Live Blog: NCAA Division I Men's Quarterfinals
LMO's Steven Russolillo blogs lives from the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse quarterfinals in Hempstead, N.Y., where Maryland takes on Syracuse at noon, followed by Cornell and Princeton. Follow the action here. For more of LMO's postseason coverage, including updated brackets, visit our Mayhem Central index. Can't catch the games online or on the tube? Follow LMO's mobile scoreboard.
by Steven Russolillo | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
Feature Story: 'Cuse's Cavalieri Shines, If Only for a Day
Post-game reactions:
Syracuse 11, Maryland 6
Maryland head coach Dave Cottle:
"We had some opportunities early to score but I give the goalie
credit - he made some good saves. We just couldn't keep up scoring
with them."
"If you're going to beat Syracuse you're going to need to score
more than six goals. When you're not scoring, every defensive
mistake gets compounded on you."
"I'm not beating our kids up at all. We played hard, we played
together. We wanted to win, we prepared the right and we played
hard for each other. But we just got beat by a team that played
better than us."
Syracuse head coach John Desko:
"It was special for us to have Alex [Cavalieri] come in and get
some opportunities early. He played well the whole game, especially
in the first quarter. He made some big saves, got some confidence
and got comfortable and the defense really rallied around him."
"It's something that every coach tells somebody like Alex how
important his position is. Sometimes those guys never get a chance
to show it. From a coaching standpoint, although you don't want a
player to get sick or hurt, for it to happen, and then Alex to get
the chance to perform, it kind of validates everything that we've
been talking about over the years."
Syracuse junior goalie Al Cavalieri:
"It was exciting. I just told myself to just stay calm because you
can have a tendency to get too excited out there. I knew I had a
great defense in front of me and they would do a good job."
"We work so hard for this. Everyone's always ready on our team no
matter if they're a started or backup. I just got an opportunity
and having the team behind me and having the team that we have, we
got through it and we're going back to the Final Four."
Cornell 6, Princeton 4
Princeton head coach Bill Tierney:
"Sometimes the things that are supposed to happen just don't. And
that's athletics and we're going home."
"I thought Max getting zero and Pannell getting zero - if you told
me that before the game I'd say we would've had a pretty good shot
at winning this thing...When you lose by two, it's tough."
"The goal at the end of the first quarter really hurt us. I
thought at 2-1 we felt really good, but that one really hurt us.
But we still fought back and had a chance."
Cornell head coach Jeff Tambroni:
"It was nothing short of a slugfest between two quality teams. We
knew we were going to have to play really hard in this rematch if
we were going to have a chance."
"I think our defense gets a lot of criticism for what they've done
this year, but it was nice to see them step up and compete and play
the way they did to send us off into the Final Four."
"Neither team really generated a whole lot of shots on goal today.
We felt that Jake [Myers] was consistent, saved the ones he should
have and even stole one in that fourth quarter from Chris McBride.
That was clearly the momentum changer of the game. If they score
that to cut it to one, things could have been much different."
"With about four and a half minutes left, we just shut it down and
asked our guys not to shoot anymore. With that minute penalty, we
knew it was going to go down to three and a half minutes. And then
we were just hoping that we could hold onto the ball for our dear
lives. They needed three goals in three minutes and with the way
our defense was playing, we were hoping it was going to be enough
and thank God it was."
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Cornell midfielder Roy Lang legs the ball up field Saturday during the Big Red's 6-4 win over Princeton in the second NCAA quarterfinal at Hofstra. © Lee Weissman |
Game Recaps:
Syracuse 11, Maryland 6 | Cornell 6, Princeton 4
posted Saturday at 5:02 p.m.
Cornell's Dancing After 6-4 Win Over Princeton
Cornell beat Princeton for the second time this season and will be dancing in the Final Four next weekend.
The Big Red's stout defense enabled them to pull out a 6-4 victory against the Tigers and earn a trip to Foxborough next weekend. Romero Rocco scored two goals, while freshman Rob Pannell dished three assists in the victory.
To be sure, Princeton had its opportunities, but only scored one goal in seven extra-man opportunities.
Princeton pulled closer late in the third quarter with two consecutive goals, but it couldn't sustain the momentum in the fourth. Princeton couldn't cut the two-goal deficit as Rocco gave Cornell a 6-3 lead midway through the fourth.
Mark Kovler scored his first goal of the game with a minute and a half remaining, but it proved too little to late as Cornell won the next faceoff and didn't relinquish possession for the remainder of the game.
Cornell advances to face the winner of Virgina/Johns Hopkins next weekend.
Princeton's Inching Back, Down 5-3 Early In Fourth
posted Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Princeton's slowly but surely creeping back into this game.
Two goals late in the third quarter have pulled the Tigers within 5-3 heading into the fourth quarter. After squandering four extra-man opportunities, Tommy Davis broke Princeton's nearly 28-minute scoreless streak and put one in the back of the cage.
Chris McBride added a goal with 28 seconds to pull the Tigers within two. And Mark Kovler had a goal nullified at the end of the quarter because he scored right after the clock turned to zero.
Cornell was held scoreless and only had three shots in the quarter. The Big Red have five penalities, while Princeton has zero. Cornell's won seven of 11 faceoffs and has committed 14 turnovers compared to 13 for Princeton.
Announced attendance of 11,259 is the second-largest crowd ever to attend the NCAA quarterfinals at Hofstra.
Cornell Holds 5-1 Lead; Defense
Dominating
posted Saturday at 3:58 p.m.
It was a relatively quiet second quarter, but Cornell's defense is clearly setting the tone in this one.
