mfp wrote: ↑Mon Feb 26, 2024 9:41 pm
All right… I’m mentally coming to terms with the reality of the penalties and the loss. So a new line of questions for all of you…
Any good coach is going to look for things to build upon and things to improve. So, if you were a Cornell coach, what are 2-3 things you think the team did well and can build on? Aside from penalties, what are 2-3 things you think the team did poorly and can improve?
Hard for me to judge because I didn't spring to travel out to Denver or to subscribe to Denver's TV show. But I did listen to the broadcast, and here are a few ideas.
Man-down
Dealing with bad calls
Clear and ride
It's hard to defend multiple minutes 2 men down. I don't see man down as a problem yet. 4 of the man down goals against were 2 men down.
I'd love to know what Kirst and the coaching staff said to earn those penalties. Again, I've seen some pretty awful behavior from players and coaches over the years (Tierney was a great tactical coach, but was an absolute embarrassment on the sidelines and never got called for anything) and I never saw anything like the calls vs Cornell in Denver in my 45 years of watching the sport.
The ride was great vs Lehigh. They cleared 16 of 19 vs Lehigh and 18-20 vs DU.
I would say that besides the obvious of losing your #1 FOGO, that they are still adjusting to a post Adler defense.
He was so good that he possibly masked a few of the issues that they are having on defense this year.
They have very good players on defense but I believe are still not where they want to be as a unit, post Adler.
The offense is just scary, and will always score enough to keep Cornell in any game as seen in Denver.
I am very interested in watching their defensive adjustments tonight against Hobart, who despite their struggles have very good offensive talent.
It was hard to evaluate Knust as he was under siege most of the 2nd half with Cornell down 1 or 2 players, and no D1 goalie is going to stop a top 10 D1 offense consistently when that team has such an advantage. Give the Cornell offense that amount of time up 1 or 2 players and the scoreboard would resemble a pinball machine.
mfp wrote: ↑Mon Feb 26, 2024 9:41 pm
All right… I’m mentally coming to terms with the reality of the penalties and the loss. So a new line of questions for all of you…
Any good coach is going to look for things to build upon and things to improve. So, if you were a Cornell coach, what are 2-3 things you think the team did well and can build on? Aside from penalties, what are 2-3 things you think the team did poorly and can improve?
I'll play.
1) EMO. Cornell is 1 of 7 on the extra man attack. Yes, most have been the 30 second variety, and we aren't talking about a huge sample, but with the firepower on this team, the extra man attack should be more potent.
2) Turnovers. Cornell has committed more turnovers than their opponent in both games and had 11 uncaused turnovers v. Lehigh and 7 on Saturday. This seems to happen most years and with more game time they improve, but I have to think Buczek is stressing possession, especially as the D gels.
I'd also like to see Knust tone down the aggression on the clearing passes a notch. Each game he's had a pass that he tried to force into a very tight window.
Curious to hear from Cornell side how healthy you guys are or aren’t. In only our 4th game, the Statesmen are coming into this one with a slew of injuries. Just seems like what Hobart lacrosse has become in the Raymond era - great character kids who are talented but can’t stay healthy to have an impact.
Maybe that’s just today’s D1 lax landscape but it sure feels like we’re thin while everyone else is deep….
Despite nearly half our starters down for the season I’m starting to feel it. Prepare to see some real law breaking behavior from the statesmen tonight.
Now I love those cowboys, I love their gold
Love my uncle, God rest his soul
Taught me good, Lord, taught me all I know
Taught me so well, that I grabbed that gold
I left his dead ass there by the side of the road, yeah
I am shocked to see that Massey has CU 19-9 tonight. Seems like a large delta.
Frank W @ Fall Creek house is special for several generations of Ithaca laxer's. I was lucky to have Frank at the beginnings of his sideline prowling's at IHS in the early 80's.
Statesmen travelers for a Tuesday game @ CU sadly miss out on the opportunity to hit pre & post-game libations at Glenwood Pines, which is closed today.
