Detroit preview: Ohio State

Posted on February 11, 2017 by Tim

The 2017 season begins today for UDM. The Titans head South to take on the team that has been their season-opener more than any other: Ohio State.

Ohio State

Ohio State Buckeyes Lacrosse

A nut with a body. And a lacrosse stick.

Feb. 11, 2017, Noon EST
Columbus, Ohio
Live stats. Live video($).
Detroit preview. Ohio State preview.

The Buckeyes

Ohio State is a team on the fringe of the national rankings (receiving votes in one poll, No. 16 in the other). They are led by three preseason All-Big Ten honorees, all of whom are seniors hailing from Canada. Attack Eric Fannell was third on the team in scoring last Spring with 15 goals and nine assists. Midfielder Johnny Pearson was only a tick behind, though far more tilted toward goal-scoring than feeding with 20 goals and three assists. Rounding out the group is faceoff specialist Jake Withers, who hit .607 on draws last year, and picked up ground balls at an insane pace (110 GBs on 184 faceoffs won).

That the Buckeyes’ leading scorer isn’t one of those all-conference honorees but also returns for his senior year is an impressive display of balance. That’s Michigan commit-turned-Bellarmine player-turned-OSU transfer Austin Shanks, yet another Canadian (and the third starting attackman, despite hailing from Ohio, is a senior himself, JT Blubaugh). Blubaugh’s fellow Columbus native Tyler Pfsiter, a senior midfielder, joins him and Withers as team captains.

The question marks for this team come on the defense, but not in the cage. Tom Carey had a .511 save percentage last year – decent, but not spectacular. Defenseman Robby Haus – named the team’s MVP last Spring – is no longer around, though, and he was the anchor of the unit. There’s experience among the defenders, with Erik Evans coming off a sophomore year in which he started every game, but the departure of Haus and LSM Chris Mahoney will be tough to overcome. The Buckeyes were able to get young guys some experience last year, but there’s also a reason the older guys were starting: they were better.

Big Picture

Detroit has only beaten the Buckeyes once in seven tries, and it didn’t come in Columbus. Can UDM change that today? The national observers are down on this team – and understandably so, given some key roster departures and a disappointing 2016 campaign. I think the opinions are harsh, but I’m also of the opinion that – key defensive departures notwithstanding – Ohio State is going to be a really good squad this year.

Remaining competitive with a chance to steal the game in the end may seem like the lamest, moral victory-est thing to hope for, but it’s about the ceiling in Game One.

Predictions

Not expecting it to go well, but perhaps well enough that projections of the Titans in MAAC play are revised upwards.

  • Jason Weber does not have a super-great game. Ohio State is a talented offense, and a very experienced one. The UDM defense is in rebuilding mode, and there’s only so much Weber can do to bail them out. Even a good individual performance is unlikely to look pretty on the scoreboard.
  • The Titans are not as turnover-prone as we’ve become accustomed to seeing in recent years. The Buckeyes have a decently aggressive defensive scheme, but their execution on that end of the field will be a work in progress very early in the year, which should mean at least one game to get in a groove. Detroit cuts down on the unforced turnovers, and the Buckeyes don’t go out of their way to force many.
  • Detroit runs out at least three faceoff specialists. Jake Withers is one of the country’s best, and not only is he good at winning the clamp, he’s individually dominant enough to control a lot of the ground balls. Running out multiple FOGOs and a pole or two (no word on who it will be with the graduation of Jordan Yono) is all-but guaranteed.

In case you haven’t sensed a theme, I don’t think Detroit will win this game, but I do think they’ll have a season that exceeds expectations (and I’m more than willing to see the first instance of that happen this afternoon). Buckeyes take it, 14-8.

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Scores and schedule: Feb. 11, 2017

Posted on February 11, 2017 by Tim

The long-awaited return of the scores/schedule post.

Yesterday’s results

Division-3 Men

Hope 5, Carthage 14
Hope 25, Northland College 5

Today’s schedule

Division-1 Men

Detroit @ Ohio State, Noon, Columbus, Ohio
Michigan v. Lafayette, 4 p.m., Oosterbaan Fieldhouse

Division-1 Women

Michigan v. James Madison, 1 p.m., Oosterbaan Fieldhouse
Detroit @ Notre Dame, 3 p.m., South Bend, Ind.

College Club Men

Western Michigan @ Minnesota, Noon, Minneapolis, Minn.
Western Michigan v. Iowa State, 6:30 p.m., Minneapolis, Minn.

