Hi -
 
On Sat, 23 Mar 1996, J. Michael Jackson wrote:
> Lake Superior 5 - Cornell 4
>
> This game was much closer than I thought it would be.  I thought that the
> Big Red played very well and the LSSU coverage in their own end was not
> as solid as it usually is.  How much of this was just sloppy and how much
> Cornell caused, I really couldn't tell.
 
  I was surprised as anyone that The Big Red was able to match up with the
Lakers as well as they did, and was especially impressed with their late
2nd-period rally from a 2-4 deficit to knot the score at 4.  If Cornell
only could have punched in the go-ahead goal, to forestall the vaunted
Laker "dump 'n clog" style of center-ice play, I think the last 10 mins.
or so would have been something to see.  As it was, I felt for the many
Cornell fans in the 'Knick when PC Druin's hard slapper clanged off the
post behind a beaten Grahame with just minutes remaining ....
 
  Going in, I didn't give Cornell much of a chance in this game, despite
their 14-1-1 closing rush to the NC$$ Tournament.  It's not that I reflex-
ively label the ECAC a "weak" conference that can't hope to compete with
the "Big Boys," but having channel-surfed last weekend between the ECAC
(on ESN), CCHA (on Prime/PASS), and NEA (on NESN) Championship Tournaments
(DirecTV is GREAT :-) going on more/less simultaneously, the ECAC games
were consistently played at a slower, more deliberate pace, with (what
looked like to me) numerous glaring defensive breakdowns and tentative
transition play.  Even in defeat, BGSU seemed to me to have played a
fundamentally "sounder" game (until it became a rout) vs. LSSU than did
UVM, Cornell, etc. who were involved in much closer games.  But Schafer
obviously hasn't done it all with smoke and mirrors :-)  The Big Red
picked it up a notch from last weekend, and while Lake State never
trailed, they had just as much of a battle on their hands with Cornell as
they did with Michigan in the CCHA title game, a notion I would have
dismissed as sheer folly earlier in the week.  The Lakers dodged a bullet
vs. Cornell, just as they did four years ago vs. N'Eastern (when Lacher
may/may not have saved a late tie-breaking goal), and we all know who
eventually won the Championship laurels at the 'Knick that year ....
 
> Clarkson 6 - Western Michigan 1
>
> For two periods, this was the Dan Murphy Story.  Western outshot Clarkson
> 28-14 through two, but were trailing 2-0.  The Broncos didn't shoot
> particularly well, making life a bit easier for Murphy, but he came up big.
 
  Three point-blank stonings in the first period alone, as the Clarkson D
seemed to be several steps behind the onrushing Broncos for much of the
first two periods.  This game was billed as a goal-keeper's battle, and
so it was, but I have to say I wasn't particularly impressed with the
highly-touted Magliarditi.  He played poorly in the WJC games I saw him
play over the Christmas/New Year's Holidays, was routed in BGSU's sweep
of the Broncos in the CCHA quarterfinals, and then looked less than im-
pressive in his NC$$ Tournament debut.  His 5 career shut-outs bode well
for the future, however, and once he acquires a litle more seasoning and
Big Game experience I think he'll eventually carry WMU to bigger and
better things.  But THIS year, Western suffered the same fate as did UNH
a year ago under similar circumstances; as rusty, League Quarterfinal
losers forced to sat around for two weeks+ while the rest of the field
played themselves into Tournament Shape against quality opponents, neither
they nor the Wildcats were ultimately any match for their looser, first
round NC$$ opponents.  CC and Minn - watch out ....
 
> [the Knights] take cheap-shots too; the first period was filled with them
> smashing the Broncos face first into the boards, with only 1 minor penalty.
 
  From my (TV) vantage point, both Western AND Clarkson played a tough,
physical game, with both squads equally adept and willing to rub out
anything that moved in an opposing sweater, particularly after it became
apparent that Cole/Taylor were gonna let 'em play, a tactic I wouldn't
have normally expected from that pair.  Part of this was obviously a CU
strategy designed to slow down the speedier Bronco forwards, but this
could just have easily back-fired against the Knights had WMU managed to
break through Murphy's stone wall early on.  If Clarkson plays as poorly
tonight vs BU and relies on Murphy to the same extent to bail 'em out of
their egregious defensive lapses, it'll be a rout ....
 
  BTW, what's with those yellow-tinted face shields that some of the
Bronco players were wearing ??  I've never seen 'em before and I'd think
they'd be difficult to see out of ....
 
  Good luck to Today's participants !!!
 
  Cheers from the Chesapeake - Jim
 
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