So, this is probably not going to go well. What is effectively the country’s youngest team going up against the program with the most tradition (and one of a few with the most talent)… this is probably not going to go well.
Side note: Bellarmine tempo-free recap coming tomorrow. Simply didn’t have time to finish it this week.
Johns Hopkins
A Blue Jay is just a blue cardinal, right?
1 p.m. EST Feb. 23, 2013
Baltimore, Md.
Live Stats. Live Audio. Airs live on ESPN3.com.
Tempo-Free Profile
Hopkins has played just a couple games this year. One was against a Towson team that gave High Point its first win as a program, and the other against a Siena team that – though it’s usually the best MAAC team – plays in the worst conference in the country, and hasn’t made serious waves in the NCAA Tournament in recent years.
| Johns Hopkins 2013 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Johns Hopkins | Opponents | ||
| Faceoff Wins | 29 | Faceoff Wins | 14 |
| Clearing | 43-48 | Clearing | 35-46 |
| Possessions | 88 | Possessions | 65 |
| Goals | 27 | Goals | 12 |
| Offensive Efficiency | .307 | Offensive Efficiency | .185 |
Johns Hopkins hasn’t played a true gauntlet, but… Michigan isn’t the type of opposition that”s going to change that status, either. They’ve dominated possession, and done quite a bit with the ball, while preventing opponents from doing the same.
Hopkins looks like it belongs among the nation’s elite, at least this early in the year. Accordingly, the preview might be a breeze-through more than anything.
Offense
Junior attackman Brandon Benn leads the team with seven goals on the year. Sophomore Wells Stanwick (yes, that Stanwick) has four and two, and Midfielder John Ranagan has three and three. Senior attack Zach Palmer is the team’s assist leader with four, and he’s also contributed two goals. At 5-7, he’s a little guy and your classic dodger-creator.
Junior midfielder Rex Sanders (3G), freshman attack Ryan Brown (2G, 1A), senior midfielder Lee Coppersmith (2G), junior midfielder Phil Castranova (2G), junior midfielder Rob Guida (1G, 1A), and senior midfielder John Greeley (2A) close out your multi-point scorers.
Defense
Senior Tucker Durkin, junior Jack Reilly, and senior Chris Lightner are your starters on close D. LSM Michael Pellegrino is the non-FO leader in ground balls.
The goalie is a well-known name in Pierce Bassett. The senior is saving an outstanding .667 of shots faced this year, and has allowed just 12 goals through two games.
Special Teams
Senior Mike Poppleton has been exceptional on faceoffs this year, winning .719 of his draws so far. He wins a fair number of them himself (and obviously Pellegrino has benefitted, as well), but doesn’t turn that into offense on his own, with no shot attempts or assists so far this year.
Hopkins is an outstanding clearing team, and despite not typically employing a heavy ride, opponents aren’t clearing well against them. That’s partially on account of mediocre competition faced.
Both Hopkins and opponents have played pretty clean ball this year, with only nine combined penalties per game. Hopkins has finished about 50% of their EMO chances, with opponents actually converting decently as well.
Big Picture
This is Michigan’s first chance this year to find out what an elite team – what the type of team that they’re trying to emulate – looks like. Hopkins is bigger, faster, stronger, just better at about every position than Michigan (though with a better defense in front of him, Gerald Logan could contend with Basset, at the least).
In Michigan’s “culture-building” phase of the program, playing a team like this isn’t their opportunity to win, it’s their opportunity to grow by taking their lumps, and learn what the end goal is. Of course, given the rumors of Johns Hopkins joining the Big Ten, this could be the preview of a future conference matchup, too.
Johns Hopkins pregame release. Michigan pregame release.
Predictions
Like the North Carolina game last year, this could get ugly. Michigan simply doesn’t have the horses to keep up. The Wolverines know that, however, and they aren’t going to just concede, either.
- A couple Blue Jays get their first goal of the year. This should be a depth-building opportunity for Dave Pietramala.
- That said, Hopkins isn’t going to run it up on U-M. Petro has a lot of respect for nascent programs, particularly in non-hotbed areas. He’s also good friends with Michigan coach John Paul. Hopkins is going to win, and win handily. They aren’t going to try to embarrass the Wolverines.
- Gerald Logan continues to show that he’ll be a star once the defense in front of him continues to improve. Michigan was pretty good in the 6-on-6 against Bellarmine, but Hopkins is a different animal altogether. Preventing transition opportunities is still a priority, but Hop will be able to break down the Michigan defense in the half-field, too.
- This is a clean game. Michigan and Hopkins are both pretty good at avoiding penalties, and the damage to Michigan’s pride could be the only thing that results in a scrap or two and some ensuing penalty minutes.
Michigan would like to be Johns Hopkins when it grows up. The Wolverines are still infantile when it comes to the program’s development, however. They just don’t have what it takes to seriously compete in a game like this. Johns Hopkins 17, Michigan 6.
