Detroit 13, Siena 11

First things first: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

The Titans exceeded expectations with a win over Siena this afternoon, but coming into the game, I hadn’t realized what a big deal a victory would mean. Thanks to the UDM Athletics site:

• UDM snapped a 13-game Siena home winning streak against all teams (second longest home streak in the nation).
• UDM snapped a 20-game Siena conference winning streak, regardless of location.
• Combining those stats, Siena hadn’t lost a MAAC home game in their last 10 tries.
• UDM had never won on the road in program history.
• UDM had never won on the road in program history.

Wow. Great win Titans, and let’s get right into the stats.

Tempo-Free

From the official box score, your tempo-free breakdown:

First things first: Siena came into the game as one of the best faceoff units in the country. Major hats off to Brandon Davenport for holding his own, winning 50% of his draws (Brad Janer went 1/3).

The Titans also happened to be worse clearing the ball than the opponent – something that hasn’t happened very often, except against top teams. However, they had more clearing opportunities, which led to a slight advantage in possessions in a slightly-fast game.

So, it is in the efficiency numbers that UDM really won this game. After an abnormally-bad game against Jacksonville, they responded with a fury and a +.035 efficiency differential. Not a huge difference, but when you perform well on faceoffs, you don’t need to be that much more efficient.

Notes

To get back into the offensive groove, I recommended that the Titans rev up the Scott Harris and Shayne Adams show. That’s not exactly what happened though, as Harris finished with a single assist. Other UDM players stepped up in a big way, with 6 different multi-goal scorers, and 7 different players finding twine. Chris Nemes led the way as the only goal-scorer to also record an assist(!), to notch 3 points.

Defensively, we’ll start with goaltending. AJ Levell saved 16 shots, while only allowing 11 goals. That’s nearly a .600 save percentage, and one of his best games of the year. In a 2-goal game, he’s probably the team’s MVP.

As far as defense goes from field players, Jordan Houtby continues his quiet campaign for a 1st-Team All-Conference honor, as the sophomore LSM caused 3 Saint turnovers and picked up a game-high 9 GBs. Shayne Adams and Scott Harris made up for a pedestrian offensive day (for their standards) by scooping up 8 and 6 GBs, respectively.

Speaking of ground balls, I may have obliquely implied that the Titans weren’t valuing GBs enough after the Jacksonville game, and they came out on a mission to prove me wrong. They nearly doubled up Siena’s GB totals, with a 55-29 advantage. Do work, Titans.

On that note, I have to once again congratulate Brandon Davenport on a game well-played. 12/24 on faceoffs, with 3 GBs. Against very good competition, that’s probably one of his best performances on the year.

Up Next

So, in the game preview for this contest, I predicted that UDM would lose to Siena but win their remaining three games. With a big upset that slightly changes the paradigm, I think there’s very little chance the Titans trip up in any of their remaining games.

On Saturday, they’ll host Manhattan at noon on Titan Field, with a good shot to establish themselves as a conference favorite, along with Jacksonville. I’m hoping to get a chance to make it out to my first Titans game of the year.