Michigan 8, Jacksonville 9 (OT)

Michigan came excruciatingly close to the first win in program history (spoiler alert: they pulled it off a couple days later), but fell just short in overtime. For a road game – and the third game in seven days – it was a composed effort for the Wolverines, however.

Tempo Free

From the official box score, a look at the tempo-free stats:

A rough day at the faceoff dot looks like it doomed Michigan here: they were more efficient than Jacksonville, and lost the game by only one goal. Of course, with a small sample size – and a one-goal difference between the teams – a difference in efficiency is going to be amplified and look more important than it is.

Yes, possession was ultimately the difference in the second and third quarters (when the Wolverines fell behind), but its role looks more important than it truly is.

Notes

The first thing I mentioned was faceoffs: they did not go well. Yet again, Michigan opened the game well – building a 3-0 lead on a trio of Trevor Yealy goals – but couldn’t control possession and remain settled, allowing the opposition to remain close in the contest. A lost faceoff in overtime thanks to a hilarious missed procedure call was the final difference in the contest. As has been the case, wing play was more of an issue than Greiner’s individual effort.

Speaking of Yealy, he led the team with four goals, earning the first hat trick in the program’s NCAA history. Alex Vasileff also put in a pair of goals. Willie Steenland had one assist and scored with eleven seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime, closing out multi-point performances.

Emil Weiss returned from a broken hand to play all 60 minutes between the pipes, and he was an upgrade from Dylan Westerhold. Especially in the clearing game, he was more composed than we’ve seen out of his fellow keeper this spring, and his size makes him a much more intimidating presence for shooters.

Defensively, there were no true standouts. Dakota Sherman had four ground balls and J.D. Johnson picked up three, and each caused a single turnover (along with five other teammates who each caused one). The team defense was significantly better than it has been this season – partially on account of competition faced, no doubt – and should be a building block going forward.

Elsewhere

Official site recaps from Michigan and Jacksonville perspectives. Photo gallery and official box score. I’m not 100% certain this will happen, but you may be able to watch a replay of the game on Laxx.TV later this week. Update: More photos from the spectacular Clark Bell.

Up Next

Quick turnarounds continue for Michigan. After the Mercer game (tempo-free recap coming later), they have only two days off before facing Loyola in Oosterbaan Fieldhouse on Wednesday on 7 p.m. It will be their fifth game in 12 days, which is practically unheard of in NCAA Division-1.