Cornell 2022

[faircornell]

Great to see the outside shooting skills! We'll need them with our challenging schedule.

[wahoomurf]

Kelleher has a great outside shot. I'm chuffed he stepped up today.

[joewillie78]

Hey guys, it's great to be back after nearly 3 years of going through withdrawal symptoms not having my favorite Cornell sports program to root for every spring.
Yesterday's game was phenomenol. Remember, we have a NEW coach, with many NEW players playing in their first Cornell game.
This team has a brutal schedule BUT teams that have Cornell on their schedule are saying the same thing. This team is LOADED and will surprise many teams. That ATTACK is scary, and some experts say CJ may be the best Kirst, and that's saying something as that family produces superstars. The midfield is deep, and has a nice blend of dodgers, feeders and shooters. The defense is much improved with Adler being a shut down guy, and having a veteran in Goal in Chayse us huge. Our guys on the X are strong and expect Petrakis to sometimes dominate and at the very least go 50/50.
Finally, when we left off 2 years ago, we were 5-0, and riding a generational talent in JT, but I think this group, though lacking a superstar like Jeff, may be a more complete squad in all 5 phases of the game.
Hey, you guys know me, the ultimate optimist and I love this team and our new coach.
GOBIGRED
Joewillie78

[laxjuris]

I was just about to post “was Joe Willie there” but he beat me to the punch!

As a few others have said, lots to be happy about from yesterday, but still plenty of room for improvement with some very tough games ahead.

[joewillie78]

I was just about to post “was Joe Willie there” but he beat me to the punch!

As a few others have said, lots to be happy about from yesterday, but still plenty of room for improvement with some very tough games ahead.

LJ, it was like a drug addict finally getting that fix. It's great to have Cornell lax back and I've got that feeling that this team is going to be a force both in the Ivy and nationally.
GOBIGRED
Joewillie78

[Chousnake]

So great to watch a Cornell game after a two year absence. I was impressed with the offensive scoring depth and balance. And it appears that the offensive system Cornell used in 2018-20 was either adopted and retained by Buzcek or it was his system all along. Very encouraging.

As for Petrakis, he is one year behind in adjusting to the new face off rules. We will see how that progresses.

Question. Where was Barry Leonard? The dry unemotional single announcer on ESPN + was fine, but I expected to hear Leonard. Anybody know why we didn't get to hear his distinctive call of the game?

[semsox]

Question. Where was Barry Leonard? The dry unemotional single announcer on ESPN + was fine, but I expected to hear Leonard. Anybody know why we didn't get to hear his distinctive call of the game?

I do not really know how decisions are made with announcers, but Barry had the radio call on WHCU.

[VeryRustyRed]

Chousnake - I was surprised (and disappointed) as well that Leonard did not call the game on ESPN+. As another poster wrote, he did the play-by-play on WHCU, which leads me to believe that contractual/financial impediments may have gotten in the way.
Unfortunately, the ESPN guy offered almost no analysis. For a while, I opted to turn off the volume on ESPN+ and listen to WHCU to hear Leonard's analyst, Tom LaFalce. Unfortunately, there was about a 20-30 delay between the two broadcasts which was very disconcerting.

[laxjuris]

Jason Weinstein is a fine PBP guy, but not having an analyst did him no favors.

[wgdsr]

I was just about to post “was Joe Willie there” but he beat me to the punch!

As a few others have said, lots to be happy about from yesterday, but still plenty of room for improvement with some very tough games ahead.

it's a damn shame joe willie has had nothing but the jets to cheer on for 2 years. the big red is back!

[VeryRustyRed]

laxjuris - I think Jason does a fine job broadcasting Cornell sports. As you wrote, the broadcast would have been great enhanced with an analyst.

[joewillie78]

I was just about to post “was Joe Willie there” but he beat me to the punch!

As a few others have said, lots to be happy about from yesterday, but still plenty of room for improvement with some very tough games ahead.

it's a damn shame joe willie has had nothing but the jets to cheer on for 2 years. the big red is back!

Wgds,
Prediction: Cornell will win more lax games this year than my beloved Jets won these past TWO years.
Yeah , I know, not really going out on a limb, right?
GOBIGRED
Joewillie78

[faircornell]

Great to have you back Joe Willie! From friends' social media posts, I was surprised to see how many fans showed up in person given the weather.