Just got back from the game. It was 39 degrees and rainy at the start. Tim’s predicted score was close to the mark. Michigan played with spirit, and the game would have been a lot closer if Hopkins had not won 29 0f 30 faceoffs. That is a real stat: Michigan won one faceoff all game. The kicker is that, if Michigan had won only 40% of the face-offs, they would have lost by probably only 2-3 goals to the #4 ranked team in the country. I’ll provide some more thoughts later. In the meantime, I took some nice pix at the game. Tim: how can I send them to you for GLS?
t.w.sullivan1@gmail.com
Wow, Tim. You just about nailed it with that preview. Good job. In addition to the faceoffs, like DCLaxFan pointed out, Logan was clearly hurt with that shoulder for most of the game. He landed on it on a save attempt early and then kept favoring the rest of the day. Also, Paras limped off very early and never came back. And if I’m not mistaken, Austin Swaney didn’t even make the trip. I didn’t see him on the sideline.
Also not spotted (by me) on the sideline: Brendan Gaughan. This is becoming my pet issue. As best I can tell he has not seen the field at all this year and maybe did not even make the trip today. What is the deal? Hurt? Suspended? Not good at lacrosse? I would just like to know.
Looked like Paras hurt a hamstring. He was getting stretched on the bench after only a few minutes in the first quarter, then tried the stationary bike. He came out on crutches in the second half, but it looks to me like a hamstring injury. Logan clearly was favoring a shoulder the whole game. He made some incredible point blank saves, but let in a few goals that he probably would have saved if he wasn’t hurt.
The broadcast mentioned that Paras was questionable from the start with a hamstring injury. Hopefully, the crutches in the second half were more precautionary than anything.
For the first game, Gaughan was suspended for the same violation of team rules that a lot of the other freshmen were. I’m not sure if his transgression was more severe or if he’ s just had a tougher time working his way back into the lineup since then.
Didn’t get to watch today. Will tomorrow. Stats say 4 faceoff wins. 4 or 1 doesn’t make a difference. That’s a killer.
Have heard that Swaney is out for the year. How long did Paras play today? If he’s out awhile that is a big loss. Logan got hurt near the end of the Bellarmine game. I wonder if he even practiced this week if he was obviously playing injured today.
Clearing is a big improvement this year. Hopkins was the #1 riding team in the country last year (UM was #2).
Paras played only a few minutes. It was cold and raw, so my guess is a strained or pulled hammy from the treatment he was getting on the sideline.
Faceoff specialists (Lott in the first quarter, I think Keady the entire rest of the way) were getting control off the draw much more often than they were actually getting wins. The wing play was pretty poor – GB play in general was poor, given the 40-23 mark in that metric in favor of JHU – and that made things seem worse then they were.
On the other hand, it doesn’t matter how good your faceoff guys are if you don’t pick up the GB, so unless Michigan improves in that respect (or, uh, doesn’t play Hopkins again this year), it could be a struggle.
A couple more observations. The crowd was at least 1/3 UM fans. It was a sparse turnout generally due to the weather, but to have Homewood be 1/3 Michigan fans was neat. Also, I saw a bunch of Baltimore high school kids (with their school jackets) wearing Michigan hats. Maybe a good sign for future recruiting. As to the game, Hopkins’ offense was predicated on pinpoint passing, while UM relied on one-on-one dodges, mainly from the middie side of the field. To upgrade the offense, Michigan needs to improve the passes from attackmen. The defense slide was much better today than the first two games. Logan is the real deal in goal. Faceoffs were terrible. You can’t let the #4 team in the country have something like 75% time of possession in the first half and expect to stay close.
I was pretty impressed by Michigan’s performance. Execution was much upgraded from last year. Discipline was very good, and the freshmen are very promising. Some really good athletes with high lax iq. Get a few more athletes and let these guys grow up and I think you can expect good things.
Could not agree more re recruiting in md. I lived in Baltimore for many years and Michigan has always been a popular choice for the college-bound kid. Unlike OSU. ND also has a cachet due to md’s history as a catholic state.
I would not extrapolate that the score would have been closer if face offs weren’t so unbalanced. Petro took the foot off the gas very early. (Any of you notice when the Hopkins band – yes, feel free to laugh at our band – held up bananas? The banana goal indicates the end of the meaningful part of the game – sort of like the wave and beach ball tossing at the big house). Petro has tremendous respect for Michigan, and he has a history of not running it up on his friends. He models on the best, and he pays close attention to the way the Michigan athletic department operates, and sees similarities between the cultures of the schools.
Anyway, I hope to see the continued improvement that is evident – and return visits to A2 from Hopkins. Hopefully it will be later in the year so the big house can host!
While I agree that Petro put in the second stringers early in the second half, those guys certainly didn’t ease up. In fact, the only stall warning I can recall JHU getting was in the first quarter. The fact that Michigan didn’t win a single face off in the first half had to have had a huge impact on the margin JH built up in the first half. BTW, a nod to the Hopkins fans. I heard virtually no taunts or trash talking from the crowd. A very classy crowd (aside from the male lunatic who dressed up as a female cheerleader and ran up and down behind the teams’ benches during the game).