OK, I'm not getting all woe-is-me one game into the season. UMBC's men's lacrosse season began today with a 3OT loss to Delaware at home. UMBC mounted an excellent comeback to send the game into OT after leading for all of 49 seconds all game, and in the end it was a deflection off of a UMBC player that sealed our fate. It was a good game, at least from what I could hear on the internet broadcast.
Still, the problem we've had in the past continues to rear its ugly head: Faceoffs. UD won 16 of 25, and the differential was more severe in the first half of the game. It's no coincidence that as our faceoff acuity improved, so did our scoring. You can't score if you don't have the ball, and constantly allowing the other team to control faceoffs and time of possession is to our detriment. Still, it's been the case over the past several years that even when trailing in faceoffs, we win quite a bit, and our losses are close. This is perhaps even more frustrating--if not for our troubles at the X, we could be dominating. Finding and/or coaching a faceoff specialist needs to be a priority!
At any rate, what's done is done. Glad to have lacrosse back. Up next: Fist Pump U.
Still, the problem we've had in the past continues to rear its ugly head: Faceoffs. UD won 16 of 25, and the differential was more severe in the first half of the game. It's no coincidence that as our faceoff acuity improved, so did our scoring. You can't score if you don't have the ball, and constantly allowing the other team to control faceoffs and time of possession is to our detriment. Still, it's been the case over the past several years that even when trailing in faceoffs, we win quite a bit, and our losses are close. This is perhaps even more frustrating--if not for our troubles at the X, we could be dominating. Finding and/or coaching a faceoff specialist needs to be a priority!
At any rate, what's done is done. Glad to have lacrosse back. Up next: Fist Pump U.
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