Detroit 0-1. Photo from Delaware photo gallery.
So. I certainly wasn't expecting a win in this game, but a 13-5 smackdown probably wasn't in line with my prediction of an improved Detroit squad this season, either.
Delaware was up 2-0 before UDM even got on the board, and led 12-2 before a late Titan rally made the final score look closer than the game actually played out. The Titan's even-strength and man-down teams struggled, as the Titans scored all five of their goals on the man-up.
Tempo-Free
From the box score, let's bust out the first-ever(!) individual game tempo-free breakdown:
| Delaware | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | Detroit | ||
| Faceoff Wins | 15 | Faceoff Wins | 6 |
| Clearing | 22-27 | Clearing | 21-30 |
| Possessions | 51 | Possessions | 41 |
| Goals | 13 | Goals | 5 |
| Offensive Efficiency | .255 | Offensive Efficiency | .122 |
First things first, this was a blistering-fast game with 92 possessions between the two teams. Last year's Robert Morris (100 possessions) and Wagner (92 possessions) games were the only ones to reach that pace. According to Orange:44, the home of tempo-free lacrosse stats, 70 total possessions is about average for NCAA Division-1 games. Considering Delaware was playing backups and likely slowing things down in the second half, this was a very up-and-down game.
The Titans were pretty good defensively, with a much better efficiency number than their average last year (.309). Offensively, the performance was pitiful, especially considering the only UDM goals came in 6-on-5 offense.
Like we learned all about looking at least year, Detroit got pummeled on faceoffs, and did poorly in the clearing game, which led to a significant advantage in possessions by the opponent.
Individuals
Ah, the faceoffs. This was a horrible area for Detroit last year, and it looks like it might not be a huge improvement this year (boding ill for the rest of the season). Brandon Davenport went a poor 5-16 and Tyler Corcoran was a dismal 1-5 in the third and fourth quarters.
Offensively, the unexpected loss of last year's offensive leaders is likely to be a theme throughout the year, but attack Scott Harris made an early play for filling the void by notching a goal and two assists, while freshman attack Shayne Adams was the team finisher with three of the five Titan goals. Adams had a .500 shooting percentage with his goals coming on six shots, and Harris and midfielder Matt Gregson each shot .333.
On defense, LSM Jordan Houtby led the team with 9 ground balls and six turnovers forced. Sophomore goalie AJ Levell faced 30 shots on goal and made 17 saves. For an offensive comparison, the Titans didn't even have 30 shots total, and only 18 of their 27 shots were on goal.
The Other Side
Out of curiosity, I took a look at Delaware's faceoff man, Dan Cooney. He went 14-17 on Saturday, for a ludicrous .823 success rate. Cooney went .547 last year, so he's a pretty good faceoff man, but that's a terrible performance no matter what. Brandon Davenport took both draws against Delaware's backup, Andrew Rohacik, splitting the pair.
The Blue Hens had rather even scoring, with three different players notching a pair of goals, but nobody scoring a hat trick. That means seven other guys had a lone goal, for 10 different players putting the ball in the back of the net.
Delaware committed plenty of penalties (6 for 4:30), which led to every single Detroit goal. Nobody committed more than one no-no.
Delaware's backup goalie, Ryan Smith, played the final 3 minutes of the game, and allowed 2 goals on 3 shots faced. If you were to (unwisely) extrapolate that over an entire game, it would mean 40 goals on 60 shots faced.
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