Former Maryland assistant Conry named Michigan head coach

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Tim

From University release:

Kevin Conry, new Michigan lacrosse coach

Kevin Conry, new Michigan lacrosse coach (Courtesy UMd Athletics)

ANN ARBOR, Mich.– University of Michigan Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics Warde Manuel announced today (Wednesday, June 21) the appointment of Kevin Conry as the second head coach in men’s lacrosse program history. Conry arrives in Ann Arbor after spending the last five seasons at the University of Maryland as defensive coordinator and the last two as associate head coach.

“I am excited to welcome Kevin Conry to the University of Michigan,” said Manuel. “Kevin has a diverse background in the Big Ten landscape, which will be a huge asset as we continue to build on the success of our program.”

“My wife, daughters, and I could not be more excited to join the Michigan Athletics family, and Ann Arbor community,” said Conry of the appointment. “The University of Michigan represents a standard of excellence that I look forward to upholding. I would like to thank sport administrator Bitsy Ritt, and athletic director Warde Manuel for their commitment to the sport of lacrosse, and this amazing opportunity to be a head coach in the best lacrosse conference in the country.”

Conry, who was named head coach John Tillman’s top lieutenant prior to the 2016 campaign, was part of one of the most successful eras of Maryland men’s lacrosse, including the Terrapins’ 2017 national championship. In five seasons, he helped lead the Terps to four NCAA Final Fours and five Big Ten Conference titles.

In 2017, Conry’s defensive unit earned a long list of accolades, including the Schmeisser Award, which was presented to Tim Muller for being the nation’s top defenseman. Isaiah Davis-Allen earned first team USILA All-America honors for the second straight year, becoming the first Maryland defender to achieve the feat 1975-76.

The 2016 Maryland defense featured a bevy of experience developed under his guidance including five USILA All-Americans. The Terrapins won a school-record 17 games en route to their third consecutive NCAA Final Four appearance. Conry’s defense ranked 10th nationally in scoring defense (8.35 goals/g) and third in man-down defense (73%).

Conry’s defensive unit led the nation in scoring defense in 2015, allowing just 7.1 goals-per-game en route to Maryland’s second straight NCAA Final Four appearance. Kyle Bernlohr received the Kelly Award as the nation’s top goalkeeper, making the Terps the first team to win the award in back-to-back seasons with different goalkeepers since 1961-62 (Niko Amato, 2014).

In 2014, Maryland ranked third in the nation allowing just 7.24 goals per game as goalkeeper Niko Amato and defender Goran Murray captured first team USILA All-America honors. The stout defense helped the Terps advance to their third NCAA Final Four in four seasons, while Amato received the Kelly Award for the nation’s top goalkeeper.

In his first season in College Park, Conry oversaw a defensive unit that ranked first in the ACC in points allowed and ninth nationally while playing one of the toughest schedules in the country. Under his tutelage, five Terrapin defenders earned All-America honors in 2013, led by senior Jesse Bernhardt, who became the first Terp since 2006 to garner a first-team selection.

Conry made the transition to College Park after a successful four-year stint at Fairfield, where he was the Stags’ associate head coach for two seasons. He was responsible for turning around a defensive unit that ranked 39th in the nation prior to his arrival into a unit that ranked among the top 16 in the country in each of the past three seasons.

In addition to the six-on-six defensive improvements, Conry also helped the Stags improve in man-down defense, with Fairfield ranking among the top 17 in the nation since 2010. He was also a big factor in Fairfield’s recruiting efforts, including the Stags’ 2013 freshman class, which was ranked as the No. 12 incoming class in the country, according to Inside Lacrosse.

Prior to joining the Fairfield coaching staff, Conry spent the 2007 season at Penn State, where he helped recruit the 2008 Nittany Lions’ freshman class, which Inside Lacrosse ranked the fifth-best class in the nation. Penn State finished the 2007 season with the No. 13 defense in the country, allowing just 7.92 goals per game. He started his coaching career at Siena, where he served as an assistant from 2004-06.

A 2004 graduate of Johns Hopkins, Conry was a four-year member of the Blue Jays lacrosse team, helping the squad to a runner-up finish in the 2003 NCAA Division I Championship. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Johns Hopkins and went on to earn a Master of Science in Education from the University of Albany in 2006.

A native of Rockville Centre, New York, he is married to the former Elizabeth Hannan. The couple has two daughters Isabelle (4), Lily (2), and are expecting a third in the coming days.

A couple thoughts:

  • Conry most likely retains his incumbent offensive coordinator, Conor Ford, a teammate/classmate at Hopkins. Given that offense has been the lesser of the problems with the team the past couple years, that’s fine.
  • Defense has been the Wolverines’ main issue for the past few years (while I thought firing John Paul was premature, his loyalty to Ken Broschart – whom I respect, but who didn’t get results – might have made it necessary), so hiring a defensive-minded headman is a step in the right direction.
  • The talent is there to become a competitor in the Big Ten in pretty short order. A definite upgrade n the coaching department can make that happen.
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John Paul fired at Michigan

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Tim

From University press release:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Warde Manuel, the University of Michigan’s Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics, announced Tuesdaythat men’s lacrosse head coach John Paul will not return to the program next season.

 

“We are extremely grateful to John for his personal and professional investment in helping to build the varsity lacrosse program,” said Manuel. “John has invested over two decades in the growth of lacrosse at the University of Michigan and we owe a debt of gratitude to John for getting the men’s lacrosse team to this point. Building a program is no easy task and, through his efforts, we are in position to take another step competitively on the national level.”

 

Michigan lacrosse will move into the new South Competition and Performance complex in 2018 with a dedicated lacrosse facility that will seat 2,000 spectators and include comprehensive sport performance and locker room facilities.

 

Michigan recently finished the 2017 season with an 8-6 overall record, 0-5 in Big Ten Conference play. The eight wins marked a program high in its sixth season as a varsity team.

 

Paul guided Michigan lacrosse from club level to varsity in 2012, posting a six-year varsity record of 23-61 (.274), including a 2-24 (.077) mark in conference play.

 

A 1994 graduate of U-M, Paul previously coached the Wolverine’s club lacrosse team for 14 seasons. He also worked in the athletic development office for five years.

 

A national search will begin immediately.

This is almost certainly the wrong move (which is a different question than “the move that means Michigan will win the most games next year”), but if Warde Manuel gets his coaching move advice from the LaxPower forum – which would explain why he wasn’t going to fire hockey coach Red Berenson if he couldn’t convince the veteran to retire – then so be it. Paul earned his first four years or so by earning varsity status for the program through private donations, then the last two years were when he should have started to be judged by results, and while they weren’t great results, for the first and second years of a program that was finally not saddled with newcomer status or club players, they should have been enough for a year three (after next year, a winless Big Ten season would be more than fair grounds for firing).

