May 19 Blog
Pregame Thoughts
The key to this game is Max Seibald. He was injured against Towson, and his presence will be important for Cornell. Albany has a lot of offensive threats, so it is going to take a real defense effort in order to win. Mitch Belisle has to play well against Frank Resetarits, Albany’s best attackman.
First Quarter
15:00 – Seibald is officially back in the lineup. That is an excellent sign. Superman returns. Let us hope that Seibald plays better than the actual movie Superman Returns.
10:08 – Cornell has barely had an offensive possession. This is going to be a problem. The Red is playing very sloppily. Against Towson, Cornell was sloppy as well, but that is not going to work against Albany.
6:07 – Despite Cornell’s sloppy play, the Red is doing a pretty job of holding Frank Resetarits, who seemingly has more points this season than the Nets averaged against the Cavaliers.
1:01 – Dave Mitchell just made an incredibly acrobatic shot, shooting behind his back. That was insane.
0:38 – The guy next to me just claimed that he was the President of the “Matt McMonagle Fan Club.” Wow, they really give out media passes pretty easily here. I think the President of the Tee Cahill fan club is sitting a couple seats to my right.
Second Quarter
14:56 – I just found out that the guy sitting next to me actually works for LaxPower and does interviews with players. In my last blog for the Towson game, I made fun of him for his poor pronunciation of Matt McMonagle. This is going to be awkward. How is he going to be the President of McMonagle’s fan club if he can’t pronounce his name?
10:17 – O.K., I thought Towson’s uniforms were bad, but they look like they were designed by Versace in comparison to Albany’s. They are yellow tops on black shorts. Frankly, they look like maternity wear. On the Albany media guide, there are two uniforms. Neither are this uniform. Purple, one of Albany’s colors, is not even on this uniform.
6:26 – What is the correct color for a Great Dane, Albany’s mascot? What is a Great Dane? Is that a dog? Are there a lot of Great Danes in Albany? Somebody needs to get an animal science major on this right now.
Halftime
There is no halftime entertainment. I am very disappointed Princeton. It couldn’t have gotten Toni Morrison to juggle or something?
Third Quarter
14:49 – Albany scores really quickly to put them up by two again. Except for those first three goals, this game has been very even.
14:13 – Seibald scores again. We might need to start calling him “Willis Reed” Seibald.
13:49 – Albany goalie Brett Queener was just out of position, and Mitchell scored to give Cornell the lead. He probably shouldn’t do that anymore.
10:07 – The goals just keep on coming. Someone should tell the Nets and Cavaliers to watch this to learn how to play offense.
8:51 – There are a lot of Cornell fans here. I am very impressed. Although, if the band starts a “Princeton is in New Jersey” chant, I am going to shoot someone.
3:10 – Not much has happened in a while. I think I’ll go check ESPN.com. Oh my goodness! Roger Clemens just fixed a broken faucet in his house! Tim Kurkjian has a lot to say about this.
0:30 – Queener just ran out of goal again. He must have just watched Mighty Ducks 2, when the “goalie” (really Kenan in disguise) scored the winning goal.
Fourth Quarter
11:16 – Albany has officially pulled its goalie, in the middle of a close game. Interesting strategy. Very interesting.
9:02 – Now Albany is playing pretty sloppy. Cornell needs to take advantage of this.
8:56 – Wait, the goalie is back. I now find out that Queener sometimes plays offense. What a weird goalie.
8:40 – Mitchell scored again and the crowd literally roared. Now this is a good crowd, even if they only cheer after a goal.
6:32 – It looks like it is about to pour. Unfortunately, Princeton Stadium does not allow umbrellas. Good policy. I am glad that the Stadium will stop some crazy person from impaling a Cornell player with an umbrella.
4:56 – Seibald is on the face off again. He is doing everything. I guess he is not injured.
2:45 – Why are they playing the Hey Song? Not enough of the crowd is doing it to warrant it. This better not shape up like overtime hockey game, where the band plays the Hey Song like 10 times.
0:49 – Albany has the ball and calls a timeout. This is shaping up like the end of the Syracuse game.
0:18 – Albany just tied it and someone just made a big noise in the press box.
0:00 – We are going to overtime!
Overtime
4:00 – Seibald got a procedure penalty on the face off. This is not good. The face off is important in overtime. Obviously, every possession counts.
3:19 – Albany missed a shot. That was a close one.
2:11 – Albany was just called for offsides and Cornell gets the ball back. That was a huge mistake by the Great Danes.
0:49 – Everyone keeps falling. What is with this field? The middle is almost brown.
0:20 – Max Seibald just whacked a streaking Albany player with his stick, giving Cornell the ball back. What a clutch defensive play!
0:04 – John Glynn just scored, giving Cornell the victory! That was a great goal, but Seibald was the key there, knocking the ball away from Albany. Great team effort and good feed from Pittard.
Postgame Thoughts
Wow, that was an incredible game. After injuring his ankle last week against Towson, Max Seibald played a great game, scoring two goals, and forcing the turnover that won the game. Credit should also be given to Eric Pittard, who really led the offense, tallying five assists. Also, Mitch Belisle did a great job on Frank Resetarits, holding him to just one goal. It will be interesting next week to see what happens against Duke (or UNC). If it is against Duke, it will be an intense rematch. Nevertheless, I am glad to be leaving Princeton and their archaic umbrella policy.