Detroit 13, VMI 9

Detroit 2-5 (1-0 MAAC).

The Titans got back into the win column yesterday afternoon by knocking off VMI in the MAAC conference opener. UDM got balanced scoring, with 9 different players finding twine.

The win give the Titans a good start in conference play, and keeps NCAA Tournament hopes in the “realistic possibility” category.

Tempo-Free

From the box score, your tempo-free breakdown.

As I predicted in the game preview, the Titans were killed on faceoffs by a very good VMI faceoff man in Stephen Robarge. Brandon Davenport actually didn’t take the majority of the draws for UDM, as Joe Maclean went 3/15.

The Titans sliiightly made up for the struggles on faceoffs by doing a pretty good job on the ride, holding the Keydets to a 65% success rate. However, Detroit didn’t win this game because they were able to have about the same number of possessions.

They won it, in fact, because they were brutally efficient on offense, scoring on almost half of their possessions. Considering VMI had 59% of the possessions in the game, holding down their efficiency (they scored on fewer than a quarter of the possessions) was a big key as well.

Notes

As noted above, the scoring was spread across several UDM players. Chris Nemes led the team with 3 goals, and Ty Maruyama and Shayne Adams had two apiece – with Adams also contributing a pair of assists to lead the team with 4 total points. Scott Harris had a goal and a pair of assists.

Jamie Hebden and Brad Janer led the team with 3 caused turnovers, and LSM Jordan Houtby was the GB king with 6 ground balls. In goal, AJ Levell went the distance saving 14 shots and allowing 9 goals.

As noted above, I predicted Detroit would struggle on faceoffs, and they came through for me. Brandon Davenport went 1/9 and Joe Maclean won 3/15 draws. Without seeing the action, it’s tough to say whether wing play or the faceoff specialists are behind the struggles.

Elsewhere

The official site’s recap lives here, and the boxscore is here. A couple postgame videos. Coach Holtz:

Player of the game Ty Maruyama

Usually such videos aren’t posted until much to late to make the recap. Hopefully this new trend will hold up.

Up Next

The Titans will travel to Jacksonville to take on the Dolphins on Saturday. JU is 3-5 on the year, and opened conference play with a 12-8 victory over Canisius.