Detroit has started the year with a couple games against tough opposition, and things lighten up a bit with today’s trip to the Pittsburgh area. However, Robert Morris is no pushover, either.
Robert Morris
Robert Morris signed the Declaration of Independence. Also: looked nothing like this picture.
Noon EST Feb. 23, 2013
Moon Township, Pa.
Live Stats. Live video ($). Official site preview.
Tempo-Free Profile
We’re starting to get to a point where teams have played enough games that we actually know a bit about them. That’s especially true of a squad like Robert Morris, which has not only played two games, but also includes one against a team (Bellarmine, which beat RMU 9-8) that is a common opponent with one of the teams we look at closely here on GLS. Given that Bellarmine seems a shade better than Michigan – despite the lopsided score when the two played – losing to them probably doesn’t bode well for Bobby Mo’s long-term successes this year.
| Robert Morris 2013 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Morris | Opponents | ||
| Faceoff Wins | 18 | Faceoff Wins | 28 |
| Clearing | 41-52 | Clearing | 37-44 |
| Possessions | 77 | Possessions | 83 |
| Goals | 20 | Goals | 18 |
| Offensive Efficiency | .260 | Offensive Efficiency | .217 |
Here’s where stats can start to get tricky early in the year. Robert Morris looks pretty good, despite a slight deficit in possession. They’re the more efficient team by a good margin so far.
However, their two games were against last year’s No. 40 and No. 41 teams in the country. Although Bellarmine is likely improved over 2012 – albeit slightly – that’s no murderer’s row. I get the impression that UMBC is just not going to be any good.
Offense
This is a very young offense, despite a bit of experience in spots. The two leading scorers are freshman midfielder Eric Rankel (6G, 3A) and freshman attackman Luke Laskiewicz (5G, 1A). Behind them are a couple seniors in attack Jake Hayes and midfielder Taylor Graves (2G, 2A apiece), though Graves took a redshirt earlier in his career and has two years of playing eligibility remaining.
Sophomore Jacob Ruest and 5th-year Dave Martin close out the multi-point scorers on the year. Senior Tyler Digby has started both games at attack but taken only five shots this year and not notched a single point.
It’s clear that this isn’t a team with tons of offensive depth: indeed, it’s a small roster overall with just 40 guys, 18 of whom have seen the field this year. With Detroit’s skill at the top of its defensive depth chart – especially 1st close D Jamie Hebden and 1st LSM Jordan Houtby – RMU will have to either find ways to get those guys open or switched, or lean on some players who haven’t stuffed the statsheet or really made an impact to date.
This matchup seems to firmly favor UDM.
Defense
Charles Ruppert has started both games between the pipes this year and played all but 30 seconds in net. He has a respectable .607 save percentage, though weirdly he only has five ground balls on the year.
Like the offense, the defense is young. Sophomore Luc Magnan, Freshman Cory Berry (listed at LSM, but if he’s playing that position, RMU has only started two defensemen in each of the first two games), and redshirt sophomore Joseph Scenna have started both games. Scenna looks to be the playmaker of the D, causing five turnovers and picking up seven GBs to date.
If he draws Shayne Adams, that will be an excellent battle, but I’m also confident that the Titans have enough other weapons – be it Alex Maini, Mike Birney, Brandon Beauregard, or someone who hasn’t produced much yet this year (for example Scott Drummond, last year’s fifth-leading scorer, has taken just a couple shots so far this year).
UDM’s offense has moved in fits and starts at the beginning of the year, and although I’m confident it’ll turn out better and more consistent than last year’s unit, it’s time to show the results of that.
Special Teams
This is going to be a weird thing to say: I’ve seen enough out of Detroit’s faceoff options to believe that there is enough talent there to rotate in a variety of players in a given game and hover right around a .500 win percentage on the year. With better wing play, they might crack that mark. Given that Robert Morris has been bad on faceoffs – and not against teams with a history of excellence at the dot – I think UDM has that matchup going in its favor today.
RMU is also clearing worse than opponents are, so they won’t likely have much of an advantage in the clearing game this season. Detroit’s also clearing sort of poorly and not riding all that hard, so it seems like a stalemate at that spot.
One big opportunity for RMU to have an advantage is penalties. Detroit 2013 is looking like yet another penalty-prone edition of the Titans, and RMU has been right about average. RMU is also capitalizing on a lot of their EMO opportunities, whereas Detroit is not, and nor are they doing an excellent job from preventing opponents from doing it. If there’s one area that the Colonials have a clear advantage, it’s the penalty game. Play a clean contest, and Detroit is looking good.
Big Picture
Detroit’s beyond the “collect a big-name scalp” phase of the year, and into the “let’s just get our non-conference win.” They’ll have more opportunities to do that with the likes of Quinnipiac, Bellarmine, Michigan, and Marquette on the schedule, but clearly the goal is to win them all, and this is a chance to do just that.
Robert Morris hasn’t played anyone of note yet, nor have they impressed against competition that’s just OK. This is the sort of opportunity UDM needs to start capitalizing on.
Predictions
I had high hopes for Detroit last year, but thanks to poor offensive scheme and one of the most injury-prone teams in the country, they failed to live up to those expectations. This game is their chance to shake an underachiever label (and, to be fair, even having those expectations is pretty good for a program this young).
- Shayne Adams will score a hat trick (at least). His scoring to date has been pretty modest compared to expectations, and with no Joel Matthews on the roster to split headlining roles, it’s only a matter of time before Adams has a truly huge game – not that the 5-point output in the Navy contest was anything to sneeze at.
- Detroit will win more than 50% of their faceoffs. RMU is a pretty darn bad faceoff team, no matter who’s taking their draws. Detroit has enough bullets in the chamber with Tyler Corcoran, Damien Hicks, and Brandon Davenport that they can tinker and find someone who’s controlling draws. The key will be winning the 50/50 ground balls.
- RMU matches its least efficient offensive output of the year. Although Detroit’s a pretty fast-paced team traditionally, I see this one being a slow game, especially if they can win more of those faceoffs and not force pace with their aggressive defense. I also think UDM has the right pieces in place to slow down the RMU offense from an efficiency standpoint.
In case the individual predictions didn’t make it clear, I sense a Detroit win coming on. It’s the Titans’ weakest opposition to date in conditions that don’t make an offensive explosion likely on either side of the ball. Man-for-man, UDM should have what it takes to head home with a 12-8 Titan win.