Top Individual Performances (Week 9 MLAX)

0 Comment April 12, 2021

Each week, we will look back at the games that were to see which players had the largest individual performances. I say largest because the contributions that we can measure (from play by play) tend to be things that are easy to count. This includes, goals, shots, assists, turnovers, penalties, etc. We can’t measure a defender who shuts down an opposing player so completely that he doesn’t even touch the ball. Still, it is interesting to be able to identify the players that really filled it up each weekend and give them a shout out here.
For a bit of background, in order to rank single game performances, we needed a way to condense box score stats to a single number for each player. In order to do this, we relied on our expected goal values methodology, which assigns a goal value to each type of play depending on how often it leads to a goal in the next 60 seconds. By adding up all the expected goals added for each player, we can get to that single number and these rankings.
We have also tagged each performance with the opponent’s ELO rating. The higher the number, the stronger the opponent. This should help to give some context for each performance. Did the player feast on the dregs of D1 or did they put up these numbers against a quality opponent?
A quick note: whenever you see the PRO logo () a click will take you directly to the player’s PRO page. In some cases, you’ll see the “unlocked” PRO logo () which tells you that the player’s team is unlocked and you’ll be able to see all the PRO content.
Top Single Game Scores of the week
#1 – Demitri George (Quinnipiac) – 10.00 goals added Apr 10 vs Manhattan Opp ELO: 1301 It’s a rare game that is determined by one player’s success at the faceoff X. This is one such game. Demitri George won an astounding 90% of the faceoffs in this game, which meant that while the Bobcats offensive efficiency was a full 11.7 percentage points worse than the Hatters’, they won this game in OT. Remarkable. Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 94th Total EGA 88th Faceoff EGA 91st Excess Goals 84th Shooting Percentage 86th Faceoff Win% 87th Faceoff Elo 99th Play Shares 96th PRO Definitions Box Score Stats Goals Assists Shots (OG) 2 0 3 (3) GBs FO Won FO Pct 17 27 90% Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 1 0 0 Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 94th Total EGA 88th Faceoff EGA 91st Excess Goals 84th Shooting Percentage 86th Faceoff Win% 87th Faceoff Elo 99th Play Shares 96th PRO Definitions
#2 – Connor Kirst (Rutgers) – 8.55 goals added Apr 10 vs Penn State Opp ELO: 1700 Rutgers continued it’s undefeated-except-for-Maryland season with a huge 12 goal victory over Penn State. And Kirst was the primary engine of destruction for the Scarlet Knights. 7 points for the Villanova transfer, but the 7 GBs is the thing that stands out. For the Knights as a whole, they picked up 64% of the GBs on the day; which is a season high. Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 96th Total EGA 98th Offensive EGA 99th Excess Goals 0th eGoals/Shot 40th Shooting Percentage 44th Shot-on-Goal Rate 48th Play Shares 97th PRO Definitions Box Score Stats Goals Assists Shots (OG) 4 3 16 (7) GBs FO Won FO Pct 7 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 0 0 2 Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 96th Total EGA 98th Offensive EGA 99th Excess Goals 0th eGoals/Shot 40th Shooting Percentage 44th Shot-on-Goal Rate 48th Play Shares 97th PRO Definitions
#3 – Petey LaSalla (Virginia) – 6.88 goals added Apr 10 vs North Carolina Opp ELO: 1784 The Cavs ran their streak of games with a possession advantage to 8 in this one, in large part due to the 26-12 record that LaSalla ran up in this one. His 65.9% win rate on the year has him up to #2 in the faceoff Elo ratings, behind only the newest Pioneer, TD Ierlan. Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 98th Total EGA 97th Faceoff EGA 97th Excess Goals 14th Shooting Percentage 72nd Faceoff Win% 90th Faceoff Elo 99th Play Shares 95th PRO Definitions Box Score Stats Goals Assists Shots (OG) 1 1 1 (1) GBs FO Won FO Pct 7 26 68% Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 1 1 0 Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 98th Total EGA 97th Faceoff EGA 97th Excess Goals 14th Shooting Percentage 72nd Faceoff Win% 90th Faceoff Elo 99th Play Shares 95th PRO Definitions
