Since I was derelict in my duties as a blogger for a good portion of the middle of the season, it’s time to get our knowledge back to where it should be this season. I’ll be trying to recap all the games I missed, but for the time being, here’s the big picture.
Current Record: 6-5, 202 MAAC
Good Wins: Ohio State
Bad Losses: Quinnipiac
Stat Leaders
Goals: Shayne Adams (20), Mark Anstead (18), Brandon Beauregard (16), Scott Drummond (14)
Assists: Anstead (13), Adams (11), Beauregard (10), Mike Birney (6)
Faceoffs: Damien Hicks (77/164, .470)
Caused Turnovers: Paul Bitteti (13), Chris Shevins (12)
Jason Weber Save Percentage
.607 (a slight disappointment after a stellar freshman year)
Mike Birney Shooting Percentage
.143, .460 shots on goal (both team-worst among anyone who has taken a single shot, and he has the most on the team).
The Big Picture
Detroit is about what we thought it’d be coming into the season. The big season-opening win against Ohio State has been a little outweighed by a conference loss to a weak Quinnipiac team that will be a bit of an albatross around UDM’s neck until they are solidly in for the MAAC Tournament.
The attack is carrying the team more than it has in the recent past, and with Anstead showing that he’s a very solid complement to Adams, that’s probably a good thing. At this point the midfield is going to be a “they are who we thought they were” situation. That’s right down to shooting inaccuracy from Birney, though he’s added an assist dimension to his game that helps make up for it a bit.
The defense has been just OK, and Jason Weber hasn’t been quite the outstanding keeper he was last year (of course, with the defense in front of him always a factor in his individual play).
The Titans should be positioned to make a run.
MAAC Bracketology
With just two conference games left, it’s time for a chart of the Titans’ possibilities in the tournament. With the league sporting seven members, this may be a bit of an exercise, so bear with me. I’ll come back to them in a moment, but at 4-0, Marist is the only team currently locked into the Championships. At 0-4, Manhattan is the only team eliminated.
Every team has two games remaining in the conference except Quinnipiac and Canisius. Fortunately, Detroit’s two remaining games are against the Golden Griffins and Siena, the two worst non-Manhattan teams in the league.
| Team | Current Record | Week 1 | Week 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marist | 4-0 (9-3 ovr) | @ Manhattan | Siena |
| Quinnipiac | 3-2 (4-7 ovr) | Monmouth | X |
| Detroit | 2-2 (6-5 ovr) | @ Siena | Canisius |
| Monmouth | 2-2 (5-6 ovr) | @ Quinnipiac | Manhattan |
| Siena | 2-2 (5-6 ovr) | Detroit | @ Marist |
| Canisius | 2-3 (2-10 ovr) | X | @ Detroit |
| Manhattan | 0-4 (1-12 ovr) | Marist | @ Monmouth |
Interactive Whiteboards by PolyVision
Let’s make a couple assumptions here (I’ve done this in the past and it hasn’t worked out, but that’s life): Manhattan and Siena will both lose to Marist. Manhattan will lose to Monmouth. All other games are theoretically up for grabs.
- If Detroit splits the final two games in either fashion (beat Siena but lose to Canisius, lose to Siena but beat Canisius), they will lose the tiebreaker to the team that they lose to, but cannot be passed by the team they beat (whether it’s Canisius, which would drop to 2-4, or Siena, which would finish at worst tied 3-3 with UDM and losing the tiebreaker).
With lost tiebreakers to Marist and Quinnipiac, the only thing that could keep them out of the conference tournament is Monmouth winning its final two games – upsetting Quinnipiac and doing the expected against Manhattan – to pass Detroit at 4-2, rendering UDM’s tiebreaker over them useless.
- If Detroit loses both remaining games, they’re eliminated. They would have a 2-4 record, and both Siena and Canisius would finish with at least three conference wins (Marist and Quinnipiac are already at that mark).
Monmouth, with tiebreakers over both of those teams, would be in as long as they split the final two, unless Siena wins against Marist, in which case they’d bump the Hawks at 4-2. If Monmouth wins both of the final two, they’re in over Siena regardless of the outcome of that Saints-Red Foxes game.
- If Detroit wins both of the final two games, they’d be in the tournament as the three-seed with a 4-2 record (at best tied with Marist and Quinnipiac, but down both tiebreakers).
Siena and Monmouth would be battling it out for the final spot. Siena would have to beat Marist to reach 3-3, and hope Monmouth loses both of its final two games (one of them is against Manhattan).
The verdict? Detroit is definitely in with a sweep of the final two games, and in decent shape with a split – though their bid would be out of their hands in that instance. Surprisingly, Monmouth has already done enough that they’d have a tough time not making the conference tournament. A split in the final two games should be enough, and in some scenarios, they don’t even need that.