ACC Tournament - Seeds, schedule and thoughts

[wlaxnut]

Syracuse should hold their heads high after that knock down drag out war. They could easily have won that game. In spite of their errors they were right there at the end. BC was lucky to come away with that win.

[laxorangebookworm]

A disappointing finish. SU could never really figure out the BC ride and it cost them.

23 turnovers, 13-23 on clears, BC 22-12 edge on ground balls. Hard to beat the no. 1 team in the country with those numbers. BC did a really good job throughout on defense. You simply cannot hand a team like Boston College gift-wrapped opportunities on a continual basis like that.

We did go 18-11 on the draw, which really surprised me.

[DMac]

Damn, BC gals must have intensity tea and stamina crumpets for breakfast, that's a mighty tough unit to deal with.
Absolutely agree, wlaxnut, tremendous effort by the Cuse gals. Had several golden opportunities for goals and just shot themselves in the foot on 'em too many times. BC really got in their heads on the ride too, that cost Cuse for the entire game. Hats off to BC, they beat a mighty good team that gave 'em hell today.

[wlaxnut]

Weather delay for North Carolina/Duke. As long as there is thunder and lightning in the area, there won’t be any lacrosse played. ACC Women’s Lacrosse Twitter account tweeted this about a half hour ago:

“We are currently in a weather delay. If you are at Alumni Stadium, please exit the facility in a calm and orderly fashion and seek shelter.”

[seacoaster]

The draw disparity ended up embodying what we here in New Hampshire call "the DMac Rule:" that you can win all the draws and face-offs you want but you still have to make possessions count. Great game. Cuse plays like that in the big tourney, they are gonna be a tough, tough out.

[wlaxnut]

Abbey Ngai looked lost in net today. Needlessly moving her stick way too much to make saves. Her mechanics were all out of whack. She seemed to have that 270 degree stick pivot to make saves that she could have used a fairly stationary net to snag. I'm glad they pulled her.

Then there was this nasty skirmish between Grace Fahey and Cara Urbank.

https://youtu.be/ZBSgP7xJdWo

Typically and sadly, no fouls called on either player. Three refs on the field and they all missed it. Tsk tsk. The announcers were complicit by their silence as well. Too cowardly or oblivious or unobservant, or all three combined, to say anything about it.

Lots of amazing goals scored, most notably Emily Hawryschuk's insane field hockey swipe past Ngai to tie the score 9 seconds before the half.

[seacoaster]

UNC-Duke tomorrow at Noon.

[wlaxphan20]

Abbey Ngai looked lost in net today. Needlessly moving her stick way too much to make saves. Her mechanics were all out of whack. She seemed to have that 270 degree stick pivot to make saves that she could have used a fairly stationary net to snag. I'm glad they pulled her.

Then there was this nasty skirmish between Grace Fahey and Cara Urbank.

https://youtu.be/ZBSgP7xJdWo

Typically and sadly, no fouls called on either player. Three refs on the field and they all missed it. Tsk tsk. The announcers were complicit by their silence as well. Too cowardly or oblivious or unobservant, or all three combined, to say anything about it.

Lots of amazing goals scored, most notably Emily Hawryschuk's insane field hockey swipe past Ngai to tie the score 9 seconds before the half.

nice shove to both Urbank and Rietano there, looks an awful lot like initiating stick-to-body contact and using the shaft of the stick to hit, push or displace an opponent

[wlaxnut]

UNC-Duke tomorrow at Noon.

I'm strongly assuming UNC comes through this game against Duke tomorrow afternoon. How do you think the quick turnaround comes into play for Sunday's final? The team who wins will have less than 24 hours to recover before having to play BC.

(Any and all thoughts/opinions welcome from any and all members.)

[DMac]

nice shove to both Urbank and Rietano there, looks an awful lot like initiating stick-to-body contact and using the shaft of the stick to hit, push or displace an opponent

Seems to me as if I see this 1,400 or so times a game.
Was a physical game, both teams played pretty much the same. The retaliatory move by the gal who got shafted (no pun intended) and displaced was rather aggressive with the kind of move you're coached not to make and can likely get you thrown out of the game. It's all even.

seacoaster wrote
The draw disparity ended up embodying what we here in New Hampshire call "the DMac Rule:" that you can win all the draws and face-offs you want but you still have to make possessions count.