I would imagine part of the reason for the move is that Paul was not necessarily in approval, but certainly accepting of his fate. I would guess another big part is that there’s a strong likelihood the Wolverines bring in a big-name, proven success (or have one lined up after the federally-mandated 14-day waiting period), but that remains to be seen.

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Michigan preview: Maryland

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Tim

Michigan has run up a nice early-season record on the back of what is, quite frankly, an easy slate of opponents. Will the best team they’ve faced since Notre Dame (who gave the Maize and Blue their lone loss) put them in their place, or are the Wolverines for real?

Maryland

Maryland Terps Terrapins Lacrosse

I don’t have a joke to make about this logo :/

April 1, 2017, 2 p.m. EDT
College Park, Md.
Live stats. Video.
Michigan preview. Maryland preview.
@UMichLacrosse. @UofMLaxManagers. @TerpsMLax.

The Terrapins

Maryland is one of the nation’s perennial powers, and this year’s results – one-goal losses to Notre Dame and Villanova with solid-to-very-good wins on the other side – don’t do anything to diminish that reputation. The Terps are strong offensively, strong defensively, and well-tested.

Heading on the road to play a team like that is… a tall task for an 8-1 squad that has only beaten two above-average teams (Penn and UMBC, which to be fair were the last two times out). However, UMd is not an unconquerable force – as we saw last year when a much worse Michigan team took a better Maryland team to the brink in the Big House.

Offense

The Terps’ offense is loaded with former top recruits, with none more important than Matt Rambo. The senior tank is balanced with 17 goals and 15 assists, and runs the offense from attack (or can invert out to midfield). He was the No. 1 recruit in the 2014 class, and despite hiccups here and there, has lived up to it.

There are five other double-digit scorers dotting the lineup, led by fellow attackmen Colin Heacock (another big boy at 6-3, 210 – though it makes more sense when you realize he’s been lining up in midfield) and Dylan Maltz (not so big – 5-8, 170) to make it a full round of seniors. This is an experienced, obviously talented, and productive attack. Both Heacock and Maltz are shoot-first 12/9 and 14/1, respectively – you’ll see more assists in the midfield – but are more than capable of filling the back of the net. Tim Rotanz with a mere 7/6 is the third starting attackman.

That midfield, with Heacock fitting into this trend more so than his fellow nominal attackmen, is balanced in shooting and feeding. Conor Kelly (12G, 7A) and Jared Bernhardt (10G, 5A) finish more than the feed, sure, but this is a group that can definitely do either.

The next-leading scorer is FOGO Austin Hennigsen, so the offense isn’t particularly deep beyond the starting lineup. To be fair, Hennigsen does have seven points on the year (Rotanz only has 13), but the drop from 29 shots to seven (LSM Matt Neufeldt has eight) indicates there aren’t backup dudes doing a whole lot on offense.

Defense

The defense has been outstanding, a second top-10 unit among those we’ve discussed so far. Neufeldt has been elite in collecting ground balls, and senior Isaiah Davis-Allen is the only non-faceoff specialist to outstrip him in ground balls. That LSM/SSDM combo is an intimidating one.

Senior Tim Muller, junior Bryce Young, and sophomore Curtis Corley have started all seven games on close defense. Corley is the dangerman with 13 takeaways – the other two have seven each – but all three are quite good. That opponents have assists on nearly half their goals could be considered troublesome… if the Terps were doing worse than giving up 8.7 goals per game despite playing at a faster pace than they have in years.

Backup up that whole effort is junior keeper Dan Morris, who is saving .559 despite the fact that opponents are assisting (or having to rely on assisting, if you want to frame it that way) as many of their goals and shots as they are. He’s not one of the country’s best goalies, but behind an impeccable defense, he’s more than adequate.

Special teams

Hennigsen has taken the vast majority of Maryland’s faceoffs, though with just a .519 win percentage, he’s been nothing to write home about thus far in 2017 (he also has ground balls on about 40% of his wins, a good-not-great indicator of winning himself, rather than just relying on wing play). Against Michigan’s good-not-great options… this could be an interesting battle, and the avenue through which Michigan keeps it close enough to spring an upset attempt.

The Terps are absolutely elite (over .900) clearing the ball and don’t put much effort into the ride. Expect U-M to go with the occasional 10-man ride only in the instance of faceoff wins backwards, and otherwise slow down – but not attempt to force turnovers – UMd clears. The Maize and Blue should clear just fine themselves, as well.

The Maryland man-up is pretty good, nearly .700, while their man-down defense is insane, allowing less than .250 to opponents. Fortunately, they’ve played relatively clean games both ways, so the penalty game may not be too huge a factor.

Overall

Win this one, and the Wolverines go from “decent record, but untested” to one of the country’s top teams. U-M would also place itself firmly into the Big Ten race by knocking off one of the top contenders – even though as the clear No. 6 team entering conference play, they’d still have four games worth of work cut out for them.

Lose, and it’s not a huge deal. Win, and Michigan becomes a lacrosse contender seemingly overnight (thanks to two months of regular-season work already in the books in reality, of course).

Predictions

Despite what’s’ at stake… there’s a reason to expect this to not go Michigan’s way: Maryland has similar (or greater) stakes with a much better team to defend them. I do think Michigan will be more competitive than against Notre Dame, but not enough to seriously challenge for a victory. 13-8 Terrapins.

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Detroit preview: Siena

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Tim

Titans are off to an incredibly solid start in conference play, at 2-0 (albeit with wins over otherwise winless Quinnipiac and Manhattan when it comes to conference games). The front half of the conference schedule includes another sorry opponent today.

Siena

Siena Saints Lacrosse

“Saints” as in “Saint Bernards,” rather than “canonized persons.” I can dig it.

April 1, 2017, 1 p.m. EDT
Loudonville, N.Y.
Live stats. Video.
Detroit preview. Siena preview.
@UDMLax. @SienaLacrosse.

The Saints

For a long time – a decade, even? – Siena was a Big Boy among mid-majors. They have consistently been atop the conference as long as UDM has shared one with them. That is aggressively not the case this year.

There are four winless teams in all of Division-1, and two of them are less than three years old. One is just a handful of seasons more established in Jacksonville… and then there’s the Saints. At 0-9, things aren’t looking so good. Of course, most of those losses are to the Syracuses of the world, but there’s also a UMass-Lowell-shaped blemish up there, so Siena is truly struggling. If UDM can win, it’ll be little more than taking care of business.

Offense

Despite the record, Siena is actually doing a pretty good job putting goals on the board (which should give you shudders thinking about the next section of this preview, for their sake). There are six double-digit point scorers so far, five of whom have reached the ten-goal mark in goals alone.

Sophomore attack Mike Reilly gets first billing not because he’s the top scorer (he’s second), but rather because he’s the only true feeder among the major contributors. With 11 goals and 17 assists, he’s a quarterback-type and distributor. He’s also literally the only player on the team who has scored even a single goal and has more assists than goals of his own.