I have a nephew on the coaching staff for the Statesmen baseball squad and will travel to see them in a couple of weekends, when they are in MD @ McDaniel. Interesting to see how the school supports this fledgling program.
For those Cornell faithful who are not aware, we're not going to see Michael Bozzi today. My guess is, nor will we in the weeks ahead.
Following the Cascadden injury (which IMO was one of the VERY TOP Cornell players you would not want to see go down), this one really hurts as well. I'd rate him our #2 ss, anchoring one of the two rotations. He's really developed since his freshman year.
The coaches will have to identify another "5th" shortie - the first 4 will definitely be on the field significantly more due to the Cascadden injury + the team will need a 5th if/when one of the first 4 is dinged or worse.
CU88a wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 2:14 pm
I am shocked to see that Massey has CU 19-9 tonight. Seems like a large delta.
Frank W @ Fall Creek house is special for several generations of Ithaca laxer's. I was lucky to have Frank at the beginnings of his sideline prowling's at IHS in the early 80's.
Statesmen travelers for a Tuesday game @ CU sadly miss out on the opportunity to hit pre & post-game libations at Glenwood Pines, which is closed today.
I have a nephew on the coaching staff for the Statesmen baseball squad and will travel to see them in a couple of weekends, when they are in MD @ McDaniel. Interesting to see how the school supports this fledgling program.
I'm not surprised by the Massey projection at all. If rumors are correct, the Statesmen could be down the entire first midfield as well as some other key players on a team with limited depth. We will be playing a lot of youngsters, including possibly a freshman goalie. This game could get out of hand early. Better days are coming, but that day is not going to be today.
CU88a wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 2:14 pm
I am shocked to see that Massey has CU 19-9 tonight. Seems like a large delta.
Frank W @ Fall Creek house is special for several generations of Ithaca laxer's. I was lucky to have Frank at the beginnings of his sideline prowling's at IHS in the early 80's.
Statesmen travelers for a Tuesday game @ CU sadly miss out on the opportunity to hit pre & post-game libations at Glenwood Pines, which is closed today.
I have a nephew on the coaching staff for the Statesmen baseball squad and will travel to see them in a couple of weekends, when they are in MD @ McDaniel. Interesting to see how the school supports this fledgling program.
I know the old owners of the Glenwood Pines, (Lee Denman and Dave Pepin) very well, and then they sold it and opened a Bar in College town that was called Dunbars. We went their all the time in our college days.
Two great guys who were huge supporters of the Cornell Hockey team.
Hobart is just overmatched athletically, physically, and schematically. I know they have a bunch of injuries and it shows. Time for Cornell to empty the bench.
Chousnake wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 6:34 pm
Hobart is just overmatched athletically, physically, and schematically. I know they have a bunch of injuries and it shows. Time for Cornell to empty the bench.
Yes, time to get younger players experience; save those legs for OSU; and don't risk injuries to some of the big dogs.
Chousnake wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 6:34 pm
Hobart is just overmatched athletically, physically, and schematically. I know they have a bunch of injuries and it shows. Time for Cornell to empty the bench.
Yes, time to get younger players experience; save those legs for OSU; and don't risk injuries to some of the big dogs.
Fourth quarter under way with starting attack on the bench.
My takeaways:
1. Long looks absolutely 100% healthy and moving and Dodging great.
2. Blake also looks healthy, and on one play going straight to the net with about 4 Hobart players bouncing off him scored but the goal was disallowed.
3. I did not see much difference between Knust and Tully, which means the freshman didn't let the moment affect his play. He looked rock solid.
4. Our FOGO's held their own with Jack sidelined. I thought Petrakis was the best of the 4 that played.
5. Our offense is just relentless.
6. I thought the defense had much better communication getting through picks, and sliding at the right time.
Ohio State is another great test Saturday.
Gobigred
Joewillie78
Nice to see everyone who was dressed get some PT. Especially given very short rest, no practice on Sunday, and flying back losing 2 hours given the time zone difference.
