.

[UncleLar]

I went back and read it, and it's clear. Your comment reinforces that they will try to control possession to keep the ball out of our offense's hands (which is the point).

Yale leads the country in shots per game by a wide margin. There are three teams who have taken over 800 shots this season - Virginia with 811, Robert Morris with 812, and Yale with 912. For comparison purposes, Penn State's high powered offense has only taken 711 shots. I just don't see them dramatically altering what got them to where they are. Holding the ball isn't in their nature.

I think their best chance for winning is to get into a shootout. Ament often gets off to a slow start winning face-offs. I see Yale trying to build as big a lead as early as possible. Penn State will have a hard time coming back because TD Ierlan is so good at winning faceoffs. Yale needs to jump on us early and often. Now whether they can do that or not is a big question, but I don't think there's a lot to be gained by them dramatically altering what they do best. We'll just have to wait and see what happens

 

[MJG-90]

For comparison purposes, Penn State's high powered offense has only taken 711 shots.

In stark contrast to our high powered hockey offense, who takes about a bazillion shots per game. PSU led the nation in shots with 1599. Second place Minny Duluth took 1452 shots -- and played three more games than our guys. Penn State also led the country in goals scored with 177. Second place St. Cloud St. scored 156 (in the same number of games).

Duluth scored 133 goals. So their shooting percentage of 9.2% was considerably worse than our 11.1%. And they won the National Championship. Of course they gave up 60 fewer goals than we did (79 to 139).

 

[UncleLar]

In stark contrast to our high powered hockey offense, who takes about a bazillion shots per game. PSU led the nation in shots with 1599. Second place Minny Duluth took 1452 shots -- and played three more games than our guys. Penn State also led the country in goals scored with 177. Second place St. Cloud St. scored 156 (in the same number of games).

Duluth scored 133 goals. So their shooting percentage of 9.2% was considerably worse than our 11.1%. And they won the National Championship. Of course they gave up 60 fewer goals than we did (79 to 139).

I made the comment only to demonstrate how Yale's offense is built around taking shot. But you are correct that it's much like our hockey offense is. Now let me ask you this: If it was our hockey team playing in the NCAA's, would you ever think their best chance of winning would be to sit on the puck, because we were playing another team with a great offense. I don't think so. You'd want us to go out and execute our normal offense and hope that on this day, it would be good enough to beat the opponent. I think that's exactly what Yale is going to do. They are going to try to beat us with offense, not by holding the ball.

 

[ColinPSU]

I think their best chance for winning is to get into a shootout.

I don't want that at all. Go right into the buzzsaw that is their biggest strength? We want long possessions at each end and take the fewest FOs possible.

Yale wants you to play fast (10 man ride, transition offense, etc.) we want to slow their game down.

 

[MJG-90]

I made the comment only to demonstrate how Yale's offense is built around taking shot.

I was comparing how our hockey team led the nation in scoring and shots by a large margin to our lacrosse team who led the nation in scoring but was much more efficient with their shot taking / making. My comment had nothing to do with Yale. But I agree with you. Our hockey team's best chance would be to keep firing shots on goal like they did the rest of the season.

 

[psuro]

Nice save.

 

[Pardlion]

Yale leads the country in shots per game by a wide margin. There are three teams who have taken over 800 shots this season - Virginia with 811, Robert Morris with 812, and Yale with 912. For comparison purposes, Penn State's high powered offense has only taken 711 shots. I just don't see them dramatically altering what got them to where they are. Holding the ball isn't in their nature.

I think their best chance for winning is to get into a shootout. Ament often gets off to a slow start winning face-offs. I see Yale trying to build as big a lead as early as possible. Penn State will had a hard time coming back because TD Ierlan is so good at winning faceoffs. Yale needs to jump on us early and often. Now whether they can do that or not is a big question, but I don't think there's a lot to be gained by them dramatically altering what they do best. We'll just have to wait and see what happens

It appears that Yale had its lowest number of shots (39) v. PSU. That's in a game where they went 25 of 31 on faceoffs. In every other game, except GTown (where they won 34 FOs), their shots per FO-won ratio has been over 2.0. That tells me that their offense was extraordinarily deliberate against PSU.

In contrast, PSU had 34 shots (I believe its lowest total of the season) and 6 FO wins against Yale.

I think Yale will try to make that scenario play out again.

 

[mdking001]

I am going with the fact the PSU team had no idea how good they would become this year back in Feb. They now know and are very experienced and confident. That Yale game was PSUs 4th game of the year and it was in New Haven. Not sure how large being home is for Lacrosse but I would say at least one goal. If they play the same game and just win a couple more of those faceoffs (which I believe they will now vs back then) PSU has a punchers chance. This thread makes it sound like they have lost already. They are the #1 seed and Vegas odd favorite to win the whole thing so We Are!

