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?
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.
Luke Williams is this week’s top individual EGA player, and it’s the first time in his career that he’s made this list. He’s made some serious strides this year, with a win rate that is 19 percentage points better than what he managed in 2021.
And it’s paid off in his overall faceoff Elo ratings, which currently have him as the 18th best FOGO in Division 1.
Tuesday seems like a lifetime ago, but let’s not forget what Chris Lyons did against what was, at the time, a top-5 opponent-adjusted defense in the country. Love to see a player mix it up with 4 ground balls in a game where he also scored 8 points.
Lyons has been one of the most efficient players in the country this year, let along among the freshman.
Want to know how good the Yale offense was against BU? Well, how about the fact that they had two different offensive players rank in the top-3 of this week’s list? Before this year, when this lists was solely based on raw EGA, that probably doesn’t happen. But Brandau’s game was so efficient, that his 6.73 EGA was good enough for 3rd after adding the efficiency adjustment.
For players with at least 7 points scored, Brandau’s game was the 3rd most efficient performance in all of Division I lacrosse this year.
Here’s the thing about the Irish. All season, even when their record didn’t look great, their per-possession efficiencies pegged them as one of the top teams in the country.
The issue was that prior to the Duke game, their FO unit won a majority of the draw in just 2 of 7 games. But if Will Lynch is going to keep giving them games like he did against Duke, and their possession numbers start to line up with their per-possession efficiencies, look out.
Crouse has been the guy for Air Force this year, but in this game, it was Dodd’s turn to play the hero. He took a whopping 20 shots and threw in 2 assists to go with his five goals.
One thing that I like about Dodd’s game is that he’s cut his individual turnover rate to .34 (it was .66 in 2020). That’s meant that he’s been able to generate a lot more production for the touches he’s getting.
Yes, UMass-Lowell’s defense is not great. But that doesn’t diminish the accomplishment for a guy like McCormack who set a career high for EGA and total points in this one.
The 2nd year player has made some small strides this year, but from a pretty high floor. His shooting percentage is the area where you see the biggest jump from last year. Ball security is his biggest area for improvement.
Nolting keeps moving up the list of all-time point scorers in Division I history. And his game against VMI is another example of how his ability to score or generate offense for others is his biggest strength. Adaptability is the name of the game.
And perhaps most importantly, his ball security rating is a 45 (out of 100). That might not sound great, but it’s the best mark of his career. If he can continue to generate offense while being a league-average player on the ball security dimension, the chances that HPU can steal the SoCon AQ are immensely higher.
Lehigh is in such a weird spot. They are the prohibitive favorite to snag the top seed in the Patriot League tournament. But they are just the 3rd most likely team to grab the league AQ. Their per-possession efficiencies have not been great, although that is less important when you’ve got the conference’s best FOGO. As every year, this is going to be one of the more fun conference finishes to watch.
Over his past 2 games, Pallonetti has scored 6 goals with 3 assists, 3 ground balls and just one turnover. Against NJIT, he had his most efficient day of the year.
And comparing his 2022 to last year, ball security has been the area of largest improvement. He’s a 49 (out of 100) on the ball security scale, after ending with a 29 rating last year. His distribution skills have always been excellent, and he’s been able to marry that with fewer turnovers this season. Can’t say the same for the rest of the Seawolves offense though.
#10 – Pat Kavanagh (Notre Dame) – 5.98 goals added
Apr 9 vs Duke Opp ELO: 1815
Another great example here of the difference between missed shots that are saved and missed shots that are backed up. Kavanagh only shot 3 for 10, but only 1 of those shots was a save.
For the year, the Irish offense has been seeing a smaller and smaller percentage of their shots end up in the goalie’s stick. Their 2 best games on this metric have been their last 2 games.
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) 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.
April 11, 2022 @ 7:26 pm
You missed Jonathan Huber. He put in 3 against Villanova and 8 against Marquette. He was 8-12 shooting.