent seen 2022 McNaney yet. Maryland fans are hoping to see that version of McNaney this weekend.

Well, we haven't seen McNaney with that stacked 2022 defense in front of him either. Great chicken and the egg problem.

Goalie is only as good as the defense in front of them . Limit shots from the middle of the field like the 2022 your golden. McNaney has been rusty at times for sure. Missing last year didn't help, a little older those aches and pains might be enhanced, mix in some hard grad classes ok. I think classes ended Friday before Duke. So now you have the whole week to concentrate just on Virginia. Let's see what we get

No offense, but there are a lot of goalies that would kill to have that Maryland defense in front of them. I put that defense in the same league as PSU and Hopkins (Irelan 56.4% and Fraycon 57.1%). McNaney finished 5th in save percentage among Big 10 goalies. Taylor from Michigan is the closest Big 10 goalie in save percentage to McNaney at 49.4%. I will guarantee you, that Taylor would swap defense in a heart beat. You can say the same for Stoller at Rutgers, who was at 54.1%. If you are adjusting for defenses, you could make the argument McNaney had the worst season of any Big 10 goalie.

Ok agree you can make that argument. Agree on the defense comparison this year with the teams mentioned. Down year for McNaney. 2022 had the defense and an offense that didn't turn the ball as much, they cleared better ect. Can we compare offense efficiency, time of possession in the Big 10 as well this year? Was Maryland playing more defence this year? Not sure if you have those stats. In the end McNaney still gets to play this weekend those other good goalies are not.

I think that is the biggest difference between the 22 and 24 defense. The full stock of SSDM that turned Gbs into transition goals.

dont see those (https://bigten.org/mlax/stats/).. I would guess that Maryland is pretty high in T.O.P. They were either #1 or #2 in faceoff percentage. They played at an extremely slow pace this year (https://lacrossereference.com/stats/pace-d1-men/). If there is a big difference I would say pressure. Wasnt a big deal, if Wierman gave up a bad goal in 2022. That offense was going to score.

[jrn19]

McNaney had 11 saves against Princeton (saved 58%) and made lots of big saves against Duke on Sunday. Not sure any were really on him, aside from the obvious one he blew on the clear. His save on McAdorey at the end was tremendous to preserve the W. Every expectation he'll play great; will it be 2022 Final Four great, probably not. But he'll be locked in. The first UVA game was during the worst stretch of his career and since then, he's been above 50% in 5 of their last 6 games

Wierman was good in the first game; Ghobriel did go 50% and was coming off an injury but Wierman had an off-week prior and probably wasn't at his best. Maryland has to win probably close to 60%, maybe more. You probably bank on Wierman doing it, but it won't be easy.

Maryland's going to turn the ball over. I'd love to say they just will suddenly be a 10 turnover team, they won't be. But you can live with turnovers on offense, as frustrating as they are. Virginia isn't as deadly in transition as they have been in the past, and Maryland gets back well. The turnovers that can't happen are on the clear and in the defensive half. That's what killed Hopkins. Maryland was 15-18 on the clear in the first game and several led to UVA goals. Can't happen. It's gotta be 1 or 2.

Nunes was pretty solid for UVA in the first game. I do think Morris is the right choice for the Cavs; but a first start in the Final Four opposite McNaney is a heckuva ask. There's reason to worry there.

If Maryland wins 60% of faceoffs, clears it at 88-90%, and McNaney is >55%, they're going to be right there at minimum. If anything less happens, the margin for error is just too thin for a team that just doesn't have the pieces to overcome deficits in those areas.

[LaxAllStars]

Ajax Z was a guest this week on the Q Podcast along with Denver coach Matt Brown

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show ... lo-e2k066t

[Laxfan016]

Give me the TERPS. UVA D I think is not as strong as many think. After watching last week's game. I honestly think that JHU blew it with awful possessions and sloppiness in the 4th. A Maryland offensive that has seem to comeback to life with how they move the ball is going to make this D look silly. Also, you have Nunes in cage? or is it morris? having some goalie controversy going into the final four is recipe for disaster. Also the TERPS D is back to locking down and Luke at the X will be a reason why TERPS go back to the Natty game.

Maryland could well win as they are a great team, but your analysis of what happened in the Virginia HOP game is way off. After Virginia changed goalies, down 4-0, they owned the middle of the field from the 2nd quarter on. Virginia led in shots, ground balls, face offs, & caused turnovers by very wide margins. It wasn't close in any statistical category except for goal play. The Hop goalie stood on his head, time after time, stealing point blank shot after shot. Yes, it went to overtime and the score was tight, and HOP could have pulled it out, but the more talented team eventually won so not buying that HOP just blew it.

I see your analysis and I agree if HOP goalie doesn't stand on his head then maybe the game does not go into overtime. But I rewatched specifically the 4th quarter and I would say, yes I agree that UVA D tightened up and was better in the transition area. But if you watch the hopkins O during that 4th and especially up 3 they had a lot of sloppy uncaused turn overs. UVA D was not overly aggressive with takeaways or checks, HOP was trying to kill clock and most of the offensive possessions were just empty-handed either shot clock expired or sloppy turnover. Again this my opinion but a team like HOP with their weapons shouldve been able to create more chances than a shovel shot in OT that all Im trying to say. Also it seemed like no one on HOP was trying to "to the guy" or "take over the game" when it mattered mosted

[OCanada]

Hopkins had 25 turnovers, maybe 10? broken clears and a deficit of 6? On faceoffs. So something like 35-40 less offensive opportunities accruing to VA’s benefit. GK bailed them out all game. Result was not a surprise except in score differential