The inaugural faceoff of the varsity lacrosse era.
A certain commenter on this site predicted coming into the weekend that Michigan, with all its club players, would get destroyed by a living, breathing Division-1 team, and would need the second scrimmage against Concordia (Wisc.) to regain a bit of confidence. Obviously, the overtime result shows that the lack of faith in Michigan’s club players was misguided (shocker!), and they can hold their own.
No tempo-free since there are no official stats from a scrimmage, but I’ll touch on some of the TF factors. Tomorrow, I’ll look in more depth at the (technically unofficial) box score and some of the tempo-free numbers.
Thoughts
A few expected starters missed the game. Starting FOGO Brian Greiner, starting midfielder Joey Hrusovsky, and starting defenseman Austin Swaney did not dress for the contest. No word on why they missed it (probably minor injuries), but JP said after the game that Greiner, at least, will be back next week:
Having (Brian) Greiner back next week, facing off, will make a big difference for us. Possession is such a key.
That’s your best faceoff specialist, your best offensive midfielder, and your best defenseman missing the game. And it still took overtime for Providence to get the victory. Very positive result.
A few freshmen got pretty good playing time, including FO Alex Marcus, who spotted Greiner on faceoffs… and didn’t do so well. I stopped keeping track of his performance once the numbers reached 1-for-6 territory (I’ll look in more depth at tempo-free numbers tomorrow). It didn’t pick up later in the day, and either Providence’s faceoff specialists have taken a big leap forward from their .420 clip last season – Andrew Bromley took the majority of the faceoffs for PC, – or Michigan might struggle on draws without Greiner in the lineup. Marcus was in his first competition of his college career, so he could improve by the time the season rolls around, but it seems unlikely that he’ll unseat Greiner this season.
The other area of the possession game, clearing/riding, also had a few struggles, particularly in the clear portion. The Wolverines’ defensemen were sloppy with their passing early in the game, which led to some unsuccessful clears. Playing without Swaney and with a freshman goalie probably played a role, and they settled down as the scrimmage went on. Both teams used their hard-riding tactics later in the scrimmage (including – yes – a 10-man from Michigan), so the Wolverines actually cleared better under pressure, meaning their opening struggles were probably just nerves.
Speaking of that freshman goalie… wow. If his performance against Providence was indicative of how he’ll play during the regular season, he’s going to win a game or two for this team that they probably have no business winning. Emil Weiss is the real deal. Assuming he’ll be better-adjusted to the speed of D-1 ball by the time the regular season rolls around, he could be a young star in the making.
Another freshman who impressed was Brother Rice product Will Meter. He had two goals against Providence after coming on later in the scrimmage. He joined Trevor Yealy and Thomas Paras on the attack unit, so it seems like there’s a chance he could be a first-liner later this year, which is really impressive. He was poised and smart – which you’d expect from a Brother Rice player – and more thickly-built than I remember him being in high school.
Based on my feeling about the game (I’ll dive into the official stats tomorrow), I think Michigan got destroyed in the possession department. They certainly didn’t help themselves on faceoffs, and while they might have gotten the clear/ride numbers close to level later in the game, Providence dominated total possessions. The fact that the game reached overtime, then, speaks to Michigan’s ability to be much more efficient than the Friars.
Michigan dominated the end of the fourth quarter. They were down 10-7, but managed to pour in three straight to send the scrimmage to overtime (prompting Michigan AD David Brandon to joke “greatest comeback in Michigan varsity lacrosse history!). I get the feeling that if a few of the players hadn’t been caught up in the moment earlier in the game, the Wolverines could have pulled off the W in regulation despite the shortened roster.
Since I didn’t go to the second scrimmage, I can’t speak much to it, but the score lived up to my expectations. They managed to get everyone into the game, per JP:
Obviously, we got a lot of guys in — everyone who was available — and they got a lot of time. That was great for them. We also got to fix some of the things that we didn’t do so well.
Good to get everyone some experience, and it sounds like they got some help getting some of their weaknesses worked out, as well.
Elsewhere
The official site has a story and a photo gallery (I already posted my photo gallery here), and The Michigan Daily has a recap as well. Video highlights can be seen here. Boxscore.
Up Next
Michigan travels to Philadelphia next weekend to take on St. Joseph’s and Towson. That should be some pretty stiff competition – St. Joseph’s was bottom of the barrel last year, but Towson was pretty good, and it’s two D-1 scrimmages in one day. I’ll have previews for those teams up later in the week.
After attending this game, i would have to say your analysis is extremely biased. Providence cycled all of their players throughout the entire game; and Michigan was down by 3-4 until the end when the Friars were at the end of the bench. I thought it was an encouraging showing my Michigan though. To say they played with Providence is incredibly biased though. Weiss play stood out though. Weiss, Meter and Yealy looked to be the true division 1 players on the field from UM
Providence played a few more guys than Michigan, but not that many more (keep in mind Michigan probably doesn’t have nearly the depth that Providence does either, as a first-year program). The Friars switched keepers going into the fourth, but aside from that, there’s nothing out of the ordinary in their substitution pattern.
The teams played pretty much even the whole way through the game (nobody ever led by more than 3 goals). It’s not like Providence ran up a big lead, then tossed all their backups in.
I question your own bias just as much as your accusation of bias…
Ah yes, the old “but they subbed liberally while the club guys did not” argument. Knew that one was coming. I wasn’t there, but considering they were playing Concordia next, I assume Providence played their starters against Michigan and their backups against the D3 team.
Probably good for Michigan that so many people think so little of them. I would guess they have a few bottom dwellers on their schedule (Detroit, Mercer, Wagner?, etc.). Those teams should probably be careful.
No Wagner. And at this point, I think Detroit has reached a level above “bottom feeder,” in all fairness.
Fair enough. Sorry Detroit. Wasn’t thinking.
Tim or Jason – who was playing D and LSM for Michigan?
D was JD Johnson, Rob Healy, and Dakota Sherman (I think he’d be the out man if Swaney was healthy). Brett Moscati played LSM.
Those might be the only four poles who saw any time.
I was there and did not see a noticeable difference in substitutions. In the 4th quarter Providence had their starting attack and top defenseman (#33 and he was great) out there. It was not the end of the bench.
Noticed that enormous o-middie/attack (#35 I think) in there the entire game, too.
Really? Isn’t Healy a middie?
Starters last year were Freid, Swaney and Stansik most of the year and Asperheim at LSM right? Johnson got time last year, but that’s basically a whole new unit with a converted middie. Ouch. Weiss had better be good all year.
Johnson-Swaney-Freid was the most-frequent starting lineup last year. I think each missed a game or two with injury (more for Freid, if I recall correctly), and Stansik was the next guy off the bench.
lets remind ourselves providence is no middle of the road d1 team, there the worst team in the big east. lets hope for a stronger showing in the clearing game… Whats with healy on D. Seems like some drastic steps are being taken to make up for lack of depth on D.
There were a ton of D players out. Swaney and freshman Vince Strittmatter would have played if healthy, I’m sure.
They also have Ryan Breen, who was originally committed to Lafayette, coming in January to play D. IL reported it a few weeks ago. He should probably help.
Healy is a big kid. How did he look? Might actually be a better position for him.