Game Stats PSU YALE
Shots 34 39
Turnovers 18 23
Caused Turnovers 11 11
Faceoffs Won 6 25
Extra-Man Opps 5 3
Ground Balls 30 40

https://gopsusports.com/news/2019/2/23/mens-lacrosse-no-2-penn-state-falls-at-no-7-yale.aspx

 

[UncleLar]

I don't want that at all. Go right into the buzzsaw that is their biggest strength? We want long possessions at each end and take the fewest FOs possible.

Yale wants you to play fast (10 man ride, transition offense, etc.) we want to slow their game down.

That's exactly the point that I am making.

 

[UncleLar]

I was comparing how our hockey team led the nation in scoring and shots by a large margin to our lacrosse team who led the nation in scoring but was much more efficient with their shot taking / making. My comment had nothing to do with Yale. But I agree with you. Our hockey team's best chance would be to keep firing shots on goal like they did the rest of the season.

You're confused. What I said was that "Yale's best chance of winning would be to fire shots". We were discussing what Yale's game plan would be, not Penn State's game plan

 

[UncleLar]

It appears that Yale had its lowest number of shots (39) v. PSU. That's in a game where they went 25 of 31 on faceoffs. In every other game, except GTown (where they won 34 FOs), their shots per FO-won ratio has been over 2.0. That tells me that their offense was extraordinarily deliberate against PSU.

In contrast, PSU had 34 shots (I believe its lowest total of the season) and 6 FO wins against Yale.

I think Yale will try to make that scenario play out again.

That was actually before Yale opened their offense up. It was just their second game of the season and came after Yale opened with a 10-11 loss to Villanova

They took 38 shots in regulation against Villanova, then 39 against us. Not content with a one goal loss and a one goal win, they started firing indiscriminately from that point on. They took 50 shots in their next game against UMass, then 59 shots against MIchigan. For the rest of the season they averaged well over 50 shots a game which wound up giving them the second best offense in the country..

We'll see what happens come Saturday, but I think it's going to be a wide-open shootout. Maybe they slow things down against us, but I just don't see it happening.

 

[MJG-90]

You're confused. What I said was that "Yale's best chance of winning would be to fire shots". We were discussing what Yale's game plan would be, not Penn State's game plan

You’re confused. Go back and look at what I quoted initially. I was taking one little thing you said about penn state lacrosse and contrasted it with penn state hockey. It’s not that confusing.

 

[UncleLar]

You’re confused. Go back and look at what I quoted initially. I was taking one little thing you said about penn state lacrosse and contrasted it with penn state hockey. It’s not that confusing.

You're right my bad. Sorry.

 

[ColinPSU]

That's exactly the point that I am making.

Wasn't necessarily disagreeing - adding more color.

Another note that I posted on the paid board:

John Nostrant coached his final game at Haverford yesterday (a loss to Malvern Prep). He moves to Gilman School for next year's season. His son (John Nostrant, #10, SO) is currently on the team and has been getting some time at D middie. This could be a nice way for Tambroni to build a pipeline into the loaded MIAA.

 

[bwifan]

Pretty cool ... Just saw Chris Hogan and his wife on Twitter just offered 100 free tickets to the first 100 students who register for the game Saturday!!

 

[Pardlion]

Wasn't necessarily disagreeing - adding more color.

Another note that I posted on the paid board:

John Nostrant coached his final game at Haverford yesterday (a loss to Malvern Prep). He moves to Gilman School for next year's season. His son (John Nostrant, #10, SO) is currently on the team and has been getting some time at D middie. This could be a nice way for Tambroni to build a pipeline into the loaded MIAA.

Let's hope so. The dad owes Tambroni a favor.

 

[Nittany Security]

Pretty cool ... Just saw Chris Hogan and his wife on Twitter just offered 100 free tickets to the first 100 students who register for the game Saturday!!

 

[ColinPSU]

Let's hope so. The dad owes Tambroni a favor.

We have done an okay of late with MIAA kids. Backup goalie is from Saint Marys (RS this year) and Glatz is from BL. However, we have not been able to get the top top top athletes from MIAA and having a plug like that is great, even if Gilman has been a little down the last few years. Haus is going to be a big asset in getting offensive talent with his pro connections and offensive mind.

Additionally, Haverford promoted the assistant to HC for lax so he too should be pretty familiar with Tambroni/Haus. As kids like Ament, Sabia, Malone continue to succeed we should be able to get the top guys from Haverford more consistently.