I like that appropriately named New Hampshire rule.

[wlaxnut]

Great game. Cuse plays like that in the big tourney, they are gonna be a tough, tough out.

This is from the most recent projected bracket at US Lacrosse magazine:

Syracuse, N.Y.
Stony Brook/AMERICA EAST vs. Penn State
Stony Brook/Penn State at (4) Syracuse

Stony Brook at Syracuse. WOW! Wouldn't that be a dilly of a 2nd round game!!

https://youtu.be/aFsLA3thBTs

[Badlands]

I’m hearing no TV coverage of tomorrow’s game.

[wlaxnut]

I’m hearing no TV coverage of tomorrow’s game.

No TV, but it will be streamed live (and available for replay) on ACC Network on WatchESPN

[laxorangebookworm]

wlaxnut wrote:

Syracuse, N.Y.
Stony Brook/AMERICA EAST vs. Penn State
Stony Brook/Penn State at (4) Syracuse

Stony Brook at Syracuse. WOW! Wouldn't that be a dilly of a 2nd round game!!

I saw that one as well and was surprised that they would even put Penn St. in that slot. They're currently 7-8 and even with a win against Rutgers will have to beat Maryland in the B1GT in order to make the NCAAs. But I could totally see Stony Brook as one of the teams in SU's first round bracket (Orange should get the 4 seed unless Northwestern gets the B1GT AQ, then it's probably a 5) and to be honest, that one scares me a bit. They're not the same Seawolves as per the last two years, but they're still a dangerous team. If they get an overmatched opponent for the first round, I think they'll have an advantage. They have only a week off from the AET and a 1st round game to shake the rust off (assuming there's any after only a week off). Syracuse is going to have over two weeks off and could start slow (and they haven't been playing that great in the last few weeks). Coupled with the fact that their usual venue, the Dome, will be a non-factor due to Commencement weekend and they're playing outdoors where weather could be a factor. This is what happened two years ago when SU drew BC in a second round game. The Eagles had an easy game against Canisius, got into rhythm and creamed the Orange two days later.

[Badlands]

I’m hearing no TV coverage of tomorrow’s game.

No TV, but it will be streamed live (and available for replay) on ACC Network on WatchESPN

I realize that’s how all the other games have been for the ACC tourney, but I hope you’re right for tomorrow because I’m hearing that there will be nothing because of the time change. I hope my info is bad.

[wlaxnut]

I’m hearing no TV coverage of tomorrow’s game.

No TV, but it will be streamed live (and available for replay) on ACC Network on WatchESPN

I realize that’s how all the other games have been for the ACC tourney, but I hope you’re right for tomorrow because I’m hearing that there will be nothing because of the time change. I hope my info is bad.

Here y'go--straight from the horse's mouth, as it were...

http://theacc.com/news/2019/4/26/genera ... urday.aspx

[wlaxnut]

Just checking: you're not allowed to hold the opposing player's stick, right?

...and clueless Leah Secondo said Apuzzo was the one doing the holding??? Secondo was the best person available for color commentator for this event?

Here's another pearl from the dynamic duo tonight:

https://youtu.be/JhZ7caNuwpw

[Badlands]

I’m hearing no TV coverage of tomorrow’s game.

No TV, but it will be streamed live (and available for replay) on ACC Network on WatchESPN

I realize that’s how all the other games have been for the ACC tourney, but I hope you’re right for tomorrow because I’m hearing that there will be nothing because of the time change. I hope my info is bad.

Here y'go--straight from the horse's mouth, as it were...

http://theacc.com/news/2019/4/26/genera ... urday.aspx

Excellent. Thanks for clarifying.

[Badlands]

Just checking: you're not allowed to hold the opposing player's stick, right?

...and clueless Leah Secondo said Apuzzo was the one doing the holding??? Secondo was the best person available for color commentator for this event?

Here's another pearl from the dynamic duo tonight:

https://youtu.be/JhZ7caNuwpw

There were several cringe-worthy moments again tonight when I’m sure the ten of us (old guys) on here wanted to call into the booth to explain to Leah and Tom what was going on.

