Michigan 6, Arizona State 7

Tempo-Free

From the official game recap, here’s your tempo-free breakdown:

Before I get into the truly depressing aspects, let’s note the pace of this game. For a Michigan game (and since they’re on of only 2 MCLA teams that keep full statistics, it’s out only frame of reference), this was slooooooow. I’m guessing that’s the way Michigan’s coaches wanted it, with Arizona State’s great ability in transition. Obviously, when you lose a very slow game by 1 goal, it’s easy to second-guess that.

Now the sad things. Michigan cleared much better than Arizona State, as was the case last time these two teams played, and the Wolverines even got a transition goal or two (including a Trevor Yealy highlight GB/score). However, the Wolverines lost the faceoff battle, especially disappointing after a 60% performance last game. (More on faceoffs in a moment).

The Wolverines also finished with a lower efficiency mark than the Sun Devils, which is definitionally necessary when you have more possessions but score fewer goals. We’ll have plenty of time to break that down… now.

Notes

This game was singlehandedly won by Dylan Westfall. The ASU goalkeeper is the best I’ve seen in my brief time following the MCLA. I’ve previously been hesitant to pass that honor to Westfall from MSU’s Dean Hall (a first-team All-American last year), but I can comfortably say that Dylan deserves the distinction. He was only credited with nine saves, but even ASU’s coach thought he had more impact than that:

“What did he have? 15 saves? 17?” asked Arizona State head coach Chris Malone. “If you have a goalie that makes that many saves and a defense that plays out of its minds, you’re going to win big games.”

He also had at least 2 or 3 passes intercepted, ending offensive possessions for Michigan.

In the other cage, it wasn’t such a happy story. Though Mark Stone allowed goals on two of the first couple shots he faced (the first of which was not his fault), he buckled down and held ASU of the scoresheet for the rest of the first half. The standard keeper switch happened at halftime, and it ended poorly for Andrew Fowler. He didn’t save a single one of the Sun Devils’ first four shots on goal after the break, and Michigan was in a hole that was tough to dig out of.

Of course, it’s easy to blame Fowler. However, he was absolutely left out to dry a few times early in the third. Arizona State won the first 5 faceoffs of the second half(!), at least two of them cleanly, which led to 4-on-3 chance for the Sun Devils, and easy goals. Dominance on faceoffs in the third quarter made the difference in this game.

A lot of people were second-guessing the decision to switch keepers at half, for various reasons. My take on the matter is this: Sure, Stone was a “hot keeper” in the first half, and it seems unconventional to take out such a player for a guy coming in cold off the bench. However, Stone hasn’t had to play a single second after sitting through a halftime break. WHo knows if he would have maintained that momentum? Similarly, Fowler has come in after halftime in almost every game this year. He knows what is expected of him, and how to handle it.

Yealy scored 4 goals in the game to lead Michigan. By my count, he finishes his MCLA career with 295 goals, the most in league history.

In both games against Arizona State this year, the Sun Devils went on a third-quarter run. It’s much easier to weather that run when you’ve built up  a 6-goal lead in the first half, no? The offensive performance seemed flat from the start, but the faceoff-led run really turned the tide in ASU’s favor.

Elsewhere

Official site recap. Jac Coyne weighs in on the end of an era. Getting some freude from our schaden at #michiganlostbecause. CollegeLax photo gallery.

Up Next

Michigan’s season is over, and now begins the awkward waiting period before we find out officially whether the Wolverines will play Division-1 ball next year. JP:

“Obviously a lot of that is still up in the air. We are hopefully and expecting that the team will transition to NCAA Division 1 lacrosse next year but that still is not official. We’re waiting on official word from the University on that but we’re all hopeful that that is the next step and that’s how we’re moving forward right now. This closes a chapter of Michigan lacrosse, a really important chapter, and it’s the chapter that has redefined what an MCLA team can be. It also laid all the groundwork that has allowed our program to transition to the next level. Now we’re going to have a whole new set of challenges in front of us from here on out.”

It seems to be as close to a done deal as possible, but since initial reports, two UM Regents Meetings have gone by with nary a mention of lacrosse. The next meeting is June 16th.

I guess my post-tournament content gets to ramp up a day before I expected… But I’ll probably take a day off tomorrow, so I’ll see y’all Monday.