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It's the 2012 NCAA lacrosse Final Four! Take out the nice napkins and make sure that your kid doesn't have crap all over his face. College Crosse has this all under control, so feel safe, friends. If you missed anything -- and you really shouldn't because you're only hurting yourself if you do -- click this fancy highlighted text to get all caught up.
Here we go, boys and girls. Championship Weekend is mere hours away; this is what the founders of the country expected out of us 200 years after they signed the Declaration of Independence. (I think).
The opener for the weekend is sweetness wrapped in a sugar-coated hug, pitting surging Notre Dame against what has been one of the most balanced teams all year -- Loyola. The Greyhounds are in their first Final Four since 1998 while Notre Dame is in its second in the last three seasons. Both are looking for their first-ever NCAA title, so things are kind of important from here on out.
SEMIFINAL I: (4) NOTRE DAME AT (1) LOYOLA
When I usually look at these charts, there's usually a few things that pop immediately as potential game-changing metrics. With the Irish and Greyhounds, there is great tension between each team's strengths which should produce some interesting results on the field on Saturday.
Detailed profiles will follow, but for now, here's how each team stacks up in some legacy metrics:
| BIG STATS | PACE STATS | |||
| Record | 16-1 | Clear % | 91.59% (1) | |
| Adj. Off. Efficiency | 34.25 (12) | Opp. Clear % | 82.50% (21) | |
| Adj. Def. Efficiency | 24.24 (6) | Faceoff % | 53.25% (21) | |
| Poss. Percentage | 53.39% (4) | Pace | 67.38 (20) | |
| Off. Poss./60 min. | 35.98 (8) | |||
| DEFENSIVE STATS | Def. Poss./60 min. | 31.41 (20) | ||
| Save Percentage | 52.4% | |||
| Saves/Def. Poss. | 0.26 (57) | OFFENSIVE STATS | ||
| Opp. Sht. %. | 25.20% (8) | Goal Differential | +84 | |
| Opp. Effective Sht. % | 25.75% (8) | Shooting % | 30.21% (28) | |
| Def. Assist Rate | 0.13 (6) | Effective Sht. % | 30.90% (23) | |
| Man-Down/Def. Poss. | 0.09 (15) | Assist Rate | 0.21 (11) | |
| Man-Down Conversion % | 36.96% (35) | EMO per Off. Poss. | 0.08 (53) | |
| Man-Down Reliance | 0.13 (41) | EMO Conversion % | 48.00% (4) | |
| C/T per Def. Poss. | 0.30 (1) | EMO Reliance | 0.11 (37) | |
| Turnovers/Off. Poss. | 0.36 (2) | |||
| Opp. Saves/Off. Poss. | 0.04 (54) |
| BIG STATS | PACE STATS | |||
| Record | 13-2 | Clear % | 89.20% (6) | |
| Adj. Off. Efficiency | 28.98 (59) | Opp. Clear % | 87.68% (53) | |
| Adj. Def. Efficiency | 28.85 (3) | Faceoff % | 47.87% (40) | |
| Poss. Percentage | 50.11% (31) | Pace | 57.82 (61) | |
| Off. Poss./60 min. | 28.98 (59) | |||
| DEFENSIVE STATS | Def. Poss./60 min. | 28.85 (3) | ||
| Save Percentage | 63.8% | |||
| Saves/Def. Poss. | 0.37 (12) | OFFENSIVE STATS | ||
| Opp. Sht. %. | 19.75% (1) | Goal Differential | +39 | |
| Opp. Effective Sht. % | 19.89% (1) | Shooting % | 27.42% (41) | |
| Def. Assist Rate | 0.14 (8) | Effective Sht. % | 27.70% (47) | |
| Man-Down/Def. Poss. | 0.07 (7) | Assist Rate | 0.14 (48) | |
| Man-Down Conversion % | 11.76% (1) | EMO per Off. Poss. | 0.07 (59) | |
| Man-Down Reliance | 0.04 (1) | EMO Conversion % | 24.24% (52) | |
| C/T per Def. Poss. | 0.20 (37) | EMO Reliance | 0.06 (60) | |
| Turnovers/Off. Poss. | 0.47 (34) | |||
| Opp. Saves/Off. Poss. | 0.33 (44) |
More deadly information after the jump.
| TEAM | PLAYER | T.O.V. | RANK | P.S.I. | RANK | TEAM | PLAYER | T.O.V. | RANK | P.S.I. | RANK | |
| Loyola | E. Lusby | 9.8093 | 30 | 3.19 | 12 | Notre Dame | J. Marlatt | 6.7342 | 122 | 1.69 | 91 | |
| Loyola | M. Sawyer | 9.6485 | 34 | 3.23 | 11 | Notre Dame | S. Rogers | 6.5097 | 134 | 2.05 | 88 | |
| Loyola | J. Ward | 6.5931 | 127 | 2.63 | 43 | |||||||
| Loyola | D. Butts | 5.3067 | 184 | 2.28 | 43 | |||||||
T.O.V. = Total Offensive Value (individual points per 100 offensive possessions). This is updated through all games played by May 20, 2012.
Rank = National T.O.V. rank. This is updated through all games played by May 20, 2012.
So, that's your overview. Who are you taking to win on Saturday afternoon?