Corrections, omissions, etc. always appreciated in the comments. Also use the comments for discussion of today’s action.

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Preview: Detroit Titans 2017

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Tim
Shayne Adams Detroit Titans Lacrosse Great Lax State

The first year of the post-Shayne Adams era was not super-great (Photo by Tim Sullivan/GLS)

Detroit hit a major slump last year, falling to 2-10 after building to the program’s first-ever winning record the previous season. They are picked to finish sixth in the seven-team MAAC this year, not exactly a vote of confidence. It says here that the poll is a little pessimistic (as it has been for the Titans every year but one, as far as their finish in the conference), and 2016 goes down as more of a hiccup than a sign of impending doom.

Attack

The Titans shifted from a Canadian-based attack to running the offense through a player from a different pipeline when DC Gonzaga’s Mark Anstead took the reins over the past two years. In his junior season, he should be as effective offensively as ever (though not complemented by Adams like he was in Year One), and hopefully able to cut out some of the turnovers – which as long-time readers of this blog know is UDM’s consistent bugaboo up and down the roster – which should make him highly effective.

The other two starting attackmen return as well, so this should be quite a bit more polished. Given that the offense on McNichols has long depended on effective players at attack, that should make for a pretty good unit. Junior Alec Gilhooly and Kyle Beauregard were the Nos. 3 and 5 scorers on an offense that saw only the top five players reach double-digit points thanks to brutal inefficiency (just .212 on the year) and a pretty significant possession disadvantage. Both were more finishers with Anstead quarterbacking the attack.

What the Titans lose most here is depth, with no returning attackmen with playing experience back, aside from the starters. Some of the attack/mid combos (such as Adam Susalla) can certainly help fill that void, but finding a second attack line would be a pretty good idea, in my surely controversial opinion.

Offensive Midfield

UDM loses the top-scoring offensive midfielder, Andy Hebden, who was also the best shooter on the team among those who scored more than one goal. The bright side of losing him? His team-high shooting percentage was only .279, worse than the overall average of more than half the country’s teams. As the best shooter. (Maybe shot selection was a bigger issue for the Titans than turnovers last year, though I will keep beating the turnover drum).

Anyway, those who do return include every-game starter Sean Birney, who scored seven goals and added seven assists last season, and Lucas Ducharme, who started eight of the 11 games in which he played and was the team’s sixth-leading scorer with five goals and two assists.

Patrick Walsh started last year as a primarily defensive midfielder, and only got into nine games, but showed a bit of offensive punch later in the year (his meager four points ended up seventh on the team), and at 6-3, 180 is a physical intimidator enough to be a bit of a two-way guy. I like his potential, and the history of UDM success with Canadian players (he’s an Ontario native who played at Hill Academy) could portend big things for his second year on campus.

The depth here is not proven, either, not least of which because it’s hard to call a whole lot from last year’s offense “proven.” However, look for JD Hess – who started his career as strictly a defensive midfielder but has rounded into a bigger offensive role – to make an impact, as well.

Faceoff

The faceoff dot has been a trouble area for UDM in the past several years, but thanks to the emergence of Ben Gjokaj as the full-time starter on draws last year, it started to creep back toward being pretty good. The Titans were still sub-.500, but Gjokaj his a .556 clip. Backups Greg Marzec (.269) and Mike Sforza (.327) can be more depth players – with Sforza hopefully making a big leap in his second year on-campus.

The wing play has always been a part of the issue for a Detroit team that doesn’t often feature specialists who grab their own GBs (Gjokaj got 31% of his last year, pretty high for the Titans), but that’s almost as much a product of not matching up physically with the most talented teams on the schedule (the power conference teams) when there’s not a Jordan Houtby-type talent available on the wing.

Defensive midfield

The Titans have a couple obvious starters here, led by Charlie Hayes. He was the top short stick in terms of ground balls among those whose contributions didn’t come from being offensive or faceoff specialists. The other clear options are both LSMs, though, with Pat Masterson and Austin Polson-McCannon both playing plenty and very well last year. Will one of them move to close D to get both on the field more frequently? It wouldn’t surprise – as much as it may feel like a waste of athleticism to have an LSM play close, it’s even more wasteful to have him play “sit on the bench because the other guy is on the field.”

The second short-stick defensive midfielder is either going to have to be a two-way guy (perhaps Hess, as mentioned above), or someone who has yet to prove himself on the college level. Connor Maks, who played a bit as a redshirt freshman but missed al of last year with an injury, is one potential option.