Reilly is surrounded by a pretty good group of shooter/finishers. Junior attack Chris Robertson is the team’s leading scorer with 23 goals and six assists. Sophomore linemate Keenan Cook doesn’t start, but has ten goals and seven assists to come in third on the team (and demonstrate a pretty big dropoff after those top two in terms of total points). Jordan Barlow, the nominal third attack starter, rounds out double-digit scorers with eight goals and four assists.

The midfield is composed of senior Jon-Michael Tokar (10 goals, six assists), junior Brian Prunty (12 goals, one assist), and junior Tim Cousin (five goals, four assists – he should hit the double-digit plateau this afternoon).

Defense

The defense has been an absolute nightmare opposite that decent offense. The adjusted efficiency, according to Analytics Lacrosse, is .400 good for No. 70 and second-worst in the nation (Manhattan is also .400 but behind on decimal points).

The starters on Close D are junior Luke Van Schepen, senior Ryan Ghaderi, and sophomore Jack Twohig. Senior Joe Arcarese has played in all nine games with one start (sounds like the LSM, though the roster doesn’t distinguish). Ghaderi with 13 and Arcarese with nine are the only Saints with a notable number of caused turnovers. Opponents are assisting more than 2/3 of their goals, which means the defense sucks more so than the goalie…

A position that has been primarily manned by Aaron Lewis. He’s saving just .347 (again, made more difficult by the terrible D in front of him), and backup Gage Ponsetti has been getting time – including two starts – and is a touch better at .367. There’s a good chance we see both. There’s a really good chance it doesn’t matter.

The only way UDM doesn’t score is by committing unforced turnovers (unfortunately a forte of the Titans).

Special teams

Junior Hunter Sanna and freshman Dylan Pantalone have both been bad on draws. Sanna has gotten about twice as many and is better (.410 to Pantalone’s .392), but neither is approaching “good,” and neither gets many ground balls: they’re basically just in there to hope for good wing play.

The Saints are a bad (theme here?) clearing team, and don’t seem to invest a lot in the ride. The Titans can make up some possessions there if the random number generator that the UDM faceoff game seems to be comes up on the negative side.

As is often the case with bad teams, the Saints commit a ton of penalties – nearly five per game. Opponents are converting better than half of them, and a good UDM man-up should be able to capitalize. On the not-so-rare occasion they go man-up, Siena is decent at converting themselves, for what it’s worth.

Overall

I don’t know how Siena has fallen so far so fast, but their weaknesses match up very poorly with Detroit’s strengths (or what they could exploit in Detroit’s game if they weren’t so bad). The Saints can’t stop a decent offense, and even good play out of their unit won’t help that. UDM gets the three worst teams in the MAAC for the first three games in conference play, and needs to complete the sweep today to ensure an opportunity for the conference tournament.

Predictions

Not going to get too specific here. This is a should-win for the Titans (never an easy proposition, we’ve seen over the years). They manage to convert, Detroit 15, Siena 12.

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The Next Level: March 28, 2017

Posted on March 28, 2017 by Tim

Our weekly look at Michigan natives who are playing college lacrosse at division-1 institutions this Spring. A double-dip this week since I skipped last week:

Bellarmine 6, Furman 19

  • Senior attackman/midfielder Graham Macko (Brother Rice) – Scored two Goals on three Shots (all on goal), added an assist, and picked up one ground ball.
  • Freshman attackman Morgan Macko (Brother Rice) – Started, but only made the scoresheet by committing two turnovers.

Bellarmine 13, VMI 8

  • Senior attackman/midfielder Graham Macko (Brother Rice) – Picked up one ground ball.
  • Freshman attackman Morgan Macko (Brother Rice) – Scored two Goals on two Shots. Also committed one turnover.

Binghamton 15, UMass Lowell 8

  • Junior midfielder Liam Reaume (Brother Rice) – Scored two Goals on two Shots, added an Assist, and picked up two ground balls.

Binghamton 8, Vermont 5

  • Junior midfielder Liam Reaume (Brother Rice) – Recorded an Assist and took two Shots (one on goal). Also committed one turnover.

Canisius 17, Marist 6

  • Sophomore defenseman Logan Monroe (Holt) – Started and picked up two ground balls. Also committed one turnover.
  • Junior midfielder Keith Pravato (Novi) – Took one Shot (off goal). Also committed one turnover.
  • Senior faceoff specialist Steve Wizniuk (De La Salle) – Did not see game action.

Canisius 11, Albany 20

  • Sophomore defenseman Logan Monroe (Holt) – Started, caused three turnovers, and picked up one ground ball.
  • Junior midfielder Keith Pravato (Novi) – Played, but only made the scoresheet by committing one turnover.
  • Senior faceoff specialist Steve Wizniuk (De La Salle) – Did not see game action.

Canisius 12, Manhattan 10

  • Sophomore defenseman Logan Monroe (Holt) – Started, picked up one ground ball, and took one Shot on goal. Also committed one turnover and one penalty for 0:30.
  • Junior midfielder Keith Pravato (Novi) – Did not see game action.
  • Senior faceoff specialist Steve Wizniuk (De La Salle) – Did not see game action.

Cleveland State 8, Penn State 15

  • Freshman defenseman Levi Peterson (Holt) – Did not see game action.
  • Freshman defenseman Garrett White (Ann Arbor Pioneer) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.

Colgate 16, Siena 11
Colgate 6, Cornell 15
Colgate 8, Army 10

  • Freshman attackman Cooper Belanger (Detroit Country Day) – Did not see game action.

