Albany and the Thompson Trio's Destruction of Massachusetts

Through 45:11 seconds -- the last moment that one of the Thompson Trio appears in the play-by-play -- Albany scored 22 goals against Massachusetts. The offensive display that Great Danes put on at Garber Field was completely bonkers, the kind of effort that appears possible only by robots sent from the future with the lone purpose of embarrassing goalkeepers through systematic programming designed to somehow take control of Earth via concentrated goal scoring. Those 2,711 seconds were pure fire from Albany's offense, one of the most impressive offensive outputs that I have ever attempt to comprehend:

If it didn't actually happen you'd think that it's fiction: Albany scored on almost 71 percent of their possessions, shot over 52 percent as a group, valued the ball like crazy, and held Massachusetts to a paltry 24.14 save percentage. That is not normal unless normal involves unrestrained anarchy. Teams get hot in spurts, but the Great Danes -- in 31 possessions (teams played an average of 33 offensive possessions per 60 minutes of play in 2013) -- were unbelievably consistent and unyielding in their offensive production, tallying 22 goals on 31 offensive opportunities. And it's not like Massachusetts was a bucket of garbage, either. Albany uncorked an offensive ass-beating of epic proportions, and it was the Thompson Trio -- Lyle, Miles, and Ty -- that were predominantly responsible for what Albany was able to accomplish against the Minutemen.

Digging into the Thompson Trio's contributions to Albany's evisceration of Massachusetts and the scoreboard, something becomes clear: The trio's performance may stand as the most notable single-game effort from three offensive players in fewer than 60 minutes of play. I have no information to support this possibility, but the data here is unreal:

Some brief notes on this:

• Lyle ended almost half of Albany's offensive opportunities -- importantly, offensive opportunities that generated tallies 70 percent of the time -- on his own. In another way, Lyle ended over 35 percent of Albany's total offensive opportunities during the first 45:11 of playing -- constituting 31 possessions -- doing something positive. That is not just a valuable cog to Albany's war machine; that is the cog to Albany's war machine.
• Of Miles' six goals, Lyle assisted him on four tallies. Miles' positive impact on the day was heavily influenced by Lyle, further increasing the worth of Lyle to the Danes' efforts against Massachusetts.
• These estimated net benefit numbers are bonkers. An estimated 18 of 31 Albany possessions over the period examined ended with a Thompson doing something wonderful. And none of these guys made boneheaded mistakes! The good so far outweighed the bad that the Thompson Trio existed in their own stratosphere. Hell, Lyle was an elite offense -- not an elite player; an elite offense -- all on his own against the Minutemen.

This shouldn't happen in Division I lacrosse. Opposing coaches are too sophisticated and opposing players are too good to let something like this happen. Yet, the Thompson Trio exploded the restrictions of possibility this past weekend, painting an offensive portrait that will stand for generations as seminal in its time.