LaxPower Back-Up Stick

Mid-Lax wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2019 6:53 pm GOBIGRED, so you would say Penn State didn't play well vs Yale that one game? Hmmm. I agree Penn State looks like the best team in the country, however, I also think that Yale has improved. Win or lose I am rooting for rematches versus both Pennsylvania teams. By the way, I certainly don't discount Cornell with a great attack unit and very good young goaltender.

I would say, they didnt play to their OPTIMUM. Every team has down days but I feel RIGHT NOW that if PSU plays to their optimum, and ANY OTHER team plays to their optimum, that PSU will win 9 out of 10 times. They (in my opinion) are that good right now. JHU is no slouch, and they just destroyed that team. That was impressive.

They have ZERO weaknesses, attack is amazing, middies, outstanding, FOGO is great, Defense and Goalie , incredibly solid. They just, plain and simple are a complete team, and that pains me to say that given the Coach bolted my BIGRED for State College,

GOBIGRED
Joewillie78

Mid-Lax wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2019 6:53 pm GOBIGRED, so you would say Penn State didn't play well vs Yale that one game? Hmmm. I agree Penn State looks like the best team in the country, however, I also think that Yale has improved. Win or lose I am rooting for rematches versus both Pennsylvania teams. By the way, I certainly don't discount Cornell with a great attack unit and very good young goaltender.

You might want to differentiate between gobigred (me) and JoeWillie. You know...read carefully, like they taught you at Yale.

joewillie78 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2019 7:04 pm

Mid-Lax wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2019 6:53 pm GOBIGRED, so you would say Penn State didn't play well vs Yale that one game? Hmmm. I agree Penn State looks like the best team in the country, however, I also think that Yale has improved. Win or lose I am rooting for rematches versus both Pennsylvania teams. By the way, I certainly don't discount Cornell with a great attack unit and very good young goaltender.

I would say, they didnt play to their OPTIMUM. Every team has down days but I feel RIGHT NOW that if PSU plays to their optimum, and ANY OTHER team plays to their optimum, that PSU will win 9 out of 10 times. They (in my opinion) are that good right now. JHU is no slouch, and they just destroyed that team. That was impressive.

They have ZERO weaknesses, attack is amazing, middies, outstanding, FOGO is great, Defense and Goalie , incredibly solid. They just, plain and simple are a complete team, and that pains me to say that given the Coach bolted my BIGRED for State College,

GOBIGRED
Joewillie78

If PSU plays an A game, they will be hard to beat.

Typical Lax Dad wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2019 8:27 pm

joewillie78 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2019 7:04 pm

Mid-Lax wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2019 6:53 pm GOBIGRED, so you would say Penn State didn't play well vs Yale that one game? Hmmm. I agree Penn State looks like the best team in the country, however, I also think that Yale has improved. Win or lose I am rooting for rematches versus both Pennsylvania teams. By the way, I certainly don't discount Cornell with a great attack unit and very good young goaltender.

I would say, they didnt play to their OPTIMUM. Every team has down days but I feel RIGHT NOW that if PSU plays to their optimum, and ANY OTHER team plays to their optimum, that PSU will win 9 out of 10 times. They (in my opinion) are that good right now. JHU is no slouch, and they just destroyed that team. That was impressive.

They have ZERO weaknesses, attack is amazing, middies, outstanding, FOGO is great, Defense and Goalie , incredibly solid. They just, plain and simple are a complete team, and that pains me to say that given the Coach bolted my BIGRED for State College,

GOBIGRED
Joewillie78

If PSU plays an A game, they will be hard to beat.

Agree, but the team that is outright scary right now are those guys dressed in Orange about an hour north of myself here in Ithaca. That is one scary FAST team, with great defenders and a great Goalie. NOBODY wants to see those guys in May.

GOBIGRED
Joewillie78

Think I read something to that effect on the Cuse thread.

Sorry for the mix-up on names gentlemen (tough doing the phone scroll thing then typing away). Shaping up for a grand final regular season weekend. The suspense of the ins, outs, and seedings for the many conference tourneys is killing me. The lacrosse might even surpass the upcoming battle against the White Walkers.

Well, maybe not,

Thanks for all the good post-game analysis and generally lively discussion of what's shaping up to be a fascinating tournament selection scenario.

On the Albany game, I was impressed with the Danes' defensive game-plan: they threw a shut-off at Matt Gaudet, among other things, and although the Elis adjusted well and had very balanced scoring, they were four-plus goals below their season scoring average so that's something Yale may see again given the threat of Gaudet as an automatic inside finisher. I agree with the ESPN team's analysis that step-down goals are going to be a lot tougher than when the best low attackman in the nation was drawing a double last season; however, it was heartening to see both Tigh and Tevlin score from outside against Albany. Fingers crossed that that trend continues! Also would love to see the EMO success continue (nice work by Brian Rooney, among others).

On defense, Bryce DeMuth #35 saw some good time at close D, by my observation, and he had a good game. It does feel like the defense is starting to assert itself more, and the benefit of a season's worth of experience for the ssdms might be manifesting in a more cohesive overall unit. Warner and Alessi's absence had to make a difference, but it was good to see what seems to be growth on the defensive side of the ball. And hats off to Jack Starr -- bounced back in a big way from an uneven outing against Brown.

joewillie78 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2019 8:56 pm

Typical Lax Dad wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2019 8:27 pm

joewillie78 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2019 7:04 pm

Mid-Lax wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2019 6:53 pm GOBIGRED, so you would say Penn State didn't play well vs Yale that one game? Hmmm. I agree Penn State looks like the best team in the country, however, I also think that Yale has improved. Win or lose I am rooting for rematches versus both Pennsylvania teams. By the way, I certainly don't discount Cornell with a great attack unit and very good young goaltender.

