Yale v UVa - should VA bother showing up?

[molo]

Did the announcers who obsessed over the goalie situation comment on the substitution after the last UVA time out?

[HoosBaby]

Even with a detailed analysis, there is a subtle tone that Yale was the much better team and that UVA just had a great day, that it was an "upset." I don't agree with that, at all. As it was, Ierlan won 75% at the X, which is damn strong, yet the game was not close on the scoreboard or to the eye. Maybe someone will acknowledge that UVA is a great team, and by the way have a ton coming back next season.

[random observer]

Even with a detailed analysis, there is a subtle tone that Yale was the much better team and that UVA just had a great day, that it was an "upset." I don't agree with that, at all. As it was, Ierlan won 75% at the X, which is damn strong, yet the game was not close on the scoreboard or to the eye. Maybe someone will acknowledge that UVA is a great team, and by the way have a ton coming back next season.

I think I'm one of the people you are referring to you here. My intentions when talking about today's game and particularly how UVA came out and played better (not really a controversial statement in a vacuum) were not to imply that UVA was better on the day and not on the season. I certainly was surprised by just how dominant the UVA defense was, but even in my comments prior to the game (and I was rooting for the Hoos to win this btw), I noted that they have been utterly dominant whenever they had to be this year (see: the 4th quarter of their long list of comeback wins), and that if I had a concern it was that they didn't always carry that level of play for a full 60 minutes. So when I say that they brought their best stuff today, it's not my way of saying they got lucky or they just got Yale on the right day: it underscores the fact that they won a lot of big games in which they didn't play their best for long stretches (the Maryland and Cuse games were the best examples of this -- they looked completely lethargic for most of those games but were still hanging around, and then all of a sudden in the 4th quarter when their backs were against the wall they came on like a freight train and completely overwhelmed the opposition).

I also was trying to temper some of the talk about the Ivy League being unathletic and unable to compete with ACC athletes based solely on today's result and a February game between Duke and Penn. I don't think today's game is indicative of Yale's overall athleticism; they got manhandled by UVA, but they have been the bully many times over the past few seasons against very athletic opposition.

[OCanada]

UVA was a significantly better team on Monday.

I don’t think Yale played its best game. They were slow, poor execution, poor decision making etc some of that due to UVA a team that peaked at the right time as most title winners do. I do think they are well matched. UVA earned the win. I would not want to draw overly broad conclusions based on the result

[Peter Brown]

I wouldn’t be so cocksure UVA loses Monday. In fact, I like their chances.

Like O'Canada said, when you peak, try to peak at conference time. That all said, the Maryland Terps have some deserved sour grapes.

UVA's defense was underestimated. If you had to go against Moore, Aitken, Conrad, Herring, and Krauss every day in practice, you are bound to become a solid defense.

Second, though Ierlan got his #'s, I thought Lasalla battled him hard at the start, which was one of the keys to the game.

Rode stepped up in the most important game so far of his career.

And finally, Conrad was a tad exuberant to start the game with two penalties, but that kid is simply a total GB machine, which any coach would give their eye tooth to have.

[10stone5]

Couple things that I thought were obvious and have been missed.

Yale had a week to prepare for Penn State, and they had played them before. So that made a difference, versus the UVA game.

TD Ierlan started off winning the first 6-7 faceoffs against Arceri & Co. which enabled them to blitz the Lions, from which PSU was not able to recover. Versus the UVA game, where at one point at the outset the faceoffs were 3-3, and ended up at 6-4, advantage Yale in Q1 - no chance, under those circumstances to employ a similar blitzing strategy.

[Cheeseandcrackers]

UVA was much better equipped to deal with facing a dominant FOGO than Penn State. Between the 10 man ride and the aggressive, double teaming defense, UVA created enough turnovers to overcome the face-off discrepancy. I'm hoping Tambroni learned something from this. Every team needs to be ready to steal possessions when the FO is not going your way.

Hats off to UVA and Yale for great seasons and for playing fun-to-watch lacrosse. Can't wait to see what next year brings.

[Fanlax999]

Congrats to UVA!!! They looked amazing in their win over Yale, and looked 1 step faster and 1 level higher in their play in all facets of the game except maybe FO but that Petey kid was killing it himself with his 2 goals and a few GBs and wins. Everyone on UVA played great from top to bottom. They just looked faster and better than Yale. Their 10 man ride was nasty and their goalie was standing on his head most of the game. Defense was swarming and physical and offense was always on point and took advantage of match-ups and opportunities. One of the best games I ever seen.

