Detroit 8, Mercer 10

I was confident that the Titans would come out strong against a perennial bottom-dweller, especially coming off a flat second half against Michigan. I was wrong (in part because Mercer may be a decent team this year), and it was a disappointment.

Tempo-Free

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

UDM wasn’t quite as good on faceoffs (though it was effectively a draw, that’s still disappointing given the hope we got from the season opener against Ohio State’s Jake Withers) as Mercer, but made up for it with an OK ride. They weren’t bad defensively, but were very much so on offense, and that’s where they lost this game.

Notes

I’m probably going to go back-and-forth 13 times or so on how big a weapon FOGO Ben Gjokaj is, but I’m honestly OK with this performance. You aren’t going to be great every time out, and if you assume that Michigan’s Mike McDonnell is going to be pretty good this year, Mercer was his first mediocre performance. Gjokaj will be fine, but certainly won’t be winning games by himself.

The clears are pretty encouraging after a super-discouraging game against Michigan. Only one fail is totally fine. Of course, the flipside of that is 19 total turnovers, which means plenty of giveaways that don’t suddenly become easily excusable just because they happened outside a clearing posture. Sean Birney and Kyle Beauregard had five apiece, which accounts for .286 of total possessions, simply unacceptable regardless of circumstances – unless the circumstances include “playing the lacrosse version of the ’85 Bears.”

That Birney and Beauregard only made up for the mistakes with mediocre offensive production (a goal on four shots and a goal and an assist on five shots, respectively) certainly doesn’t help. Instead, it was a three-goal performance from sophomore attackman Matthew VanGalen and two goals and an assist from Alec Gilhooly – newly responsible with the rock, only committing one turnover, it must be noted – that made an impact on the scoreboard for UDM.

I feel like I take to the soapbox to defend Jason Weber a lot, but due absolutely deserves it. Mercer got of 39 shots (26 on goal) in 35 possessions, and only allowing 10 goals in that situation is pretty impressive. That’s true even against a bad offense, and with what isn’t looking like a super-awesome defense in front of him, it’s likely that some good looks were mixed in.

The one positive (at least from a fun factor perspective) from this defensive output was a huge uptick in caused turnovers. Eight different Titans accounted for at least one, led by Will Kane with two. A return to the fun-loving, swashbuckling Titans would be welcome around these parts, even if it leads to a few more scary moments late in games – though in a mid-major conference, I think it’s more likely to be a benefit than a drawback in most games.

The EMO difference was pretty close, with Mercer’s one additional opportunity (2/3 compared to the Titans’ 1/2) potentially a huge factor in the outcome, given that it meant a two-goal margin in the fourth when one possession could have changed the result in a one-goal game (rocket science!). The two converted opportunities came in the first quarter, and without those, a small Detroit lead could have been an insurmountable obstacle, instead.

Elsewhere

Detroit recap. Boxscore. This game literally didn’t even have livestats, which should tell you what a clown shoes operation it was (and which should diminish your expectations for greater coverage).

Up Next

UDM finally broke through in a one-goal win over Jacksonville later today. Full recap coming… eventually. Maybe. (They also have Robert Morris this weekend).