My Thoughts On The National Championships
My longest lingering thought on the Championships this last week was on how badly
Cornell blew it. I have a soft spot in my heart for Cornell because I attended their
camps for a couple of summers back in high school and learned a lot of what I know
about goaltending there. So I was bummed because Syracuse always wins.
Therewere so many things that led to that loss but what sticks in my mind most is the play
that ended regulation and it taught me alot about being a well-rounded goalie.
If you didn’t see the play there were two miraculous passes and the last one was a lob to
the attackman sitting on the crease all alone. On that play the Cornell goalie failed to
recognize the situation and could have saved the game.
Here’s the situation.
The clock is ticking down, there is about six seconds on the clock and a lob pass (which gets
deflected by a middie) comes to an attackman sitting on the crease. The goalie had
to know that this was the last offensive player to the goal and he was the last defender.
AND there is going to be no time on the clock. But the goalie saw himself ONLY as
a goalie. And NOT a defender. In that situation he needed to know that even if he took
a penalty on the play by tackling the attackman that he would have saved the game. But
instead he stayed back in the crease and tried to make the save which is nearly impossible
on a one on one with the attackman all alone.
If it was me, I would have recognized that if a pass was made to that attackman I would
have run out and tackled the guy. Wrapped him up with no chance for him to catch
the ball. I would have done everything in my power so that the offensive player
had no chance to catch that ball.
Even if the ball hit the ground and the ref blew the whistle on the play it would have
been a loose ball hold call and the play would have stopped. Possession would have
been given to Syracuse on the sideline with one last chance at a shot with four
seconds left. It would have been nearly impossible for them to score at that point.
Instead of that happening the goalie stood in the cage and ended up letting in the
tying goal. Syracuse went on to win.
It’s important to be a well-rounded goalie. In this case the goalie only saw himself as a
goalie, and not a defender on the field. That little shift in thinking would have won
Cornell a national championship.
Now I’m not saying that Cornell didn’t blow about four other opportunities before that.
There was the really bad strip behind the Syracuse goal when Galloway came out to double
the ball carrier. Cornell should not have kept that ball behind the cage and let that happen.
There was also the strip in overtime after Cornell won the face off. There was also the
lack of a timeout called by Coach Tambroni both in the last minute AND in the overtime.
But those are excuses. The goalie still could have made a great play and not a Non-play.
So be well-rounded. Play every position if you can. By my sophomore year in high
school I could play every position on the field and did in some games. You can too.
And you should. It will help you become a better goalie so that when YOU are in
the national championship game you won’t make that mistake.
Tell me about the time when YOU’ve made a great defensive play on the field that
didn’t involve you makeing a save. I want to hear about it.
Until next time.
Jonathan – The Goalie Guru
www.inseasonhome.com
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