[lefty1]

Kudos to Virginia.
Their strategy was similar to Yale’s, but they executed everything to perfection from the ride, to the double-teams on D, to clock management and conversion. Even if you could get through the D with that amount of pressure, there stood Rode in net.
Their 10-man ride was great, especially when you have a ground ball machine like Conrad (one player V will be losing?). Their poles, limiting Sessa and Morrill to zero goals and one point across both of them? The freshmen pole on Morrill did a fantastic job and Yale simply handed the ball over numerous times. Their slides, creating complete havoc were perfectly timed. The towering poles pressed out, gambled, but never let Yale get comfortable. Their size, combined with exceptional athleticism was alarming throughout the 60mins. White jerseys everywhere like a hornets nest. It looked as though they were man-up on D nearly all day. If they doubled, there was hardly an open man, or the ball-carrier would simply panic which was uncharacteristic. Yale took on body blows in the corner of the ring across all 4 quarters and only led for 99 seconds.
The size of their D.
The All-Americans across the mid-field.
The attack line.
THAT goalie.
Unlike 2018, Yale was smaller and less athletic in many areas.
The game planning, film study and trust were on display for Virginia.

[molo]

Prior to yesterday’s “upset,” these two teams must have played a few times, but I can’t recall seeing a UVA-Yale game. Does anyone have info on the history?

[Typical Lax Dad]

Kudos to Virginia.
Their strategy was similar to Yale’s, but they executed everything to perfection from the ride, to the double-teams on D, to clock management and conversion. Even if you could get through the D with that amount of pressure, there stood Rode in net.
Their 10-man ride was great, especially when you have a ground ball machine like Conrad (one player V will be losing?). Their poles, limiting Sessa and Morrill to zero goals and one point across both of them? The freshmen pole on Morrill did a fantastic job and Yale simply handed the ball over numerous times. Their slides, creating complete havoc were perfectly timed. The towering poles pressed out, gambled, but never let Yale get comfortable. Their size, combined with exceptional athleticism was alarming throughout the 60mins. White jerseys everywhere like a hornets nest. It looked as though they were man-up on D nearly all day. If they doubled, there was hardly an open man, or the ball-carrier would simply panic which was uncharacteristic. Yale took on body blows in the corner of the ring across all 4 quarters and only led for 99 seconds.
The size of their D.
The All-Americans across the mid-field.
The attack line.
THAT goalie.
Unlike 2018, Yale was smaller and less athletic in many areas.
The game planning, film study and trust were on display for Virginia.

That defense was similar if not the same as Brown’s scheme during Lars’ last couple of season. Long athletic poles is what Lars seems to likes.

[calourie]

Prior to yesterday’s “upset,” these two teams must have played a few times, but I can’t recall seeing a UVA-Yale game. Does anyone have info on the history?

Now 4-4 overall. Last played in 1993, only playoff meeting was a one goal UVA win (1989 I believe) in New Haven. Back in the day when I played Yale used to go down to Virginia on spring break and start the season with a scrimmage against the hoos before moving on to an almost annual beating by Hopkins at Homewood. Game has changed radically since then, as has the Yale program. In those days players were only eligible to play for three years, and Yale had to rely on walk ons and football team players who wanted to stay in shape in the spring to fill out its' roster as we only had five or six recruits a year who had played high level HS ball.

[molo]

I saw my share of the games at Homewood. I thought the UVA-Yale games must have been playoff games since the Ivy opponents I remember as being in somewhat of a regular rotation were Brown, Princeton, and Cornell.

[stupefied]

UVA was a significantly better team on Monday.

I don’t think Yale played its best game. They were slow, poor execution, poor decision making etc some of that due to UVA a team that peaked at the right time as most title winners do. I do think they are well matched. UVA earned the win. I would not want to draw overly broad conclusions based on the result

Talking to a current college player a day prior to game who was familiar with both teams and he said UVA would handily beat Yale as they were faster and more physical, better overall team with better balance. Said UVA would either dominate the game or wear them down and comeback to win. Said it was simply the wrong matchup for Yale and be little mouthing once that realization set in. Thought only way Yale won was if TD was superman and dictated game but unlikely given schedule or if UVA goalie played very poorly which he obviously didn't.

His prescience made me money. Yale is a good team but it was UVA relentless pressure from start to finish that made Yale look and play as they did. Saw them do the same to a good ND team.

