Men's Lacrosse @ Penn State, Noon Today

Men’s lacrosse is in Happy Valley to face the Penn State Nittany Lions at noon today. The game will be streamed on BTN+ (boooo!). It’s the second-to-last game of the regular season and Michigan badly needs a win if they hope to acquire an at-large bid for the NCAAs.

So…Michigan. A few weeks ago I used a Simpsons bit to illustrate how Hopkins’ combination of excellent wins and head-scratching losses made them a perplexing contradiction. But, it’s Michigan who is the true Libya, Land Of Contrasts. For example, Michigan dominated faceoffs and ground balls for the first two quarters vs JHU but went into the half trailing. They have the country’s top goal scorer but are oddly a poor-shooting team. They boast a strong W over #5 Maryland, but also lost to Rutgers who had been handled easily by every other decent team they faced. Michigan certainly seems better than their 6-5 record and every time they seem to solve one problem, another pops up. Now Re-Tourney Quest: Return to the Tourney, Part II: The Sequel is in serious trouble and may have to resort to 2023-style late season heroics. 

About last week.  It was a great opportunity for a ‘get right’ game but…they didn’t. Michigan scored 7 goals on 46(!) shots, which for you innumerate folks out there is good enough for 15%. The statline is a horror show for the attackmen and the box score is perplexing: Michigan won the turnover battle by a 2-to-1 margin, had the edge on F/Os and GBs and yet was fighting for its life all night. They only had 2 goals at the half! I shouldn’t downplay Rutgers’ defensive effort though, they played extremely well and their goalie was outstanding. It felt like M didn’t have any good looks all game. 

The bad news is that Michigan goes up against another hot goalie today in Penn State’s Jack Fracyon who is currently 8th nationally in save percentage and 11th in goals against average. The Lions are also pretty efficient offensively as well. 

Before the Maryland game, I put Michigan’s magic number at 5, which I think still holds true. Four wins could do the trick and help them sneak into the tournament (barring some AQ chaos). But for Michigan, it also might be time to hit the panic button.

L’Carpetron’s Panic Buttons/Keys For Success. 

#1: Get the ball to Justin Tiernan. The nation’s co-leading scorer is probably the best pure shooter in the game. He only had one goal last week. Tiernan has to be putting up 4 or 5 a game down the stretch for Michigan to have a chance. He’s nasty - get him the rock! (But also, if the rest of the offense could hit the cage, that would be nice too.)

#2 Shifts for Justin Brown and better midfield production. Get Tiernan the ball by getting more action from the midfielders. Brown is a curious case. He was expected to have a huge breakout season last year. That didn’t quite materialize but he was great down the stretch and he keyed a lot of Michigan’s postseason goals. Everyone was expecting a big year in ‘24 but he has mysteriously not been getting reps. Brown has speed and a powerful-if-not-extremely-accurate outside shot which are valuable to this offense. Draw him all the way to the corner and let him initiate and get the defense to move and Tiernan will likely wind up with an open look. Brown scored 5 goals against Penn State two years ago - put him in there!

#3 Don’t be afraid to use Carr. The staff seemed to have a quick hook for goalie Shane Carr last year and Hunter Taylor took over starting duties this season. But, (as a former defender, it pains me to say this about a goalie), Taylor has struggled at times this year but Conry didn’t pull him. If Taylor isn’t seeing the ball and letting in soft ones, put Carr in there. The platoon system actually worked really well last year and Carr is more than capable. 

GO BLUE!