Detroit 14, Manhattan 11

  • Senior attackman Kyle Beauregard (Notre Dame Prep) – Started, took four Shots (two on goal), recorded an Assist, and picked up one ground ball. Also committed three turnovers.
  • Junior midfielder Sean Birney (Detroit Catholic Central) – Started, scored a Goal on nine(!) Shots (three on goal), and recorded an assist. Also committed one turnover.
  • Freshman defenseman Nick Boynton (Troy Athens) – Did not see game action.
  • Junior midfielder Adam Findlay (Detroit Catholic Central) – Did not see game action.
  • Junior attackman Alec Gilhooly (Detroit Catholic Central) – Started, scored a Goal on four Shots (one on goal), and caused one turnover. Also committed seven(!!) turnovers.
  • Senior faceoff specialist Benjamin Gjokaj (Walled Lake Northern) – Won 10/18 faceoffs, picking up six ground balls, and scored a Goal on his only Shot. Also committed one turnover and two penalties for 1:00.
  • Sophomore midfielder Emmett Green (Birmingham Seaholm) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Freshman attackman/midfielder Blake Grewal-Turner (Okemos) – Did not see game action.
  • Freshman defenseman Jack Harrop (Orchard Lake St. Mary’s) – Did not see game action.
  • Junior midfielder Charlie Hayes (Utica Eisenhower) – Scored a Goal on his only Shot, caused one turnover, and picked up two ground balls.
  • Senior midfielder JD Hess (Birmingham Seaholm) – Did not see game action.
  • Sophomore defenseman Sam Horton (Okemos) – Caused one turnover.
  • Freshman midfielder Alex Jarzembowski (Detroit Catholic Central) – Won 1/2 faceoffs.
  • Junior midfielder Brent Lubin (Orchard Lake St. Mary’s) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Junior midfielder Connor Maks (UD-Jesuit) – Did not see game action.
  • Senior midfielder Greg Marzec (Brother Rice) – Won 5/9 faceoffs, picking up two ground balls, and took one Shot (off goal).
  • Junior defenseman Bryan Matney (Ann Arbor Pioneer) – Played but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Freshman midfielder Jackson McElhenney (Birmingham Seaholm)
  • Sophomore midfielder Bo Pickens (Brother Rice) – Did not see game action.
  • Sophomore defenseman Austin Ross (Warren Mott) – Did not see game action.
  • Freshman midfielder Charlie Schiefer (Birmingham Seaholm) – Did not see game action.
  • Freshman goalie Logan Shamblin (Troy) – Did not see game action.
  • Freshman defenseman Travis Sparling (Novi) – Did not see game action.
  • Junior attackman/midfielder Adam Susalla (Birmingham Seaholm) – Took three Shots (two on goal) and picked up one ground ball.

Detroit 8, Quinnipiac 6

  • Senior attackman Kyle Beauregard (Notre Dame Prep) – Scored two Goals on seven Shots (four on goal) and picked up three ground balls. Also committed one penalty for 1:00.
  • Junior midfielder Sean Birney (Detroit Catholic Central) – Took 10 Shots (seven on goal), recorded two Assists, and picked up one ground ball. Also committed one turnover.
  • Freshman defenseman Nick Boynton (Troy Athens) – Did not see game action.
  • Junior midfielder Adam Findlay (Detroit Catholic Central) – Did not see game action.
  • Junior attackman Alec Gilhooly (Detroit Catholic Central) – Did not see game action.
  • Senior faceoff specialist Benjamin Gjokaj (Walled Lake Northern) – Won 2/5 faceoffs.
  • Sophomore midfielder Emmett Green (Birmingham Seaholm) – Caused two turnovers and picked up one ground ball. Also committed one turnover.
  • Freshman attackman/midfielder Blake Grewal-Turner (Okemos)  – Did not see game action.
  • Freshman defenseman Jack Harrop (Orchard Lake St. Mary’s)  – Did not see game action.
  • Junior midfielder Charlie Hayes (Utica Eisenhower) – Scored a Goal on two Shots (both on goal), caused five turnovers(!!) and picked up five ground balls. Also committed one turnover.
  • Senior midfielder JD Hess (Birmingham Seaholm) – Did not see game action.
  • Sophomore defenseman Sam Horton (Okemos) – Did not see game action.
  • Freshman midfielder Alex Jarzembowski (Detroit Catholic Central) – Won 8/14 faceoffs, picking up four ground balls.
  • Junior midfielder Brent Lubin (Orchard Lake St. Mary’s) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Junior midfielder Connor Maks (UD-Jesuit) – Did not see game action.
  • Senior midfielder Greg Marzec (Brother Rice) – Did not see game action.
  • Junior defenseman Bryan Matney (Ann Arbor Pioneer) – Started and picked up two ground balls.
  • Freshman midfielder Jackson McElhenney (Birmingham Seaholm) – Did not see game action.
  • Sophomore midfielder Bo Pickens (Brother Rice) – Did not see game action.
  • Sophomore defenseman Austin Ross (Warren Mott) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Freshman midfielder Charlie Schiefer (Birmingham Seaholm) – Did not see game action.
  • Freshman goalie Logan Shamblin (Troy) – Did not see game action.
  • Freshman defenseman Travis Sparling (Novi) – Did not see game action.
  • Junior attackman/midfielder Adam Susalla (Birmingham Seaholm) – Started, scored two Goals on two Shots, and picked up three ground balls.

Drexel 9, St. John’s 7

  • Freshman faceoff specialist Ian Foster (East Lansing/IMG Academy) – Won his only faceoff attempt.

Drexel 8, Providence 9 (OT)

  • Freshman faceoff specialist Ian Foster (East Lansing/IMG Academy) – Did not see game action.

Duke 12, Georgetown 7

  • Junior midfielder Matthew Giampetroni (Cranbrook) – Recorded an Assist. Also committed one turnover.

Duke 11, Syracuse 12 (OT)

  • Junior midfielder Matthew Giampetroni (Cranbrook) – Did not see game action.

Fairfield 8, Penn State 9

  • Freshman defenseman Brian Cosgrove (Brother Rice) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.

Fairfield 13, NJIT 6

  • Freshman defenseman Brian Cosgrove (Brother Rice) – Picked up one ground ball.

Fairfield 9, Villanova 18

  • Freshman defenseman Brian Cosgrove (Brother Rice) – Did not see game action.

High Point 11, VMI 5
High Point 4, Richmond 12

  • Freshman defenseman Luke Cappetto (Brother Rice) – Did not see game action.

Manhattan 11, Detroit 14

  • Sophomore midfielder Robert Carroll (Grosse Pointe South) – Won 1/5 faceoffs, picking up two ground balls, and caused one turnover. Also committed two turnovers.

Manhattan 10, Canisius 12

  • Sophomore midfielder Robert Carroll (Grosse Pointe South) – Won 1/6 faceoffs.

Marquette 11, Georgetown 10

  • Sophomore midfielder Bob Pelton (Forest Hills Northern) – Did not see game action.
  • Sophomore midfielder John Wagner (Cranbrook) – Scored a Goal on five Shots (two on goal), caused one turnover and picked up one ground ball. Also committed two turnovers.

Michigan 10, UMBC 7

  • Freshman midfielder Ryan Prior (Birmingham/Culver Academy) – Did not see game action.
  • Senior faceoff specialist Brian Archer (Brighton)- Did not see game action.

Mount St. Mary’s 6, Bryant 5

  • Freshman midfielder Keaton Mitchell (Clarkston) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.

Mount St. Mary’s 10, Robert Morris 11

  • Freshman midfielder Keaton Mitchell (Clarkston) – Took one Shot (off goal). Also committed two turnovers.

Notre Dame 11, Virginia 10

  • Sophomore defenseman Michael Langdon (Cranbrook) – Did not see game action.
  • Senior midfielder Sergio Perkovic (Brother Rice) – Scored three Goals on five Shots (three on goal).

Notre Dame 12, Ohio State 7

  • Sophomore defenseman Michael Langdon (Cranbrook) – Started, but did not accrue any statistics,
  • Senior midfielder Sergio Perkovic (Brother Rice) – Scored three Goals on ten Shots (four on goal), added an Assist, and picked up two ground balls.

