MLax falls to No. 5 Denver in OT, 11-10

[mat1992 2,235]

http://towsontigers.com/news/2018/3/24/mens-lacrosse-falls-in-overtime-at-no-5-denver.aspx

[Chris Datres 423]

I listened to the last 35 minutes of this game and was shocked that we were in this game given the total faceoff domination by Denver.  I think that says a lot about how much progress our defense and goaltending has made since the beginning of the season.  Didn't seem to be as many turnovers as we've been dealing with, just needed to get more possessions.  One stop in OT could have been the difference like it was at Ohio State.

So if I had told you 3 weeks ago that we'd have the lead in the 4th quarter in all 3 of these games, 2 would have gone to OT, and we'd win one of them, what kind of odds might I have gotten?  I've gotta think this bodes well for the conference season.  However, since we only capitalized on the Ohio State opportunity, we're probably going to have to win the conference tournament again to get into the playoffs.

[mat1992 2,235]

That was an insane game. How we are up 5-1 in the third quarter is anybody's guess. We lost the first 11 face-offs and Woodall came in averaging 64%. That's a bit misleading because he was turning it over a lot but still, he's too good to be jumping early over and over and over. He committed I believe eight violations (Stillwell had one) that led to three 30-second Denver penalties. Stillwell came in and did kind of win one but was so bad that Baptiste scored twice off wins. He's the best FOGO to every play the game but Woodall should never go 2 of 17 against anybody (Stillwell was 1 of 6). He just completely had him mind-effed.

This team is very close. The great teams find ways to win and the average teams find ways to lose. I think we're better than average but are we good enough to win the CAA? If we turned the ball over 8 times again and Woodall has his normal game, we should win the league. Tough test at Hofstra next week. Hopefully this incredibly-tough schedule has us prepared. 

Our offense just doesn't have the explosion but you can see Sovero, Sunday, Maloof and of course, Mazza have games. Chetner is a better feeder than shooter. Not sure about Wies. Johnny G. was solid today but not a big scorer. Monahan has really struggled this year. I thought he'd be better coming from Maryland. Kinnear hasn't been much better but today he stepped up. I would use him judiciously on man-up and occasional offensive sets. Jake McLean surprised me today. He reminds me a little of Tyler Young, because he's fast and athletic. Just needs more confidence.

[sr16 158]

Yeah I like how this contrasts with the basketball schedule. I think I would rather lose (1 goal games) to the best in the country to prepare us for the CAA and one and done games. 

[griggey20 178]

31 minutes ago, sr16 said:

Yeah I like how this contrasts with the basketball schedule. I think I would rather lose (1 goal games) to the best in the country to prepare us for the CAA and one and done games. 

That's fair but this game doesn't hurt Denver if they happen to lose, that's where it differs from hoops