Close defense

The Titans’ defense wasn’t too bad last year, allowing a .305 offensive efficiency to opponents despite plenty of turnover-fueled fast-break opportunities on which the offense/transition were as much to blame as the D. The problem is that the primary starters here have moved along.

Jordan Yono and Paul Bitetti were both multi-year starters, and though Bitetti will be on the staff as an undergraduate assistant, it would feel a whole lot better if he was able to actually suit up. Will Kane started every game alongside that duo as a sophomore last year, and will now have to be the lynchpin of the defense. Sophomore Sam Horton (who started one game in Bitetti’s stead last year) is a potential starter, as well. He appears to be physically ready at 6-1, 192. Tracis Sparling is listed as a redshirt freshman, but that’s a mistake (he’s a redshirt sophomore), and although he didn’t do much statistically last Spring, he saw action in 11 games, at least. It’s possible that one of the aforementioned LSMs joins the unit, or that there’s a position-switch starter here. Either way, the unit around him is going to have question marks.

Goalie

Fortunately for a close defense that will take a little while to come together, they have perhaps the best goalie in the country backing them up. I’ve made it no secret my opinion of Weber’s talent, and although his save percentage is good-not-spectacular (.541), he’s doing it behind the defense described above, not wave after wave of IL top-100 recruits like most of the other keepers near the top of the national rankings in the stat.

Weber should be able to steal some games as long as the defense in front of him manages to jell at some point. It’s gong to be a tough task, but he’s one of the best shot-stoppers nationally. That’s al you can ask for (well, not all: he’s been a liability in the clearing game at times, though experience should help).

The backup role is officially a question mark, with neither sophomore Michael Turnbull nor freshman Logan Shamblin having seen playing time yet. We’ll see if Weber can remain effective and in the good graces of his coaches enough to keep the backups irrelevant.

Overall

The offense should take huge strides with most of the top players back. The defense is going to be a huge question mark with very few of the top players back.

Where Detroit will probably win and lose games is in possession. They’ve been turnover-happy since time immemorial, even when they have players from geographic areas that would lead you to believe they’ll have good sticks and solid decision-making (such as the Canadians and Long Islanders we’ve seen a good number of over the years). Those turnovers give away an offensive possession and produce fast-break opportunities for opponents. Those are two things the Titans can’t afford.

The heavy ride and aggressive defense have faded in the past couple seasons with Chris Kolon’s staff taking full control of the program, which is sad in terms of how much fun they are, but should theoretically result in a little more stability on defense and offense: if your philosophy is chaos, your games are going to be chaotic.

Is a less chaotic team worth it if they’re not turning that stability into more wins? I don’t think the question is going to be relevant this year with a step forward.

The opportunity

Unless the defense just can’t get it done, I don’t see a way this team finishes sixth in the MAAC. They seem to get doubted in the pre-season poll each and every year, and while they’ve yet to win the conference outright in the regular season (their only championship was the tournament title in 2013 that saw them make a serious play to upset Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament), they tend to outperform those low expectations.

A couple wins in the MAAC is hardly a lofty goal, but it would probably be more than most expect of the Titans. Winning enough games (typically three) to make it into the conference championship is totally reasonable. The non-conference schedule has both games that look pretty tough (Ohio State, Marquette, Air Force) and what should be chances to rack up wins (Mercer, Bellarmine, Cleveland State) mixed in with what should be a competitive bunch.

A winning record and a trip back to the MAAC Championships would be a very nice season for the Titans.

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The Next Level: Feb. 7, 2017

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Tim

Our weekly look at Michigan natives who are playing college lacrosse at division-1 institutions this Spring. Only a couple relevant teams played over the weekend, but the season is official upon us:

Cleveland State 8, Michigan 13

  • Freshman defenseman Levi Peterson (Holt) – Did not see game action.
  • Freshman defenseman Garrett White (Ann Arbor Pioneer) – Played, but did not accrue any statistics.

Duke 10, Air Force 11

  • Junior midfielder Matthew Giampetroni (Cranbrook) – Did not see game action.

Manhattan 10, Bryant 17

  • Sophomore midfielder Robert Carroll (Grosse Pointe South) – Won 18/30 faceoffs, picking up nine ground balls and recorded an Assist. Also committed one turnover.

Michigan 13, Cleveland State 8

  • Freshman midfielder Ryan Prior (Birmingham/Culver Academy) – Did not see game action.
  • Senior faceoff specialist Brian Archer (Brighton) – Went 0/1 on faceoffs.

