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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: Holy Cross Crusaders
2013 Record: 7-8 (2-4, Patriot)
2013 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): -1.66 (43)
2012 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): 0.12 (33)
Winning Percentage Change from 2012: +13.33%
2013 Efficiency Margin: -3.55 (36)
Efficiency Margin Change from 2012: +6.95
II. "ATTA BOY!" FACT
- Holy Cross experienced monster improvement from 2012 to 2013, and that statement has little to do with actual wins and losses (although, the team's improvement in the win-loss category -- and who they beat -- is fairly impressive as well). Focusing on the team's performance between 2012 and 2013, the Crusaders rank among the strongest risers between the two seasons: Only Pennsylvania and North Carolina made bigger gains in their Pythagorean win expectation ranking (Holy Cross climbed 19 positions) and only those two aforementioned schools had a more drastic ranking increase in adjusted efficiency margin (the Crusaders, again, climbed 19 positions). This is incredible growth for a program that has, historically, struggled to get on and off the bus: The Crusaders were -- both theoretically and actually -- two wins stronger in 2013 than they were in 2012. Now, Holy Cross' wins aren't blowing up on the national level (the Crusaders didn't beat a team over .500 this past season and their best win arguably came against a 7-7 Hartford team), but that's not necessarily important; what's important is that Jim Morrissey is using his black magic to put Holy Cross on the right path and the Crusaders are delivering. Maybe a table would help illustrate just how much work Holy Cross has put in and the gains that the program has made under Morrissey's direction:
HOLY CROSS' GROWTH: 2011-2013 METRIC 2011 2012 2013 Pythagorean Win Expectation 17.91% (56) 25.96% (55) 41.15% (36) Adjusted Offensive Efficiency 19.51 (58) 26.10 (48) 29.05 (39) Adjusted Defensive Efficiency 31.89 (52) 36.60 (56) 32.60 (36) Adjusted Efficiency Margin -12.37 (56) -10.50 (55) -3.55 (36)
III. "YOU'RE GROUNDED UNTIL YOU QUALIFY FOR THE AARP!" FACT
- Holy Cross was a possession margin nightmare in 2013. On the year, the Crusaders finished at a deficit of minus-4.27 per 60 minutes of play, a mark that ranked 57th in the nation. The biggest culprit of this deficit? The team's faceoff play -- Holy Cross drew at just 38.37 percent in 2013, a value that ranked 59th in the nation. That's . . . well, Syracuse fans -- the biggest gripers about faceoff play in the country -- have nothing to complain about given the Crusaders' problems. To illustrate just how much Holy Cross' faceoff woes impacted them this season, I pulled together a table detailing the Crusaders' possession margins in all of their games, highlighting the team's faceoff margin in those contests:
HOLY CROSS' FACEOFF ISSUES OPPONENT HOLY CROSS POSSESSIONS OPPONENT POSSESSIONS POSSESSION MARGIN FACEOFF MARGIN RESULT Siena 29 33 -4 -3 9-11 (L) Hartford 31 29 +2 +4 11-9 (W) Harvard 37 44 -7 -9 12-16 (L) Sacred Heart 30 37 -7 -10 11-9 (W) Rutgers 32 35 -3 -9 9-8 (W) Colgate 27 37 -10 -12 6-14 (L) Navy 28 32 -4 -4 7-5 (W) Lehigh 22 22 E/td> -1 5-8 (L) Vermont 36 31 +5 +2 8-5 (W) Bucknell 29 37 -8 -8 9-16 (L) Lafayette 29 31 -2 -1 11-10 (W) Bryant 23 33 -10 -10 6-10 (L) Providence 24 32 -8 -12 11-12 (L) Army 28 37 -9 -7 5-14 (L) Dartmouth 39 40 -1 E 11-10 (W)
IV. MR. FIX-IT HAS A ONE-FIX ENGAGEMENT, AND IT'S . . .
- Possession-generation is a hugely important thing for Holy Cross. A focus on the generating factors -- faceoffs, clearing, and riding -- could pay important dividends for the Crusaders down the road. Otherwise, additional resources for Jim Morrissey -- the rumor on the street is that Holy Cross is adding some scholarships soon -- are what Morrissey needs more than anything to compete in the ever-dangerous Patriot League.