Losing a road game to what I believe to be a pretty good squad (bizarre loss to VMI notwithstanding) isn’t too disappointing for Michigan. The manner in which it happened is a bit more discouraging, but all told this is still a young team learning how to win at the Division-1 level.
Tempo Free
From the official box score, a look at the tempo-free stats:
| Air Force 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | Air Force | ||
| Faceoff Wins | 17 | Faceoff Wins | 13 |
| Clearing | 19-23 | Clearing | 18-20 |
| Possessions | 42 | Possessions | 37 |
| Goals | 12 | Goals | 15 |
| Offensive Efficiency | .286 | Offensive Efficiency | .405 |
Unsurprisingly, Michigan won the faceoff battle, but semi-surprisingly, they got beaten up in the ride/clear game. The ride has actually been pretty good against all but the elite teams this year, and Air Force’s is good-not spectacular. U-M’s ride didn’t come through much, either.
What the day boils down to, though, is Michigan building a possession advantage and being unable to keep pace in efficiency. Air Force had a great offensive day, and Michigan’s was decent, but not good enough when you’re giving the opponent that level of production.
Notes
First, a disclaimer: the stream on Air Force’s moon-o-vision was pretty glitchy Saturday, so seeing things first-hand was sometimes a futile effort. They also didn’t show the score except between quarters, so it was easy to lose track of team momentum when the feed froze while one team looked poised to score, and next thing you know, there’s a faceoff (and you later find out that the other team was the one to find the back of the net).
Now, on to the show. This was a game determined by two poor quarters for Michigan, something of a throwback to Teams One and Two. It was the first and third in this one, with Air Force building a 6-2 lead in the first, and getting a couple more goals of distance in the third. U-M held even (three goals apiece) in the second, and outscored the Falcons 5-2 in the fourth. With a young team, lapses are going to happen – Air Force achieved .750 efficiency on eight possessions in the first and .500 on eight more in the third – but it is encouraging to see the team not fold, as they might have in past years.
Brad Lott had a good day on faceoffs by normal standards, winning .577 against a team that’s just over 50% on the year, but by his standards, it wasn’t great. Compound that with a couple fast-break goals for the Falcons off the draw (including the tone-setting opening score), and it was just OK. He did get a fast-break score back for his second assist of the year.
The way the ride/clear game played out seemed – something becoming all too familiar in the recent couple games – to be on account of Michigan making unforced errors on its own clear. The ride wasn’t emphasized until late in the game when the Wolverines were trying to mount a comeback, so that’s no big deal. Although U-M only committed 15 turnovers all game, four of them coming on the clear can be discouraging.
The biggest issue for the Wolverines, of course, was defense. The quality of the feed made it tough to see, but it seemed like Robbie Zonino was not having a great day. The stats bear that out to a degree (though they don’t assign blame to the defenders, even when that’s the case), with only eight saves and 15 goals against. He started the game poorly – three saves and nine goals against at halftime – and by the time he settled in, the game was out of reach. He finished with eight saves and 15 GA.
Mack Gembis returned to the starting lineup on close defense, and though he didn’t pick up a GB, he had one caused turnover (on the other hand, he gave one back, as well). Sophomore Chris Walker had three GBs and freshman Andrew Hatton picked up one. LSM Chase Brown had three GBs as well.
Offensively, Kyle Jackson led the way with three goals and an assist, and it was an efficient day taking only five shots to get him there (the two he didn’t score on were off-target). David McCormack had three goals, Thomas Paras had two and an assist, and Dan Kinek had a goal and two assists. Ian King scored two goals on ten(!) shots, only four of those on cage. David Joseph – starting over Mike Hernandez at midfield – had two assists.
Naturally, Air Force had a lot of nice individual performances, with Mike Crampton (the ECAC offensive player of the week) and Kyle Cassady both notching six points. Holt alum Tommy McKee had four of his own. Defenseman Kyle O’Brien had three caused turnovers and five GBs. The Falcons played two goalies, with both right around .500 (a performance that should be good enough for Michigan to win most games).
Elsewhere
Michigan recap. Air Force recap. Boxscore.
Up Next
Despite the loss, Michigan will be playing in the ECAC Tournament. Their head-to-head victory over Bellarmine combined with the Knights’ loss to Fairfield means the Wolverines cannot finish behind BU.
That said, Michigan doesn’t have the intention to finish tied for last in the league, either way. They have two league games left, with the Battle at the Big House (following football’s spring game) against Fairfield up next. The Stags are just 1-0 in-conference, the lone win coming against Bellarmine. They are, however, the top LaxPower and Tempo-Free Lacrosse team in the league, so Michigan will have to be at its best to get a win Saturday.