Providence 7, Boston University 8

  • Junior midfielder Josh Keller (East Grand Rapids/Kent School) – Did not see game action.

Robert Morris 11, Penn State 15

  • Freshman long-stick midfielder James Scane (Brother Rice) – Did not see game action.

 

If I’ve messed anything up, let me know in the comments, where you can also feel free to share statlines from other divisions.

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Michigan 13, Cleveland State 8

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Tim

This was not the most encouraging victory in program history, but a win’s a win, an if the Maize and Blue build off it, nobody will remember that a first-year program gave them a scar in the season opener.

Tempo-Free

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

Cleveland State 2016
Michigan Cleveland State
Faceoff Wins 15 Faceoff Wins 10
Clearing 21-21 Clearing 13-15
Possessions 38 Possessions 25
Goals 13 Goals 8
Offensive Efficiency .342 Offensive Efficiency .320

Michigan won this game by being more polished in possession than the Vikings, with a bit of the closeness of the score related to U-M letting off the gas with leads of 6-1 and 13-5. The game was closer than it should have been: the scoreboard makes it look a little closer than it was.

Notes

Throw your hands in the air if you expected Tommy Heidt to start! (I did not). I do think he’s the better goalie on the roster, but thought there would be a bit of loyalty shown to Robbie Zonino, who’s stepped into some tough situations over the years. Heidt had the far better numbers, with a .700 save percentage while Zonino (albeit in garbage time) saved just one of three shots faced. It’ll be interesting to watch how the keeper situation plays out over the course of this season.

With Heidt putting together solid numbers, it’s a little worrisome that the Vikings still managed an offensive efficiency well north of .300. CSU got off more shots than Michigan (37 to 36) in many fewer possessions, and those weren’t all back-loaded in garbage time: 21 of them came in the first half. They weren’t particularly accurate shots – 23 on goal – but Michigan is going to have to tighten down defensively against squads that aren’t literally in their first-ever game of varsity lacrosse.

Mike McDonnell looks like a fine option on faceoffs, though (like every other part of this game), we’ll have to evaluate in much more depth once he’s playing someone who has a resume for comparison. 15/22 with four ground balls isn’t half-bad, though the wing play (and, in a lot of ways when it comes to the wings, probably some luck) helped him a great deal.

The offense was run by the expected players, though perhaps not in the expected ways: Ian King’s renaissance as a feeder continues, with four assists and no goals (with six shots, five on goal, that’s a major area for improvement, though his track record indicates that he’s not likely to have many days quite that bad). Brent Noseworthy was an offensive force with six goals on nine shots, seven of them on goal. A big year offensively, rather than “just” as a two-way player and clearing expert, out of Mikie Schlosser would be very big for the Michigan offense that needs some midfielders to step up. three goals, an assist, a booming truck stick on a clear… so far, so good.

As with other parts of the game, you’d like to have seen Michigan be a little less careless with the ball (11 turnovers, only four forced) against a team that was only going to be competitive, much less win, if the Wolverines self-inflicted a bunch of harm. First-game jitters and all that, but even a Lafayette team that was pretty bad last year should present a sterner test than the Vikings.

Elsewhere

Michigan recap. CSU recap. Highlights on LSN. Box score. IL recap.

Up Next

U-M welcomes Lafayette to Oosterbaan Fieldhouse Saturday at 4:00 p.m. It’s the Leopards’ first game of the season.

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Preview: Michigan Wolverines 2017

Posted on January 25, 2017 by Tim
The Maize and Blue may want to forget they watched a lot of the 2016 season.

The Maize and Blue may want to forget they watched a lot of the 2016 season. (Photo by Tim Sullivan/Great Lax State)

Michigan enters year six having bid farewell to its first full recruiting class, and it’s time for the rubber to meet the road in terms of getting results. No longer is this a nascent program led by primarily club players, walk-ons, and late recruits. The Maize and Blue boast four seniors (one a fifth-year transfer), two juniors, three sophomores (on a transfer), and four freshmen who were among the top 100 recruits in their respective classes.

After going 1-13 in the first two seasons, they improved to 5-11 and 5-8 over the next two years before stumbling to 3-10 (with at least two bad losses) last year. The schedule sets up nicely to give them a chance to get back on the upward trajectory, and the talent must take over to reach expectations.

Attack

Despite losing two of last year’s top three scorers from the attack unit (including all-time leading scorer Kyle Jackson), this should be a solid group. Senior Ian King should take over the mantle as No. 1 all-time with a healthy year, and he had a solid reinvention as a feeder last season after previously being mostly a finisher. He finished with 13 goals and 16 assists despite missing two contests last year – but without Jackson to put the ball in the net, may go back to shooting for himself more frequently.