Yale, PSU, Penn, Maryland , Duke can contemplate , rationalize and lament but it was clear yesterday that ...


The best team in the tournament won the tournament and left no doubt

[bearlaxfan]

Well the nc$$ seedings at least got Monday right

[admin]

FO: TD Ierlan 18-24; Joe Neuman 1-1

[oldjayfan]

UVA was a significantly better team on Monday.

I don’t think Yale played its best game. They were slow, poor execution, poor decision making etc some of that due to UVA a team that peaked at the right time as most title winners do. I do think they are well matched. UVA earned the win. I would not want to draw overly broad conclusions based on the result

Talking to a current college player a day prior to game who was familiar with both teams and he said UVA would handily beat Yale as they were faster and more physical, better overall team with better balance. Said UVA would either dominate the game or wear them down and comeback to win. Said it was simply the wrong matchup for Yale and be little mouthing once that realization set in. Thought only way Yale won was if TD was superman and dictated game but unlikely given schedule or if UVA goalie played very poorly which he obviously didn't.

His prescience made me money. Yale is a good team but it was UVA relentless pressure from start to finish that made Yale look and play as they did. Saw them do the same to a good ND team.

Yale, PSU, Penn, Maryland , Duke can contemplate , rationalize and lament but it was clear yesterday that ...


The best team in the tournament won the tournament and left no doubt

Yale had plenty of chances just didn't shoot as well and ran into a hot goalie. The big surprise to me was the way UVA rode Yale and forced silly turnovers. Let's face it UVA was lucky to be where they were, but hey, they were the better team on Monday. If Duke doesn't blow that sideline clear with a minute and twenty to go & a 2 goal lead, UVA would've been watching...

[molo]

I think part of the erroneous perception that Yale was a significant favorite was a direct result of the narrative that had Penn State--an excellent team with a superb offense--as the second coming of the Gait era SU teams. PSU was prolific offensively, but as Yale demonstrated--along with Maryland and Hopkins, both of whom exposed the vulnerable PSU d--far from perfect. The justifiable credit given Yale for routing PSU morphed into a view that they were then the overwhelming favorite, an opinion put forth earlier that the winner of the second game Saturday was the sure to win the NC. After all the other game just featured the ACC champion and the team that they had not beaten since 2010.
I think that Yale is a strong team that should be back near the top next year. The comments along the lines of "UVA was the better team that day" ignore the reality that UVA had lost one game since February and that one was to a team that they hadn't beaten in almost a decade. Any of the teams that played in Philly could have won the NC. It was not a case of a juggernaut's being upset and the upsetting team than capitalizing. Athleticism, hustle, and goaltending ruled the day.
Anyone who saw the UVA-Loyola game or almost any UVA game in 2017 or 18, has to be amazed at the progress of the d, which for years seemed a collection of athletic individuals with no team concept. They essentially shut down the settle offense of a team that set NCAAT scoring records. Yale fans are in for a treat for the next three years as they watch the next superstar Ivy attackman. Brandau was the only Bulldog who could beat his man one on one. With one potential superstar, a dangerous sniper, and a qb who can distribute and can beat most defenders--though not the likes of the Texan--Yale brings back a formidable attack.

[calourie]

This year Yale ended up in the very unfamiliar position in the recent Shay era of having to rely on their offense considerably more than on a buzz saw of a swarming defense which I think took some of the starch out of their effort in yesterday's championship game when it was Virginia who rode that style of play along with very good goalie play and a very efficient offense to a convincing 13-9 championship game victory. Those trumpeting the obvious superiority of UVA over all the other quarter finalists are ignoring the obvious reality that a couple of fortunate bounces were of significant impact in putting them in the position to exhibit that kind of performance. That they were able to take advantage of those bounces to win the national title is a credit to them and in no way diminishes the idea that they deserved the trophy, but does diminish the idea that they were far superior to those they defeated or the other four teams that didn't make the finals.

[stupefied]

FO: TD Ierlan 18-24; Joe Neuman 1-1

Yes Admin, TD posted great results but it was a rather "quiet" 75% as compared to previous games where his wins led to many quick strikes that had huge impact on outcomes . Was surprised to see stats during game since most wins were highly contested battles . Huge difference when possessions are against a well settled D . LaScalla and Swenk holding him up not only lessened the impact of his wins but LaScalla also scored twice off clean breakaways against a visibly tired TD . Virginia winning the gb battle despite these fogos numbers also reflect how strong they were on the ground