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Message: [QUOTE="Powellfan, post: 5428409, member: 4819"] It was a weird start to the game for sure. Harvard wins the first face-off, which I don't think many were expecting, then they score immediately. Then if I remember correctly, Syracuse has a poor possession, Harvard scores again. Syracuse then gets the ball back, and works for an excellent skip pass (Hiltz?) to Leo who has a wide open look. It's a nice save by the Harvard goalie, and it felt like we were transported back to the second half of the first Harvard game. Seemed like after that play the energy just got sucked out of the SU team. That dreaded, "here we go again" refrain. The team looked tight and panicked the rest of the first half. I'm still not sure what Harvard was doing on defense that gave SU such a headache. If I have time I'll have to go back and watch the game. I know they shorted the attack a few times, especially Hiltz, but that's not something the team is unaccustomed to. But the SU offense just looked completely discombobulated. The spacing was really poor, and the ball was certainly not spinning like it usually does. Despite the face-off advantage, (9-3 in the first half), both teams took the same amount of shots (19). Nine of Harvard's were on goal, only six for SU. So it wasn't like they were peppering the goalie, or just missing their shots - they weren't even getting that many off, given the possession advantage. Maybe it was post ACC hangover, or graduation distractions, but this team was off to start the game. Obviously Harvard did plenty to let SU back in the game, with their inability to win face-offs, and their penalties, but SU showed a lot of unselfishness in this game which fueled their comeback. It could have been easy for any number of players to try and pull off a "hero ball moment", and take selfish shots, but they just didn't. I can't help but think of Chuck Kuczyski's goal - Finn Thomson catches the ball on the right side of the goal in a fastbreak situation, in really good position to take a shot, but instead he sees the backup LSM who hasn't scored a goal in his entire college career, skips the ball through traffic and redshirt junior buries a not easy shot in the back of the cage. The team trusted each other and it led to a huge win. [/QUOTE]

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