Penn 8, Princeton 17
Penn 10, Cornell 9

  • Freshman midfielder Alex Minanov (Grosse Pointe Liggett) – Did not see game action.

Providence 10, Hofstra 11

  • Junior midfielder Josh Keller (East Grand Rapids/Kent School) – Started, took two Shots, and picked up one ground ball.

Providence 11, UMass Lowell 4

  • Junior midfielder Josh Keller (East Grand Rapids/Kent School) – Started and scored a Goal on his only Shot.

Providence 9, Drexel 8 (OT)

  • Junior midfielder Josh Keller (East Grand Rapids/Kent School) – Started and scored a Goal on three Shots. Also committed one turnover.

Richmond 13, Jacksonville 6

  • Senior attackman J.P. Forester (Brother Rice) – Scored two Goals on six Shots (four on goal) and added an assist. Also committed one turnover.

Richmond 12, High Point 4

  • Senior attackman J.P. Forester (Brother Rice) – Scored a Goal on three Shots (one on goal). Also committed two turnovers.

Robert Morris 12, Sacred Heart 9
Robert Morris 11, Mount St. Mary’s 10 (OT)

  • Freshman long-stick midfielder James Scane (Brother Rice) – Did not see game action.

Stony Brook 9, UMBC 12
Stony Brook 9, Hofstra 11
Stony Brook 13, Hartford 9

  • Sophomore midfielder Nathan Richards (Lapeer West) – Did not see game action.

Syracuse 8, Johns Hopkins 7 (OT)
Syracuse 12, Duke 11 (OT)

  • Freshman midfielder Nick Martin (Detroit Country Day) – Did not see game action.

UMass Lowell 8, UMass Regular Edition 10

  • Sophomore goalie Grant Lardieri (Forest Hills Northern) – Started and played all 60 minutes between the pipes, allowing 10 goals and making seven saves (.412). Also picked up one ground ball.

UMass Lowell 8, Binghamton 15

  • Sophomore goalie Grant Lardieri (Forest Hills Northern) – Started and played all 60 minutes between the pipes, allowing 15 goals and making nine saves (.375). Also picked up three ground balls.

UMass Lowell 4, Providence 11

  • Sophomore goalie Grant Lardieri (Forest Hills Northern) – Started and played 55:45 between the pipes, making nine saves and allowing 10 goals (.474). Also picked up four ground balls and committed one turnover.

UMass Lowell 11, Albany 21

  • Sophomore goalie Grant Lardieri (Forest Hills Northern) – Started and played 45:57 between the pipes, making 13 saves and allowing 18 goals (.419). Also picked up five ground balls and committed three turnovers.

Yale 17, Cornell 8

  • Junior midfielder Jason Alessi (Brother Rice) – Scored two Goals on three Shots (all on goal), added an Assist, and picked up two ground balls. Also committed two turnovers,
  • Senior midfielder John Lazarsfeld (Ann Arbor Greenhills) – Picked up one ground ball.

Yale 16, Princeton 13

  • Junior midfielder Jason Alessi (Brother Rice) – Recorded an Assist, took four Shots (three on goal), and picked up two ground balls.
  • Senior midfielder John Lazarsfeld (Ann Arbor Greenhills) – Picked up one ground ball.

If I’ve messed anything up, let me know in the comments, where you can also feel free to share statlines from other divisions.

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Michigan 5, Notre Dame 16

Posted on March 21, 2017 by Tim

U-M came into this game undefeated and feeling pretty good. For the better part of three quarters, they played extremely close lacrosse with a team that was then the No. 4 team in the country (and remains No. 1 according to Analytics Lacrosse). Then the wheels fell off.

Tempo-Free

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

Notre Dame 2017
Michigan Notre Dame
Faceoff Wins 11 Faceoff Wins 14
Clearing 17-23 Clearing 14-16
Possessions 36 Possessions 36
Goals 5 Goals 16
Offensive Efficiency .139 Offensive Efficiency .444

Michigan had a slight disadvantage on faceoffs, and could have made up for it with the number of clearing attempts they had (as is the natural state of things), but really dropped the ball getting end-to-end. Then they couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net, and late, couldn’t prevent the Irish from doing it, either.

Notes

The final score really obscures how close this game could have been. Michigan’s top players were relatively close (though still a step behind) the Irish’s top guys. What was exposed here was a complete lack of depth for the Wolverines. Michigan cut the score to 7-5 early in the third quarter, but didn’t have the horses to run with the sheer volume of talent through the whole ND roster. Through three quarters – which even includes the beginning of that Irish run – Michigan was up 10-8 in faceoff wins and 29-24 in possessions. In efficiency, they trailed by a far less embarrassing margin (with a .172 to Notre Dame’s .417) than the final tally. The wheels had slowly been coming off over the course of the game, emphasized in that third quarter, and then sealed in the fourth (12 Irish possessions to seven – two on failed clears – for Michigan, and a 6-0 scoring margin).

Sticking to that theme, Michigan played a clean game in the first quarter, then gave up three EMO chances in the middle two quarters, and one more in the fourth. Despite Notre Dame’s offensive talent, only two of those seven chances were converted… but over the course of the game, that’s a lot of man-down time, and the legs are going to give out. When you’re playing a team that’s already better than you, it removes an upset chance, and makes a close game – and don’t misinterpret me here, this is not one U-M was ever a threat to steal, just finish better – look ugly.

Ian King (two assists) and Brent Noseworthy were the entirely-unsurprising offensive stars in this one, as they will be for just about every contest in which they’re both healthy and on the field. King did take six shots (three on goal) without scoring, which is a little bit of a disappointment. Even if the three off-cage maintained U-M possession, three saves is typically three offensive opportunities ended. Of course, he became U-M’s all-time leading point-scorer in the contest with 14, so a nice day in the lifetime achievement award category, at least.

Given clearing numbers that are worse than basically any Michigan game since the program became competent – around years three and four – it should come as no surprise that turnovers were a bugaboo, and not just for the offensive personnel. D-middies Will Reynolds and Chase Young combined for three, poles Eric Smith and Nick DeCaprio a pair, and goalie Tommy Heidt had two. Of course, that still leaves 11 of the 18 total for the offensive players (three for King, four for Decker Curran, one each for Noseworthy, Mikie Schlosser, PJ Bogle, and Team). This was a sloppy team game, with the second quarter ironically the worst, given it was the only one U-M matched ND score-for-score.

Tommy Heidt actually had a great game despite giving up 16 goals: he faced a ton of rubber. Giving up 16 while have a save percentage over .500 (he made 17 saves for a .515) is insane. It means the D didn’t help him much. That’ll happen against really good teams, especially when the offense isn’t carrying its weight in protecting you.

