The following is my opinion.
For me, women’s lacrosse games are like puzzles. The pieces fit together differently every game; for me, the pieces are reflected by the stats (I recently complained about inaccurate stats because inaccuracies warp the puzzle pieces).
People’s perspectives on lacrosse games are opinions. To my knowledge, I have never told a poster that his opinion was wrong. I can assure that I have never been certain that my opinion was right or the only explanation for an event. If anything I have posted has suggested otherwise, it’s because I have expressed myself poorly. As I have gotten older (and I’m pretty darned old) I find myself doubting certainty more and more.
I happen to think that possession is critical in lacrosse games. I talk about possession stats — draws, turnovers and ground balls — frequently because I think they are important. But outcomes are rarely the result of a single variable. In last season’s national championship game, the NW goalie had 17 saves vs. UNC’s 7 saves, but we were able to control the game because we dominated possession as reflected by our outshooting them 35 - 22.
In the loss to Northwestern this season, we scored 16 goals, which should be enough to win a lacrosse game. (IMO) our defense extended too far in that game which left holes in the interior defense. As noted after the Virginia game, Coach Levy acknowledged (essentially) that the defense had limited pressure to the player with the ball … and that the defense overextended vs. Northwestern. According to the stats, NW’s goalie had 12 saves, and eight of them came after halftime. As for our goalie play, it seemed to me that our goalies were facing a lot of point blank shots in that game. As for draws, NW won that stat 20-15. IMO (I shouldn’t have to include this), there rarely is a single variable that explains the outcome of a lacrosse game.
And then there is the question about whether the stats are even accurate — and the possibility that our discussions are skewed by inaccuracy.
I’ll quit here. I don’t have the answer … and I question whether there ever is a single, definitive answer. But you are welcome to disagree.