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 she 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?
Click on any player’s name or the PRO logo () and you’ll head straight to the detailed breakdown on their LacrosseReference PRO page. As opposed to last year, all players appearing in the weekly rundown are unlocked and the information on their page is available to all readers.
6 goals, 6 unassisted goals. EGA splits credit for an assisted goal between the scorer and the assister. So a player who finishes a play that another started doesn’t get as much credit as a player who creates a goal out of whole cloth. And that is what Sydney Watson did 6 times in this game. Throw in 2 assists and a plus-50% shooting day and you’ve got your top-EGA performance.
The assists are the most interesting part of Watson’s game to me. We know she can score. Can she develop the distributor skills to be able to create offense for others when teams have defenders capable of taking her preferred route away. So far, her assist rate this year is in the 73rd percentile, after being a 67 and 57 the two prior years. Early returns are looking good.
7 points against Kent State. Boyd demolished her previous career high of 4 points. Add in the fact that she didn’t miss and shot and had 4 GBs and you’ve got the kind of stat line that the EGA model loves: productive and efficient.
And it was the first time this season that Akron cracked into double digits, so kudos all around.
Lauren Gilbert was very effective from the 8-meter against Notre Dame. Of her 7 goals, 4 came on free position shots. So far this year, she’s got 5 FP goals on 6 shots.
And she’s been a big part of why Northwestern has a free-position efficiency mark that is almost 17 percentage points better than the NCAA average (48.6% vs 31.8%). Free-position efficiency looks at the number of goals scored as a percentage of free position attempts awarded.
And it includes situations where a team scores off an immediate pass, even if the scorer is not the player awarded the free position. Northwestern has been largely by the book on this score. Of their 34 free position attempts where they’ve actioned to the goal, on only one of them did they attempt a shot off one pass.
#4 – Sarah Cipolla (William and Mary) – 7.99 goals added
Feb 23 vs Old Dominion Opp ELO: 1006
Sarah Cipolla definitely filled up the stat sheet against ODU. 8 points, 3 GBs, 3 TOs; she was nothing if not “in the mix.”
She’s only played in 2 games so far, but her efficiency marks in those 2 games is a far cry from where it was last season. Using my Madden-style ratings, she’s a 98 for individual player efficiency. Last year, she rated as a 60 on that measure.
It’s not been a great start for the Blue Hose this year, but that doesn’t mean we can celebrate the player performances that have stood out. And through 2 games, there’s been a lot to like about Edmisten’s game. She’s generating about as much offense as she did last year, but she’s cut her turnover rate by about 75%. The same amount of good stuff while cutting out much of the bad can mean a huge boost to an individual player’s net contribution.
In her last 2 games, Falk has scored 8 goals on 9 shots. Her 73% shooting rate this year puts her in the 97th percentile (she was a 68 out of 100 last year). And she’s done that despite becoming the top option for the Great Danes. Sometimes, when a player becomes the focal point of an offense, their efficiency suffers. And we do see that to an extent with Falk; while she’s shooting better this year, her assist and ball security ratings are down.
Still, the Albany offense has been 2 percentage points better than they were last year (opponent-adjusted), so the roles they’ve settled into seem to be working. Getting Falk to cut down on the turnovers a bit would be a logical next step.
If this list were compiled after accounting for the strength of the opponent faced, Cordingley’s 10-point outburst would probably have been in the first or second spot. As it stands though, she’s 8th, which is nothing to sneeze at. And through 3 games, it’s clear that she’s settled in nicely to her new digs with the Terps. She currently has a 96th percentile player efficiency rating and in her worst category, ball security, she rates as a 72 (out of 100). That is Tewaaraton-level stuff.
And the Terps offense has been thriving as well. After accounting for the strength of the defenses faced, this is the #2 offense in the country.
Another year, and another incremental improvement for the Davidson offense. The chart shows their raw offensive efficiency, which ranks 40th nationally. That may not sound like much, but the progress, consistent progress is what stands out. Having 3 more seasons of Carey’s development can only help.
And you thought we’d have a week where Charlotte North didn’t make the list…
To be clear, this is an objective model; there are no editorial decisions about who makes the list and who doesn’t. Top-10 games. That’s what you get. So while North wasn’t in her normal spot, the 7 point effort against Virginia was still good enough to grace these pages.
) and you’ll head straight to the detailed breakdown on their LacrosseReference PRO page. As opposed to last year, all players appearing in the weekly rundown are unlocked and the information on their page is available to all readers.