Notre Dame really spread the love offensively – more indication of their outstanding depth – with nine multi-point scorers, and nobody getting more than four total points (Ryder Garnsey on a pair each of goals and assists). Hate to be overly critical of a Next Level player (and for two years running, the GLS player of the year), especially since it’s not Sergio Perkovic’s fault that he has all sorts of national hype and one of the worst ESPNU-granted nicknames of all time, but he was pretty bad in this one: 12 shots, only seven on goal, and only one of them finding the back of the net. The criticisms of him are sometimes unfair (and again, based on things outside of his control), but for a guy with one of the best long-range sniper reputations in the country… not great, Bob.

Elsewhere

Michigan recap. Boxscore. You can re-watch the whole dang thing on ESPN3 if you want to be sad. Notre Dame recap.

Up Next

Michigan got right back on the good side of things with a mid-week game against Mercer, part of the Spring Break trip down South that turned out very well for them.

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Detroit preview: Manhattan

Posted on March 18, 2017 by Tim

Conference play begins! Detroit gets things rolling at 11 (in a game that was moved to accommodate finishing before bad weather).

Manhattan

Manhattan Jaspers Lacrosse

Jasper: Far more scary if you’re a dalmatian. Disney jokes.

March 18, 2017, 11 a.m. EDT
Titan Field
Live stats. Video.
Detroit preview. Manhattan preview.
@UDMLax. @GoJaspers.

The Jaspers

Manhattan has traditionally been one of the country’s worst teams, and with a 2-5 record this year (the wins are both 14-13 affairs, over Wagner and Hartford), it’s probably no exception to the rule. The Jaspers have one of the country’s worst offenses, bar-none the worst defense, and play really fast. That’s typically a recipe for getting blown out, like, a lot.

Offense

More thanks to a fast pace than any ability to score efficiently, there are some pretty prolific players already in 2017. Sophomore attackman Parker Giarratana has more than a quarter of the team’s total goal output with 18, and has contributed six assists, as well.

In fact, other than freshman midfielder CJ Scharf (three goals, 10 assists), just about everybody on the team is slanted heavily toward scoring than setting up teammates. Senior midfielder Matt Garvey has nine goals and three assists, freshman attack Trevor Pelletier has eight goals and three assists, freshman midfielder Reid Martin has eight goals and one assist, and freshman attack Brandon Grinnell has seven goals and five assists (the most balanced Jasper).

This is a very young offense, as you can see by the fact that only one leading scorer is a senior, one is a sophomore, and the rest are freshmen.

Defense

Sophomores Nicholas Clayton and Dylan DeMuro start on close defense, along with junior Frank Merrill. Sophomore William Ratchford is the primary SSDM, at least in terms of production in the form of ground balls.

This unit causes almost no turnovers, which would be fine except for the fact that they give up a ton of goals. A raw defensive efficiency of .419 is horrible, and worse so when you consider that they’ve done it against a very weak slate of opponents.

Goalie Michael Zingaro is the recipient of a ton of work, and he’s saving shots at just a .493 clip (when anything below .500 is quite bad indeed). He’s allowing nearly 15 goals per game – not as bad as it sounds, given the pace they play, but still not great, Bob.

Special teams

Manhattan actually has a pretty decent faceoff game, led by junior Joseph Bressingham, who’s at .556 this Spring. He gets a ton of ground balls himself, which is one of my unofficial metrics for a good faceoff specialist, rather than one who’s just helped by wing play.

Manhattan has a decent ride, with opponents clearing just .867, but their own clear is downright terrible, at .831 on the season. They turn it over a ton before they even get to the offensive end, which explains quite a bit of the struggles on either end of the field.

Overall

This team is very bad. Detroit is far from elite, but they aren’t down to this level, by any stretch. They’re fully capable of playing down (and often up, to be fair) to their competition, which is the biggest question mark here.

Predictions

Gotta get this published before the game starts, so quick take: Detroit 14, Manhattan 7.

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The Next Level: March 14, 2017

Posted on March 14, 2017 by Tim

Our weekly look at Michigan natives who are playing college lacrosse at division-1 institutions this Spring. We’re at full capacity now, with every team’s season having started:

Bellarmine 7, Mount St. Mary’s 18

  • Senior attackman/midfielder Graham Macko (Brother Rice) – Took two Shots (both on goal).
  • Freshman attackman Morgan Macko (Brother Rice) – Picked up one ground ball.

Binghamton 10, Siena 5

  • Junior midfielder Liam Reaume (Brother Rice) – Took three Shots (two on goal) and picked up one ground ball.

Binghamton 13, Delaware 9

  • Junior midfielder Liam Reaume (Brother Rice) – Took two Shots (one on goal)

Cleveland State 4, Ohio State 12

  • Freshman defenseman Levi Peterson (Holt) – Did not see game action.
  • Freshman defenseman Garrett White (Ann Arbor Pioneer) – Did not see game action.

Colgate 13, Hobart 6

  • Freshman attackman Cooper Belanger (Detroit Country Day) – Did not see game action.

Colgate 7, Boston University 18

  • Freshman attackman Cooper Belanger (Detroit Country Day) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.

Detroit 8, Air Force 13

  • Senior attackman Kyle Beauregard (Notre Dame Prep) – Started and scored two Goals on five Shots (three on goal). Also committed one turnover.
  • Junior midfielder Sean Birney (Detroit Catholic Central) – Started and scored a Goal on four Shots (two on goal).
  • Freshman defenseman Nick Boynton (Troy Athens) – Did not see game action.
  • Junior midfielder Adam Findlay (Detroit Catholic Central) – Did not see game action.
  • Junior attackman Alec Gilhooly (Detroit Catholic Central) – Started, scored a Goal on two Shots (both on goal), and added one Assist. Also committed one turnover.
  • Senior faceoff specialist Benjamin Gjokaj (Walled Lake Northern) – Won 8/19 faceoffs, picking up one ground ball.
  • Sophomore midfielder Emmett Green (Birmingham Seaholm) – Picked up one ground ball.
  • Freshman attackman/midfielder Blake Grewal-Turner (Okemos) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Freshman defenseman Jack Harrop (Orchard Lake St. Mary’s) – Did not see game action.
  • Junior midfielder Charlie Hayes (Utica Eisenhower) – Caused one turnover and picked up two ground balls.
  • Senior midfielder JD Hess (Birmingham Seaholm) – Did not see game action.
  • Sophomore defenseman Sam Horton (Okemos) – Started, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Freshman midfielder Alex Jarzembowski (Detroit Catholic Central) – Won 3/4 faceoffs, picking up one ground ball.
  • Junior midfielder Brent Lubin (Orchard Lake St. Mary’s) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.
  • Junior midfielder Connor Maks (UD-Jesuit) – Picked up one ground ball.
  • Senior midfielder Greg Marzec (Brother Rice) – Went 0/2 on faceoffs and picked up one ground ball.
  • Junior defenseman Bryan Matney (Ann Arbor Pioneer) – Caused one turnover and took one Shot.
  • Freshman midfielder Jackson McElhenney (Birmingham Seaholm) – Did not see game action.
  • Sophomore midfielder Bo Pickens (Brother Rice) – Did not see game action.
  • Sophomore defenseman Austin Ross (Warren Mott) – Did not see game action.
  • Freshman midfielder Charlie Schiefer (Birmingham Seaholm) – Did not see game action.
  • Freshman goalie Logan Shamblin (Troy) – Did not see game action.
  • Freshman defenseman Travis Sparling (Novi) – Did not see game action.
  • Junior attackman/midfielder Adam Susalla (Birmingham Seaholm) – Played, but only made the scoresheet by committing one turnover.

