A.J. Levell did his part to keep Detroit in the game. Photo by Jim Davenport.
I thought Detroit would take this opportunity to show that they belong on a big stage – and have what it takes to win the MAAC and earn the NCAA tournament bid. The latter is still well within reach, but the former dream is fully shattered by now, I think.
Tempo Free
From the official box score, a look at the tempo-free stats:
| Georgetown 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit | Georgetown | ||
| Faceoff Wins | 8 | Faceoff Wins | 15 |
| Clearing | 20-31 | Clearing | 20-27 |
| Possessions | 46 | Possessions | 53 |
| Goals | 7 | Goals | 12 |
| Offensive Efficiency | .152 | Offensive Efficiency | .226 |
This was a fast game, with just shy of 100 total possessions, and – as we’ve become accustomed to – Detroit was on the wrong end of a semi-lopsided game in that respect. That was thanks to performance on faceoffs, and a pretty poor performance on clears. They made up for the latter with riding success, but not enough to draw even.
The Georgetown defense – which I thought would be pretty vulnerable due to inexperience – completely shut down Detroit’s talented offensive players. Detroit returned the favor, and this was not a high-scoring offensive game. Still, with 74 total shots launched (50 of them on goal), I imagine it was an exciting, up-and-down contest.
Notes
Anemic offense for the Titans means not a whole lot of impressive performances on an individual basis. Joel Matthews had a hat trick, Scott Harris had a goal and an assist, and no other UDM player put up more than a single point. Only two of the seven Titan goals were assisted.
On faceoffs, it was a balanced struggle for Detroit. Tyler Corcoran and Brandon Davenport both went 4/11, and Jason McDonald lost his only draw. Davenport did add a goal on a clean win. Georgetown’s Tyler Knarr won 12/19 and Brian Tabb went 3/4.
Georgetown’s low offensive efficiency number speaks to a good defensive effort by UDM. Of course, the Hoyas launched 31 shots on goal, and without A.J. Levell standing on his head to save 19 of them, it could have been much uglier. Some easy shots are expected with the aggressive defensive style of the Titans, and Levell’s effort is to be commended.
Back to the defense on the whole, the Titans caused 11 turnovers. That’s not bad, but given the fast pace of play (and the number of shots they allowed), it’s not great either. Shayne Adams, Jamie Hebden, Brad Janer, and Jordan Houtby each caused two. Hebden also led the team with five GBs. Houtby and Levell were right behind him with four apiece.
For Georgetown, it was the Travis Comeau Show. The attackman had six goals on 12 shots, to lead the Hoyas in scoring. Zack Angel had a single hat trick of his own, while Jason McFadden added a goal and three assists.
Elsewhere
Official site recap from Detroit and Georgetown perspectives. Official boxscore. Photo galleries 1, 2, 3, and 4 by Jim Davenport. Official Georgetown photo gallery.
Up Next
UDM will face Quinnipiac on the road Saturday at 1 p.m. The Bobcats are 0-2 to open the year – including a blowout loss to Air Force over the weekend – and have a Wednesday contest against Fairfield before suiting up against the Titans.
I watched some of this game… As documented above, Faceoffs continue to be a BIG problem for Detroit… The recap was also good in noting Detroit’s Defense doing a solid job on the Hoya’s for the most part… I would have liked have seen them try to lock down the Cormeau(sp) kid… He had 3 goals in the first, and 6 for the game.. He was their offense, and Detroit should have shadowed him all over the field… Offensively, things are not clicking for the Titans… They had plenty of posessions and came away with nothing… Forced passes, forced shots that weren’t on net, and badly timed turnovers that led to fast break goals for the Hoya’s were a problem. Bright spot was Birney, the frosh showed a nice shot on the run for a goal. Mathews had three goals but is turning the ball over too much, and #9 Adams for the Titans, a proven scorer didn’t look like he got the ball enough… Detroit is not dodging and dishing well… They are disjointed… Lots of talent on offense, but not putting it together… hopefully it will come together against Quinnipiac and the when the MAAC gets going…The MAAC has some good teams based on some of the scores and if Detroit wants to win their league, they have to get it going on Offense… Great game by AJ in net.
I know one poster had mentioned it earlier, but when is Tully going to receive at least some of the blame for the awful offense we’ve seen come out of Detroit this year? Not to put all of the blame on him, but with the expectations the team had coming into the season, I think it’s safe to say I’m not the only one looking for some sort of explanation 6 games in..
I think expectations of an explosive offense were slightly inflated (and I said so in my season preview). Also keep in mind that the Titans have played some pretty solid teams so far. Of course, Georgetown’s defense probably is nothing to write home about, but it’s not like this was Mercer shutting down the offense.
“Awful offense” is a bit of a stretch. Through 6 games last year they were 1-5 and had scored 46 goals. This year they are 2-4 and have scored 56.
I think the biggest issues the team has is possessions and the struggles on faceoffs has hurt the offense more than anything. They knew that playing the top teams like Georgetown, Delaware and UNC that they would not win a run and gun game. They needed to slow it down on offense and try to limit the other teams possessions. The challenge is, that’s not this team’s offensive strength. They are at their best when the Joel and Shane can be, well, Joel and Shane. They need running and gunning out of Lehto, Harris and Dennis but in those games if they tried that it might have gotten even uglier.
I expect you’ll see a much more open offense against Quinipiac. Troy Dennis is back from a shoulder injury, Harris is looking like a beast in one of the new offensive sets (you’ll know it when you see it), Bo is starting to break through the freshman wall, Birney is starting to get the speed of the D1 game and Drummond continues to make strides. Throw in Lehto being Lehto, Joel/Shane/Maini with a little more freedom to improvise and the rest of the cast and it should be a fun game to watch.
I think they win at Quinipiac and it’s not a nail biter. UDM 13-9.
I was close. 13-10 final. I’d say Tulley needs a pay on the back for the offense carrying the team too with Damie being in net and faceoffs still being an issue.
Rumors out of Detroit: Kelly is playing saturday
Close. Damie is getting the start.