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 into 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?

Top Single Game Scores of the week

#1 – Matt Brandau (Yale) – 7.51 goals added Mar 16 vs Cornell Opp ELO: 1690 Talk about a coming out party. Brandau matched his season total for EGA in this game alone. If the freshman is going to reliably give the Bulldogs another option on offense, this team looks a lot scarier when you consider the faceoff advantage they are going to get every week from #8 on our list. I highlighted Brandau’s performance in more detail in the recap for this game. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 6 2 10 (8) GBs FO Won FO Pct 2 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 1 0 1

#2 – Jared Hershman (Marquette) – 7.24 goals added Mar 16 vs Michigan Opp ELO: 1528 Marquette is a team that has relied on a stable of guys to get it done at the faceoff x. Against Michigan, Hershman may have made a claim on the role going forward. This is an interesting team. A top-15 offense that went through a tough stretch of 3 losses against Detroit, OSU, and Cleveland. They’ll have a chance to prove themselves at Big East play starts up in earnest. More games like this one from Hershman make the road look a bit less daunting. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 0 1 0 (0) GBs FO Won FO Pct 21 22 81% Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 2 0 0

#3 – Liam McDonough (Massachusetts-Lowell) – 6.93 goals added Mar 16 vs Albany Opp ELO: 1624 Liam McDonough marks our second FOGO of the week for his game against the Danes. I love to see a FOGO snag 2/3 of his faceoff wins on his own. Faceoffs won in a scrum are still possessions, but when you can win the faceoff and force the defense to slide to you, it’s a better brand of possession. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 1 0 2 (1) GBs FO Won FO Pct 14 22 70% Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 1 0 0

#4 – Kyle Gallagher (Penn) – 6.88 goals added Mar 15 vs Princeton Opp ELO: 1637 Penn knocked off Princeton thanks to a very well-rounded offensive output. The Quakers are lucky to match a top-15 offense with Gallagher at the x. This would be have been a much tighter game if Princeton hadn’t faced such a big possession deficit. Everyone knew their opening stretch against Maryland, Penn State and Duke was going to be daunting. That Penn has rolled to three straight wins since then puts them back on even footing. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 0 2 2 (0) GBs FO Won FO Pct 16 20 66% Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 3 0 0

#5 – Pat Spencer (Loyola MD) – 6.81 goals added Mar 16 vs Navy Opp ELO: 1540 Spencer maintained his top spot on the statistical Tewaaraton list with an 8-point day against Navy. Interesting tidbit here: none of his shots was saved. All were either goals or ended up as back-up chances for the Greyhounds. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 4 4 7 (4) GBs FO Won FO Pct 2 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 2 0 0

#6 – Trey Lervick (Air Force) – 6.38 goals added Mar 16 vs Mercer Opp ELO: 1277 On the day, he tallied 5 goals and 4 assists against Mercer, in a game that Air Force won 20 – 8. He also threw in 3 ground balls for good measure. Not to diminish this game too much, but with an opponent ELO rating of 1277, it’s not as if this performance came against a world-beater. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 5 4 11 (7) GBs FO Won FO Pct 3 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 1 0 0

#7 – Tyson Gibson (Robert Morris) – 6.17 goals added Mar 12 vs Marquette Opp ELO: 1450 In this one, he scored 4 goals and added 4 assists in a game that Robert Morris lost 17 – 15 to Marquette. Add in 3 ground balls and you’ve got a pretty full stat sheet. No trillion-club here. Now, the obligatory dose of reality: Marquette was the #-25 weakest opponent on this list. Factor that in. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 4 4 9 (5) GBs FO Won FO Pct 3 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 2 0 1

#8 – TD Ierlan (Yale) – 6.13 goals added Mar 16 vs Cornell Opp ELO: 1690 Vintage FOGO day here. against Cornell, in a game that Yale won 16 – 11. He also threw in 17 ground balls and 24 faceoff wins for good measure. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 0 0 0 (0) GBs FO Won FO Pct 17 24 80% Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 4 0 0

#9 – Lucas Spence (Lehigh) – 6.08 goals added Mar 17 vs Lafayette Opp ELO: 1312 He paced the team with 6 total points (3 goals; 3 assists) against Lafayette, in a game that Lehigh won 15 – 7. Add in 7 ground balls and you’ve got a pretty full stat sheet. No trillion-club here. Now, the obligatory dose of reality: Lafayette was the #-42 weakest opponent on this list. Factor that in. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 3 3 5 (3) GBs FO Won FO Pct 7 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 3 0 2

#10 – Alex Woodall (Towson) – 5.87 goals added Mar 16 vs Duke Opp ELO: 1839 One of the few players to make this list without scoring any goals, he did drive the offense, chipping in 1 assist against Duke, in a game that Towson lost 12 – 10. Add in 16 ground balls and 19 faceoff wins and you’ve got a pretty full stat sheet. No trillion-club here. Throw in Duke’s ELO rating of 1839, and these stats take on whole new meaning. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 0 1 1 (0) GBs FO Won FO Pct 16 19 79% Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 4 0 0

