Cornell Discovers Defense At Right Time
by C.R. Vaccaro | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
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Cornell defenseman Matt Moyer puts the clamps on Princeton standout Jack McBride during Saturday's 6-4 NCAA quarterfinal win. © Lee Weissman |
During the 2008 NCAA men's lacrosse quarterfinals, Cornell head coach Jeff Tambroni sent a text message to Max Seibald. It read something about playing in next year's quarterfinals, instead of just watching them on television.
Seibald sent a reply text saying he didn't plan on sitting home and "at that moment this team started competing and preparing for this year's success, and it's been a long time coming," Tambroni said.
And so the Big Red has made a habit of crossing off high priority tasks on their season to-do list. They beat Hofstra in an 11-8 first round playoff win and dominated Princeton in this past weekend's quarterfinal matchup with a defensively focused 6-4 victory at Hofstra University. The four goals Cornell allowed tied a season low, which the team did against Canisius on March 10.
"I don't know if I've ever seen a game with so few shots on goal from both teams," said Tambroni, whose team had 30 shots, but only six that resulted in saves by Princeton goalie Tyler Fiorito. "We thought that was as good a team as you're going to find in the country."
The win was rather uncharacteristic for this Big Red squad, which has squandered countless efforts on their defensive front, accepting more than their fair share of criticism for botched plays, weak coverage schemes and unfortunate injuries all season long.
After tacking on five goals in the first half, most of the 11,259 in attendance probably didn't think the lead was bold enough to win. It was, however, and Princeton was stifled.
Combined with a special teams scheme that led to a 1-for-7 effort on extra man opportunities and quick adjustments on normal defensive charges down field, the Big Red (12-3) played like a veteran college playoff lacrosse team.
"We tried to keep them off-balance more than anything," said Tambroni, who gave credit to assistant coach Ben DeLuca for implementing most of the defensive plans for the game. "If nothing else, we tried to keep them uncomfortable throughout the extra man and our backside defenseman did a great job covering two at times."
What was so different in this game for Cornell's defense? Aside from the added pressures of playing a prominent team on a national stage, senior defender Matt Moyer said the coaching staff has stressed communication.
"It's the main factor," he said.
Cornell also recorded 39 ground balls compared to Princeton's 19, a glaring stat that Princeton coach Bill Tierney didn't read much into during the post-game press conference. His team also played well on defense, holding Cornell to just one tally in the second half and Seibald to no goals.
"It never felt so good not scoring a goal," Seibald said. "They don't miss an assignment on defense. We knew that coming in."
Cornell will try to use its defensive fortunes at least one more time in this week's NCAA final four in Foxboro, Mass., against a rather hot Virginia team that overpowered Johns Hopkins in their quarterfinal bout.
Junior Pierce Derkac, who had six ground balls against Princeton, can't wait.
"We're really starting to gel at the right time and it's really exciting."
