Detroit 3, Siena 12

Photo by Jim Davenport

Detroit 6-10 (MAAC Finals). Season Over.

All good things must come to an end, and Detroit’s unexpected run to the cusp of an NCAA Tournament berth did just that on Sunday, as the season culminated in a 3-12 loss to Siena. Revenge was the name of the game in the MAAC, as Detroit made up for the recent loss to Marist, but Siena inflicted the same damage on the Titans.

This, this should be ugly…

Tempo-Free

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

Woof. The Titans were abused on faceoffs (Brandon Davenport went 3/16 and Brad Janer went 0/2), and though they were only sliiiightly worse in the clearing game, it was enough to give an enormous advantage in possessions to Siena. A a reference, last time these teams met up, Davenport won 50% of his draws. Against mostly the same guys, he won fewer than a quarter of them.

The offensive efficiency, also very bad. A biiiiiig part of that is probably playing without Shayne Adams, who suffered a left knee injury late in Friday’s game. However, scoring 3 goals on 34 shots is not good, no matter how you slice it. If Rob Pannell was sitting on the bench injured for your team, it would still not be an OK excuse for such a shooting performance.

Notes

So why was the shooting performance so bad (aside from missing Adams)? For starters, a great day by Siena’s Tom Morr. He made 12 saves on 14 shots faced. The Titans also put only 44% of their shots in the direction of the net. If you’re trying to spring a big upset – for the biggest win in program history – you need to do better. None of the Titans’ 3 goals were assisted.

It was also another sloppy day in the penalty department. The Titans committed 6 penalties for 5:30, and allowed 2 Siena goals on those 6 man-up opportunities. Again, when looking for a big win, it’s tough to keep emotions in check, but you must remain focused.

So, with the lack of focus, poor shooting day, anomalously bad day on turnovers, it kind of raises a question: what mental state were the Titans in? I’m certain Coach Holtz and staff tried to keep them level-headed, but that’s got to be tough to do in a game with these implications. The huge downer of missing the MAAC Freshman of the Year adds another layer of nerves, and then when things start going poorly (for example, the Saints scoring 3 quick goals to open a 5-0 lead early in the second quarter), team psyche can go to hell.

All said, it’s the end of a season in which the Titans reached new heights. Being within 1 game of an NCAA Tournament berth in just the program’s third season is a huge leap forward. I’ll have a postmortem on the season in the coming days, but for now, I think it’s safe to say the future is bright.

Elsewhere

Official site recap. Game highlights:

(HT: LaxUNation). Postgame interview with Coach Holtz. Photo gallery. Jim Davenport photo gallery.