Cornell has built a nice little cushion, leading the Tigers 5-1 at halftime. Princeton was held scoreless in the second quarter and it took the Big Red almost 10 minutes before they notched their first goal of the quarter.
Sophomore midfielder Jonathan Thomson scored his first goal of the game off an assist from freshman Rob Pannell. Two of Cornell's goals have now come from its second midfield. John Glynn tacked on an unassisted goal with 2:41 remaining.
Pannell already has two assists and has been a one-man highlight reel with several impressive passes setting up the offense.
Cornell leads Princeton 16-14 in shots, but Princeton only has four shots on goal compared to Cornell's seven. Each team has ten turnovers. Cornell's Jake Myers has three saves, while Pinceton's Tyler Fiorito has two.
Cornell Holds Early 3-1 Lead Over Princeton
posted Saturday at 3:26 p.m.
Cornell jumped out to a 2-0 lead after early goals by Ryan Hurley and George Calvert and nearly shut down the Princeton offense in the first quarter. The Tigers took nearly six minutes before they were able to get their first shot on goal.
But Princeton's leading scorer Jack McBride got the Tigers on the board with a goal with less than two minutes remaining in first quarter.
Senior Rocco Romero answered with 11 seconds remaining in the quarter with a pretty goal off a pass behind the cage from Rob Pannell to give Cornell a 3-1 lead heading into second quarter.
Cornell holds a 9-7 advantage in shots taken, while the Tigers had five turnovers compared to Cornell's four.
Cornell beat Princeton 10-7 on April 18. The Big Red (11-3) has won five of its last six games against the Tigers.
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Syracuse attackman Chris Daniello dodges the cage Saturday during the Orange's 11-6 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse quarterfinal win over Maryland. © Lee Weissman |
Cuse Headed to Final Four With 11-6 Victory Over Maryland
posted Saturday at 2:20 p.m.
Syracuse i s headed to Foxboro.
The Orange stamped their ticket to the Final Four with a dominating 11-6 victory against the Terps and will play the Duke/North Carolina winner on Saturday.
The five minutes spanning the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth proved to be the difference maker, when the Orange scored five consecutive goals to turn a 6-4 lead into an 11-4 advantage.
The Terps added two goals midway through the fourth quarter, but the Orange were clearly the dominant team on the field.
Syracuse senior goalie Al Cavalieri stepped in for sophomore John Galloway - out with flu-like symptoms - and had a very solid performance.
The Orange didn't miss a beat with Galloway out as Cavalieri had 14 saves while allowing only six goals.
Cuse Pulling Away, Up 11-4 In Fourth
posted Saturday at 1:56 p.m.
A sloppy start to the second half as neither team scored for almost the first 10 minutes of the third quarter. Lots of turnovers from both squads, but the offensive intensity certainly picked up in the final five minutes of the quarter.
Stephen Keogh scored his first goal with 5:22 remaining to give the Orange a 6-3 lead, but Catalino responded a little more than a minute later with his second goal of the game to keep the Terps within two.
But three consecutive Cuse goals in the final three minutes of the quarter, including Keogh's second score - a beautiful one-handed shot with three defenders surrounding him - give Syracuse a 9-4 lead and a bit of breathing room heading into the fourth quarter.
Catalino has two goals for Maryland, while Nims, Dan Hardy and Keogh each have two goals for Syracuse.
Tyler Hlawati and Chris Daniello each notched goals a minute and a half into the fourth quarter and Syracuse is turning this into a blowout, up 11-4 in beginning of fourth.
Cuse Holds 5-3 Lead, 3rd Quarter Underway
posted Saturday at 1:26 p.m.
Kenny Nims has two goals and an assist, pacing Syracuse to a 5-3 halftime lead. But Maryland isn't backing down just yet.
Syracuse jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and looked on pac e to blow this one open. But the Terps came crawling back, scoring three of the final four goals of the half to keep it close.
The backup goalies are doing a good job of keeping both of their teams in contention. Carter has one save for Maryland, while Cavalieri already has six saves for Cuse. Phipps has a severe left knee sprain and went into the locker room during halftime on crutches. Rumor floating that he may have torn his ACL, although no official word yet.
Stats are pretty even so far, with the Orange holding a 17-13 advantage in shots. Both teams have five turnovers. Matt Abbott has four groundballs for the Orange.
Jeremy Sieverts, Grant Catalino and Joe Cummings each have goals for Maryland, while Dan Hardy, Cody Jamieson and Josh Amidon have one goal apiece for the Orange in addition to Nims' two goals.
This is the first meetin g between these two programs since 1997, when Maryland upset Syracuse 18-17 in the NCAA semifinals.
Terps Creeping Back, Down 4-2 In 2nd quarter
posted Saturday at 12:46 p.m.
Syracuse jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Entertaining start, with the Orange dominating possession. Looks like it's going to be a battle of the backup goalies. Syracuse sophomore goalie John Galloway isn't playing because of flu-like symptoms and Maryland junior goalie Brian Phipps left the game at the end of the quarter with a knee injury. He was helped off the field, with the extent of the injury unknown at this time.
Junior Al Cavalieri is in the cage for 'Cuse in his first career start and made four straight saves to start the game. Senior goalie Jason Carter takes over for Maryland. He recorded a 7.54 GAA and .495 save percentage, while starting eight games.
Cuse's Cody Jamieson tacked on another goal at beginning of second quarter, but Jeremy Sieverts just got the Terps on the board wi th a goal assisted by Ryan Young. Grant Catalino followed up with an unassisted goal and the Terps trail 4-2 with 8:30 remaining.