Drexel 7, Bryant 5

  • Freshman faceoff specialist Ian Foster (East Lansing/IMG Academy) – Did not see game action.

Drexel 12, St. Joseph’s 8

  • Freshman faceoff specialist Ian Foster (East Lansing/IMG Academy) – Won 0/1 faceoffs.

Duke 15, Loyola 7

  • Junior midfielder Matthew Giampetroni (Cranbrook) – Did not see game action.

Duke 13, Jacksonville 6

  • Junior midfielder Matthew Giampetroni (Cranbrook) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.

Fairfield 10, Yale 11 (2 OT)

  • Freshman defenseman Brian Cosgrove (Brother Rice) – Did not see game action.

High Point 8, Providence 17

  • Freshman defenseman Luke Cappetto (Brother Rice) – Picked up two ground balls. Also committed one turnover and one penalty for 1:00.

Manhattan 9, Delaware 12

  • Sophomore midfielder Robert Carroll (Grosse Pointe South) – Did not see game action.

Manhattan 6, UMass Lowell 13

  • Sophomore midfielder Robert Carroll (Grosse Pointe South) – Won 0/5 faceoffs and caused one turnover.

Marquette 14, Robert Morris 7

  • Sophomore midfielder Bob Pelton (Forest Hills Northern) – Did not see game action.
  • Sophomore midfielder John Wagner (Cranbrook) – Started, scored two Goals on four Shots (two on goal), and added an Assist.

Michigan 13, Penn 12

  • Freshman midfielder Ryan Prior (Birmingham/Culver Academy) – Did not see game action.
  • Senior faceoff specialist Brian Archer (Brighton) – Did not see game action.

Mount St. Mary’s 18, Bellarmine 7

  • Freshman midfielder Keaton Mitchell (Clarkston) – Scored a Goal on his only Shot.

Notre Dame 10, Denver 11

  • Sophomore defenseman Michael Langdon (Cranbrook) – Did not see game action.
  • Senior midfielder Sergio Perkovic (Brother Rice) – Started, scored a Goal on two Shots (one on goal), and picked up two ground balls. Also committed two turnovers.

Penn 11, Navy 9
Penn 12, Michigan 13

  • Freshman midfielder Alex Minanov (Grosse Pointe Liggett) – Did not see game action.

Providence 17, High Poiont 8

  • Junior midfielder Josh Keller (East Grand Rapids/Kent School) – Started, took five Shots (four on goal), caused one turnover, and picked up one ground ball. Also committed one turnover.

Richmond 13, VMI 8

  • Senior attackman J.P. Forester (Brother Rice) – Scored a Goal on three Shots (two on goal), added an assist, and picked up two ground balls. Also committed one turnover.

Richmond 6, North Carolina 5

  • Senior attackman J.P. Forester (Brother Rice) – Recorded an Assists and took two Shots (neither on goal).

Robert Morris 7, Georgetown 12
Robert Morris 7, Marquette 14

  • Freshman long-stick midfielder James Scane (Brother Rice) – Did not see game action.

Stony Brook 4, Rutgers 17

  • Sophomore midfielder Nathan Richards (Lapeer West) – Did not see game action.

Syracuse 9, St. John’s 8

  • Freshman midfielder Nick Martin (Detroit Country Day) – Did not see game action.

UMass Lowell 13, Manhattan 6

  • Sophomore goalie Grant Lardieri (Forest Hills Northern) – Started and played 59:00, earning the victory. Allowed six goals and made nine saves (.600), and collected three ground balls.

Yale 11, UMass 9

  • Junior midfielder Jason Alessi (Brother Rice) – Took one Shot (not on goal) and caused one turnover. Also committed one turnover.
  • Senior midfielder John Lazarsfeld (Ann Arbor Greenhills) – Caused one turnover.

Yale 11, Fairfield 10

  • Junior midfielder Jason Alessi (Brother Rice) – Scored a Goal on his only Shot, added an Assist, and picked up one ground ball. Also committed one turnover.
  • Senior midfielder John Lazarsfeld (Ann Arbor Greenhills) – Took one Shot (not on goal), caused one turnover and picked up one ground ball.

If I’ve messed anything up, let me know in the comments, where you can also feel free to share statlines from other divisions.

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Detroit 6, Robert Morris 15

Posted on March 14, 2017 by Tim

Robert Morris has not traditionally been a strong team, so getting blown out by the Colonials is not a good look (they aren’t particularly good this year either, for what it’s worth). A loss is pretty easily explainable, but to this degree was a major disappointment.

Tempo-Free

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

Robert Morris 2017
Detroit Robert Morris
Faceoff Wins 14 Faceoff Wins 11
Clearing 16-20 Clearing 21-23
Possessions 36 Possessions 38
Goals 6 Goals 15
Offensive Efficiency .167 Offensive Efficiency .395

The Titans were about even in possession (despite being sloppy on the clear), but were dominated in both ends of the field otherwise. The offensive output was quite bad, the defensive effort was worse, and the reasons for each are related…

Notes

The primary reason for struggles on both ends of the field? Turnovers! That old UDM bugaboo reared its ugly head once more. Robert Morris forced the Titans into 12 turnovers and Detroit players committed 11 more on their own accord for 23 giveaways on 36 offensive possessions (63.9%). That’s no bueno. Sean Birney committed five turnovers, Alec Gilhooly four, Matthew Vangalen three, and both Seth Mendell and Adam Susalla had a pair. Those around the UDM program won’t say it – mostly in defense of the guys currently on the field – but they could really used Mark Anstead back.

How did that impact the defense? Six of Robert Morris’s 15 goals were scored within a minute of a Titan turnover (and four of those within ten seconds of the turnover, thanks to sudden-change situations that were effectively fast-breaks). When the offense is so sloppy with the ball, the defense is not only on its heels – and on the field, getting tired – the whole time, but there are situations in which it’s simply impossible for them to get a stop based on anything other than outstanding goalie play or sheer luck.