 

[bwifan]

View embedded media

Remember it's a White Out Saturday for anyone going...

 

[Tom McAndrew]

View embedded media

Pretty cool of them. They both played LAX at PSU, so this is a way to give back.

I suspect there will be a lot of former PSU LAX players at the match on Saturday. When PSU WLAX appeared in the NCAA semis (I think that was 2016), I was surprised at how many former players I met before and after the match.

 

[bwifan]

Pretty cool of them. They both played LAX at PSU, so this is a way to give back.

I suspect there will be a lot of former PSU LAX players at the match on Saturday. When PSU WLAX appears in the NCAA semis (I think that was 2016), I was surprised at how many former players I met before and after the match.

Just saw on PSU Men's Lax they are having a FREE drink mixer(Cash Bar) w/ complimentary snacks and student pep band w/ PSU Cheerleaders at Victory Beer Hall (Within Xfinity Live) before the match Saturday if anyone is interested they have a link to sign up on FB.

 

[UncleLar]

Pretty cool of them. They both played LAX at PSU, so this is a way to give back.

I suspect there will be a lot of former PSU LAX players at the match on Saturday. When PSU WLAX appears in the NCAA semis (I think that was 2016), I was surprised at how many former players I met before and after the match.

Tambroni's wife played field hockey for PSU - her former teammates follow the lacrosse teams closely, so you're apt to run into a bunch of them too.

 

[ColinPSU]

9 AAs, only 2 are seniors. Ament wins Turnbull Award Outstanding Attackman over Spencer, Sowers, and Gray.

 

[royboy]

One notable Penn Stater likely in attendance for the lacrosse weekend will pull for one of the other teams even harder than for the Nittany Lions.

John Shaffer, national championship QB in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl, 65-1 in high school and college as starter, and Wall street titan, has 2 sons (Reed and Kohl) on the Duke lacrosse roster. They follow an older brother and a sister who also played lacrosse at Duke.

 

[ColinPSU]

One notable Penn Stater likely in attendance for the lacrosse weekend will pull for one of the other teams even harder than for the Nittany Lions.

John Shaffer, national championship QB in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl, 65-1 in high school and college as starter, and Wall street titan, has 2 sons (Reed and Kohl) on the Duke lacrosse roster. They follow an older brother and a sister who also played lacrosse at Duke.

Crotty has Delbarton locked down, not surprising all those kids ended up there. Not related but Nova also has a strong pipeline with Delby. I would love for us to start grabbing some top talent more consistently from NJ, we have started with Birch but there is also a top 20 kid from Ridge who we should be looking at too.

I hope we get to play Duke; I also want to rub it in on Brennan ONeil.

 

[Pardlion]

Crotty has Delbarton locked down, not surprising all those kids ended up there. Not related but Nova also has a strong pipeline with Delby. I would love for us to start grabbing some top talent more consistently from NJ, we have started with Birch but there is also a top 20 kid from Ridge who we should be looking at too.

I hope we get to play Duke; I also want to rub it in on Brennan ONeil.

Expanding the recruiting pool, which I think we can assume has already been achieved to some degree is great, but on the other hand, there's plenty of talent coming out of the Avon Grove, Garnet Valley, Ridley and Conestogas of the world. Imagine if we had Sowers on this team (although not sure how that works with Ament).

 

[ColinPSU]

Expanding the recruiting pool, which I think we can assume has already been achieved to some degree is great, but on the other hand, there's plenty of talent coming out of the Avon Grove, Garnet Valley, Ridley and Conestogas of the world. Imagine if we had Sowers on this team (although not sure how that works with Ament).

We will never capture 100% of the talent in PA or SEPA, we can't even do that with football and we are in a much better position to pitch that program than MLAX. Winning helps that, so we should start seeing some dividends payout if we capitalize on this run. Championship Weekend is in Philly next year too, and, with all these guys back, we will be a favorite to make a return to the Final Four, all of which be great for building local fans/support. Not every top Attackman is going to come from a PSU family like Ament (which is part of the reason why we couldn't keep Rambo, Aitkens, Sowers, Moore, or more recently Goforth).

My point is more to get some other talent I would like us to break into the top 5 regional schools (Delbarton, St. Antony's, Chaminade, etc..) We might occasionally sign one kid from those schools but I would like it to be more like what ND or Nova is doing where each year it seems they get a kid from one of those schools. Mind you, ND has never won a championship, they may have had better luck getting into the tournament but we should have a leg up there with recruiting now if everything falls our way.

 

[bwifan]

FYI... Those with FB accounts and following PSU Men's Lacrosse... they posted a great video of Grant Ament getting a haircut while being interviewed by the barber. Pretty cool stuff....