#4 – Michael McCormack (Vermont) – 6.19 goals added Apr 10 vs UMass-Lowell Opp ELO: 1182 Always love to see first year players mixing it up. McCormack lands on the list this week thanks to a game against UML that set a new career high for a single-game play share. He was a bigger part of the Catamounts offense in this one than he’s been all year. For a freshman, McCormack’s season stands out for the metrics that we generally think of being associated with more veteran players. His TO rate is in the 71st percentile nationally, and his share of UVM assists (10.6%) is 83rd. Looks like he’s going to be tormenting AEC defenses for years. Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 99th Total EGA 73rd Offensive EGA 80th Excess Goals 22nd eGoals/Shot 60th Shooting Percentage 64th Shot-on-Goal Rate 55th Play Shares 96th PRO Definitions Box Score Stats Goals Assists Shots (OG) 5 1 13 (6) GBs FO Won FO Pct 1 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 0 0 0 Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 99th Total EGA 73rd Offensive EGA 80th Excess Goals 22nd eGoals/Shot 60th Shooting Percentage 64th Shot-on-Goal Rate 55th Play Shares 96th PRO Definitions
#5 – Devon Cowan (Marquette) – 6.01 goals added Apr 10 vs Georgetown Opp ELO: 1888 Georgetown has not been a team against whom break-out performances have happened much this year. But Cowan’s 54.5% shooting mark is certifiably a breakout-performance. It’s actually the 2nd best shooting day that any player has had against the Hoyas (min 5 attempts) in the past 2 seasons. You could argue that Marquette has had the best plan against the Georgetown D of any team in the country recently. Exhibit A: the best shooting performance against GU came from Ryan Fazio in the March 6th game. And of course, his jersey says Golden Eagles too. Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 96th Total EGA 81st Offensive EGA 85th Excess Goals 19th eGoals/Shot 66th Shooting Percentage 59th Shot-on-Goal Rate 39th Play Shares 95th PRO Definitions Box Score Stats Goals Assists Shots (OG) 6 0 11 (8) GBs FO Won FO Pct 0 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 1 0 0 Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 96th Total EGA 81st Offensive EGA 85th Excess Goals 19th eGoals/Shot 66th Shooting Percentage 59th Shot-on-Goal Rate 39th Play Shares 95th PRO Definitions
#6 – Demitri George (Quinnipiac) – 5.76 goals added Apr 7 vs Siena Opp ELO: 1261 Double-dip for Mr George, he of the #1 slot above. If you count the two games that the Bobcats played over the past 5 days, he went a combined 37-4 at the faceoff x and helped QU to a combined +30 possession advantage in the wins over Manhattan and Siena. George is a tough guy to evaluate though, since he’s played all hist games against MAAC opponents. In terms of raw win percentage, this is the #1 FO unit in the country. After adjusting for the opposing FOGOs, QU ranks 9th. But the George, as an individual, is the 5th rated FOGO per the faceoff Elo model. Shrug emoji. Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 94th Total EGA 88th Faceoff EGA 91st Excess Goals 84th Shooting Percentage 86th Faceoff Win% 87th Faceoff Elo 99th Play Shares 96th PRO Definitions Box Score Stats Goals Assists Shots (OG) 1 0 2 (1) GBs FO Won FO Pct 11 14 93% Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 0 0 0 Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 94th Total EGA 88th Faceoff EGA 91st Excess Goals 84th Shooting Percentage 86th Faceoff Win% 87th Faceoff Elo 99th Play Shares 96th PRO Definitions
