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: Lafayette Leopards
2012 Record: 3-10 (1-5, Patriot)
2012 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): -1.82 (47)
2011 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): -1.28 (47)
Winning Percentage Change from 2011: +7.69%
2012 Efficiency Margin: -6.90 (47)
Efficiency Margin Change from 2011: -0.80
II. "ATTA BOY!" FACT
- There isn't much to say here other than, "It could've been a lot worse, college boy." Opponents relied fairly strongly on personnel imbalance situations to score against Lafayette this season, but the Leopards did a decent job at staying out of man-down postures (Lafayette ranked 15th in man-down postures per defensive possession). This isn't to say that opponents needed the personnel imbalance to score against Lafayette, nor is it to say that Lafayette played well in man-down situations (they didn't). Rather, it's that the Leopards didn't exacerbate a bad defensive situation by taking penalties and writing their own death sentence. So, good job at not creating complete misery, gentlemen.
III. "YOU'RE GROUNDED UNTIL YOU QUALIFY FOR THE AARP!" FACT
- Lafayette's offense was horrendous in 2012 and there isn't too much to mitigate that fact. Rolling with only one player ranked in the top 200 in Total Offensive Value (freshman Brian Bock), the Leopards hobbled their way to the 53rd most-efficient offense in the country. The major culprits were the regular conspirators: The team had a hard time canning the bean (the Leopards held a raw shooting percentage of 27.30 percent, good for 44th in Division I) and they couldn't seem to find a way to share the bean (the team ranked 55th in the nation in offensive assist rate). Coupled with an inability to out-possession their opponents (Lafayette played at about a 3.5 possession deficit compared to their foes) and a strain of wastefulness in offensive opportunities (only six teams cleared the ball worse than the Leopards in 2012 and only nine teams committed more turnovers per offensive opportunity), Lafayette was among the worst offensive attacks in all of Division I. And that's how you end up with three wins (one against hapless Wagner).
IV. MR. FIX-IT HAS A ONE-FIX ENGAGEMENT, AND IT'S . . .
- Let new head coach Jim Rogalski try to figure this all out. Some support from the university -- which has been hinted at by the athletic department -- and time to develop a program identity will go a long way to allowing the Leopards to catch up to their arch rivals down the road in Bethlehem. The Patriot League is a nasty place to try and gain ground, but Lafayette has no choice but to throw hands and hope for the best.