 

[UncleLar]

FYI... Those with FB accounts and following PSU Men's Lacrosse... they posted a great video of Grant Ament getting a haircut while being interviewed by the barber. Pretty cool stuff....

The "barber" is ESPN lacrosse analyst Paul Carcaterra. The haircut interview is a standard gimmick that he does before many of the lacrosse games that he's doing.

 

[bwifan]

The "barber" is ESPN lacrosse analyst Paul Carcaterra. The haircut interview is a standard gimmick that he does before many of the lacrosse games that he's doing.

Was pretty funny when Grant's mother told me "that moment when you see your son getting a haircut on twitter..."

 

[UncleLar]

We now have a little time to consider and tape of what other teams did well against Yale, so I think our defensive play will be better. Very worried about face offs and time of possession. I think Yale tries to win FO and hold the ball as long as they can, and obviously our O can't score without the ball.

Yale didn't get your memo.

 

[sluggo72]

Down 6 w 9 to go. Not good

 

[Pardlion]

Yale didn't get your memo.

They controlled possession.

 

[UncleLar]

They controlled possession.

No shit, they have the best faceoff guy in the country, by far. But given that the two teams set an NCAA tournament record for goals in a game, I suspect my assessment that Yale would want to get in a shootout was a bit more accurate than yours which said that they would "hold" the ball. Yale did no such thing as their 10 goals in the first quarter and clearly demonstrated.

 

[Pardlion]

No shit, they have the best faceoff guy in the country, by far. But given that the two teams set an NCAA tournament record for goals in a game, I suspect my assessment that Yale would want to get in a shootout was a bit more accurate than yours which said that they would "hold" the ball. Yale did no such thing as their 10 goals in the first quarter and clearly demonstrated.

It’s not at all clear that they wanted a shootout. We folded like a wet napkin and it was not a challenge for them to keep possession. My original point stands that they would try to keep the ball out of our offenses hands. It just turns out that it was super duper easy for them to do so. Doubtful that even they thought that would happen.

 

[loosey goosey]

We will never capture 100% of the talent in PA or SEPA, we can't even do that with football and we are in a much better position to pitch that program than MLAX. Winning helps that, so we should start seeing some dividends payout if we capitalize on this run. Championship Weekend is in Philly next year too, and, with all these guys back, we will be a favorite to make a return to the Final Four, all of which be great for building local fans/support. Not every top Attackman is going to come from a PSU family like Ament (which is part of the reason why we couldn't keep Rambo, Aitkens, Sowers, Moore, or more recently Goforth).

My point is more to get some other talent I would like us to break into the top 5 regional schools (Delbarton, St. Antony's, Chaminade, etc..) We might occasionally sign one kid from those schools but I would like it to be more like what ND or Nova is doing where each year it seems they get a kid from one of those schools. Mind you, ND has never won a championship, they may have had better luck getting into the tournament but we should have a leg up there with recruiting now if everything falls our way.

Baltimore is ripe but it's like competing with the Big Five in basketball in thier hay day

 

[ColinPSU]

Baltimore is ripe but it's like competing with the Big Five in their hay day.

I don’t disagree - this is why having that Nostrant plug at Gilman is helpful.

For what it’s worth, today is not an outcome of anything other than TD being the best faceoff guy on the planet and his ability to immediately transfer to the previous national champions and be immediately eligible to play. If you read that and think it’s okay I don’t know what to tell you other than that changes how college athletics should/has to be played.

 

[loosey goosey]

I don’t disagree - this is why having that Nostrant plug at Gilman is helpful.

For what it’s worth, today is not an outcome of anything other than TD being the best faceoff guy on the planet and his ability to immediately transfer to the previous national champions and be immediately eligible to play. If you read that and think it’s okay I don’t know what to tell you other than that changes how college athletics should/has to be played.

I'm a newbie to watching lax but have we ever had a blue chip from the Gilman School or Calvert Hall?

 

[ColinPSU]

I'm a newbie to watching lax but have we ever had a blue chip from the Gimman school or Calvert Hall?

Blue chip: no. MIAA top guys also no.

Our first one would be Ament (kinda), Birch this year would be our first real “5 Star” get.

 

[UncleLar]

It’s not at all clear that they wanted a shootout. We folded like a wet napkin and it was not a challenge for them to keep possession. My original point stands that they would try to keep the ball out of our offenses hands. It just turns out that it was super duper easy for them to do so. Doubtful that even they thought that would happen.

Yup. Three goals in the first two and a half minutes. 51 shots in the game. They obviously wanted to stall and hold onto the ball.