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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: Maryland Terrapins
2013 Record: 10-4 (2-1, ACC)
2013 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): 2.94 (6)
2012 Strength of Schedule (Efficiency Margin): 3.27 (2)
Winning Percentage Change from 2012: +4.83%
2013 Efficiency Margin: 8.78 (6)
Efficiency Margin Change from 2012: -2.44
II. "ATTA BOY!" FACT
- Prior to the sunrise of the 2013 season, everyone was staring at Maryland and wondering whether the Terrapins would be able to cha-cha under new pace-intensive rules. Long a pragmatic team, Maryland had finished toward the bottom of the country in possessions per 60 minutes of play ("Pace") in 2011 and 2012; much was made that the Terps' dedication to playing lacrosse like a Florida retiree on the interstate underlied the team's back-to-back Memorial Monday appearances in the two seasons preceding 2013. There just wasn't clarity as to how -- and whether -- Maryland would adapt to this new regime. As it turns out, the Terrapins handled things just fine:
MARYLAND'S ADJUSTMENT TO PACE-INTENSIVE RULES METRIC 2011 2012 2013 Pace 59.77 (55) 59.17 (59) 64.29 (45) Adjusted Offensive Efficiency 31.58 (12) 36.76 (3) 34.46 (12) Adjusted Defensive Efficiency 24.30 (8) 25.57 (8) 25.68 (12) Adjusted Efficiency Margin 7.28 (8) 11.20 (3) 8.78 (6) Pythagorean Win Expectation 69.27% (8) 75.51% (5) 71.33% (6)
III. "YOU'RE GROUNDED UNTIL YOU QUALIFY FOR THE AARP!" FACT
- Maryland had the look of a crushing destroyer of souls over its first six games of 2013: The team throttled Mount St. Mary's and Hartford to open their campaign; followed those two wins up with a nice victory at Loyola and a shellacking of Duke in Durham; and then quietly earned two nice wins against Stony Brook and Villanova. After that start, however, things kind of went sideways for Maryland: After proving to be -- and I'm quoting from Flight of the Conchords here -- vincible against North Carolina, Maryland meandered through the final portion of its season, seemingly without the volition that characterized the team in the early portion of its schedule. What was most shocking about Maryland's final eight games compared to its first six was that the Terps' offense melted when the heat was turned up:
MARYLAND'S OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCE: FIRST SIX GAMES VS. LAST EIGHT GAMES METRIC FIRST SIX GAMES LAST EIGHT GAMES SEASON VALUE Adjusted Offensive Efficiency 38.43 30.24 34.46 Shots per Offensive Opportunity 0.99 1.05 1.02 Raw Offensive Shooting Rate 41.28% 26.57% 33.13% Assists per 100 Offensive Opportunities 22.62 15.89 19.00 Opponent Saves per 100 Offensive Opportunities 23.53 32.95 28.60 Opponent Save Percentage 36.62% 54.14% 45.82% Strength of Schedule: Opposing Defenses Faced 32.15 28.00 29.78
IV. MR. FIX-IT HAS A ONE-FIX ENGAGEMENT, AND IT'S . . .
- John Tillman brings the top-rated recruiting class to College Park (included in that group is Matt Rambo, who could step in immediately and contribute), but the Terrapins are going to need to replace all kinds of key contributors going into 2014, including its top four scorers from 2013 (Kevin Cooper, Owen Blye, John Haus, Jake Bernhardt), Billy Gribbin, Jesse Bernhardt, Landon Carr, and Curtis Holmes. That's a ton of value that walked out of Byrd Stadium and there are bound to be growing pains for the Terps (even with Niko Amato, Goran Murray, Casey Ikeda, and Michael Ehrhardt returning to form the team's defensive core). How quickly Tillman can fill all of these holes -- especially at the offensive end of the field where the situation is best described as "Mike Chanenchuk, Jay Carlson, and [Your Face Here!]" -- will ultimately determine where Maryland goes in 2014.