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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 it comes, boys and girls. Memorial Monday is just hours away and Maryland and Loyola are going to settle things -- once and for all (kind of) -- at 1:00 P.M. on ESPN. It's a duel just past noon, pitting what has been one of the most balanced and successful teams all season against a school that is putting it all together at the right time of the season and leaving catastrophe in its wake. It may not be the title game that a lot of people expected, but it has the feel of what could be a nasty land war with all kinds of collateral damage (including a two hour hit to your social life).
CHAMPIONSHIP: (UNSEEDED) MARYLAND AT (1) LOYOLA
You really couldn't ask for a squarer matchup for a national title, even if there are significant differences in how each team wants to go about their business. These are two value-based offenses that will attempt to make their bones against two undervalued and efficient defenses. Jack Runkel and Niko Amato will factor large into the result of Monday's contest, and with each goalie finding their stride, this may just be a title game for the ages.
A truncated game profile will follow, but for now, here's how each team stacks up in some legacy metrics:
| BIG STATS | PACE STATS | |||
| Record | 12-5 | Clear % | 88.15% (9) | |
| Adj. Off. Efficiency | 37.45 (3) | Opp. Clear % | 85.41% (41) | |
| Adj. Def. Efficiency | 25.07 (7) | Faceoff % | 50.13% (30) | |
| Poss. Percentage | 50.69 (17) | Pace | 60.00 (57) | |
| Off. Poss./60 min. | 30.41 (50) | |||
| DEFENSIVE STATS | Def. Poss./60 min. | 29.59 (6) | ||
| Save Percentage | 52.7% | |||
| Saves/Def. Poss. | 0.30 (42) | OFFENSIVE STATS | ||
| Opp. Sht. %. | 27.29% (21) | Goal Differential | +56 | |
| Opp. Effective Sht. % | 28.01% (22) | Shooting % | 32.87% (6) | |
| Def. Assist Rate | 0.14 (12) | Effective Sht. % | 33.56% (6) | |
| Man-Down/Def. Poss. | 0.13 (51) | Assist Rate | 0.21 (13) | |
| Man-Down Conversion % | 33.33% (27) | EMO per Off. Poss. | 0.09 (50) | |
| Man-Down Reliance | 0.16 (52) | EMO Conversion % | 42.22% (13) | |
| C/T per Def. Poss. | 0.26 (9) | EMO Reliance | 0.10 (45) | |
| Turnovers/Off. Poss. | 0.39 (3) | |||
| Opp. Saves/Off. Poss. | 0.33 (41) |
| BIG STATS | PACE STATS | |||
| Record | 17-1 | Clear % | 91.78% (1) | |
| Adj. Off. Efficiency | 34.57 (10) | Opp. Clear % | 82.54% (21) | |
| Adj. Def. Efficiency | 23.86 (6) | Faceoff % | 51.69% (23) | |
| Poss. Percentage | 52.90% (6) | Pace | 66.75 (21) | |
| Off. Poss./60 min. | 35.31 (12) | |||
| DEFENSIVE STATS | Def. Poss./60 min. | 31.44 (21) | ||
| Save Percentage | 54.0% | |||
| Saves/Def. Poss. | 0.28 (52) | OFFENSIVE STATS | ||
| Opp. Sht. %. | 24.81% (7) | Goal Differential | +86 | |
| Opp. Effective Sht. % | 25.37% (7) | Shooting % | 30.01% (22) | |
| Def. Assist Rate | 0.13 (6) | Effective Sht. % | 30.67% (23) | |
| Man-Down/Def. Poss. | 0.08 (13) | Assist Rate | 0.21 (12) | |
| Man-Down Conversion % | 37.50% (35) | EMO per Off. Poss. | 0.08 (53) | |
| Man-Down Reliance | 0.13 (43) | EMO Conversion % | 45.28% (7) | |
| C/T per Def. Poss. | 0.29 (1) | EMO Reliance | 0.11 (40) | |
| Turnovers/Off. Poss. | 0.37 (2) | |||
| Opp. Saves/Off. Poss. | 0.34 (46) |
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 | 10.53 | 20 | N/A | N/A | Maryland | J. Cummings | 9.66 | 34 | N/A | N/A | |
| Loyola | M. Sawyer | 9.43 | 40 | N/A | N/A | Maryland | O. Blye | 7.88 | 80 | N/A | N/A | |
| Loyola | J. Ward | 6.60 | 126 | N/A | N/A | Maryland | J. Haus | 6.50 | 133 | N/A | N/A | |
| Loyola | D. Butts | 5.18 | 187 | N/A | N/A | |||||||
T.O.V. = Total Offensive Value (individual points per 100 offensive possessions). This is updated through all games played by May 26, 2012.
Rank = National T.O.V. rank. This is updated through all games played by May 26, 2012.
Stat Ranking has not updated player PSI rankings or values through Saturday's games.
So, that's your overview. Who are you taking to win on Saturday evening?