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You spent the better part of four months meticulously dissecting the 2013 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 63 teams and their 2013 campaigns, mostly because everything needs a proper burial.
I. VITAL SIGNS
Team: Army Black Knights
2013 Record: 8-6 (4-2, Patriot)
2013 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): -1.79 (44)
2012 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): 1.09 (20)
Winning Percentage Change from 2012: +10.48%
2013 Efficiency Margin: 3.91 (20)
Efficiency Margin Change from 2012: +1.51
II. "ATTA BOY!" FACT
- John Glesener was Army's winner of the "Most Distinguished Effort in Ruining the Souls of the Opposition (Offensive Destruction Division)," but the Black Knights' defense -- anchored by Brendan Buckley and the emerging Sam Somers in the crease -- probably buoyed Army to its success on the season (outside, of course, Glesener's growth and his relationship with Garrett Thul): Army's defense was a lightning bolt sent from the heavens to smote opposing offenses for their foolishness in believing that they could infringe on the Cadets' placid goal nets. Elite defenses come in different forms and operate in unique functions, but in the overall, there aren't many teams in the nation in 2013 that put together the complete effort that Army did at defending the ball:
ARMY: DEFENDING OUR FREEDOM AND THEIR GOALS METRIC VALUE NT'L RANK Adjusted Defensive Efficiency 25.55 10 Shots per Defensive Opportunity 0.95 5 Raw Defensive Shooting Rate 25.06% 8 Assist Rate per 100 Defensive Opportunities 13.04 5 Ride Percentage 18.75% 3 Turnovers per 100 Defensive Opportunities 51.74 7 Turnover Margin per 100 Opportunities +7.48 10 Estimated Functional Defensive Opportunities Ratio 88.26% 1 Estimated Lost Functional Defensive Opportunities Ratio 45.32% 9 "Run-of-Play" Work Rate Margin +2.34 20 Saves per 100 Defensive Opportunities 30.87 46 Team Save Percentage 56.57% 10 Strength of Schedule: Opposing Offenses Faced 28.52 55
III. "YOU'RE GROUNDED UNTIL YOU QUALIFY FOR THE AARP!" FACT
- It's hard to stomach teams that take a gratuitous number of penalties and play in man-down postures a lot, especially if those teams are defensively competent. There's just something about self-inflicted harm that doesn't sit right in my skull -- pushing the envelope is fine, but tailspin after tailspin and ruined aircraft, what has been learned? That's kind of the story with Army this past season:
ARMY: VIOLATING THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS (LACROSSE PROTOCOLS) METRIC VALUE NT'L RANK Penalties per 100 Opportunities 7.67 60 Man-Down Postures per 100 Defensive Opportunities 13.70 58 Man-Down Posture Conversion Rate 34.92% 35 Man-Down Posture Reliance 20.18% 63 ARMY'S LOSSES AND MAN-DOWN HELL OPPONENT OPPONENT EXTRA-MAN OPPORTUNITIES FINAL SCORE Massachusetts 3-7 9-16 (L) Syracuse 2-3 2-6 (L) Lehigh 0-5 6-10 (L) Bucknell 2-3 8-9 (L) Bucknell 3-4 9-12 (L) Johns Hopkins 2-7 4-9 (L)
IV. MR. FIX-IT HAS A ONE-FIX ENGAGEMENT, AND IT'S . . .
- Army is losing a handful of important pieces entering 2014, including Thul and Buckley. Many assets remain, though, and the biggest key for Joe Alberici heading into next spring is continuing to build a developed roster capable of raising hell in the ever-increasing horror show that is the Patriot League. Glesener is the offensive cog, but he needs continued, leveraged support to fill the void that Thul leaves in his wake; is the field defense ready to mature to their potential and past their status and compete in Buckley's absence? Replacement and continuity are Army's biggest focuses at the moment.