I would say, they didnt play to their OPTIMUM. Every team has down days but I feel RIGHT NOW that if PSU plays to their optimum, and ANY OTHER team plays to their optimum, that PSU will win 9 out of 10 times. They (in my opinion) are that good right now. JHU is no slouch, and they just destroyed that team. That was impressive.

They have ZERO weaknesses, attack is amazing, middies, outstanding, FOGO is great, Defense and Goalie , incredibly solid. They just, plain and simple are a complete team, and that pains me to say that given the Coach bolted my BIGRED for State College,

GOBIGRED
Joewillie78

If PSU plays an A game, they will be hard to beat.

Agree, but the team that is outright scary right now are those guys dressed in Orange about an hour north of myself here in Ithaca. That is one scary FAST team, with great defenders and a great Goalie. NOBODY wants to see those guys in May.

GOBIGRED
Joewillie78

The Colgate game seems like eons ago.....Syracuse has quietly put together a very good season. A gutty team.

I've been in awe of Ierlan. Never seen one player have a greater impact on a lacrosse team. Great player!

Irelan has been all he was touted to be and more. Rest of the Bulldogs need to keep improving to further his invaluable contribution to this year's team's already considerable success. On another note, a replay of Saturday's game shows the absence of LSDM Robert Mooney. I assume he was dinged up and hope he returns soon. In Mooney's absence Will Weitzel moved from close D to LSDM did an excellent job on the Danes outstanding midfield scorer Sean Eccles, sticking to him like glue and limiting him to one goal if I am not mistaken.

It’s amazing to think of all the incredible players Yale graduated last year and with just the addition of Ierlan have been able to maintain an extremely high level of play. Says so much about him as a player and teammate.

thetruth wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:51 am I've been in awe of Ierlan. Never seen one player have a greater impact on a lacrosse team. Great player!

And to think, just a couple of years ago, many thought Baptiste was one of the best all-time FOGO's, and he is nowhere near the dominant player Ierlan is. I would say now, and I have seen many, He is the best FOGO I have ever seen. I mean, he goes like 22 for 24 or some ridiculous number like that almost every week.

AND his brother (a freshman), in goal for us aint no slouch (yeah, I know, double negative, but it sounds great).

GOBIGRED
Joewillie78

Totally agree Joe. Have also been quite impressed by his little brother too. Cornell has a very good squad this year and another team that is quite dangerous particularly if young Ierlan is hot.

thetruth wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2019 9:44 pm Totally agree Joe. Have also been quite impressed by his little brother too. Cornell has a very good squad this year and another team that is quite dangerous particularly if young Ierlan is hot.

TT, could not agree more. I have watched Chayse grow all season, and the difference in him right now and when he first started is startling. His confidence is so high now (it must run in the family), and you really notice it in the clearing game where he is taking charge, directing traffic etc. Kudo's to the coaches as they have done a great job bringing him along. As I said in another thread, its nice knowing that we have a great goalie for the next 3+ years.

GOBIGRED
Joewillie78

joewillie78 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2019 9:40 pm And to think, just a couple of years ago, many thought Baptiste was one of the best all-time FOGO's, and he is nowhere near the dominant player Ierlan is. I would say now, and I have seen many, He is the best FOGO I have ever seen. I mean, he goes like 22 for 24 or some ridiculous number like that almost every week.

Huge TD fan. Have had the pleasure of speaking with him on a number of occasions and I'm always impressed with his humility and maturity.

With that said, let's give Baptiste the respect he's earned (and deserves). Still a record holder, has done and still does a ton for the face-off position. Baptiste IS "one of the best all-time FOGO's"! If we're lucky we'll get to see TD vs TB again in the future.

Not unexpectedly Bulldogs pulled away in a 24-8 victory over Quinnipiac this evening. What was unexpected was the resistence Q's FOGO (I believe it was Tyler Lioota) put up against TD Ierlan. The numbers likely show TD with about a 70% advantage but he was made to scuffle more often than not and occasionally out wrestled which is a rarity. The other outstanding player for the Bobcats was Freshman goalie Nick Dimuccio, who despite giving up an unworldly number of goals also made an unworldly number of outstanding saves. I was impressed by Yae's spirited play from just about everyone in the blow out, but particularly by the lesser used players who filled out the score sheet from late third quarter on. I meant to point this out earlier in the year, but I think one of the more recent payoffs that Shay and staff and their success have brought to the program is an impressive depth of talent that allows all the Bulldogs to be practicing against quality opposition every day. I'm sure close to everyone in uniform got some meaningful minutes today, and to a man they all looked really good. Congratulations, and on to Harvard Saturday.

Following up on one of your posts following the Albany game, calourie, Robert Mooney was back in action against Quinna, picking up three ground balls. I agree with you about depth. Nice that Duran scored another goal.

TD is awesome. Best I've ever seen: quickness, timing, clamp, pinch, pop, control, delayed 50-50 pops, knack for getting away from pressure, even offensively strong. However, the freshman additions (like Brandau) and play by other underclassmen (like Tevlin, Starr) have also allowed Yale to maintain its high level of play.

Someone will have to explain to me why Yale was shooting on goal (and scoring) with 57 seconds to go up by 15.

Because it is an opportunity to get every player who has waited his turn and worked his a$$ off in practice into the game. Might not happen again this year for some of the seniors who have been loyal dogs.