The University of Detroit announced the spring slate this afternoon (and there was much rejoicing).
| Date | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 1 | Notre Dame (exh.) | Home (Pontiac) |
| Feb. 16 | Mercer | Home (Pontiac) |
| Feb. 19 | Michigan | Home (Pontiac) |
| Feb. 23 | Robert Morris | Away (Moon Twp., Pa.) |
| March 1 | VMI | Away (Lexington, Va.) |
| March 4 | Bellarmine | Home |
| March 8 | Wagner | Away (Staten Island, N.Y.) |
| March 15 | Marquette | Home |
| March 22 | Canisius | Away (Buffalo, N.Y.)* |
| March 29 | Quinnipiac | Home* |
| April 5 | Marist | Home* |
| April 12 | Siena | Home* |
| April 19 | Manhattan | Away (Riverdale, N.Y.)* |
| April 26 | Monmouth | Away (West Long Branch, N.J.)* |
Interactive Whiteboards by PolyVision
A few thoughts:
- The 12 opponents who played last year (this is Monmouth’s first season) averaged a Tempo Free Lax rating of 30.83%. That would be on par with about team No. 52 out of 63 last year.
- Of course, a few programs (namely Robert Morris, Bellarmine, Marist, and Siena) are way above the rest of the teams on the docket. All told, the Titans will play six of last year’s bottom ten teams in the nation. One is a local rival, and the majority of them are conference opponents. So goes it in the MAAC.
- Speaking of that local rival, a couple points. First, I’m not expecting a third-straight year of U-M struggling to be even remotely competent. They’ll be better. Maybe not a 50th percentile team, but better. I’m also a little surprised to see them on the schedule after a couple sources had indicated they might take a year or two off to prevent the rivalry from getting too heated.
- Three games (two exhibition) at Ultimate Soccer. A nice venue, but wouldn’t it be cool to see the Titans and Wolverines square off on Titan Field? I think so. Obviously, the access to an indoor venue for early-season games is still a huge positive.
All told, a nice slate for Detroit’s goals: win the MAAC to get into the NCAA tournament, and get some preparation to possibly spring an upset – one they fell just short of pulling against Notre Dame in the spring – in the first round. The three easiest conference games (Canisius, Manhattan, and Monmouth, per last year’s ratings) are on the road, meaning that the three tougher opponents come to Detroit. that should allow for a good UDM seed in the conference tourney, which will be held at Marist, another conference title contender.
Some observations:
1. UofM and UDM have a healthy and growing rivalry. Unfortunately, some people have projected their own anti-UofM and other personal biases onto it, which has led to some misinformation being spread in the Michigan lacrosse community.
2. ND coming to Metro Detroit (for a scrimmage) is huge. I hope a lot of area kids take advantage of seeing a Top 10-caliber team play in their backyard.
3. UofM playing at Titan Field someday (2016?) will be something special.
4. Marquette is a real nice home game for UDM.
5. As you alluded to, it’s nice to see the better MAAC opponents as UDM home games.
My thought on those two not playing wasn’t based on my feelings on the rivalry or how it has been perceived. Sources close to both programs had told me it would probably take a 1-2 year hiatus. That’s why I was surprised to see it on the schedule this year. Obviously, it’s very good (very important, even) for lacrosse in the state that the two play.
Would you care to elaborate on No 1?
I’m about as big of a UDM homer as you can get, but I didn’t realize that there was misinformation out there. Hell, I could even be me you’re mentioning and I’ve got the blinders on so I didn’t realize it.
Just curious.
Tim, I realize that you were only reporting what you had heard from sources, however, I’ve found that some ‘sources’ in the Michigan lacrosse community (as with anything else in life) sometimes push biased, misleading, and/or sometimes outright false information based on personal animosity, among other things.
For example, the anti-UofM and anti-“east coast” crowds aren’t the most reliable sources for information about UofM. Likewise, the anti-Catholic (school) and anti-Detroit crowds aren’t the best sources about UDM.
Why would the rivalry getting heated be a bad thing? You’d think that would be a great thing for both teams, especially Detroit who likely doesn’t have a real rival without Michigan (who will soon start playing teams like PSU and OSU where established rivalries already exist).
It would also be silly for Detroit to take years off from the rivalry now. Detroit needs wins against UM in the next few years, because it will be tough sledding for them in 2016 and beyond.
Not my opinions, it comes from others. They thought it’d gotten to a point where things were just nasty, and there was very little positive coming out of the game (and given that it was a game between two Michigan teams, I couldn’t disagree more).
I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but a couple positives would be an away game without traveling halfway across the country (which is harder to do in lacrosse) and a game that likely sells a lot of tickets because of familiarity and proximity.
I am mystified by this. I can see how it would develop into a rivalry with only two in-state D1 teams, but why is that a bad thing? Michigan – Michigan State is a bad thing? Michigan – Ohio State is a bad thing? Auburn – Alabama? Carolina – Duke? Rivalries are one of the things that make college sports special, and if they are true rivalries then they will get a bit heated. Plus, what was heated about the UM – UDM games? I’m sure they were competitive, but I don’t recall a lot of penalties or any fights or the coaches going at it or the fans on each other. Was any of that happening? The programs aren’t recruiting against each other, and the schools aren’t rivals in any other sport. I don’t get why anyone would say it’s too heated.
Like I said, it’s not a position I agree with, either.