Beyond King, the returning production is limited. Junior Pat Tracy scored two goals and recorded five assists in nine appearances last year, while sophomores Brent Noseworthy and Rocco Sutherland had six and five points, respectively. The lefty Noseworthy was a finisher on the man-up unit, with two of his six goals with the extra man, and got his production in just seven appearances (to Sutherland’s 11). He may be able to be the finisher that allows King to continue his distribution. Senior Andrew Roswell should also see a bit of time.

This is a position group where a new face could make an impact. Freshman Hank Adams is one of those high-powered recruits, the No. 86 freshman in the country, according to Inside Lacrosse. The Colorado native is just a little guy at 5-7, 175 pounds, but a good lefty finisher and dodger.

Offensive Midfield

This is another position group that lost some key players (namely Sean McCanna and Mike Hernandez), but it returns a larger set of established players. Sophomore Decker Curran was the top-scoring player among midfielders last year, albeit with just 15 points, and although senior Mikie Schlosser had a down year last season (just eight points on .179 shooting, both career lows), he’s one of the more impressive physical specimens in midfield.

The third player on the line is a spot up for grabs in a serious way. Sophomore Justin Gibbons (four goals in seven appearances), junior PJ Bogle (one goal in eight appearances), Brandon Shima (scoreless in three games), and BJ Mattheiss (scoreless in two) are the only returning players who saw action last year. A few primarily defensive midfielders may make a bit of a transition to more of a two-way role, but expect new names to step up. Whether that’s those already on the roster – Teddy Bettencourt and JP Sorenson didn’t play last year – or incoming players remains to be seen, though it’s likely the new faces will the the ones.

Fortunately, two incoming midfielders were among the highly regarded prospects in the 2016 class, with Avery Myers No. 38 and Christian Ford No. 65 nationally, according to IL. Both ave good size and should be game-ready.

Faceoff

The Wolverines lost four-year starter Brad Lott, who had his best year as a senior and was a major asset for the team. Junior Mike McDonnell got some time in relief last year, but was a sub-.500 performer and may not be the final answer, though he’ll be able to contribute.

Incoming transfer Jack Olson didn’t take a single draw for the Blue Jays last year (and only made it into one game), despite being the No. 52 overall recruit in the 2015 class. Michigan will have to hope that his sophomore year shows why he was so highly-touted out of high school, rather than why he couldn’t get on the field last year. Hop had good-not-great faceoffs last year, so if there was any chance he would have been able to compete, Olson probably would have gotten a chance.

Incoming freshman Matt Dellacroce is a prospect the coaches were very excited about when he committed, so we’ll see if the battle is ultimately between him and Olson.

Defensive midfield

Chase Young is the top returning short-stick D-midfielder, and he even had a bit of offensive production with a couple goals and an assist last year, as well. He’s not an intimidator at 5-9, 165, but enters his junior year with two seasons of solid performance under his belt. Senior Christian Wolter and junior Parker McKee were both regularly used last year, as well, and should compete to be full-time players on the defensive midfield.

The LSM position loses Chase Brown, who was one of the most productive defensive players in the early stages of the Michigan program. However, his backup, Nick DeCaprio, got plenty of time in relief as a freshman, and should be able to step up in year two. Freshman JM Priddy was not a top-100 recruit, but is expected to be a contributor, as well.

Close defense

Chase Brown, Charlie Keady, and Chris Walker have all departed, leaving a defensive unit that will need a bit of re-tooling. Andrew Hatton is the top returner, though he missed some time last year due to injury and was primarily on the second team. Fellow senior Stefan Bergman is a similar story, though he made appearances in even fewer games. sophomore MJ Melillo actually had the most ground balls of the three last season, and should be able to make greater strides in his second year than the others will heading into their fourth.

Junior Eric Smith has received sparing playing time, but it’s possible that the arrival of a fresh face (fifth-year Virginia transfer) in his older brother Dickson Smith provides a bit of chemistry that helps him play a bigger role. Dickson played in 11 of 14 games for the Cavs last year, and while he wasn’t a major contributor, stepping into a team like Michigan rather than a perennial power should help him see the field.

Finn Goonan is not only an all-name team nominee, but also the most highly regarded of the incoming freshmen at this unit, and already 6-1, 195, he doesn’t have much physical adapting to be game-ready and an intimidator.

