Cornell

[HOF2013]

1 hour ago, AlbanyFan2018 said:

Hard to type with frozen fingers, but I am making an early call that will anger many, but it is time for a wholesale coaching change.  So much I wish I could say, but have to bite my tongue. Regardless of the outcome, this program will never reach its potential.

Not sure I agree but..... Faceoffs.  Have to win faceoffs, the freshman finally stated winning a few and we started scoring a little. 3rd Q we did not win ANY.  D was also awful, it's hard to leave the D on the field for 2/3 of the game and win, especially when the Off is taking stupid shots and giving the ball right back..   A couple of guys allowed at least 3 goals each by being out of position or sliding poorly.   If Marr doesn't get pissed at some guys little will change.

[HOF2013]

15 minutes ago, nysteve661 said:

Glad I wasn't able to watch that disgrace as I was driving from FL.  Can I assume the following based on box score:  Tehoka not as improved as we were led to believe?  The offense still not on the same page like last year (the 4th quarter goals were in garbage time I guess)?  Defense and middy D porous and not big enough bodies?  Face-offs a mess at 11 for 32?  After being spoiled by solid goaltending by Blaze and JD past 6-7 years, Siekirski not able to stop the ball?  

   If I am right on these observations, then it's a long season again with little improvement.  I know Cornell is a decent team, but at home, UA didn't show up.  Talent or coaching?  I see some posters are going the coaching route.  It does start with them.

Cornell left their starters in the entire game with a couple of subs the last 2 minutes. Teak [or however it's spelled] took a shot with less than 2 minutes to go.  Siekirski had a lot of saves.  D played poorly, especially a couple of guys.  Read my post above.  I doubt that we had 25% faceoff wins - most against against Altimari and Jones and long sticks a few times - GOT TO POSSESS the ball.   I think it was 6-3 at the 1/2 and they scored 10 in a row in the 3rd.  That caused the D to be on the field 2/3 of the game..  Offense had maybe 20 shots the entire game, some poor, missed some, bad passes etc.  BUT it all goes back to faceoffs.  Our wings were more aggressive than in the past BUT they then have to get the ground balls.  The freshman FO started winning some in the 4th [and much of it was against their starter] and we had the ball and did score.

Edited February 15, 2020 by HOF2013

[AlbanyFan2018]

1 hour ago, HOF2013 said:

Not sure I agree but..... Faceoffs.  Have to win faceoffs, the freshman finally stated winning a few and we started scoring a little. 3rd Q we did not win ANY.  D was also awful, it's hard to leave the D on the field for 2/3 of the game and win, especially when the Off is taking stupid shots and giving the ball right back..   A couple of guys allowed at least 3 goals each by being out of position or sliding poorly.   If Marr doesn't get pissed at some guys little will change.

I am going to cut Tehoka a little bit of slack. In the past he tried to do too much and today he probably should have pressed it more. It all started by letting Patterson play after little to no practice since last season. That disrupts just about all of the chemistry and all of a sudden puts guys in different roles.

The offense could have scored 3-4 in the first few minutes but it was a mix of very poor shot placement and some good saves by Irelan. It was like a football game when the team squanders a few early scoring opportunities, and you know it is going to bite you in the butt. Hogg, will cut him some slack, took a lot of poor shots early, and in time he will be a very good player.

The face-off wings and FOGO's were terrible except for the play when Barrow caused the turnover and scored. You can't necessarily blame the guys because every FOGO, unless he is winning it clean, does something a little different.

The team defense was putrid with middies getting beat and one defender in particular who was just waving his stick at people and refused to use his body.

This will probably be my last post, because there is so much more I want to say, but it isn't appropriate to do so. There is still a ton of talent, and I assumed there would be some early bumps in the road, and if they hold it together then come AE time, the team could be in a good place. I am just fed up with the coaching, accountability, and player development. 

[Club lax legend]

Starting with the negatives:

Cornell was getting whatever they wanted on offense.  Teat carved us up, and they have some great finishers.  Our SSDMs are awful, I think we are under recruiting that.  Every year we get multiple high level attack recruits but nothing on the other side of the ball.  Today it showed, They came off the bus much more polished and ready to play than we did.

pros:

I think Tehoka did a good job not forcing it.  The offense looked good once we were getting some possessions in the fourth.  Patterson and Hogg had some nice two man action that should get better with more practice.  Hopefully this freshman FOGO can be serviceable, I know we have a good one coming in next year too.

