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: Siena Saints
2012 Record: 11-5 (6-0, MAAC)
2012 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): -3.02 (56)
2011 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): -2.39 (59)
Winning Percentage Change from 2011: -3.47%
2012 Efficiency Margin: 3.96 (17)
Efficiency Margin Change from 2011: +2.89
II. "ATTA BOY!" FACT
- There weren't too many offensive duos in the country that were better than Siena's Danny Martinsen and Bryan Neufeld. Neufeld -- with a 76 point campaign, which is almost makes your ears bleed in this era of college lacrosse -- finished the year ranked eighth in Total Offensive Value and 25th among attack in the Player Statistical Index. His linemate was almost as electric, generating a Total Offensive Value ranking of 28th and a Player Statistical Index position of 47th within the attack cohort. These two cats, the motor to Siena's offense which oftentimes looked more like a cataclysmic landslide than a human endeavor, were the hub of a giving and willing offense, sharing the bean at a rate that would push the Saints into the top five in offensive assist rate. Throw in the fact that Neufeld and Martinsen each shot the ball at over a 34 percent clip on the year despite heavy usage, and these two guys -- the last year that college lacrosse will see each on the field together committing random acts of goalie embarrassment -- were among the nation's elite.
III. "YOU'RE GROUNDED UNTIL YOU QUALIFY FOR THE AARP!" FACT
- Here's an excerpted conversation between Destiny and Siena Lacrosse:
Destiny: Here's an awesome opportunity to find greatness! Just beat Canisius in the MAAC Tournament championship. You already beat them 14-2 this season!
Siena: [/fart noise]
I still can't wrap my gigantic and adorable brain around how the Saints lost to the Griffins in the MAAC final this year. Siena cruised through the league this season, going undefeated and holding a +43 goal differential in conference play. Nobody in the MAAC even approached the level of play that the Saints exhibited throughout the year, and yet Canisius did that eye-roll thing that people do when they're less than amused. That eye-roll must have had legitimate powers because Siena's feelings were clearly hurt and the emotional distress rendered the Saints useless as Canisius held Siena's dropkick offense scoreless in the second half of the tournament final. You only get so many chances to date the prom queen; if you miss your opportunity, you're stuck playing Internet poker and drinking Fanta in a darkened computer room.
IV. MR. FIX-IT HAS A ONE-FIX ENGAGEMENT, AND IT'S . . .
- Brian Brecht left a lot in the cupboard when he departed Siena for Rutgers. The charge for neophyte head coach John Svec is to continue the Saints' growth and establish Siena not only as a regional strength but also start grabbing some bigger wins across the vale of college lacrosse. With MAAC lacrosse programs approaching their "core sport" funding requirement in 2014-2015, Siena (at least in theory) will be facing stronger competition from within its league. If the Saints fail to continue to grow, they may be caught in the near future by conference opponents to which the program has generally decimated in the recent past.