With the number of Division I games dwindling, the rundown gets a bump this week from DII and DIII. It’s only appropriate given that all three men’s division will decide their champions next weekend. But this weekend was the quarterfinal round for Division I, which meant four games and only four teams advancing to championship weekend.
What happened was…underwhelming or exciting depending on your rooting interests. It really turned into a weekend of blowouts, which was hardly expected.
Talking About Margins
If you total up the point differential from all four games, it comes to 29. Over 4 games, that’s an average of just over 7 points per game. That had me thinking, how bad was that, really? Turns out: pretty bad. Those 29 points are actually the highest going back to 2003, which also had 29. Most year get one, maybe two blowouts while the others were three goals or less. Having the margins we saw this year are just not normal. Here’s a look at the total margins in the quarterfinal round going back to 2003:
- 2017: 29
- 2016: 13
- 2015: 14
- 2014: 26
- 2013: 13
- 2012: 20
- 2011: 12
- 2010: 20
- 2009: 19
- 2008: 20
- 2007: 21
- 2006: 19
- 2005: 15
- 2004: 9
- 2003: 29
2003 also will not be a great guide for what may happen going forward. The Quarterfinals in that year only saw one upset, which was the #5 seed Syracuse over #4 Princeton by 10. #1 Hopkins beat #8 Towson by 8, #3 Maryland topped #6 UMASS by 6, then #2 UVA topped unseeded Georgetown by 5. That gave use a final four of 1, 2, 3, and 5. #1 Hopkins and #2 UVA advanced via 11 and 10 point wins before #2 UVA won the championship by 2. Those seedings are not too far off from this year, but 1, 3, 5, and unseeded just is not that same, nor were the games similar. But, the total differential was right on.
So, basically I made you read all of this and there’s no real conclusion to draw. Feel free to wow your fellow tailgaters with this useless knowledge over the weekend. I promise that they will be impressed.
Scoreboard
Wednesday 5/17
- 18 Denison vs. Lynchburg 9
- 14 Wesleyan vs. Bates 13
- 15 RIT vs. Cortland 9
- 17 Salisbury vs. Cabrini 5
Saturday 5/20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiYB_QDT98I
- 16 Ohio State vs. Duke 11
- 4 Notre Dame vs. Denver 16
- 9 Adelphi vs. Merrimack 17
https://www.facebook.com/OhioStateMensLacrosse/videos/1176552579122065/
Sunday 5/21
- 7 Syracuse vs. Towson 10
- 18 Maryland vs. Albany 9
- 12 Limestone vs. Tampa 10
- 22 RIT vs. Wesleyan 9
- 12 Salisbury vs. Denison 11
The Stat Freaks
This section will once again be back to highlight some of the best performances from the week. Each category has a specific range we’re looking for. It’s just fun to highlight some of the gaudy performances out there.
Freak of the week: It’s sad that not a single goalie hit the mark, especially since there were some fantastic performances. Looking over the defense, RIT’s Ben Tackett is tempting, but still not quite there. I then was thinking about Baptiste, but his performance at Notre Dame was not too different from their first meeting. But, I really have to go with Ohio State’s Eric Fannell.
Ohio State owned that game, but Fennell’s seven points, including his 5/7 shooting was just impressive. Duke looked almost unbeatable a week, and Justin Guterding was a big reason why. Fennell not only matched was Guterding could produce against the Ohio State defense, but he also had as many goes as both Guterding and Jack Bruckner with almost half of the shots.
Offense: The minimum cutoff is 7 points (goals + assists)
Charlie Fay – Bates: 7G, 1A, 16 Shots vs. Wesleyan (CT) |
Nathan Blondino – Salisbury: 2G, 5A, 5 Shots vs. Cabrini |
Chad Levick – RIT: 7G, 3A, 11 Shots vs. Wesleyan (CT) |
Eric Fannell – Ohio St.: 5G, 2A, 7 Shots vs. Duke |
Matt Rambo – Maryland: 4G, 4A, 9 Shots vs. Albany (NY) |
Defense: For here, you need 8 GBs, CTs, and/or points
Kyle Tucker – Salisbury: 7GB, 2CT vs. Cabrini |
Ben Tackett – RIT: 7GB, 1CT, 2G, 1A vs. SUNY Cortland |
Aaron Leeds – Salisbury: 5GB, 5CT vs. Denison |
Garrett Epple – Notre Dame: 7GB, 5CT vs. Denver |
Dylan Gaines – Denver: 5GB, 3CT vs. Notre Dame |
Face-offs: Greater than 70%, at least 10 attempts
Henry DeCamp – Denison: 22/28, 14 GB, 1G vs. Lynchburg |
Trevor Baptiste – Denver: 21/22, 13 GB, 1G vs. Notre Dame |
Jon Garino – Maryland: 12/14, 8 GB vs. Albany (NY) |
Goalies: Greater than 70%
This was a rough week for goalies.
Conference Records
This doesn’t matter at all, but it’s great social media fodder:
- Big Ten 4-2
- CAA 2-0
- Big East 2-1
- Northeast 1-1
- America East: 1-1
- ACC 3-4
- Ivy 0-1
- Patriot 0-1
- MAAC 0-1
- SoCon 0-1
Championship Weekend Games to Watch
All times are eastern, and you should be there.
Saturday at Gillette Stadium
- 12:00 Towson vs. Ohio State on ESPN2
- 2:30 Denver vs. Maryland on ESPN2
Sunday at Gillette Stadium
D2 Championship – 2:00 Merrimack vs. Limestone on NCAA.com
D3 Championship – 5:00 RIT vs. Salisbury on NCAA.com
Monday at Gillette Stadium
D1 Championship 1:00 Team A vs. Team B on ESPN2