Top Individual Performances (Week 9 MLAX)
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 (![]() ![]() |
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Top Single Game Scores of the week |
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#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
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
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#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
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
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#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
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
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#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
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
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#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
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
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#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
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
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#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
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
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#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
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
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#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
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
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#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
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
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