Great Lax State

In anticipation of tonight’s big in-state battle, let’s take a look at the unit matchups piece-by-piece. Part the third: special teams.

Faceoffs

Michigan and Detroit face off last spring. Photo by GLS.

Damien Hicks emerged last year to be a viable faceoff specialist for Detroit, ending a few years of struggles on draws. He had an average performance in the Titans’ only game to date, winning barely under .500 against Mercer. If Hicks isn’t the guy, the Titans return Tyler Corcoran (who missed most of last year with injury), and add true freshman Benjamin Gjokaj. All three should see action unless one is a hot hand over the course of the game.

Detroit’s overall success on faceoffs will likely be damaged by the loss of Houtby. He was a groundball wizard from the LSM position, and while whoever the Titans play there will have chances, the likelihood of his being as good as Houtby is extremely low. Hicks (or the other specialists) will probably have to be even better – either at winning to themselves or getting it to wing players in a safe position – to repeat last year’s success.

Michigan has played two specialists and a longpole. None have performed well so far. Freshman Will Biagi has been the best (as he should be, given his recruiting profile), coming in at just under .500 with a 14/32 mark. Junior walkon Kevin Wylie has gone 2/6 in limited action, while LSM Chase Brown has won just seven of 23. That LSM success is to be expected, but the scary thing is – at least against Mercer – plenty of those were clean wins and possible fast break opportunities (which are supposed to be prevented by playing a pole). Biagi can be very streaky, but often when he’s lost draws it has been

The big question for Michigan is whether the projected starter on faceoffs, Brad Lott, will be available. He missed the Wolverines’ scrimmage against Marquette and the season-opener at Penn State, but was expected to be available against Mercer. He did not play, which casts at least a bit of doubt on his availability tonight. If he’s in, I would bet on his being the best faceoff specialist either team can run out, but there’s likely to be some rust, particularly when it comes to communicating with his wings.

Ride/Clear

Both teams rode Mercer with some success, while Michigan mostly elected to let Penn State clear the ball unless they were going to make their own mistakes. Each squad has some riding available in the playbook, it’s just a matter of when the opportunities arise to employ those tactics, and if they get the look on the clear that they’re expecting.

Speaking of clears, both teams have been pretty good on them thus far this year. That said, they aren’t lighting the world on fire, so if one or the other pulls out a heavy ride, there can be some interesting moments. Both teams are slightly turnovers prone (both forced and unforced), and nowhere does that show up more than in the ride.

Penalties

Detroit has consistently been one of the most-penalized teams in the country, but with the expected change in style, look for fewer foul-type penalties to be committed. In fact, just one of UDM’s five penalties against Mercer was for something other than procedure (and even that was a hold on faceoff specialist Damien Hicks). When they’re not playing for takeaways, the likelihood of committing a slash, hold, etc. is greatly reduced.

Michigan, on the other hand, has consistently been one of the least-penalized teams in the country. Although they’re a little more loose than usual through two games this year, look for that general trend to continue.

The penalty game will be less about which team commits more out of the many penalties, but who gives up one or two key ones, since it doesn’t look like there will be that many chances for the EMO units.

EMO and man-down D

Speaking of which, Detroit’s EMO is 2/6 on the year (in limited opportunities against one team, to be fair), and Michigan’s man-down defense is 5/8 on killing off penalties. While I expect Detroit’s extra-man to improve over the course of the season – especially into MAAC play – they either saved some of their best man-up plays for Michigan (which wouldn’t be a surprise), or they’re not strong in this factor.

On the other end of the field, Michigan has been relatively blistering on the EMO. They’ve converted six of 11 opportunities, including a 3/4 mark against Mercer (and three of seven against Austin Kaut and the great Penn State D). They didn’t get through all the extra-man plays that they wanted to against Mercer, so there are more tricks in the bag. Detroit has killed off 3/5 man-down chances (all against Mercer), so this is a battle of strength against unknown at this point. I lean toward the one that’s an established strength so far, though.