Thanks, also, for the game summary.

[joewillie78]

Great to have you back Joe Willie! From friends' social media posts, I was surprised to see how many fans showed up in person given the weather.

Thanks, also, for the game summary.

FC,
Great to be back. Again, this team has incredible potential, and will be fun to watch all season. Their will be bumps but given what I saw yesterday, and all the growing they can do as the season rolls along, by the time we get to late April, this team could be special. Lehigh this Saturday on the road will be another good test. Can't wait to watch them again. So much fun to have them back, and be able to go to the Kopf, again.
GOBIGRED
Joewillie78

[Typical Lax Dad]

Great to have you back Joe Willie! From friends' social media posts, I was surprised to see how many fans showed up in person given the weather.

Thanks, also, for the game summary.

FC,
Great to be back. Again, this team has incredible potential, and will be fun to watch all season. Their will be bumps but given what I saw yesterday, and all the growing they can do as the season rolls along, by the time we get to late April, this team could be special. Lehigh this Saturday on the road will be another good test. Can't wait to watch them again. So much fun to have them back, and be able to go to the Kopf, again.
GOBIGRED
Joewillie78

Did Dalton play at all?

[another fan]

Pretty sure Dalton did not play.

[faircornell]

Pretty sure Dalton did not play.

He's not shown as playing in the IL database.

[another fan]

https://cornellbigred.com/news/2022/2/2 ... paign.aspx

[Velvet.Fog]

I wanted to provide some thoughts on the Albany game. Being that it was streamed for all to see - these are probably fairly obvious points. But fun to kick around nonetheless.

To me the game boiled down to two main factors: one, the Cornell offense adjusting to the zone defense - and two, a renewed second half focus by the Cornell defense in the third quarter and some excellent second half goaltending by Chayse. We raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first 10 minutes while Albany played man to man. Had they continued with this defense the game would have been a pasting. But they smartly went to a "press" type zone that worked well for the better part of two full quarters. Cornell started to hammer things in late Q3 and the game got away from Albany. But a nice in game adjustment by Coach Marr. On defense, the Red was chasing alot in the first half. Off ball and back side basic defense was not good. There were no individual matchups being lost - just bad team defense. Chayse had little help in the first half. In the second half we was great. I watched the replay and he made 3-4 point blank saves on excellent, close Albany looks. He continues to get no love in the goalie ratings world - but I'd take him 9 times out of 10 over other goalies out there.

On the offensive end, the story is largely about some good ball movement and improved shooting - particularly from Kirst, Blake, Kelleher, Coyle, etc. As noted previously, Kirst is a college-ready player that can create, pass, shoot and finish. Very impressive. The challenge is that he will start getting more and more attention from top poles. A deserving Ivy League ROW. Blake emerged as a legit D1 offensive middie threat. He is big and fast and shot well (note that his best shots are generally overhand high to low - basic fundamentals - and he missed his closest point blank look of the day by trying a sidearm crank!). Kelleher was not as imposing as his fall debut but he will have some big days ahead. Very big and fast. And Coyle was the savvy vet that was in the right places and took some smart shots. Quick also. But to me the best byproduct of all of this is that defenses can't focus on Piatelli and Long. They will be forced to rotate some of their best defenders to the new kids on the block - just making it likely that JP and ML will make them pay. Our top 6-8 players can torch many defenses. Finally, the shot selection overall was good.- a trademark of Cornell offenses. Encouraging day overall.

Defensively, the brightest thing in my view was the play of the SSDMs. Bardwell was his typical self - rock solid, great off the ground, etc. He makes it look easy. The other revelation was Chris Davis (#7). A great debut. Big and fast. Had 3-4 tough GBs in traffic. Marked his men very well. He will log a ton of minutes this year. The other standout again was Adler. Just a top cover guy. Jacobs also played with some physicality. Well deserved PT for a senior. Follows must be injured as I did not see him on the field. As a whole, the defense will need to improve as we play two good offenses in a row - Lehigh and Hobart. Lehigh might be a little banged up presently, but Hobart can really sling it around. Our off ball team defense is the most glaring weakness to me. Two or three defenders covering the same player or area (i.e., overcommitting) - getting sucked into no mans land - leaving 2-3 offensive players with great looks.

