MLax: NCAA First Round, Duke 12 Loyola 11, 2OT

[burnspbesq]

Faceoff scheduled in fifteen minutes. This could be the best game of the first round. Loyola has improved since we beat them by one in March, but if Brendan Fowler can do his thing and give Duke a possession margin, Duke's highly diversified offense can put intense pressure on the Hounds' D. Goaltending could also be key: both Kyle Turri and Jack Runkel have had distinct highs and lows this year. If one of them comes out en fuego, it could tip the scales.

[BlueDevil16]

1-0 Duke

[burnspbesq]

Duke defense running around like idiots, and Loyola taking advantage.

[MCFinARL]

Duke defense running around like idiots, and Loyola taking advantage.

Yes--plus a lot of Duke turnovers, shots that aren't backed up, unnecessary penalties. Hope Duke can settle down.

[MCFinARL]

Now 6-2 Loyola. Duke looks disorganized on defense and sloppy on clearing and offense. They need to get their heads into this game right away or it will be out of reach.

[burnspbesq]

Some signs of life at the end of the half. We just need to calm down and not create offensive opportunities for Loyola.

[Gthoma2a]

7-8 isn't such a bad spot to be in right now. If we keep this momentum going on offense, and defend, we have a shot to be one of the more impressive teams in the tournament. That was a good flurry of scoring. And now we are even!

[MCFinARL]

Fingers crossed. Anybody's ball game going into the fourth quarter but the momentum is with Duke at the moment. We are getting more open shots and need to keep putting some in--and winning faceoffs.

[Gthoma2a]

Now, it is just a shootout. That is as good a chance as any right now. I questioned our defense going in, so stylistically, this is perfect.

[Gthoma2a]

That timeout was HIGHLY fortunate.

[Gthoma2a]

The lower scoring sports are highly stressful.

[Gthoma2a]

YES!!!

[Buckminsterfuller]

What are the score and time left ?

[MCFinARL]

The lower scoring sports are highly stressful.

So true--but Duke WINS! In the most exciting game of the first round by far. Amazing.

[Deslok]

So true--but Duke WINS! In the most exciting game of the first round by far. Amazing.

Huge takeaway and immediate conversion for the win. Survived a big man down spanning the 1st and 2nd OT... was not feeling good at that time, but they pulled it off. Congrats to the Blue Devils and moving on to Indy.

[burnspbesq]

Mr. High Risk High Reward makes the play, finally.

Runkel deserved better than to get five-holed for the winning goal. He was ridiculous all day. 21 saves.

On to Indy (where have we heard that one before?).

[MCFinARL]

Thinking the Loyola Coach will be having nightmares about the timeout he took at the end of regulation. On replay, you could see that one of the Duke defenders pulled up at the whistle, before the shot, but there's a really good chance the shot would have gone in anyway.

[chrishoke]

Just got back from the game. Wow. That was as good as it gets. Brendan Fowler and the Loyola goalie were superb. I don't remember seeing a game where a team had over 60 shots.

[75Crazie]

I agree the Loyola goaltender was superb, but I'm surprised nobody has had anything to say about Turri. I thought he kept us in the game in the first half, when the rest of the team looked quite out-of-sync.

I am flabbergasted about the time-out call, I can see no reasonable excuse for calling that during a breakaway.

[miramar]

Thinking the Loyola Coach will be having nightmares about the timeout he took at the end of regulation. On replay, you could see that one of the Duke defenders pulled up at the whistle, before the shot, but there's a really good chance the shot would have gone in anyway.

Whether or not Duke pulled up, they scored in something like five seconds after the face off. I'd say that the Loyola coach won't sleep for a week so at least he won't be having nightmares for a while.

[MCFinARL]

I agree the Loyola goaltender was superb, but I'm surprised nobody has had anything to say about Turri. I thought he kept us in the game in the first half, when the rest of the team looked quite out-of-sync.

I am flabbergasted about the time-out call, I can see no reasonable excuse for calling that during a breakaway.

Agreed Turri was solid. Didn't start out well with a couple of goals for Loyola, though to be fair, it's not clear either was his fault. But once he settled down he made a lot of good plays.

[mlove3]

I think the timeout was a solid coaching move. Their FOGO had only scored one goal all season and it looked like the trail check was gonna get him. Plus a save/missed shot would have given the ball back to us for the last shot, whereas that timeout kept the ball on their end. Also I'm pretty sure the timeout was called earlier than when the whistle was blown, making it seem like a worse decision than it actually was.

That being said great win against the former national champs. If we can get past this pesky Notre Dame team I think we've got a good shot at bringing home another title!

[chrishoke]

Their coach told he team just before the face off that if they won possession he would immediately call time out - it was predetermibned - the coach ran 20 yds onto the field calling time out - the refs didn't acknowledge it until just before the shot was fired - in the huddle immediately afterwards he said that's on me now let's go win this thing twice - fortuinaterly they couldn't.

[75Crazie]

I still believe it's a case of over-coaching. If you get a breakaway like that, you gotta give the kid a chance to do something with it. If nothing develops immediately, THEN you call a timeout.

[burnspbesq]

I still believe it's a case of over-coaching. If you get a breakaway like that, you gotta give the kid a chance to do something with it. If nothing develops immediately, THEN you call a timeout.

I understand your view, but calling the time out was absolutely the right thing to do. The ball is in the stick of a player who has scored one goal all season. There are four possible outcomes, and three of them (turnover, save, and shot wide with no backup) give Duke a chance to win the game in regulation. I'd rather give my top six offensive players a chance to win the game in a settled situation.

The case for no time out is stronger if Ratliff or Hawkins has the ball, but even then, Coach Burns is calling time out.

[buddy]

I understand your view, but calling the time out was absolutely the right thing to do. The ball is in the stick of a player who has scored one goal all season. There are four possible outcomes, and three of them (turnover, save, and shot wide with no backup) give Duke a chance to win the game in regulation. I'd rather give my top six offensive players a chance to win the game in a settled situation.

The case for no time out is stronger if Ratliff or Hawkins has the ball, but even then, Coach Burns is calling time out.

I think this is a fairly standard coaching decision. I have seen other coaches burned in the same way. Fortunately Danowski did not call a time out three years ago when CJ won the overtime face-off.

And I agree that Turri was solid. We played much better defense than in the UNC game, although Connors was caught game watching on Loyola's last goal. The slow start is concerning--have to fix that. Seemed not to have a lot of composure in the first half. I liked the stepped up tempo in the second half. Beat Notre Dame.