Lacrosse falls 15-6 against air force
Michigan fell to 0-4 on the season this afternoon as they lost to air force 15-6, in Denver in a neutral site game. Michigan started the game on a 3-0 tear but air force went on a rampage scoring NINE unanswered goals which ultimately proved to be too much for Team One.
Michigan will travel next weekend to Jacksonville,FL and face two fellow upstart programs. They will play the jacksonville dolphins who are having a pretty good season so far which includes a blowout win over navy last weekend. Michigan will play them at 3:30pm on Friday, March 2nd.
On Sunday, in arguably the most winnable game on the schedule for Michigan. Team One will take on mercer in Jacksonville in neutral site game at 1pm on Sunday, March 4th at Noon. mercer is in search of their first win this season.
Here are the current ECAC Standings
Italic font indicates the game is a conference game.
| Team | ECAC | Overall | Next Game |
| 1. #11 Ohio | 1-0 | 3-1 | 3/3 vs Penn State |
| Air Force | 1-0 | 1-2 | 3/3 vs Quinnipiac |
| 3. #12 Denver | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2/26 vs Robert Morris |
| 4. #13 Loyola | 0-0 | 2-0 | 3/2 at Bellarmine |
| Fairfield | 0-0 | 2-0 | 2/28 at Hofstra |
| Bellarmine | 0-0 | 1-1 | 3/2 vs Loyola |
| Hobart | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2/27 vs #5 Cornell |
| 8. MICHIGAN | 0-2 | 0-4 | 3/2 at Jacksonville |
February 26th, 2012 at 9:21 PM ^
Efficiency stats for this weekend and the rest of the games too, for comparison.
- O-rating (Detroit): 12.29
- O-rating (Penn State): 12.14
- O-rating (Denver): 7.45
- O-rating (Air Force): 9.20
- D-rating (Detroit): 18.54
- D-rating (Penn State): 18.20
- D-rating (Denver): 24.10
- D-rating (Air Force): 26.55
- season O-rating: 10.30
- season D-rating: 21.41
D-I averages are about 14.10 for each. Worst stat of the weekend: giving up 15 goals on 24 offensive possessions to Air Force, a rate of 62.5%, which is as bad as last week's clearing numbers against Penn State (9 for 21.) Michigan has given up goals on 45.9% of offensive possessions on the season; the worst in the country is Mercer at 46.7%, so that's the kind of territory we're in.
Consistency, or lack thereof, is the hobgoblin here. Comes as no surprise, of course. Last week the clearing was a disaster; this weekend, the clearing is much better but the defense basically stinks.
The Jax game could be a shootout, as the Dolphins' offense has been pretty good, and against some tough teams too. Mercer sucks, of course, so hopefully that game will get us off the schneid in the win column if the Jax game doesn't.
February 27th, 2012 at 11:28 AM ^
I wonder if the defense really stunk today. How much of this falls on the goalie? Weiss, who was supposed to be the starter this year, hasn't played yet. He's hurt right? I thought he came in with some promising credentials.
Westerhold, who was a freshman football player at Kenyon (D3 ) last year (does not show up on their lacrosse roster), has started all four games and has a .366 save percentage so far. That's not good. Some of that could be defensive breakdowns that allow shots from the crease, but if they are starting a guy who couldn't make a middle of the pack D3 roster last year, it helps explain some things. Plus Westerhold is playing with a broken thumb and a big cast. There's a whole thread discussing it on Inside Lacrosse. http://forums.insidelacrosse.com/showthread.php?t=231040
I'm not holding out much hope that they'll hang with Jacksonville. That team put a beat-down on Navy a couple weeks ago. Mercer is a good opportunity, but nothing is a given this year. Deep breaths. Patience.
February 27th, 2012 at 11:43 AM ^
It's actually a little higher - .370 - after this weekend's games, but yeah, that's still terrible. But I don't think that's very informative about whether it's the goalie's fault or whether the defense is allowing easy shots. Our opponents this weekend put about 64% of shots on net, which is high-ish. Some other points which lead me to blame the defense over the goalie:
-- Denver's three starting attackmen scored 10 goals.
-- 12 of 17 Denver goals and 14 of 15 AFA goals were assisted. That second number is astounding.
I think that suggests a problem with close-in defense and that opposing offenses are finding ways to carve up the defense and get easy shots. I haven't seen a game live since the opener, but I think we can draw some tentative conclusions from the stats. .370 is a rotten save percentage, but it's what you'll end up with if the shots are coming from within ten yards.
February 27th, 2012 at 12:43 PM ^
Probably a combination. Assists can also come from outside shots that came off a pass. Hard to tell without seeing them play, and I haven't.
Would make sense that the defense is struggling. They have some young guys, and some guys playing in completely new positions who are playing.
They could always pack it into a tight zone and take away assist opportunities. I am going to assume that they aren't playing really aggressively, but if their goalie isn't very good a zone would not be the answer.