In anticipation of tonight’s big in-state battle, let’s take a look at the unit matchups piece-by-piece. Up next: the Michigan offense against Detroit’s defense.

Michigan offense

After changing coordinators going into last season, the Michigan offense actually ended up getting worse (even if they looked better doing it). That’s partially attributable to a dropoff in experience and a host of injuries, but this year’s team should be able to make a bounceback.

It was bombs away for Kyle Jackson and the Michigan offense in 2013. Photo by GLS.

The attack is led by a trio of players – with a fourth possibly entering the lineup and bumping somebody else out. Juniors Andrew Portnoy and David McCormack have started both games alongside freshman Ian King thus far, but that leaves Michigan without a true lefty on attack. Junior Will Meter has been slowly working back to the field, and could fill that role, most likely bumping out McCormack (in what is suddenly a very deep attack unit). Portnoy is the X player and distributor, whose unconventional style gets him opening. The other three are varying degrees of dodger/finisher, with McCormack most toward the former and King (thus far in his career, at least) the latter.

In midfield, Michigan has augmented last year’s dangerous young duo of Mike Hernandez and Kyle Jackson – now sophomores – with a healthy version of fifth-year senior Thomas Paras. There seems to be just as much depth here as at attack with talented freshman Mikie Schlosser and a few others joining the output. Jackson is a Canadian (in nationality and style) dodger/shooter who is willing to launch from pretty much anywhere, while Paras dodges relatively well – he also plays attack when needed there – and Hernandez is more a ball-carrying shooter than a true dodger.

U-M’s offense has been balanced so far between attack and midfield.

Detroit defense

The Titans lost several key pieces of last year’s defense, with goalie AJ Levell (now an undergraduate assistant with the team), LSM Jordan Houtby (now a pro lacrosse player), and D-pole Jamie Hebden all out the door. Along with 15-game starter John Dwyer, the lost production represents a significant portion of Detroit’s defensive talent and experience. Because of that, they’re expected to take a step back from their heavy-pressure defense, playing a more traditional scheme (they won’t pack it in, but they’re closer to that than ever). They caused a number of turnovers against Mercer, but were relatively clean in the penalty department, indicating that change to at least a certain degree.

Chris Shevins, Joe Gifford, and Jordan Yono started against Mercer, and while they have a decent amount of experience already (Shevins started three games last year and played in all 15, Gifford and Yono played in 13 apiece), they aren’t going to call to mind the Hebden days. They’ll be a little more conservative, and while that probably means they’ll get beaten to the rack less, talented attackmen should still be able to find openings without as much threat of turning it over.

The defensive midfield is strong, despite the loss of Houtby. The star is SSDM Nick Garippa, who ended up missing much of last season with a knee injury. Along with fellow senior Troy Dennis, they still have the ability to cause a bit of havoc by extending the midfield and putting on some pressure (without leaving the poles to make dangerous slides and open the inside). Thomas Sible provides a really good third option. The LSM could be a weak point, with either a converted short-stick or close D playing plenty of minutes.

In goal, Connor Flynn looks like a very solid keeper, and probably not a significant step down from Levell (though it’s unfair to ask a redshirt freshman to perform like Levell did last season). Juniors Damie Danseglio and Chris Kelly have a bit of experience, and could factor in as well.

Things to watch

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Detroit’s defensive midfield should be able to win the battle against Michigan’s offensive midfield. That’s not to say they’ll completely shut them down, but limiting the production and forcing them to rely on the attack to make the majority of Michigan’s offense hum. While U-M’s attack is still capable of getting it done, the young talent in midfield is more dangerous overall.

On that front, who gets the pole on Michigan’s midfield? That’s traditionally the short straw for the offensive player (for obvious reasons – a pole is harder to beat), but this year’s Detroit team has so much talent at SSDM and enough question marks at LSM that it could be the most interesting on-on-one matchup in the whole game.

I do think Michigan’s attack – especially if Meter is back – should be relatively successful against a young Detroit defense. While the Titans are physically imposing, their rough-and-tumble reputation probably won’t hold this fall with the lack of experience. There will be openings, and Michigan’s players will have to execute.