Speaking of goalie play, Jason Weber saved only .400 of shots on goal, one of the worst marks you’ll see him accomplish. There are obviously contributing factors (the aforementioned fast-break situations, RMU assists on 10 of 15 goals), but when he’s not stealing a game for UDM – as he wasn’t on this day – the team in front of him has to play much better to get wins.

It wan’t all bad for the offensive personnel. Vangalen had four assists to partially make up for those three turnovers, Donavon Dempsey had two goals and an assist (without turning the ball over at all), Patrick Walsh potted two goals, and Kyle Beauregard had a goal and an assist. The pieces are there for a good offense, but the limiting factor is so consistent across personnel, and so crippling, that UDM can’t overcome it regularly enough to be successful.

Alex Jarzembowski was the faceoff star in this one, winning 14 of 21 draws after Ben Gjokaj (0/3) got a quick hook. Nobody is consistent enough game-to-game to be confident in this faceoff unit, but there are enough good pieces there that things should always be at least OK except when facing the best faceoff teams on the schedule.

This was a game that was never really in doubt, for what it’s worth. The Titans found the back of the net first on an EMO strike, but Robert Morris spent the remainder of the first half (and much of the third quarter) responding, taking a 9-1 lead by the time UDM scored again. 13 of UDM’s 23 turnovers came in the first half, and the 14th was in the third quarterback before the Titans broke the dry spell.

Elsewhere

Detroit recap. Robert Morris recap. Boxscore. Highlights.

Up Next

Detroit went 1-1 in their annual trip to Milwaukee, with a mostly-expected win and a very-expected loss.

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Detroit preview: Air Force

Posted on March 11, 2017 by Tim

Air Force is in the “”others receiving votes” category in the media poll, which… well, it’s probably out of the realm of likelihood for a Titans upset, especially on the road. However, there are some interesting mismatches to exploit.

Air Force

Air Force Falcons Lacrosse

Is the bird part of the lightning or being struck by it?

March 11, 2017, Noon MST
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Live stats. Video.
Detroit preview. Air Force preview.
@UDMLax. @AFLacrosse.

The Falcons

Air Force has a pretty interesting resume so far this year (“interesting” is a word which here means “mostly quite bad”). The Falcons started the year with a one-goal upset of Duke, but their only other wins are a close-ish defeat of Canisius and a blowout over new program Cleveland State.

Meanwhile, USAFA has lost to No. 5 Denver (hardly something to be ashamed of), and a pair of surprisingly-good teams in Marist and Boston University… whose resumes are primarily based upon their wins over Air Force. There’s jut not enough evidence at this point in the season to know how good the Falcons are.

Offense

Two Falcons stand above the rest as the keys to this offense: miniature (5-7, 175) junior attackman Chris Walsch has 12 goals and seven assists, while attack/mid Nick Hruby has 14 goals and four assists. Hruby has been playing mostly midfielder (at least that’s where he’s earning starts), but is versatile enough to line up in either spot. Junior attack Andrew Tien has seven goals and three assists to round out double-digit scorers so far this year.

In case you weren’t sure about this junior class, Grant Gould starts at midfield, and has scored eight goals without yet recording an assist. Marcus Ward, a senior (the first non-junior!) has seven goals without an assist from the midfield, as well. These midfielders – outside of Hruby, at least – are finishers first, foremost, and only.

The offense overall is not particularly notable, No. 31 in adjusted efficiency. There’s a bit of noise in those numbers – playing a huge standard deviation of opposition in one of the country’s worst (Cleveland State) and a couple good ones (Marist and Boston U) will make it tough to determine how they are against the middle of the pack – but they’re pretty good, not elite so far.

If UDM can slow down a couple of the key performers, the rest of the offense may have a tough time picking up the slack.

Defense

Senior Nick Accardi is the team’s leading GB-acquirer outside of faceoff specialists, with 19 on the year. Sophomore Brandon Jones and junior Sean LaVine get the majority of time alongside him. They form a decent unit, No. 17 nationally overall. It’s not particularly reliant on caused turnovers, either, with Air Force below-average nationally in that regard.

Sophomore LSM Christian Pung has six ground balls on the year – and no shots yet. Stephen Parker and Daniel Pagano also get a pretty fair amount of time. There’s rotation at this spot that is pretty interesting (with some filtering through the close D, as well). None of them have launched a shot yet.

Freshman Paxton Boyer has played just about every meaningful minute this year, but his numbers are bordering on terrible. He’s saving just .457 so far on the season, and has al six decisions of the 3-3 record. If you can put the ball on-cage (unfortunately a very well known shortcoming of the Titans), you can score on him.

Special teams

Air Force is just over .500 on faceoffs, with sophomore Trent Harper (.588) and junior Josh Radjenovich (.433) getting about equal time despite a pretty wide gap in their performances. Harper is very solid at collecting his own ground balls – which I take to be a sign of better faceoff play without any evidence to support it – and should get the majority of the time as long as he doesn’t struggle.

Air force is a pretty heavy riding team, with opponents making it into the offensive zone at just a .786 clip. Against a traditionally poor clearing team like Detroit – though to be fair, they’re performing much better this year – that could spell trouble (and more so on a day that should be in the low 50s temperature-wise).

Air Force and opponents have had plenty of EMO opportunities, and both are around .400 converting. Detroit is a pretty good man-up team, so if they get chances, they will be able to get some goals.

Overall

Air Force is a pretty good team, but one whose resume is basically built upon one win, with five games’ evidence os mediocrity in between. The problem is that Detroit hasn’t proven to be particularly good yet this year, and a team on the fringe of the rankings is a tall task.

Pulling the upset would really position the Titans well to make a run going into conference play. Given the results of the rest of the non-conference schedule, this one is more about getting ready for MAAC play than needing a win for RPI or other purposes.

Predictions

Air Force is a decent team, though one that has some serious flaws. However, UDM is probably at a lower level than that.

  • This Air Force offense has enough weapons that they should be able to get some easy looks on the Titans. With a scheme that sees half their goals assisted (a pretty good number), they should be able to beat Jason Weber based on open looks, rather than needing to bomb away. That’s a fit that should see them do well, despite the quality of UDM’s netminder.
  • Air Force has a chance to do pretty well on faceoffs, with the mercurial play of Ben Gjokaj (and to a lesser extent Alex Jastrzembski) an X-factor. The Titans have the pieces to be a good faceoff team, but relying on them to do it consistently is a fool’s errand.
  • I’m not sold on the quality of this Air Force defense. Especially given their weakness in goal, Detroit should have chances to put the ball in the back of the net. That, of course, requires pointing the ball toward the net, which has been a consistent problem for UDM.
  • The EMO battle should be pretty even, with the Titans getting a chance to equalize the game a bit by getting man-up goals.

Detroit seems to be playing quite a bit better in the past couple games than they did to start the year, but Air Force is a task that is on another level. In a true road game (halfway across the country), that’s a tough ask. Air Force takes the win, 15-9.

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