Since I just previewed the Red Foxes last week, not a whole lot has changed. Read that post if you want to find out who their key players are, and what they’ve accomplished on the year. Instead of a standard preview, I’ll take a look at what went well and what went poorly in Saturday’s 13-14 heartbreaker.
Marist
Friday 8PM, Buffalo NY. Streaming live online.
Record: 8-6
Rankings: 46 (Computer).
Last Time Out: Marist won 14-13 Saturday.
Faceoffs were a problem on Saturday, with Brandon Davenport winning just 12 of 29 (and Joe MacLean going 0-fer on two attempts). The sample size is obviously very small, but Davenport performed better statistically. If he or MacLean can step it up and give UDM a 40% win rate (they were at 38.7% last time around), it will be a step in the right direction.
The other over-arching issue from Saturday’s game was an abundance of Titan penalties. Detroit committed more than double their season average in penalties, and Marist scored 3 goals on 8 man-up attempts. Getting back to playing disciplined lacrosse could tip the tide in Detroit’s favor.
Not everything was all horrible though, as Tom Masterson was the surprising offensive star, scoring his first 5(!) points of the year. He’s not likely to repeat that performance this time around, so the usual suspects (Shayne Adams had 3 goals and Scott Harris has a goal and an assist) will need to up their production.
Saturday’s game was a true road contest for the Titans, as they traveled to Poughkeepsie to take on the Red Wolves. Tomorrow, they’ll be at a neutral site, a much better situation for UDM. Although it’s in New York, the travel time to Buffalo is actually much shorter from Detroit than it is from Poughkeepsie.
The official site preview is here.
Predictions
I think the Titans walked off the field last week with a bad taste in their mouths. They’re out to get a little revenge, and (much more importantly) continue to work toward a potential NCAA Tournament bid. I think they play a much better game front-to-back, and emerge with an 11-8 win.