Goalie

One of the most underrated goalies of the past few years nationally was Gerald Logan, who stood on his head frequently despite defensive breakdowns. He’s off to play his final year at Johns Hopkins, though, so backup Robbie Zonino will step into the top role that he occupied as a freshman (when Logan missed the year with injury). He saw time in just two games last year after seven as a sophomore, so the trajectory does not look great even before you take into account his .214 save percentage last year.

There are plenty of other talented players available, though. Redshirt sophomore Tommy Heidt was a highly-touted recruit (No. 17 nationally), but has battled injury over the past two years and has yet to establish himself. Sophomore Gunner Garn has yet to see the field at all. Top it all off with incoming freshman Matt Trowbridge – the No. 31 freshman in the nation – and there are plenty of bullets in the chamber.

Overall

There are plenty of questions about this team because of departed key contributors. Can anyone step up at faceoff? Will Robbie Zonino have a good year with the starting gig to himself, or be beaten out by a younger keeper? Who is going to score for this team?

There have been some stylistic changes in the past couple seasons, too. Under former offensive coordinator Ryan Danehy, the Wolverines took very few shots, but had an outstanding shooting percentage. They were overly cautious in pulling the trigger, but you knew when they shot, it was a good opportunity. Under Conor Ford, they’re less turnover-prone (instead of trying to force the ball to the best high-percentage look), and shooting more frequently with less success per shot. A happy medium between the two extremes is probably needed here.

Defensively, the team was a bit of a mess last year, despite having an extremely good goalie. How much of it is simply not having the athletes to execute the defense? They were certainly experienced, with seniors littering the lineup. Will more highly touted recruits have the ability to perform better, even if they don’t have the time in the system? They’ll have to, because another poor year from the six in front of the goalie will be far less likely to have that goalie bail them out.

The opportunity

I’ll break down the schedule in more detail at a later date but there’s a good chance to see the record get better even if the team only makes incremental improvement. The Big Ten is going to be tough, but the two toughest games are on the road… meaning that the three easier games (especially given the injury to Rutgers star Adam Charalambides) are at home. U-M should be able to steal one of the three.

There’s only one other ranked team pre-season on the schedule, and that’s Notre Dame. If you assume losses at Maryland and Hopkins, and one at Notre Dame, then stealing at least one of the three home Big Ten games, taking care of business in the rest of the non-conference schedule should be able to pull together a solid record.

Cleveland State is an expansion program that will be playing its first game when the Wolverines come to town. Lafayette was a poor team last year, and has the added disadvantage of taking on Michigan in Oosterbaan. UDM and Bellarmine are long-time U-M rivals that they theoretically should have move past from a talent perspective by now. Mercer and Furman are relatively new programs, and though they’re building, Michigan is undefeated against them thus far in Division-1 existence. UMBC will have to make big strides, and Penn knocked the Wolverines off by two goals in Philly last year, so a trip to Ann Arbor may even things up a bit.

We’ve seen this team struggle against squads that shouldn’t give it trouble (though we’ve also seen the opposite, such as last year’s heart-breaker against Maryland), so you can obviously never count wins and losses before the season, but this should be a good bounce-back year.

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Detroit v. Michigan tickets on sale

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Tim
Michigan Wolverines Detroit Titans Lacrosse Brad Lott Damien Hicks

Brad Lott (Michigan) and Damien Hicks (Detroit) take the opening faceoff in 2014.

The favorite (mostly) yearly event for this here blog takes place Feb. 15, and you can get your tickets now. From UDM media relations:

DETROIT (1/24/2017) — The University of Detroit Mercy men’s lacrosse single game tickets are now on sale for the two indoor games at Ultimate Soccer Arenas and the three contests at Titan Field.

Tickets start at $10 each for the two indoor games at Ultimate Soccer Arenas (Feb. 15 vs. Michigan at 7 PM and Feb. 23 vs. Jacksonville at Noon) and $5 each for the three home games on Titan Field.

The Titans also have a special February indoor ticket deal featuring both indoor games as you can buy tickets to both for just $15.

Tickets are available for purchase online as well as on gamedays. To purchase the special $15 ticket deal, you must call Director of Ticket Operations & Sales Justin Hairston at 313-993-1700 ext. 7301 or at hairstjj1@udmercy.edu.

The two previous indoor lacrosse games against Michigan have averaged over 1,800 fans so tickets are going quickly.

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The Next Level: Michigan natives playing Division-1 lacrosse in 2017

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Tim

Updated 1/19: Added Keaton Mitchell at Mount St. Mary’s. Let me know if there’s anyone else I’ve overlooked. Numbers at the bottom updated accordingly.

