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: Detroit Titans
2012 Record: 6-9 (3-3, MAAC)
2012 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): -4.55 (60)
2011 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): -1.37 (48)
Winning Percentage Change from 2011: +2.50%
2012 Efficiency Margin: -6.17 (46)
Efficiency Margin Change from 2011: -5.30
II. "ATTA BOY!" FACT
Despite the big drop in defensive efficiency, the D actually wasn’t so bad. Middle-of-the-pack is just for a team like Detroit. Once again, UDM led the nation in caused turnovers per game (though playing the second-fastest lacrosse in the country maximized possessions for those CTs to add up), and goalkeeper A.J. Levell was a rock in cage, earning All-MAAC second-team honors.
The Detroit ride was also very good, holding opponents to the seventh-worst clearing percentage in the country. Part of that could be competition faced – that number is not adjusted for schedule strength – but part of it carries over from the aggressive style of lacrosse the Titans play.
Other aspects of the squad worked well in fits and starts – the offense and defense both had moments of glory, and even the faceoffs went well at times – but the key going forward will be to develop more consistency.
III. "YOU'RE GROUNDED UNTIL YOU QUALIFY FOR THE AARP!" FACT
- Again, from Great Lax State:
Offensive efficiency was very poor. It was slightly better with Joel Matthews in the lineup, but it took a pretty serious tumble from 2011.
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Clearing was very poor. Some of that is plain bad luck, of course (injuries to defensive midfielders and others certainly didn’t help), but you’d like to see the team get better on stick skill-oriented aspects of the game as the program matures. Technically, they did improve – going from second-worst last season to fifth-worst this year.
As mentioned above, injuries are mostly bad luck. It did seem that Detroit was more struck by the injury bug than normal in 2012, and hopefully eight months of rehab will be enough for the team to return for a healthy 2013 – and one that’s not as unlucky.
IV. MR. FIX-IT HAS A ONE-FIX ENGAGEMENT, AND IT'S . . .
- Get the team's academic situation ironed out. For the second season in a row, Detroit failed to put together a sparkling academic record, skirting penalties on its APR score by, basically, default. Detroit is only a cycle past receiving a 1.26 scholarship reduction pursuant to its APR score; if it continues down this path, it'll be taking itself out of MAAC contention not because it can't field a league contender, but because they'll be prohibited from participating. That big building on campus that doesn't have a food court? That's the library. Make friends with it.