Cornell looked impressive, in a different class than us.  I think once the competition level comes down a bit we will perform better.  May want to skip Syracuse, Maryland and Yale, but I think we should fair well against UVM, SBU and UMBC.

[nysteve661]

10 minutes ago, Club lax legend said:

Starting with the negatives:

Cornell was getting whatever they wanted on offense.  Teat carved us up, and they have some great finishers.  Our SSDMs are awful, I think we are under recruiting that.  Every year we get multiple high level attack recruits but nothing on the other side of the ball.  Today it showed, They came off the bus much more polished and ready to play than we did.

pros:

I think Tehoka did a good job not forcing it.  The offense looked good once we were getting some possessions in the fourth.  Patterson and Hogg had some nice two man action that should get better with more practice.  Hopefully this freshman FOGO can be serviceable, I know we have a good one coming in next year too.

Cornell looked impressive, in a different class than us.  I think once the competition level comes down a bit we will perform better.  May want to skip Syracuse, Maryland and Yale, but I think we should fair well against UVM, SBU and UMBC.

Thanks for the input BUT this program has been built, praised, and touted as a program that can compete with the Syracuse's, Maryland's, Yale's of the world and have shown that over the past 10 or so years, NOT to back up to mediocre AE level last year and now this year.  Sure, Marr had a Lyle and then a Connor, but he had plenty more All American caliber players to compete and even win against those teams.  I don't think the athletic dept, the University, the Capital District, and alumni would be happy with a Lax team that never beats the Top 20 ever, wins an AE title every now and then, and calls a .500 season pretty solid.  We were given many exciting, competitive teams for a long stretch so they were not a flash in the pan for one great season.  This drop off is alarming, plain as day.

[dslyank]

Left game when it was 19-8; ready to throw the towel in on the season. Thought I'd watch the replay before setting myself un-fire. Still pretty upset, but did see a few good {at least hopeful} things by watching the replay. 

First what I did not like and most of which has already been said here. SAME issues as last year: cannot pick-up GROUND BALLS and pure and simple do not get rebounds and second chance opportunities, while giving up WAY too many of BOTH. Therefore UA spends too much time on defense. In football time of possession is a major predictor of success and IMHO it holds trump (like in cards not presidents) also. In the third period today UA had the ball for exactly 30 seconds of the first 6 minutes; after words I lost count but anyone there or watching saw how little UA had the ball. IMHO this is why last year was a disaster and why I am almost ready to concede this year. I have NOT mentioned face-offs, but most certainly it enters into the lack of possessions' scenario. My comment here is unless you have a stud, stick with SOMEONE and let him get better. Changing on every face-off accomplishes NOTHING IMHO. Even if the fogo loose all/most, at least you know what you got and can react and hopefully adjust. UA won for years without a stud fogo; but they never played fogo roulette before last year and today.

I too was surprised at some of the players who got significant minutes today. 2018 please do not stop posting your insights. We know you are in a precarious situation and must hold back at times; but we still appreciate your analysis and input, even when you obligated to hold back. Of course I understand and respect your choice to continue posting or not.

I did see some encouraging passing and play making WHEN UA was able to get the ball; especially in the fourth QTR {which was still most definitely against cornell first string.} Also, UA held Teat scoreless in the first half. He did not get an assist until the on-slaught was well in progress. For the game he was listed with 1 goal and 4 assist, but at least two of those were not true assists, as they were just passes and the goal scorer made a couple of solo moves. The offense definitely was more crisp  after half-time when Patterson was moved to the four and Tehoka-Yunker-Hogg played up front. Wished they could have done this sooner and got more possessions [but that is kicking a dead horse.}

[dslyank]

17 hours ago, Club lax legend said:

Teat carved us up

Do Not agree. Maybe we just were watching him too much; but he most definitely did NOT carve UA up. Even if you believe the stats of 1 goal 4 assists. 2 being very generous at best.

Edited February 16, 2020 by dslyank

[Club lax legend]

As an alumni I agree that we have come to expect higher levels of performance, but Kyle McClancey and Adam Osika aren’t out there playing.  We lack the horses in the middle of the field needed to beat the top teams.  On a positive note we are young at midfield and it should get better. Having Ron John back will be an offensive boost.

Teat had 5 points and was able to get great looks for his teammates the whole game.  I guess we have different definitions, but he had total control of the field in the 6 on 6.

[AlbanyFan2018]

18 minutes ago, dslyank said:

Left game when it was 19-8; ready to throw the towel in on the season. Thought I'd watch the replay before setting myself un-fire. Still pretty upset, but did see a few good {at least hopeful} things by watching the replay. 