Our annual look at Michigan natives who are playing college lacrosse at division-1 institutions this spring. From schools’ official rosters:

Bellarmine

  • Senior attackman/midfielder Graham Macko (Brother Rice)
  • Freshman attackman Morgan Macko (Brother Rice)

Binghamton

  • Junior midfielder Liam Reaume (Brother Rice)

Canisius

  • Sophomore defenseman Logan Monroe (Holt)
  • Junior midfielder Keith Pravato (Novi)
  • Senior faceoff specialist Steve Wizniuk (De La Salle)

Cleveland State

  • Freshman defenseman Levi Peterson (Holt)
  • Freshman defenseman Garrett White (Ann Arbor Pioneer)

Colgate

  • Freshman attackman Cooper Belanger (Detroit Country Day)

Detroit

  • Senior attackman Kyle Beauregard (Notre Dame Prep)
  • Junior midfielder Sean Birney (Detroit Catholic Central)
  • Freshman defenseman Nick Boynton (Troy Athens)
  • Junior midfielder Adam Findlay (Detroit Catholic Central)
  • Junior attackman Alec Gilhooly (Detroit Catholic Central)
  • Senior faceoff specialist Benjamin Gjokaj (Walled Lake Northern)
  • Sophomore midfielder Emmett Green (Birmingham Seaholm)
  • Freshman attackman/midfielder Blake Grewal-Turner (Okemos)
  • Freshman defenseman Jack Harrop (Orchard Lake St. Mary’s)
  • Junior midfielder Charlie Hayes (Utica Eisenhower)
  • Senior midfielder JD Hess (Birmingham Seaholm)
  • Sophomore defenseman Sam Horton (Okemos)
  • Freshman midfielder Alex Jarzembowski (Detroit Catholic Central)
  • Junior midfielder Brent Lubin (Orchard Lake St. Mary’s)
  • Junior midfielder Connor Maks (UD-Jesuit)
  • Senior midfielder Greg Marzec (Brother Rice)
  • Junior defenseman Bryan Matney (Ann Arbor Pioneer)
  • Freshman midfielder Jackson McElhenney (Birmingham Seaholm)
  • Sophomore midfielder Bo Pickens (Brother Rice)
  • Sophomore defenseman Austin Ross (Warren Mott)
  • Freshman midfielder Charlie Schiefer (Birmingham Seaholm)
  • Freshman goalie Logan Shamblin (Troy)
  • Freshman defenseman Travis Sparling (Novi)
  • Junior attackman/midfielder Adam Susalla (Birmingham Seaholm)

Drexel

  • Freshman faceoff specialist Ian Foster (East Lansing/IMG Academy)

Duke

  • Junior midfielder Matthew Giampetroni (Cranbrook)

Fairfield

  • Freshman defenseman Brian Cosgrove (Brother Rice)

High Point

  • Freshman defenseman Luke Cappetto (Brother Rice)

Manhattan

  • Sophomore midfielder Robert Carroll (Grosse Pointe South)

Marquette

  • Sophomore midfielder Bob Pelton (Forest Hills Northern)
  • Sophomore midfielder John Wagner (Cranbrook)

Michigan

  • Freshman midfielder Ryan Prior (Birmingham/Culver Academy)
  • Senior faceoff specialist Brian Archer (Brighton)

Mount St. Mary’s

  • Freshman midfielder Keaton Mitchell (Clarkston)

Notre Dame

  • Sophomore defenseman Michael Langdon (Cranbrook)
  • Senior midfielder Sergio Perkovic (Brother Rice)

Penn

  • Freshman midfielder Alex Minanov (Grosse Pointe Liggett)

Providence

  • Junior midfielder Josh Keller (East Grand Rapids/Kent School)

Richmond

  • Senior attackman J.P. Forester (Brother Rice)

Robert Morris

  • Freshman long-stick midfielder James Scane (Brother Rice)

Stony Brook

  • Sophomore midfielder Nathan Richards (Lapeer West)

Syracuse

  • Freshman midfielder Nick Martin (Detroit Country Day)

UMass Lowell

  • Sophomore goalie Grant Lardieri (Forest Hills Northern)

Yale

  • Junior midfielder Jason Alessi (Brother Rice)
  • Senior midfielder John Lazarsfeld (Ann Arbor Greenhills)

That’s 54 players at 23 schools, an improvement over last year’s 48 players at 16 different schools (adding new program Cleveland State, Colgate, Drexel, Fairfield, High Point, Penn, Robert Morris, and Stony Brook, while losing Rutgers and NJIT). Detroit accounts for 24 of this year’s players (44.4%), a slight decrease from 25 (52.1%) last year. An improvement in geographic diversity all around, even if it may come at the Titans’ expense.

