Hey, so that ended up being a much happier occasion that the Wolverines’ last time out.
Tempo Free
From the official box score, a look at the tempo-free stats:
| Mercer 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer | Detroit | ||
| Faceoff Wins | 13 | Faceoff Wins | 11 |
| Clearing | 14-18 | Clearing | 13-16 |
| Possessions | 34 | Possessions | 31 |
| Goals | 10 | Goals | 11 |
| Offensive Efficiency | .294 | Offensive Efficiency | .355 |
Overall, this really wasn’t that bad a game statistically, at least from an efficiency standpoint. That offensive mark is pretty good, and the defensive mark isn’t really that poor. Of course, it’s the fact that Mercer was the opposition that scares you. This is a team that a conference contender (any conference) should have had its way with.
Detroit lost the possession battle, so that draws a little more perspective to the whole deal (and moreso that the possession battle was dominated in the second half by Mercer), but still, there are pieces here to work with. They’d better get into game shape fast.
Notes
We shall start on offense, a unit that was expected to carry a young Detroit defense early in the year before the young Titans get up to speed. That pretty much happened, with one of the most efficient outputs in recent memory (only one game last year – the 13-7 win over Canisius – saw a better offensive mark from the Titans). Strength of competition, etc., but approaching program-highs is a good thing.
Surprisingly, much of the offense seemed to run through midfielder Scotty Drummond. While he performed well last year, attackmen Alex Maini and Shayne Adams were thought to be the main stars (with Mike Birney going bombs-away from a little farther out). Drummond had two goals and three assists to lead the team in scoring, while Adams (3G) and Maini (1A) didn’t play as big of roles. I do like attack Tom Masterson, whose 2G, 1A line tied him with Adams for second-leading scorer.
Defensively, I’ve been predicting that we see less of an aggressive unit – and against more talented teams I still think we will, at least to start – but the Titans caused 11 turnovers in 34 defensive possessions, a pretty big number. Defensemen Joe Gifford (4) and Jordan Yono (3) led the way, with SSDM Troy Dennis notching two of his own. Mercer is a naturally turnover-prone team, from what I’ve seen of them, and it seems UDM was more than willing to help them along the way.
Playing slightly less aggressively might bear itself out in the penalty department, where almost all of Detroit’s transgressions were weird, non-foul-type things. There was a team penalty assessed for illegal procedure, attackman Alex Maini didn’t give enough space on a quick restart and was later called for unsportsmanlike conduct, the Titans were nabbed with too many men on the field once, and faceoff specialist Damien Hicks was called for holding. None of those are the slashing/unnecessary roughness type that Detroit’s typical aggressive style has resulted in during past years.
In goal, redshirt freshman Connor Flynn was good statistically, saving .615 of shots faced. Since I couldn’t make it to the game, I can’t say for certain whether the nature of the performance was allowing softies, robbing easy looks, etc. Either way, it’s safe to say that there won’t be a huge dropoff in net without A.J. Levell (and probably thanks in part to Levell, who is a volunteer assistant on the staff).
Detroit did not win the faceoff X, something that would have been a little surprising to me coming into the weekend. However, it’s clear that GB wizard Jordan Houtby will be missed at LSM on those draws, and Mercer is going to be a bit better on faceoffs than I anticipated. Damien HIcks got most of the run, winning just fewer than half, while Tyler Corcoran and freshman Benjamin Gjokaj didn’t get enough reps to say anything definitive about their performances.
For Mercer, it was a much more balanced scoring effort than we saw against Michigan (where nine of 13 total points came from two players). The Titans allowed 15 points – ten goals and five assists – with no single player notching four himself. Attackman Chris Baxa had two goals and two assists to lead the way.
Elsewhere
Detroit recap. Official box score. Photo gallery. Mercer recap.
Up Next
Yay, it’s a big week on GLS with the in-state Division-1 battle slated for Wednesday at Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac. Look for plenty more content leading up to that one in the next couple days.
The relative results between the two teams against Mercer give an indication that the Wolverines could have more than a puncher’s chance in this one…
Kind of a weird game, but not unexpected seeing as Mercer was playing their 3rd game and Detroit was playing their 1st. I know Mercer got pounded by Michigan, but the Bears played much better against Detroit, clearly working on mistakes they made… Michigan is quite different than Boston U… I also think Detroit was very rusty after playing a good half against a very good Notre Dame team, they played a club team and a D3 team… I know MSU was a last minute replacement for Hill, but still… There is a big difference in D1 teams… Plus Detroit played a lot of new players to get a look at what they had… I understand what the coaching staff was trying to do, but in my humble opinion, did not have them clicking on all cylinders for the opening of the season… Plus one of their better poles was out, and a seasoned D middie…That did not have as big a bearing as the turnovers and sloppy play… I think playing a team that turns it over a lot can either be great, or cause you to play down to your competition… I have seen Detroit look strong against quality teams, and look bad playing down to competition like Manhattan… You get my point… I expect Detroit to play much better Wednesday, but also give Mercer some credit for a decent bounce back from playing lousy on Friday against Michigan to coming to life… Their kids were into it… What was a bit disappointing was that Detroit had a 3 goal lead in the 4th and were about to put the game away and instead squandered it…Mercer took advantage and tied the game up… I suspect that Detroit may try a few goalies out before they settle on “the guy” for the season… Birney looks like he will have to contend with a long pole on him all season, he won’t sneak up on teams… That said, I did not see Detroit try to get him loose… He did bomb a few shots that had some heat on them and two found the net… Michigan will have a plan for him. Shayne Adams, looked good as did Masterson, Beauregard and Drummond… The second unit looked like they need some work, but will come around… You nailed it… A player like Houtby only comes around every so often, Detroit needs to get better at LSM, those are BIG shoes to fill… they also miss the speed and GB machine Jamie Hebden, but every team faces graduation, and they get better… I think Detroit will be fine no matter what happens against Michigan… I predict a good game and more fire for the rivalry… and that is a good thing for Lax in our Great State!!!!
Agreed. This was UDM’s first game, and honestly it probably went better than Michigan’s first game. I’m expecting a close game tomorrow, that really could go either way, depending on how the teams show up. Michigan is still so young. It seems like they’ve either been on fire (Mercer or 3/4’s of the Marquette game) or their opponents have been on fire (PSU or 1/4 of the Marquette game).
I’m excited to see what happens tomorrow for sure, but really as the season goes on for both teams, as they could each take some significant steps forward this year, regardless of what happens tomorrow.
Can’t compare UD’s first game to UM’s first game as Mercer is nowhere in the same universe as Penn State in terms of lax quality. Also, UM was playing at PSU. But, a win is a win so kudos to UD for starting the season off with a W.
If Detroit doesn’t beat Michigan this year, they won’t for a long time (aside from the seasons they don’t play). After this season, I think Michigan’s program will have past Detroit and they won’t look back.
Maybe they shouldn’t for a long time, but to say they won’t is a bit far fetched. There are upsets every week in D1 lacrosse. Detroit came a few minutes away from upsetting ND in the tournament last year.
I think tonight probably comes down to Michigan’s goalie play more than anything else. Is Zonino the goalie who played against Mercer or the one who played against Penn State? (granted, different offenses and shooters, but they were night and day performances)