As for Flynn, one game of evidence is not enough to determine just how good he’s going to be. He wasn’t nearly as solid against a poor Mercer offense as Michigan’s Robbie Zonino was, but sample size, etc. etc.

In anticipation of tonight’s big in-state battle, let’s take a look at the unit matchups piece-by-piece. First up: the Detroit offense against Michigan’s defense.

Detroit Offense

With only one game under their belts, there’s only so much to know about Detroit in 2014. Fortunately, they return most of the pieces from last year’s unit that really rounded to form in the final weeks of the season (plus they add attack Shayne Adams, who was out of the lineup for that particular stretch).

Shayne Adams photo by GLS

I expected this to be a mostly attack-driven offense – which Detroit has been in recent years – with Scott Drummond serving a more versatile role in the midfield and Mike Birney mostly bombing away (at 114 miles per hour, NBD) out front. If the first game is to be extrapolated, which is not necessarily the case, the midfield is going to be a little more diverse. Drummond had three assists in addition to two goals, and while Birney seemed to still be bombing away (two goals on nine(!) shots), it sounds like he’s being used as a dodger, as well.

The attack is still dangerous, and to overlook them because they weren’t the focal point in one game (as much as nine of the Titans’ six points can be considered “not a focal point”) is foolish. Tom Masterson and Shayne Adams are both skilled dodger/finishers, and Alex Maini is a ball-carrying attackman with the ability to distribute it very well, in addition to finishing himself.

Brandon Beauregard plays both positions, and with the talent Detroit has up front, he started as the third offensive midfielder in the Mercer game. Look for him to mostly play there, but he’s going to be more capable of inverting, as well.

Michigan Defense

Michigan’s longpoles have been something of a liability in past years, or at the very least not a strength. They seem to have improved this year, at least when not facing Shane Sturgis and TJ Sanders. Mack Gembis, Chris Walker, and JD Johnson have started both games so far, and performed reasonably well. Still, Michigan’s major weakness is an elite finisher (particularly at attack).

The defensive midfielders have been spearheaded by Chase Brown at long-stick – he’s also taken some faceoffs for U-M – along with shorties Thomas Orr and Jeff Chu (with a few other players rotating in here and there). While they were able to mostly shut down Mercer’s midfielders, a good dodger at that position will likely give them trouble.

Given that Michigan has trouble with elite attackmen, there’s a good chance that the choice between leaving somebody open relatively close to the mouth of the goal and having an open shooter 12 yards out is one we’ll see a lot of this year.

In goal, it’s been a tale of two games for freshman Robbie Zonino, since returning starter Gerald Logan is out for the year after surgery to repair a torn labrum. Zonino was lit up against Penn State to the tune of 15 goals and just five saves (backup Mike D’Alessio was worse, giving up seven and stopping just one shot). He was very solid against Mercer, allowing seven goals and saving 13. Some of the goals Penn State scored were softies, on some he was hung out to dry, and on a couple Penn State’s finishing was just too good. Against teams that are neither among the best nor worst in the country, it’s impossible to say just yet how he’ll fare.

Things to watch

The big question here revolves around Zonino, and specifically how he’ll perform against shots that he should/can save. If he makes all the easy saves and lets in all the tough ones, that’s good enough for Michigan. Zonino isn’t the type of goalie who will win you games (yet, at least), and if he steals a couple should-be goals, Detroit might be in trouble.

I do think that Detroit’s dodging attackmen will be able to give the Michigan D fits here and there. While there’s not a single go-to guy in that unit, it’s because there’s enough depth to share the wealth to an extent. They should find themselves with an easy opportunity every now and then.

In order to take away those opportunities, Michigan’s defenders might have to sag off shooter, which opens the Mike Birney Show. I think on a man-to-man basis, Michigan’s short-sticks are good enough to slow down a dodging game from Detroit’s midfield – so that’s not what you’ll see. Detroit hasn’t focused on it in the past, and while they’re more able than ever to do that, that’s not their most likely path to success in this one.