Michigan was not a good intercollegiate lacrosse unit in 2012: this will not come as a surprise to you. However, looking to the future, there are reasons for optimism. One reason? depth. The Wolverines didn’t have as many players capable of contributing at the Division-1 level as you’d like.
| Game | Mich. Players Used | Opp. Players Used | Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit | 21 | 30 | -9 |
| Penn State | 24 | 31 | -7 |
| Denver | 28 | 42 | -12 |
| Air Force | 19 | 40 | -21 |
| Jacksonville | 22 | 24 | -2 |
| Mercer | 33 | 28 | +5 |
| Loyola | 19 | 32 | -13 |
| Bellarmine | 23 | 22 | +1 |
| Mount St. Mary’s | 23 | 30 | -7 |
| Harvard | 19 | 28 | -9 |
| Delaware | 21 | 27 | -6 |
| Ohio State | 19 | 23 | -4 |
| Rutgers | 21 | 22 | -1 |
| North Carolina | 21 | 43 | -22 |
| Avg. | -7.64 | Total | -107 |
The Wolverines simply didn’t have the depth to keep up with opponents this year. That’s especially borne out by the middle-quarter lulls they experienced this season:
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | OT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 2.08 | 2.00 | 1.85 | 2.23 | 0.00 |
| Opponents | 2.85 | 3.15 | 3.77 | 2.77 | 1.00 |
Obviously the defense had bigger dropoffs than the offense, and that can speak to a few things:
- Poor faceoff performance. Playing more defense means tired defensive players.
- Penalty differential. Man-down defense is more taxing on individual players than even-strength. The Wolverines allowed seven more man-up opportunities than they received.
- Fewer players. Michigan’s defense played fewer guys over the course of the year than the offense did. That’s on account of injuries in part (Vince Strittmatter missed the entire year due to injury, for example), and in part because of a lack of bodies in general.
Going forward, the depth will improve. Remember, only two or three guys on the current roster committed to Michigan knowing they’d play at the highest level, and now every player who commits to John Paul and crew will be aware of the opportunity in front of them. That will help lure higher-caliber players.
Only eight players exhausted their eligibility this spring. Stephen Levitt, Jordan Bargas, and Brent Kirshner all played extremely limited roles. In fact, Bargas didn’t play at all after knee injuries cost him the final year of his career. The 2012 recruiting class currently consists of 18 players (and probably more by the time the 2013 season rolls around, including some transfers), and that depth will be much better.
It’s possible, even likely, that more players will leave the roster without exhausting their eligibility, but the overall depth picture consisting of players who are capable of competing at this level has nowhere to go but up.