Cortland 23-24

[xcoach]

Lelan Rodgers will be the HC at Cortland. Official announcement on Monday.

[xcoach]

https://www.cortlandreddragons.com/news ... coach.aspx

[Leonard Washington]

It has been 18 years since he was on the sidelines at Cortland and the landscape of lacrosse, especially in the northeast has evolved. (which I'm sure he noticed upon his arrival at Utica). Can he recruit? Sure (not hard to do so at Cortland). Can he coach? Yes, Utica did make (some) improvements in his short tenure there. Can he put aside the ego, connect with his current players and elevate Cortland? TBD. I hope I am wrong on this but just don't see all three of the latter happening. I guess we will see in appx 5 years.

[dp68]

It has been 18 years since he was on the sidelines at Cortland and the landscape of lacrosse, especially in the northeast has evolved. (which I'm sure he noticed upon his arrival at Utica). Can he recruit? Sure (not hard to do so at Cortland). Can he coach? Yes, Utica did make (some) improvements in his short tenure there. Can he put aside the ego, connect with his current players and elevate Cortland? TBD. I hope I am wrong on this but just don't see all three of the latter happening. I guess we will see in appx 5 years.

It can only get better. You're a lax savant, but we disagree on this past season's Cortland roster. I don't believe they were more talented than Geneseo. Certainly they didn't shoot as well, though they had slight size and speed advantages.

Then again, memories of what Cortland lacrosse was up until 2013 color my opinions. That was the last great Cortland team. It took a bizarre officiating call and a fantastic hidden ball trick for RIT to beat Cortland in OT in the NCAA semis. Ever since those seniors graduated, Cortland has a been a shell of its former self.

I credit the 2006 NCAA championship to Rodgers' recruiting and Barnes stepping up big time when SU called Rodgers away. If I'm not mistaken, the star players behind the 2009 NCAA championship under Beville were also Rodgers' recruits. At the very least, they came in because of Barnes. And the great 2013 roster came to Cortland on the heels of the 2009 championship. Outside of that, the recruiting fell off a cliff.

Credit to Beville for winning a national championship. That's something Rodgers hasn't accomplished, though I believe he would have had he not left for SU.

Can he motivate 18-22 y/o's? I don't see why not. Until GG came into SU and cleaned house, Rodgers was the guy responsible for convincing the best lacrosse players in the land to consider SU. That was just a few years ago. I have faith in his ability to motivate this Cortland roster.

The only downside is we won't see any fruit from his recruiting ability until 2025 at the earliest. He might grab a community college transfer or two between now and the coming spring season, but that's about all you can hope for. We'll see what he can do with the solid (though not spectacular) roster Beville recruited.

[xcoach]

Dragons looked sharp in the opener today. They looked faster and more athletic that they have in some time. The ball movement was crisp, and balls weren't getting stuck in sticks. Nice start for the 2nd Rodgers era.

[dp68]

That was my impression too. Better ball movement, more varied sets, speed in the transition game. #7 (d-pole) really impressed me. It appears he transferred in from Farmingdale.

[xcoach]

I'm fully aware that it's a small sample, (2 games) but it appears that Cortland is progressing in the right direction after two convincing wins. It seems evident that Rodgers and staff have the boys' attention. For early in the season the stick work has been crisp, and a heightened urgency on GB's is apparent. Overall, the team looks faster, and ball movement is quick and purposeful, with an absence of dumb, unforced errors. The Dragons have now cleared the roster of 5th and some 6th year players, who it turns out, were getting in the way of many of the kids who are now key participants. The offense in recent years had too many bigger, but not necessarily more athletic pieces. Bigger, power dodgers generally needed more time and space to be effective, resulting in balls getting "stuck" in sticks, while others tried to play off of double teams that never came. This year so far, the ball movement is better, and guys are actually running by people, creating opportunities for off-ball players. The defense is much improved, seemingly faster and more athletic. Cabrini should be a good challenge before the Dragons head to Colorado for some spring break contests. It's early, but things seem to be on the right track.

[MVPiccoli]

Cabrini jabroni dropping by to say thank you. It's been a pleasure watching our boys play your prestigious program over the years. Appreciate the Red Dragons hosting us on Friday and for honoring your commitment when you could have easily gone another route. Best of luck on Friday, for the rest of this season, and in the years to come!

[dp68]

MVP -

Very sorry about Cabrini's decision to close shop. Best wishes to all the grads and current students. You deserve better.

I'll echo XCoach's sentiments. Cortland looks like a very different team this season under the new (again) coaching regime. The defense is faster to the point and can get out and run on a break. Offense shows a lot better dodging and ball movement. Far fewer drops and bad passes.

It's worth noting that the Red Dragons now have two convincing victories over solid teams. Scranton defeated Montclair and Muhlenberg, didn't let Salisbury embarrass them, and lost by 3 to Dickinson. Fisher crushed Brockport and Montclair, and gave St. Lawrence a serious run before falling short. The only head-scratcher on Fisher's record is the opening game loss at Ithaca. I'd take Fisher to win a rematch.

So far, big difference.

[TronLax1]

What an epic battle last night! Two great teams leaving it all on the field! This was a phenomenal lacrosse game! Hopefully they can meet again in the NCAA Tournament for another game in May!

[dp68]

That was a "pump the brakes" result for Cortland. The Red Dragons have issues gathering ground balls. This was especially prevalent on faceoffs, where the wings lost almost every battle to Cabrini. Also, the offense committed all the unforced errors they avoided during the first two games of the season.

Cabrini is a very good team, much better than their early season losses to Lynchburg and Hampden-Sydney suggested. No shame in losing to a team that will be a top-20 fixture within a month. Check out the schedule. If Cabrini knocks off Eastern, they should run the table until the Salisbury game. I could see DeSales and Catholic pushing them, but the way Cabrini looks right now, I believe they're a full tier above their competition.

[dp68]

Cortland's offense looked as good as it has in years against RIT. It wasn't enough, as RIT won the possession battle off the ground and FO. That's a recipe for disaster against one of the best offenses in D3 lax.

The game writeup on Cortland's official site mentioned 10 players who led the team. Having watched the game, I agree with those picks. It's notable that only 1 of the 10 is a senior, though I also thought #7 on D continued to impress (as he has all season). This team should be better next year.

Give Rogers a few years to recruit and I think we might have something here. The improvement from the last few seasons is obvious. I'm also hopeful we'll fill a few needs this offseason with CC transfers.

[dp68]

The Cortland offense vanished against Brockport, as it has a few times this season. Bad interior passing, dodgers unable to beat defenders. Gotta give the Brockport goalie and D credit for an amazing performance. For Cortland, a win is a win.

As much as I like the improvements under Rogers, I feel there is only so much the coaching staff can do with this roster, especially the offense. They need better talent, period.