At long last, the official schedule for the 2012 season of Detroit Mercy men’s lacrosse has dropped. The official release doesn’t include the schedule in table format, but the schedule page now does:
| Date | Opponent | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 4 | @ Delaware | Newark, DE |
| Feb. 9 | @ Ohio State | Columbus, OH |
| Feb. 12 | Michigan | Ultimate Soccer (Pontiac, MI) |
| Feb. 18 | @ North Carolina | Chapel Hill, NC |
| Feb. 25 | @ Mercer | Macon, GA |
| March 3 | @ Georgetown | Washington, DC |
| March 10 | @ Quinnipiac | Hamden, CT |
| March 17 | @ Canisius | Buffalo, NY |
| March 24 | Marist | Detroit |
| March 31 | @ Manhattan | Riverdale, NY |
| April 7 | Siena | Detroit |
| April 14 | Jacksonville | Detroit |
| April 21 | Bellarmine | Detroit |
| April 28 | @ VMI | Lexington, VA |
| May 4-6 | MAAC Championship | Poughkeepsie, NY |
A very solid slate of games, although the opening stretch is pretty brutal, with no true home games until the ninth contest of the year. The game against Michigan is technically a home date for the Titans, but both teams will be well-represented in Pontiac, and it’s away from UDM’s typical home venue in Detroit. A few notes of interest from the release:
“This year’s schedule is one of the most aggressive we have had,” said head coach Matt Holtz. “The non-conference schedule will definitely prepare us for our ultimate goal, which is a MAAC championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.”
Two NCAA Tournament teams from 2011 are on the non-con schedule, including repeat opponent Delaware and the ACC’s North Carolina.
The MAAC Tournament will again feature the top four teams in the standings fighting for the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The event will be held at Marist in Poughkeepsie, NY, with the semifinals on May 4 and the championship game on May 6.
The team will be well-tested away from home this year by the time the MAAC schedule rolls around. The Titans will get Siena, Marist, and Jacksonville – the top three teams from the conference last season, aside from No. 3 Detroit, according to LaxPower – all at home, with the bottom three opponents (Canisius, Manhattan, and VMI) their road tests. It sets up well for a good run through the conference and a nice seed in the championship, with a shot to make the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament.
More season preview material coming soon, now that the schedule is set. Since Detroit faces off to start the season before Michigan, their previews will be up first.
I see a 10-4 season. Siena at home is huge. Four losses to the teams you would expect them to lose to. This is going to be a good year for the Titans. They should have the #1 seed in the MAAC Tournament and great shot at their first NCAA berth.
10-4 is the absolute best case scenario. However, I think it’s going to be really tough to get through Quinnipiac (away), Michigan (emotional game after two tough games on the road), Siena, Jacksonville, Bellarmine, Canisius (away), and Marist without at least one other loss.
Go home CK.
I’m also not sure who the usual 4 are (UNC, Delaware, and Gtown) but who’s the fourth? OSU beat them by 1.
OSU had a lot of key guys benched that day. There’s a bigger gap there than that one score would indicate. I think the Buckeyes would still be a pretty major upset for the Titans.
Just got off my late shift and saw this post. I’m gonna go through the Titan’s chance at a 10 win season. My honest opinion is that it is not a long shot. If you add the post season I think 10 wins is a very viable option. I hope I don’t accidentally hit submit on this one before it’s done…
Feb. 4 @ Delaware Newark, DE
A long shot here. I’d say 85% win for Delaware. Delaware has a few Canadians on their roster, and at least one (Diachenko) that is similar to Matthews who will be the biggest threat for Detroit. Yes I’ve seen Diachenko play, and he’s very similar to Matthews. I’m guessing he is the scout attackman for Delaware that week. I’m saying 0-1.
Feb. 9 @ Ohio State Columbus, OH
OSU loses Tundo (23-12) and Bowman (8-3) two of their top 5 producers, albeit neither of those two scored against Detroit last year. Detroit brings back their entire defense which held the Bucks to 4 goals and also brings into the equation Matthews. Matthews had 5 goals against OSU in 2010. I’m saying this is a toss up, believe it or not. Columbus Ohio native AJ Levell (who wasn’t offered a scholarhip by OSU) is the difference. 1-1.
