You spent the better part of four months meticulously dissecting the 2012 college lacrosse season. You shouldn't stop now because cold turkey is a bad way to go through life, man. College Crosse is providing decompression snapshots of all 61 teams and their 2012 campaigns, mostly because everything needs a proper burial.
I. VITAL SIGNS
Team: Albany Great Danes
2012 Record: 5-11 (3-2, America East)
2012 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): 1.59 (17)
2011 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): 2.55 (5)
Winning Percentage Change from 2011: -2.08%
2012 Efficiency Margin: -1.80 (35)
Efficiency Margin Change from 2011: +0.56
II. "ATTA BOY!" FACT
- It took until March 31st for Albany to get its first win of the season against Binghamton, a 12-11 victory at home. Up until that point, Albany was in heavy Reverse Survivor contention, standing neck-and-neck with Wagner as the last two teams in Division I (that were eligible for the Reverse Survivor championship) without a victory. Seven straight losses made it look like Scott Marr would need to update his LinkedIn account and then something happened: Albany dropped Binghamton, went 4-3 over its last seven regular season games (including a 14-13 victory over Siena), whipped UMBC in the America East Tournament semifinals, and was on the cusp of earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament if it could beat Stony Brook in the league's championship game. Alas, Albany would not make your brain leak out of your ears and move past the Seawolves, but the team's recovery after a pitiful start is something that deserves a happiness explosion.
III. "YOU'RE GROUNDED UNTIL YOU QUALIFY FOR THE AARP!" FACT
- The Great Danes' defense was abysmal in 2012 and a lot of that has to do with what they got out of the cage last year. On the season, Max Huber and John Carroll combined for a 40.3 save percentage, which is beyond atrocious and bordering on criminal (a violation of Criminal Code Sec. 112396: Ruining Things). Only two teams saw fewer saves per defensive possession than Albany and only Mercer posted a worse raw defensive shooting percentage. These are very bad things, and when combined with a defensive assist rate that bordered on the bottom 10 nationally, it's almost a miracle that the Great Danes finished the year with an adjusted defensive efficiency value that ranked 45th in the country. Huber returns in 2013, but Albany is going to need significantly stronger play out of the rising sophomore if the Great Danes hope to get things headed in the right direction.
IV. MR. FIX-IT HAS A ONE-FIX ENGAGEMENT, AND IT'S . . .
- The goalie situation obviously needs to be addressed, but there is another issue lurking: In 2012, Albany played at almost a three possession deficit over 60 minutes of play; this is heavily attributable to the team's struggles at the dot, winning only about 44 percent of their draws. Primary face-off specialist Keith Olson is off to do whatever college graduates do in 2012 -- eat potato chips and disappoint their parents? -- so Albany is going to have to develop some talent to try and remedy this situation. With an offense featuring Miles, Lyle, and Ty Thompson, the Great Danes need to do a better job of getting these guys the ball to insulate their overall defensive issues if the goalie situation doesn't improve.