Detroit 6, Siena 7

That Air Force turned out to be a pretty good team (this game came on the heels of a win over Duke, for example) makes this result impressive… but you’re judged on wins and losses, not moral victories. Close, but no cigar.

Tempo Free

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

UDM actually did a couple things well that it rarely did in 2016 (face off, clear), but still lost. A scoreless fourth quarter means that Detroit’s score to bring it within a goal at 4:48 of the third was the final salvo.

Notes

I tend to not like to say extremely negative things about either of the in-state programs, but you you do a good job on the things you usually don’t – as mentioned above, facing off and clearing, but also not turning the ball over – and still lose at home against a team that shouldn’t have been better than you, you just weren’t a particularly good team this year. Another day will be the time to build on that idea, and look toward the future.

There was something else strange about this contest: Connor Flynn got the starting nod over Jason Weber. There was a keeper switch at the half, with Weber closing things out (and taking the loss). They had identical save percentages (.667), but given the proven commodity Weber is, you have to wonder if he would have been able to make a couple more big saves int he first half. Of course, with such personnel decisions, you never know if the coach’s decision is strictly performance-related (to “mix things up” in this instance), or if it’s more of an internal team matter, about which there isn’t much budging.

So the things that went well. We’ll start with faceoffs, since this contest was a turning point at the dot to build toward the end of the season. Ben Gjokaj took every draw, and won exactly half of them. He managed to not grab a single ground ball in the process, so he has his wing play to thanks, as well.

Andy Hebden and Alec Gilhooly, each with a pair of goals, led the way offensively. Charlie Hayes and Patrick Walsh added a score each, while Mark Anstead and Adam Susalla gave UDM its only assists on the day. Oddly, despite two man-up goals from the Titans, neither assist came on the EMO.

Paul Bitetti and Austin Polson-McCannon each forced a pair of turnovers out of Siena, and the Titans forced nine overall, sort of a throwback to the more exciting style of play from a couple years back.

Although they were unable to knot the score, you can’t blame the Titans for lack of trying in the second half, when they launched 14 shots in the fourth quarter alone. Unfortunately, only five of those were on-cage (21 of 42 for the game), so too many of them didn’t have a chance to level the score.

It’s fair to give credit to Siena goalie Tommy Cordts, of course. He saved 15 shots while allowing six goals, so standing tall between the pipes was a big part of his team taking home the win.

Elsewhere

Boxscore. Detroit recap. Siena recap. Re-watch the whole darn thing on ESPN3.

Up Next

Eventual MAAC Champ Quinnipiac closed out the three-game homestand in similarly poor weather conditions.