[wlaxnut]

After my adrenaline slowed to the normal rate last night, I went back and watched the game from when it was tied at 9. Syracuse was looking unruffled and unrattled as they beat BC's ride and defense a few times to build a 13-10 lead. BC didn't seem to have an answer for Syracuse's offense and their nifty scoring plays, and that's when it all fell apart for Syracuse; that's when Syracuse panicked and started making huge mental errors that in the end cost them the game. Some of the critical moments:

The draw immediately after taking a 3 goal lead with 8:10 left in the 2nd half, Emily Hawryschuk takes two swipes at Apuzzo's head in the draw circle! to earn a yellow card and give BC the player advantage, which Arsenault cashes in less than a minute and a half later to help BC draw to within 2. 6:53 left in the 2nd half. So unlike Emily to take a senseless penalty like that.

Syracuse wins the next draw and calls time out. Gait drew up a beautiful play which worked to perfection. Out of the timeout, Swart passes to Tyrrell, who hits Rahal just outside the 8 near the top of the fan and the sea parts. She blows right down the center, untouched, unmolested, for a dead to rights chance against Daly, and she fires high to high and hits Daly on the shoulder. A lot was made of the save Daly made on Rahal. I think it was more an instance of Rahal choosing a low percentage shot. She didn't even fake a shot to throw Daly off balance. Anyway--a golden opportunity to get the momentum back wasted. 6:40 left in the half.

Less than a minute later BC scores to pull to within 1. 5:29 left.

Apuzzo wins the next draw and BC calls a timeout. Out of the break, Syracuse plays sound tight defense which eventually results in a caused turnover behind the net at 4:20. For 30 seconds, Syracuse struggled to advance the ball and fell into real danger when a pass from Goldstock wasn't handled cleanly. This resulted in a mad dash for possession of the 50/50 ball as it rolled toward out of bounds. That's when Radziewicz held Apuzzo's stick out of desperation only to have the ref miss the call and award the ball to Syracuse. But 30 seconds have drained from their possession time. They finally clear but now they have only about 20 seconds to work with. They seem puzzlingly casual and/or unsure even though you can hear Gait's booming voice yelling "Let's GO! GO!" from the sidelines. With 5 seconds left, Levy tries a ridiculous behind the back pass to Rahal which is high and off target and uncatchable. Possession clock expires with not even a shot on goal. 2:47 left.

Then Syracuse commits another absolutely senseless penalty. This time it's Levy who stick checks Brooke Troy to the ground out of bounds at the attacking zone line. Player advantage for BC. 2:23 left.

BC draws a FP about 20 seconds later but Walker goes high to high right into Goldstock's stick. Syracuse ball. But again they have trouble advancing the ball in the face of BC's buzzing redefend and Defliese telegraphs a pass back to Goldstock which Apuzzo was lying in wait for. She intercepts, scoops the ground ball and a few moves later--tie ballgame. Another withering error by Syracuse that results in a goal. 1:40 left.

Apuzzo helps win the next critical draw to Hannah Hyatt. BC clears and calls timeout with only mild token resistance (if that) though BC had to start their clear deep in their own end from their own net. 1:18 left.

BC schemes a beauty of a play, even though it looked/felt like an improvised plan B maybe in the end. Taylor Walker, who can come up big in the clutch at times, came through huge here. She got open and received an easy pass from Arsenault, as she was falling down, she backhanded the game winner home and that was it. Game over. Syracuse was awarded the ball on the draw after a BC violation, but the BC defense buzzed the way they had all game and Syracuse wasn't able to get one last shot.

BC looked solid down the stretch--in control, even when they turned the ball over, they seemed determined and sure that they would get the ball back. Syracuse put ONE, count it, ONE shot on goal from the time they went up 13-10 until the horn blew. Much of that is due to BC's defense, but much is also due to Syracuse's mind numbingly poor decisions resulting in 2 yellow cards, and turnovers, and no system to beat BC's ride, which you have to lay at Gait's feet--his team was unprepared for BC's ride, though it's been one of the clear characteristics of the Eagles for at least two years now.

I've seen this happen with other teams, like the Patriot's (NOT a fan). So many times they win because the other team panics with the lead when it gets to crunch time. That may have been what happened last night.