In terms of the game, however, don't be misled. My daughter is a Hobart graduate and I have very positive feelings about the school, but besides a slew of injuries, their program is simply at an entirely different level from Cornell.
My salient observations:
-F/Os are going to be a (terrible) problem against many teams. My "scorecard" was very different than Howie Bs. At one point he had it at 8-8 on faceoffs and I had it at 13-3 Hobart. Psyllos took the first 3, lost all, and had two violations. I love his work ethic and athleticism (I watched him warm up vs. Army at West Point last year going doing "box jumps" - very athletic). But he's not a clamp guy; stylistically he reminds me of Zack Currier (a counterpuncher and scraper)...but without the success. Petrakis is far more competitive on the clamp, but he loses his feet with contact, has short arms, and is simply not good off the ground. Ricci is a freshman and may have potential, but I don't think he's ready for prime time. This will be a real problem vs., for example, Yale, Notre Dame, Syracuse, and Princeton. Teams that get light it up. Not only do we get fewer offensive touches, the defense will be on the field far more of the game. It is what it is.
-Short-sticks - it looks like Caleb Newman (an LSM) gets the nod as the 5th shortie. He held his own, but against an outclassed Hobart team. He's a three year starter, but Kyle Smith is definitely the weak link in the rotation. Teams go after him and more often than not, without help, his man runs by him. Issue - lack of speed and quickness. Thank God for Gilmartin - he looks far more polished than a typical freshman, especially as a ss.
-2nd game in a row Buczek went with 3 middie lines (Holmes and Nikolic rotated in). Great that he's keeping this many in the game and seeing who can "break out." Again, Blake seems to lack his former explosiveness, though he did dodge past a pole (who played the dodge terribly).
-Cadigan - definitely a talented addition as the third attackman. Though it was nice to see Brian P play the 4th quarter. He could start or get a lot of PT on many D1 teams.
-Howie B (who I think is great doing the color...and who saves the bacon of the play by play guy) kept saying that Kirst was "locked off." Maybe he has a different definition for a lock off. #91 wouldn't slide from him, but it was not a lock off. The goods news is that if 91 doesn't slide, there's not help for support other Hobart poles or ss. Regardless, it was obvious that CJ was getting more and more frustrated and at times starting to force things a bit in the first half. Only had 1 shot in the 1st quarter.
Other:
-Wirthem - another strong game. Can't keep a ss on him, unless the guy is very good. Nice day for Kelleher - I liked his consistency more than the goals.
-It was very surprising that Staub did not start and didn't enter the game until about 7 or 8 minutes gone in the 1st quarter --- ?
-Nice to see Danny Boccafola get on the field; he split time at LSM with Bartolotto on the great 2020 team, but I think has been injured since.
Ben Abladian remains an enigma; high scoring transfer from Bryant, hardly sees PT, but when he does, seems to do everything right. My only guess is that he's more a finesse player than Buczek wants on the field. Also, Brian Luzzi who got a lot of PT last season and was one of the few 2nd line middies who can create his own shot, made his first appearance. He's certainly further down the depth chart (8 guys ahead of him, and that's without Lombardi playing).
-Walker Wallace - 2 point (1G 1 A) night.
*Big step up in class this Saturday. The difference may be how the FOGOS and shorties fare
Last edited by VeryRustyRed on Tue Feb 27, 2024 9:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I was not particularly impressed after watching a much better performance against Denver. Sloppy play by both teams. Yes it is February and game 3 for Cornell and game 4 for Hobart but I bet that will be a point of emphasis in practice before theOSU game.
I did like how the scoring was distributed across several players. Through the first 3 quarters before the wholesale subbing started, more than 10 different players scored goals. I also agree that Tully looked good, playing with confidence. That bodes well for the future.
Any sign of Ryan Goldstein, #30? His roster stats say he's 5'9" & 145 lbs, so I know he has to bulk up. But I found his HS highlight film very impressive and expected to see hin on the field today during garbage time. what gives?
