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: Vermont Catamounts
2012 Record: 2-12 (1-4, America East)
2012 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): -0.25 (38)
2011 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): -0.48 (35)
Winning Percentage Change from 2011: -25.71%
2012 Efficiency Margin: -8.26
Efficiency Margin Change from 2011: -5.45
II. "ATTA BOY!" FACT
- Geoff Worley was an absolute horse for Vermont this year. When all was said and done, Worley finished the year ranked 31st nationally in adjusted Total Offensive Value. To give a little context to than ranking, the now-departed senior generated 44 points on only 430 offensive opportunities (that total offensive possession count ranked 51st in the country last season (the team just couldn't win face-offs)). When you adjust it against the schedule that Worley and the Catamounts played in 2012, you see that while his per-game and aggregated stats aren't mind-blowing, his overall contribution to the team -- basically, it was him and Drew Philie getting it all done for Vermont this season -- was among the more important and notable in Division I.
III. "YOU'RE GROUNDED UNTIL YOU QUALIFY FOR THE AARP!" FACT
- We're eventually going to grow out of this as we move through the entirety of Division I, but the song remains the same for now: Bad teams tend to do stupid things very well. Vermont didn't escape that trap in 2012 (which is a shame considering their 6-9 campaign in 2011), finishing the year ranked 55th nationally in turnovers per offensive opportunity and 54th in man-down postures per defensive possessions. It's the turnovers that were especially irksome for Vermont this season: On the year, the Catamounts finished second to last in the country in possession margin at -5.41 per 60 minutes of player; the team also turned the bean over on about 56 percent of its chances to possess it. When you can't get the ball you have problems; when you give it away when you actually have it you exacerbate the issue. That's how you finish the season 2-12 in the overall and 1-4 in a bad league.
IV. MR. FIX-IT HAS A ONE-FIX ENGAGEMENT, AND IT'S . . .
- Grow up. Vermont's roster was littered with young pups and a lot of the team's sloppiness can probably be attributed to that. Ryan Curtis has had some uneven seasons since taking over for the team's 2007 campaign; if he can get some of his youth to come along and develop, some of the self-inflicted death can be mitigated. The situation in Burlington isn't ideal, but with continued dedication from Curtis & Company it isn't impossible to move up the board in the America East (or, at least not finish with sad faces in the basement).