Finally - at the faceoff Cornell was just ok. Petrakis got most of the opportunities early and looked a little less athletic than the Albany fogo. Competitive but mostly because Cornell won some 50/50 balls. Psyllos was better in the scrums and off the ground, but suffered in the clamp. Our wing play saved us a few times as well. Overall - we will have to improve here. Particularly on Saturday vs Lehigh.

Finally - it was frigid and windy out there (like a lot of the games played later on Saturday). Not easy for either team. Combine that with it being the first game - and it results in sloppy lacrosse. But overall a good first showing and plenty of reasons for optimism for the Big Red.

VF

[joewillie78]

I wanted to provide some thoughts on the Albany game. Being that it was streamed for all to see - these are probably fairly obvious points. But fun to kick around nonetheless.

To me the game boiled down to two main factors: one, the Cornell offense adjusting to the zone defense - and two, a renewed second half focus by the Cornell defense in the third quarter and some excellent second half goaltending by Chayse. We raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first 10 minutes while Albany played man to man. Had they continued with this defense the game would have been a pasting. But they smartly went to a "press" type zone that worked well for the better part of two full quarters. Cornell started to hammer things in late Q3 and the game got away from Albany. But a nice in game adjustment by Coach Marr. On defense, the Red was chasing alot in the first half. Off ball and back side basic defense was not good. There were no individual matchups being lost - just bad team defense. Chayse had little help in the first half. In the second half we was great. I watched the replay and he made 3-4 point blank saves on excellent, close Albany looks. He continues to get no love in the goalie ratings world - but I'd take him 9 times out of 10 over other goalies out there.

On the offensive end, the story is largely about some good ball movement and improved shooting - particularly from Kirst, Blake, Kelleher, Coyle, etc. As noted previously, Kirst is a college-ready player that can create, pass, shoot and finish. Very impressive. The challenge is that he will start getting more and more attention from top poles. A deserving Ivy League ROW. Blake emerged as a legit D1 offensive middie threat. He is big and fast and shot well (note that his best shots are generally overhand high to low - basic fundamentals - and he missed his closest point blank look of the day by trying a sidearm crank!). Kelleher was not as imposing as his fall debut but he will have some big days ahead. Very big and fast. And Coyle was the savvy vet that was in the right places and took some smart shots. Quick also. But to me the best byproduct of all of this is that defenses can't focus on Piatelli and Long. They will be forced to rotate some of their best defenders to the new kids on the block - just making it likely that JP and ML will make them pay. Our top 6-8 players can torch many defenses. Finally, the shot selection overall was good.- a trademark of Cornell offenses. Encouraging day overall.

Defensively, the brightest thing in my view was the play of the SSDMs. Bardwell was his typical self - rock solid, great off the ground, etc. He makes it look easy. The other revelation was Chris Davis (#7). A great debut. Big and fast. Had 3-4 tough GBs in traffic. Marked his men very well. He will log a ton of minutes this year. The other standout again was Adler. Just a top cover guy. Jacobs also played with some physicality. Well deserved PT for a senior. Follows must be injured as I did not see him on the field. As a whole, the defense will need to improve as we play two good offenses in a row - Lehigh and Hobart. Lehigh might be a little banged up presently, but Hobart can really sling it around. Our off ball team defense is the most glaring weakness to me. Two or three defenders covering the same player or area (i.e., overcommitting) - getting sucked into no mans land - leaving 2-3 offensive players with great looks.

Finally - at the faceoff Cornell was just ok. Petrakis got most of the opportunities early and looked a little less athletic than the Albany fogo. Competitive but mostly because Cornell won some 50/50 balls. Psyllos was better in the scrums and off the ground, but suffered in the clamp. Our wing play saved us a few times as well. Overall - we will have to improve here. Particularly on Saturday vs Lehigh.

Finally - it was frigid and windy out there (like a lot of the games played later on Saturday). Not easy for either team. Combine that with it being the first game - and it results in sloppy lacrosse. But overall a good first showing and plenty of reasons for optimism for the Big Red.

VF

VF,
Great post and I agree with everything you said. Their was a lot there to give us Cornell fans much optimism.
It should be a fun year.
GOBIGRED
Joewillie78