First what I did not like and most of which has already been said here. SAME issues as last year: cannot pick-up GROUND BALLS and pure and simple do not get rebounds and second chance opportunities, while giving up WAY too many of BOTH. Therefore UA spends too much time on defense. In football time of possession is a major predictor of success and IMHO it holds trump (like in cards not presidents) also. In the third period today UA had the ball for exactly 30 seconds of the first 6 minutes; after words I lost count but anyone there or watching saw how little UA had the ball. IMHO this is why last year was a disaster and why I am almost ready to concede this year. I have NOT mentioned face-offs, but most certainly it enters into the lack of possessions' scenario. My comment here is unless you have a stud, stick with SOMEONE and let him get better. Changing on every face-off accomplishes NOTHING IMHO. Even if the fogo loose all/most, at least you know what you got and can react and hopefully adjust. UA won for years without a stud fogo; but they never played fogo roulette before last year and today.

I too was surprised at some of the players who got significant minutes today. 2018 please do not stop posting your insights. We know you are in a precarious situation and must hold back at times; but we still appreciate your analysis and input, even when you obligated to hold back. Of course I understand and respect your choice to continue posting or not.

I did see some encouraging passing and play making WHEN UA was able to get the ball; especially in the fourth QTR {which was still most definitely against cornell first string.} Also, UA held Teat scoreless in the first half. He did not get an assist until the on-slaught was well in progress. For the game he was listed with 1 goal and 4 assist, but at least two of those were not true assists, as they were just passes and the goal scorer made a couple of solo moves. The offense definitely was more crisp  after half-time when Patterson was moved to the four and Tehoka-Yunker-Hogg played up front. Wished they could have done this sooner and got more possessions [but that is kicking a dead horse.}

You nailed it with the FOGO roulette. You would think after the fall and spring that they would be willing to stick with at least one guy for a bit., Then they don't use the only long pole who actually won face off's last year. There was a whole lot of head shaking going on after the game, and this one rests right on the shoulders of the coaching staff. 

None of us are at practice, but the lack of development at FOGO and in the midfield is particularly upsetting.

[ctdanes]

They should just put the best brawler they have for faceoffs against better teams. Can't expect to win giving fast breaks up off the rip. Itd be best to just slow their fogo down and hope for a gb

[cwdickens]

Finally thawed out.... During the Cornell 9 - 0 run, I felt the defense was standing around.  Of course, the lack of face off wins, did not help.  Disappointing afternoon.

[AlbanyFan2018]

11 hours ago, Club lax legend said:

As an alumni I agree that we have come to expect higher levels of performance, but Kyle McClancey and Adam Osika aren’t out there playing.  We lack the horses in the middle of the field needed to beat the top teams.  On a positive note we are young at midfield and it should get better. Having Ron John back will be an offensive boost.

Teat had 5 points and was able to get great looks for his teammates the whole game.  I guess we have different definitions, but he had total control of the field in the 6 on 6.

Adam is a guy who probably never got the recognition he should have gotten and was just a solid player. In the rain when UNC was about to complete the comeback he basically said I am going to score and stemmed the tide near the end of the game.

 

[jimbo]

I go back to the relative talent levels of the programs. UA has to do more with less. Unless one completely discounts Inside Lacrosse’s recruit rating system, Cornell quite simply has a better stock of talent, starters and backups...year after year. It’s that way with the good Ivy Schools, the ACC teams and so on. If we can get the FO, we’ve got the attack to make a game of it, if we can’t, their attack, our sub par middies and porous D are a killer. Maybe it’ll all come together, but that sure didn’t look like a team to watch for 2020. 

[dslyank]

16 hours ago, Club lax legend said:

Teat had 5 points and was able to get great looks for his teammates the whole game.  I guess we have different definitions, but he had total control of the field in the 6 on 6.

Still got to disagree. If Teat gets any credit for the win, IMHO is that UA spent so much time watching him we let pretty much everyone else slip away. Watch the replay--time and time again cornell players just ran by, and around, and through, and dodged by, and shot over UA defenders;  especially middies. Personally I did not see a single Teat pass of consequence. Certainly his presence was/is a factor; but to say he controlled the field; well I just did not see it. Of course you are welcome to your opinion, but I just don't see what I have highlighted above as being Teat controlling the field??

[ctdanes]

Was obviously a rough game but not going to write the season off just yet. Have to see what adjustments they make next time out. Offensive firepower is there but theyll have to be a little more efficient if we're gonna lose the possession battle. I know it's not Albany style but maybe they should try to settle the ball more