Utah Lacrosse In The ASUN Championships, The Week That Was, and A Look At RPI.
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Utah Lacrosse Faces Off Against Air Force For ASUN Championship
The University of Utah Men’s Lacrosse team will play the Air Force Falcons on Sunday, May 7th at 11 a.m. MT in a winner take all championship game and an automatic qualification for the NCAA playoffs on the line. Utah won their previous matchup against the Falcons in Colorado Springs by a score of 18-11, and defeated Bellarmine 17-14 in the semifinals to advance to the championship game.
Utah was in a gritty fight to the finish against the Knights, as the game was tied on 10 different occasions and saw six lead changes. The fourth quarter featured multiple back and forth exchanges until Carson Moyer tied the game 11-11 with 11:55 on the clock. The Utes took the lead for good on a goal from Cole Brams who put Utah ahead 14-13 with 6:49 left. Utah would add three more goals, and while Bellarmine did cut the lead to one with 3:18 remaining, Utah answered with goals from Jordan Hyde and Ryan Rogers. Ryan Stines also made ESPN Sportscenter Top 10 with this nifty one-hander.
https://twitter.com/UtahLacrosse/status/1654952115553591299?s=20
Inside Lacrosse also had a terrific read on how pace of play has led to Utah playing more freely in order to become the second-highest-scoring offense in the country, averaging 17.07 goals per game.
https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/explosive-utah-running-free-into-asun-tournament/61364
You can watch the live stream on ESPN+ and follow along with live stats and a link to the stream available on the Utah Lacrosse schedule page.
Live stream: https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=c895b52d-b3b5-466e-8a12-3be4a895584d
Live stats: https://utahutes.com/news/2023/5/6/-18-utah-lacrosse-set-for-asun-championship-vs-air-force.aspx
Behind The Lens with Patrick Sanger
Loving all the amazing content posted on social media? That’s because of Patrick Sanger and his talented crew of photo and video professionals. Few people are as involved or see as many games as Patrick, and as such we will be starting a regular feature where he shares what he’s seen during the week or in general in the state of lacrosse. Here’s an introduction to Patrick
What’s up guys my name is Patrick Sanger. This is my second year working with the Utah Lacrosse Report and I have been lucky enough this year to be responsible for Instagram. I have been creating photo and video content for Utah Lacrosse Report account as well as for many different teams this year and last year. As I have spent much time behind the lens, I figured I would share my insight here in the newsletter. The time I have spent following teams really has made a huge impact on how I view lacrosse. I was a former high school Lacrosse Goalie and love this sport. Where I am from, Lacrosse was not as big and didn’t have any kind of media outlet. I have made so many friends and connections in this community whether that is with players, parents, or coaches. Becoming closer with teams has shown me just how much fun these guys have in this sport. It has been such a joy to be able to capture moments that these kids will be able to look back on and remember. The level of play keeps raising here in Salt Lake and I can’t wait to see where we can take it to! Also thank you all for the support on the Instagram account. Stay tuned for more Tribal West Give-Aways!
**A reminder that our Tribal West giveaway winner was Ben Zuckerman. Congratulations to Ben and thank you to all who participated!**
The Week That Was - May 1-6th
Olympus - Titans started the week strong with a win at Park City 15-5 and lost at Brighton 10-9, will take on Mountain Ridge on Thursday
Corner Canyon - Defeated American Fork 9-6 on Tuesday and beat Pleasant Grove 19-0, will take on Park City on Thursday
Brighton - Beat Highland 15-3 on Wednesday and then beat the number one ranked Titans on Friday 10-9. Plays Timpview on Tuesday
Park City - Lost to Olympus 15-5 on Wednesday and rebounded on Friday with a win at Skyline 13-5. Corner Canyon is up next on Thursday, 5/11
Alta - Handled business against Jordan 19-3 on Tuesday and beat Lehi 19-3 on Friday, will take on Timpanogos on Monday and Orem on Tuesday, 5/9
Fremont - Dispatched Roy by a tally of 13-8 and defeated Farmington 12-8 on Thursday, will take on Clearfield on Tuesday.
Lone Peak - Defeated Westlake on Tuesday 14-13 then dropped a close rivalry game against American Fork 10-8. Will play Skyline on Tuesday.