Feb. 12 Michigan Ultimate Soccer (Pontiac, MI)
Yes, this will be an emotional game, but UDM has proven D1 athletes who have proven D1 experience and have proven they can play under the tricky lights in Pontiac (after all they practice there every day). Michigan hasn’t shown anything in fall ball. I know Detroit didn’t either, but that was a Detroit without their 3 best players, Matthews, Levell and Adams. This is a no brainer for me. UDM wins by at least 8. 2-1.
Feb. 18 @ North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC
UNC struggles with Canadians. They struggled last year against a righty/lefty duo from Robert Morris in Brambleby and Moore. UNC may struggle initially with UDM, but ultimately will overcome with a big talent and size (not athleticism) gap at the midfield. 2-2.
Feb. 25 @ Mercer Macon, GA
Detroit wins. Mercer is bad. 3-2.
March 3 @ Georgetown Washington, DC
A Georgetown team that has been down in years. G’town loses Mirabito (16-30), Angel (15-0), and Seligman (12-5). That’s 3 of their top 5 goal scorers and almost 1/3 of their total offense. That’s tough to overcome. I’m predicting Detroit wins here. 4-2.
March 10 @ Quinnipiac Hamden, CT
Q’pac loses their top 3 scorers in Kelly, Haggerty and Oppenheimer. They will be rebuilding this year. They also lose their top 2 defenseman in Glebocki and Schnibbe. Another win for Detroit. 5-2.
March 17 @ Canisius Buffalo, NY
This will be a battle. Jones and Lococo are gone for Canisius. They were their two leaders on offense. Giourmetakis is back, though. Coates is gone on defense. Detroit wins. 6-2.
March 24 Marist Detroit
Marist loses Zindell from a potent attack unit that will now struggle to find cohesion. Marist has also lost their head coach. Detroit beat them in Buffalo in the MAAC tourney, they beat them again in Detroit. 7-2.
March 31 @ Manhattan Riverdale, NY
Detroit Manhandeled the Jaspers last year. The Jaspers have lost a lot to both graduation and transfer. Detroit wins again. 8-2.
April 7 Siena Detroit
Siena loses Rogener on offense, but more importantly loses Seale,Cotter, and Vacari on defense. Possibly more importantly…. Siena loses Brian Brecht at head coach. Detroit won the regular season game in Albany, they win again in Detroit. 9-2.
April 14 Jacksonville Detroit
Jacksonville was down most of the game in J’ville last year. They lose their head coach and the advantage of playing in 100degree heat. Detroit wins in Detroit. 10-2.
April 21 Bellarmine Detroit
Bellarmine loses their head coach to Cancer. They played great under Sullivan, but he is also gone. They bring in a new coach who is an upstate guy who may not be able to handle the Canadians on his roster. Detroit wins on Senior day in their first “real” senior day. 11-2.
April 28 @ VMI Lexington, VA
Detroit will be playing for a regular season MAAC championship against a team they have never lost to. Detroit 12-2.
I realize there is speculation, but now add in the possible 2 more wins in the MAAC tournament and you see how Detroit gets to 10 wins this year.
Michiganlaxer,
1. The 10 win discussion was (seemingly) based on the 14 game regular season.
2. Another reason the Titans won’t have a 10 win (regular) season…I don’t see UDM or Siena beating each other twice (just like last year). In that case, obviously I’d rather have UDM lose the regular season game and win the MAAC championship game.
3. UDM won’t beat OSU. OSU will make a serious run for the ECAC title (especially if Denver has Final Four hangover). Some pundits say OSU has the best defense in the country. Also, OSU has 2 pre-season All American candidates and this game is on the road.
4. UDM won’t beat Georgetown. Georgetown is never spectacular but always solid. They are a team that is perennially on the cusp of breaking into the upper echelons. Furthermore, this game is on the road and the Hoyas are always in the Laxpower Top 10 or 20.
CK,
Thanks for an honest assessment. These late shifts are killing me over the Holidays. If you are correct that makes them 9-5 which I think anyone would think would be a great regular season. If they win one of those three they have their 10 win season. Would you say that one of those three is possible with Matthews in the mix? Have you seen him play? I honestly think the cohesion between him and Adams will be the difference. Remember, those two have been playing together since they were in diapers (ok…. maybe not that long, but a while).
