M Lacrosse vs Jacksonville (on ESPN3) open thread

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

The 3-1 Wolverines are back at D.B. Milne Field--the site of their first win in program history which took place in 2012 against Mercer. 

Jacksonville is 1-1 on the season. Their loss was a 20-4 blowout to current #9 Army with their win coming against St. John's by a score of 12-11 in OT.

Michigan played Jacksonville in 2012 two days before they played Mercer in the neutral site game at Milne Field, but they lost to Jacksonville 9-8 in OT. That would have been Michigan's first win had JU not scored in OT.

First televised game of the season. Live on ESPN3.com for free. Faceoff at 7pm.

 

Wolverine Devotee

March 3rd, 2015 at 7:17 PM ^

Need moar direction on offense. That last possession was a whole lot of nothing going on.

In reply to by Wolverine Devotee

Arizona Blue

March 3rd, 2015 at 8:20 PM ^

Tuned in for the first time this year as I am an out of towner to see if the team has finally turned the corner..nope. Still suck. Still have an average coach.

Wolverine Devotee

March 3rd, 2015 at 8:27 PM ^

Absolute debacle of a 3rd quarter. Outscored 6-0 in the 3rd.

Down 11-7 headed to the 4th.

mlax27

March 3rd, 2015 at 8:36 PM ^

Started with the face off penalty in the 2nd quarter, then the inability to win a faceoff in the 3rd really hurt them.  Faceoffs have been trouble all year, and is really something that could have helped stop the runs in the 3rd quarter. 

Beyond that we don't seem to winning any of the 50/50 balls and too many careless turnovers  on offense.  The guys need to learn how to play up tempo without the turnovers. 

Arizona Blue

March 3rd, 2015 at 8:33 PM ^

This is bush league lacrosse. We have a long way to go. For whatever reason our defense is incredibly undisciplined. Our defenders slide looking for stick (instead of body) and when they whiff the hail mary take away check they give up the inside roll (saw that three times) for a goal. The slide man should pinch underneath and the man on the ball should stay high. For whatever reason we don't do that. Not sure what the hell the coaches are teaching but that's grade A bush league summer league shit. I suspect our coaching staff has a brady hoke in them and will need to be upgraded before the team takes the next step.

Arizona Blue

March 3rd, 2015 at 8:53 PM ^

I understand why they did. He built the program up from the ground and he deserved the opportunity to prove he could hang with the big dogs. It would have been unfair in my opinion to cut him without affording him the chance to prove it.

At this point though (based really on this game and last couple years results) the team should be further along. I shouldn't watch a team so fundamentally unsound it makes me want to turn the damn thing off. It would be one thing to not have the jimmys and joes but for God Saks, is there one kid on Jacksonville that even got a look from us or a similar level program? Likely no

mlax27

March 3rd, 2015 at 9:30 PM ^

They definitely have some guys we would have taken.  The recruiting process is very early in lacrosse, .  But I would think that their upper classmen should be on par with our upperclassmen by now (KJ, Hernandez, Logan, etc.).  It's also not a surefire as football/basketball, and plenty of guys develop late.

This team has historically struggled away from home and outdoors, and tonight they just looked off in a number of respects. 

I wouldn't say I'd be ready to throw in the towel on the team or the staff at this point.  In lacrosse these types of games happen.  If you run up on a match up that doesn't stack up well for your style or personel, that team can give you plenty of trouble. 

This is still a "young" team in that they still have to learn how to win these types of games.  Win road games, close games, games against top notch opponents or games where faceoffs or penalties don't go your way.  Last year we just started to learn to win the easy ones.  Now we need to learn the tough ones. 

L'Carpetron Do…

March 4th, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^

I didn't see the game but I can comment on the state of the defense.  They play a very different defense now, which is sort of a new-aged over-thought version. 

I've spoken to coaches who say the new-fangled style of defense is all about positioning, so much so that they don't even tell the D-men to throw checks anymore (which is the most fun part about playing defense).  This is supposedly due to the advances in offensive stick technology which have made it much more difficult to dislodge the ball.  

But, if you're teaching position without even trying to throw take-away checks, there is almost no point to playing defense.  You won't create turnovers and you'll let the other team dominate possession and control the game.  It's bewildering to me. 

I've also noticed in Michigan games I have seen that the team is not very physical.  I've seen entire games in which not a single Michigan player put a hat on anybody.  The game is much less physical than it used to be, so maybe Michigan is part of the trend.  But again, its a physical contact sport.  If you're not laying people out, you're doing something wrong.  

As you can tell I am an old crank who longs for the glory days of defense! haha!

Wolverine Devotee

March 3rd, 2015 at 8:35 PM ^

I really don't know what to make of this. The first half was the confident team I've watched all season and this second half is like a flashback to 2013.

Hoping this is just a blip.