American Fork - Lost to Corner Canyon by a score of 9-6 then rebounded to beat Lone Peak 10-8. The Cavemen will play Farmington on Friday.
Davis - Stunned Syracuse 14-0 on Tuesday and downed the Roy Royals on Thursday 20-3. Will play Weber on Tuesday.
Westlake - Lost a close one to Lone Peak on Tuesday 14-13 and bounced back against Skyridge 14-5 on Thursday.
What Is RPI and How Does It Work?
As the season rolls ever closer to the playoffs at the high school level, here’s a quick refresher on what RPI is and how it works when calculating the playoff seedings.
What is RPI?
RPI, Rating Percentage Index is a statistical system used to comparatively rank teams. RPI is transparent as anyone can calculate the number by looking at standings.
Why are Boy/Girls Lacrosse in one classification?
Boys-and-girls lacrosse are composed of teams within the ranges of one segment. Lacrosse will use the classification-modified winning percentage for the classification they are listed in for that individual sport.
What is the classification-modified winning percentage?
There is a maximum of three exemptions for all other RPI sports excluding football. That means when a 3A team plays a 2A or 1A opponent on their schedule, that 2A or 1A opponent will count as a 3A team. Subsequent games against teams from lower classifications will count as their true classification when exemptions have been exhausted. This modifier only comes into play when a team wins. Under the modified RPI system, each game is assigned a value based on that team's classification. 1A and 2A will have game values of 1 assigned, while 3A-6A will have a game value of 1.5. So, for example, a 5A team will always have a game value of 1.5, regardless of who they're playing. The value of the win changes according to their opponent (unless the exemption comes into play). The result gives us a modified winning percentage. This is the number that will be used throughout the formula, including for their opponents, and the opponents of their opponents. So a team that goes undefeated but plays multiple teams below their classification may end up with a winning percentage of less than 100%.
For example, a 3A Basketball team (call them Team A) plays another 3A team (Team B), and beats them. They then play a different 3A team (Team C) and lose to them. The third week and fourth weeks, they play 2A teams (Team D and Team E), and beat them. Finally, they play yet another 2A team (Team F), and beat them as well. Here's what the calculation would for Team A look like:
Now, Team A in this scenario is 4-1. Their true (unmodified) winning percentage would be 0.8. However, with this modified system, where their total win value (5.5) is divided by their total game value (7.5), their modified winning percentage is 0.733.
Over the course of a season, if Team A were to go 9-1 with wins over all 3A teams the rest of the way, their modified winning percentage would be 0.86667 (as opposed to a true winning percentage of 0.900). It is worth remembering that this number is 45 percent of the overall formula.
Why use RPI?
The RPI system will be an accurate reflection of all regular and region/postseason games. Teams could be seeded into the state bracket based on their RPI ranking versus the previous region rotation which could result in the top teams in the same side of the bracket. Classifications with unbalanced regions will also have better representation in the state tournament.
What is the formula for calculating RPI?
The formula set to be used is: RPI = (45% x MWP) + (45% x OWP) + (10% x OOWP)
MWP (Modified Winning Percentage): Divide the number of possible points by the number of total available points from games played accounting for the adjustment between classifications.
OWP (Opponents Winning Percentage): Average of the winning percentage of a team’s opponents (Note: this is not calculated via the combined record of the opponents, but rather by averaging the winning percentage of the opponents).
OOWP (Opponents’ Opponents Winning Percentage: Same process as OWP except the calculation is with the opponents of the team’s opponent. **Note: there is an exception for out-of-state opponents – see below.
Some Playoff Information
Brackets for playoff seeding are revealed on May 13th at 9:00 am.
6A/5A Playoffs begin on May 16th and first/second round games are hosted at home sites.
4A Playoffs begin on May 18th and first/second round games will be hosted at home sites
All Quarterfinal games are played on May 20th at Home Sites
Semifinals being on May 24th are played at Westminster College
State Playoff Finals will be held at Zions Bank Stadium and will be played on May 26th.
Semifinals and Finals will be streamed live on KSL Sports Rewind.
We’ll have more coming up this week as we roll into the playoffs!! Thanks as always for reading the Utah Lacrosse Report!