#7 – Matt Grillo (Providence) – 5.51 goals added Apr 10 vs St. John’s Opp ELO: 1237 It was Providence’s turn this weekend to take advantage of the Red Storm defense. St. John’s is the 63rd rated defense (out of 65 teams) nationally. So in some sense, it’s not surprising to see the Friars have their best offensive game of the year in this one. Of course, that is why we adjust these games to reflect the strength of the opponent faced. Looked at from that perspective, this was right up there with the 9 goal game against Georgetown. Still, hats off to Grillo, who had a season-high 7 points and his best shooting performance (45.5%) since the open game of the season. Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 95th Total EGA 92nd Offensive EGA 93rd Excess Goals 8th eGoals/Shot 69th Shooting Percentage 69th Shot-on-Goal Rate 60th Play Shares 94th PRO Definitions Box Score Stats Goals Assists Shots (OG) 5 2 11 (8) GBs FO Won FO Pct 3 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 0 0 0 Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 95th Total EGA 92nd Offensive EGA 93rd Excess Goals 8th eGoals/Shot 69th Shooting Percentage 69th Shot-on-Goal Rate 60th Play Shares 94th PRO Definitions
#8 – Gerard Arceri (Penn State) – 5.47 goals added Apr 10 vs Rutgers Opp ELO: 1648 We don’t need to sugar-coat it; this has not been a fun year for lacrosse fans in Happy Valley. But it’s always good to look for the rays of sunlight in an otherwise dark and cloudy sky. And if you look at the 4 primary units (Off, Def, GK, FO) and adjust their performance to account for the strength of their opponents, the Nits did have one unit improve from last season to this. Can you guess which one it was? Does this entry being about Gerard Arceri give you a hint? That’s right, the FO unit had an adjusted win rate of 56.2 in 2020 and 57.1% this year. Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 99th Total EGA 99th Faceoff EGA 99th Excess Goals 20th Shooting Percentage 83rd Faceoff Win% 90th Faceoff Elo 95th Play Shares 98th PRO Definitions Box Score Stats Goals Assists Shots (OG) 0 0 1 (0) GBs FO Won FO Pct 13 17 62% Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 1 0 0 Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 99th Total EGA 99th Faceoff EGA 99th Excess Goals 20th Shooting Percentage 83rd Faceoff Win% 90th Faceoff Elo 95th Play Shares 98th PRO Definitions
#9 – Jared Bernhardt (Maryland) – 5.45 goals added Apr 10 vs Michigan Opp ELO: 1449 Bernhardt took 7 shots in this game. On the year, he’s taking fewer shots on a per-game basis than he did in 2020. He managed to accumulate 5.45 EGA despite a 6.2% play share in this game. The productivity that Maryland’s stars have generated despite relatively low usage rates is perhaps the most impressive thing about this team’s 2021 run. Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 96th Total EGA 99th Offensive EGA 99th Excess Goals 11th eGoals/Shot 83rd Shooting Percentage 84th Shot-on-Goal Rate 79th Play Shares 96th PRO Definitions Box Score Stats Goals Assists Shots (OG) 5 2 7 (6) GBs FO Won FO Pct 1 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 0 0 0 Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 96th Total EGA 99th Offensive EGA 99th Excess Goals 11th eGoals/Shot 83rd Shooting Percentage 84th Shot-on-Goal Rate 79th Play Shares 96th PRO Definitions
#10 – Ryan Smith (Robert Morris) – 5.35 goals added Apr 10 vs Cleveland State Opp ELO: 1430 Ryan Smith shot just 24.3% in the shortened 2020 season, a full 6 percentage points worse than his 2nd worst shooting season (2019). This year, he’s shooting 39.6% (2 points better than his previous best). The game against CSU wasn’t his best shooting game, but the improvement that he’s shown in that area from one season to the next is very very impressive. Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 93rd Total EGA 99th Offensive EGA 99th Excess Goals 2nd eGoals/Shot 70th Shooting Percentage 69th Shot-on-Goal Rate 58th Play Shares 91st PRO Definitions Box Score Stats Goals Assists Shots (OG) 3 2 11 (8) GBs FO Won FO Pct 3 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 0 0 3 Career Stat Percentile EGA/game 93rd Total EGA 99th Offensive EGA 99th Excess Goals 2nd eGoals/Shot 70th Shooting Percentage 69th Shot-on-Goal Rate 58th Play Shares 91st PRO Definitions