As always, there’s a chance I’ve missed somebody – I’m particularly prone to doing it when a player went out of state for high school or came to Michigan from out of state for high school – so let me know in the comments if anyone is missing.

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Former GLS standouts in the pros

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Tim

Two former Detroit Titans were selected in the MLL Supplemental Draft this afternoon:

DETROIT (12/14/2016) — Two Titans who helped the University of Detroit Mercy men’s lacrosse team capture a MAAC Championship and set a school record for wins will now have an opportunity to continue their careers professionally as Mike Birney (Plymouth, Mich. / Catholic Central) and Paul Bitetti (Plainview, N.Y. / Bethpage) were both chosen in Major League Lacrosse’s Supplemental Draft on Wednesday.

Birney was selected in the 11th round, 98th overall, by the Ohio Machine, while Bitetti was tabbed in the 13th round, 109th overall, by the Atlanta Blaze.

They are now the fourth and fifth players, respectively, to be drafted professionally joining Shayne Adams (second round, 21st overall, in 2015 by NLL’s Vancouver Stealth), Joel Matthews (fourth round, 31st overall, in 2012 by the NLL’s Buffalo Bandits) and Jordan Houtby (fourth round, 29th overall, in 2013 by the NLL’s Minnesota Swarm).

Birney provided one of the biggest highlights in Detroit Mercy history with his overtime goal to win the MAAC Championship in 2013. He was selected Second Team All-MAAC as a sophomore, junior and senior. In 2014, he was tied for second on the team with 18 goals and six were with the man-up, helping the Titan extra-man attack set a NCAA record in man-up offense efficiency (.586).

As a sophomore in 2013, he was the MAAC’s Most Outstanding Player in the conference championship after scoring eight goals in the event, including the game winners against Marist and Siena. He finished his career third in school history with 16 man-up goals, fourth in total goals (63) and hat tricks (8), fifth in points (89), and tied for seventh in assists (26).

Bitetti was one of the best defensemen in the MAAC during his four years and was selected All-MAAC First Team three times. He led the team with 17 caused turnovers and was fourth in the MAAC posting 1.42 caused turnovers per game as a senior in 2016. As a sophomore in 2014, he topped the squad with a career-high 24 caused turnovers and ended the season 12th in Division I and leading the MAAC with 1.85 caused turnovers per game.

A two-time team captain, he ended his career appearing in 52 games and tallying 55 ground balls and 59 caused turnovers, fourth in school history.

The duo helped the Titans reach the NCAA Tournament in 2013 after winning the MAAC as a four seed and upsetting top-seeded Marist in the semifinals and perennial MAAC powerhouse Siena in the title game. The pair was also a part of the program that defeated Ohio State in 2015 en route to a school-record eight victories.

Both players also earned the Academic Excellence Award, given to Titan student-athletes who achieved academic excellence during their time at Detroit Mercy recording at least a 3.0 GPA for every semester that they participated in college athletics. They were also four-time members of the MAAC Academic Honor Roll and the MAAC All-Academic Team.

Meanwhile, Michigan’s Kyle Jackson, who was selected in the initial entry draft, will stick with the Boston Cannons for the time being:

This has been your regularly-scheduled semi-annual post*

*Only sort of kidding.

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Michigan Lacrosse Officials Association training

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Tim

A growing game needs a growing pool of officials. If you’re interested (or know somebody interested) in becoming one, it’s your time to shine. The MichLOA is holding a class soon, with registration available:

There is a new official’s training class being offered by Michigan Lacrosse Officials Association (“MichLOA”). We are currently recruiting new officials for the 2017 boys lacrosse season.

The class will be held on Saturday September 17th at Birmingham Seaholm HS (room C103). The class starts at 8:30 and will run until 1:00. Please arrive early.

In order to officiate youth or high school games you must complete new officials training!

You need to formally register and pay for the training class. To do so, go to www.michloa.org. There is a PayPal registration and payment likely under the new officials tab. Your $50 fee also includes your first years MichLOA dues.

It will also behoove you to register with US Lacrosse as a boy’s official as soon as possible. Go to www.uslacrosse.org to register.

Growth of the game in the state is one of the big missions around here, so get ready to help meet that end of you’re willing and able.

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