Michiganlaxer,
I’d say 9-5 is certainly possible, but 8-6 is more probable. At any rate, an above .500 record in Year 4 is a substantial achievement. Anything else is icing on the cake. An NCAA berth would be off the charts.
Here is some historical perspective on how long it takes to climb the mountain:
Bryant: started in 2000 as D2, went D1 in 2009
Siena: started as club in 1957, went varsity in 1964, first NCAA tournament in 2009
PSU: started in 1913, first NCAA tournament in 2003
OSU: started in 1953, first NCAA tournament in 2003
ND: went from club to varsity in 1981, first NCAA tournament in 1990, won first NCAA tournament game in 1995, went to the Final Four in 2001, went to the Finals in 2010
Denver: started in 1965, went from D2 to D1 in 1999, first win over highly ranked opponent in 2004, first NCAA tournament in 2006, first Final Four in 2011
Duke: started in 1938, first NCAA tournament in 1992, first NCAA tournament win in 1994, first ACC title in 1995, first Final Four in 1997, first NCAA finals in 2005, first NCAA championship in 2010
(NCAA Tournament began in 1971)
CK,
One thing that jumps out to me in your stats above is that all of those teams started achieving national success in the last decade, no matter how long they had been around. To me, that speaks to the parity that is developing in the game more than how long it took them to make their mark. There are more good players now and not significantly more D1 teams. There are also more teams in the D1 tournament now. Thus, there are more good D1 teams. UDM has a lot more opportunity to compete now than they would have 20 years ago if they had started then.
That said, I do think that Michiganlaxer and some other UDM fans are getting a bit ahead of themselves. Detroit went 6-10 last year. They played much better in the second half of the season, but aside from the Siena win all of their victories came against teams ranked 47 or lower on laxpower. Only two of those wins were one-sided (Mercer and Manhattan). The others, against similarly ranked teams, were close games. They finished ranked 49. They hung with a couple of teams that were ranked ahead of them, but were still bottom half teams (Lehigh and MSM). They also hung with a very depleted Ohio State team.
Yes they return virtually everyone and they get Matthews back. They should be improved. But a 10-4 regular season, which I’m predicting, is optimistic. It assumes they win every game they should win and beat at least one or two teams that will be higher ranked.
Detroit is headed in the right direction, but let’s be realistic.
AndyD, excellent points about more players and tournament teams. However, there are also some other key factors that play a significant role in what it takes for a program to gain prominence. Increased parity is vital, but only part of the story.
Denver has made the biggest jump in the shortest amount of time because: 1) they brought in a big-time coach, 2) the Colorado environment/lifestyle is attractive to a lot of recruits, 3) they built some big-time facilities (with major benefactors bank rolling the program), and 4) they are in a sweet-spot between highly rated institutions and the lower tier.
OSU only began offering some scholarships in 1998, and the full allotment a few years later. The Buckeyes Lacrosse facility opened in Fall 2001.
Likewise, Villanova has been around for a long time, but only rose to prominence very recently (and only began offering scholarships in the last 3 or 4 years).
I see UDM in a similar context as Bryant.
I’m going to wait a while before I break down the schedule. 2 reasons. A) I don’t have time right now and secondly I want to see how they look in preseason practices.
That being said. I give props to CK and MILaxer for doing your homework before posting. I don’t mean that in a patronizing way either. Very happy to have intelligent discussion on here instead of the usual “oh 4 or 5 wins” predictions that people have thrown out there in the past.
AndyD, another major factor in the growth of the college game during the last decade was the formation of additional lacrosse conferences and their subsequent automatic qualifiers to the NCAA Tournament. Previously, teams were selected at-large (with 1 Midwest/West berth starting in the late 1980s, which ultimately morphed into the GWLL AQ). The case of the 12-0 1996 Bucknell team not making the tournament (due to a weak strength of schedule) helped lead to a revamped post-season process.
As previously mentioned, the expansion from a 12 to 16 team tournament was also part of the reconfiguration (as well as growth).