NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

[JosephPSchmoe]

So it's on. The Bulldogs will face the Big Red Sunday. A win would give the UMD its fifth national title while Cornell could become the first non-WCHA team to take the title. Have at it...

[UNHKazooMonkey]

Re: NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

because most fans don't recognize 1998-2000... or UNH and Harvard would have banners hanging at every frozen four and the gophers would have another year on theirs.

[RStarr]

Re: NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

Lets. Go. Red!!!!

[dave1381]

Re: NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

So here's what jumps out at me from Cornell's recent wins

Mercyhurst: Bendus, Scanzano, Bram -- all scoreless
Harvard: Buesser, Ryabkina, Dempsey -- scoreless accept a PP assist for Buesser after it was 5-0
Clarkson: Selina, Baribeau -- no even strength points, 1 PP point each in the third period

Cornell has pretty much shut down the top scoring threats of their last three top five-ish opponents. I don't think this bodes well for a team like UMD that relies a lot on two players for its scoring.

[freak]

Re: NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

because most fans don't recognize 1998-2000... or UNH and Harvard would have banners hanging at every frozen four and the gophers would have another year on theirs.

I don't think most people are even aware of the AWCHA national tournaments.

Further problems arise when people mistakenly use terminology interchangeably. For instance, look at the original post:

He titles it the NCAA Championship game, then uses the term "national title," followed by the comment that Cornell could be the first non-WCHA team to take "the title."

There is a distinction between national titles and NCAA titles, but too many people use the term interchangeably.

And again, what about the pre-AWCHA days? UNH, PC, and NU have a very good argument that their ECAC titles were de facto national titles.

But hey, we've been over this many times before.

[CrazyDave]

Re: NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

I just wanted to say congratulations to both teams on their hard-fought semifinal victories and good luck on Sunday.

[JosephPSchmoe]

Re: NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

I said it in the other thread, but I'll say it here again to all you Gopher fans. The Bulldogs/Gophers games are the best of the season as far as I'm concerned and tonight was no exception.

[ARM]

Re: NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

Cornell has pretty much shut down the top scoring threats of their last three top five-ish opponents. I don't think this bodes well for a team like UMD that relies a lot on two players for its scoring.

Cornell is a hard team for me to get my head around. I see their history, I see their numbers, I look through their roster -- all of that is so much less than the product one sees on the ice. They are well coached, hard working, and some of their players are mucho talented. They don't disappoint.

On the other hand, UMD is a real nice defensive team right now. Minnesota managed 5 goals in 4 games against them in the second half. A score like 2-1 will favor the Bulldogs, but if it gets up in the 5-4 or 4-3 range, that may be more to Cornell's liking. I think it will be a great game Sunday between the best team of the last ten years, and Cornell, a team that could very well be the next great team.

[JosephPSchmoe]

Re: NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

I think it will be a great game Sunday between the best team of the last ten years, and Cornell, a team that could very well be the next great team.

Bingo. It's actually nice to see an NCAA title game that doesn't feature two WCHA teams. The domination from this side of the country isn't going to last much longer and that's good for everyone.

[ARM]

Re: NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

It's actually nice to see an NCAA title game that doesn't feature two WCHA teams.

We had that last year. Unfortunately, it did feature Wisconsin, and that seems to mandate a very one-sided championship (at least it has the 4 times the Badgers have played in the final game.) Hopefully Cornell does not extend that problem to another program in red-and-white, because the game needs drama in the one game each year that makes it to live national television.

[dave1381]

Re: NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

Well, all four WCHA vs. Ivy NCAA finals from 2002-2005 were thrilling (and even the 2004 game, which Minnesota won 6-2, was even at the 2nd intermission). I hope that tradition continues after a five-year hiatus.

[dave1381]

Re: NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

Here's the WCHODR forecast for the game:
Cornell 2.23 vs Minnesota Duluth 2.26
So yeah, not much separating these two in terms of goals for and against.

Seems Cornell has the better PP/PK, but same could have been said for Minnesota, and I'd even trust that comparison more given the complete lack of a common schedule between Cornell and UMD.

UMD is surely a much improved defensive team, but Cornell has penetrated some pretty tough defenses lately. I don't see any reason to think either team will run away with this one.

[ARM]

Re: NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

UMD is surely a much improved defensive team, but Cornell has penetrated some pretty tough defenses lately.

I think UMD is different in philosophy from Mercyhurst, Harvard, or the usual Bulldog team. They seem to be build more around defense, defense, and more defense, and then offense following further down the priority list. Minnesota adopted a similar strategy in 01-02 when they were thin. Such teams have a tough time if they get down by more than a goal, but that's something UMD hasn't done much lately. But I fully agree with your bottom line -- neither team looks poised to run away with the championship.

[JosephPSchmoe]

Re: NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

Anybody know the NCAA's policy about bringing cameras into the game? Not the Big Boy with the big lens, just a point and shoot camera (I want to enjoy one game just as a fan, so I picked Sunday's game.) I know the NCAA is funny sometimes about things like that.

[OnMAA]

Re: NCAA Championship Game: UMD Bulldogs vs. Cornell Big Red

.... It's actually nice to see an NCAA title game that doesn't feature two WCHA teams. ....

We had that last year. ......

An All WCHA final last year. IIRC, Mercyhurst was in the final. Did they add a W to the CHA ?