#11 – Chris Gray (Boston U) – 5.78 goals added Mar 16 vs Bucknell Opp ELO: 1514 On the day, he tallied 2 goals and 4 assists in a game that Boston U won 13 – 9 over Bucknell. Add in 2 ground balls and you’ve got a pretty full stat sheet. No trillion-club here. Not to diminish this game too much, but with an opponent ELO rating of 1514, it’s not as if this performance came against a world-beater. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 2 4 12 (6) GBs FO Won FO Pct 2 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 2 0 2

#12 – Jakob Patterson (Albany) – 5.67 goals added Mar 16 vs Massachusetts-Lowell Opp ELO: 1437 On the day, he tallied 2 goals and 7 assists against Massachusetts-Lowell, in a game that Albany won 17 – 11. As if that wasn’t enough, don’t forget the 2 ground balls. Now, the obligatory dose of reality: Massachusetts-Lowell was the #-29 weakest opponent on this list. Factor that in. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 2 7 6 (3) GBs FO Won FO Pct 2 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 3 0 0

#13 – Charles Leonard (Notre Dame) – 5.62 goals added Mar 16 vs Virginia Opp ELO: 1612 I’m sure he’s very generous most days, but on this day, he tallied 2 goals without an assist against Virginia, in a game that Notre Dame lost 13 – 11. In addition to the goals, he did contribute 8 ground balls and 15 faceoff wins. Repeat this against a team stronger than Virginia, and he’ll really get people talking. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 2 0 2 (2) GBs FO Won FO Pct 8 15 60% Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 1 0 0

#14 – Jason Zou (Siena) – 5.61 goals added Mar 12 vs St. Bonaventure Opp ELO: 1370 This was a day to take advantage of the defense, and he delivered with 1 goal against St. Bonaventure, in a game that Siena won 17 – 10. Add in 9 ground balls and 19 faceoff wins and you’ve got a pretty full stat sheet. No trillion-club here. Now, the obligatory dose of reality: St. Bonaventure was the #-35 weakest opponent on this list. Factor that in. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 1 0 2 (1) GBs FO Won FO Pct 9 19 73% Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 1 0 0

#15 – Trevor Weingarten (Bryant) – 5.56 goals added Mar 12 vs Fairfield Opp ELO: 1264 He paced the team with 5 total points (3 goals; 2 assists) against Fairfield in a game that Bryant lost 12 – 11. Granted, there wasn’t a lot there besides the scoring, but it’s good enough to land a spot on the list since, hey, you win by scoring. Now, the obligatory dose of reality: Fairfield was the #-47 weakest opponent on this list. Factor that in. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 3 2 12 (5) GBs FO Won FO Pct 0 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 2 0 1

#16 – Adam Charalambides (Rutgers) – 5.52 goals added Mar 15 vs Syracuse Opp ELO: 1609 He paced the team with 8 total points (6 goals; 2 assists) against Syracuse, in a game that Rutgers lost 18 – 14. As if that wasn’t enough, don’t forget the 3 ground balls. But perhaps the most impressive thing was accomplishing all of that while committing exactly zero turnovers. Now, the obligatory dose of reality: Syracuse was the #-5 weakest opponent on this list. Factor that in. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 6 2 8 (6) GBs FO Won FO Pct 3 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 0 0 0

#17 – Frankie Labetti (Fairfield) – 5.50 goals added Mar 15 vs Utah Opp ELO: 1462 If the defense doesn’t stop you, just keep shooting, right? He gladly obliged, racking up 1 goal in a game that Fairfield won 10 – 9 over Utah. He also threw in 13 ground balls and 14 faceoff wins for good measure. Now, the obligatory dose of reality: Utah was the #-24 weakest opponent on this list. Factor that in. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 1 0 2 (1) GBs FO Won FO Pct 13 14 77% Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 1 0 0

#18 – Michael Wilson (Cleveland State) – 5.46 goals added Mar 12 vs Lafayette Opp ELO: 1374 In this one, he scored 2 goals and added 6 assists in a game that Cleveland State won 10 – 9 over Lafayette. He also threw in 2 ground balls for good measure. Now, the obligatory dose of reality: Lafayette was the #-40 weakest opponent on this list. Factor that in. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 2 6 6 (5) GBs FO Won FO Pct 2 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 2 0 0

#19 – Marc O’Rourke (Bryant) – 5.40 goals added Mar 12 vs Fairfield Opp ELO: 1264 This was a day to take advantage of the defense, and he delivered with 6 goals in a game that Bryant lost 12 – 11 to Fairfield. Add in 2 ground balls and you’ve got a pretty full stat sheet. No trillion-club here. Not to diminish this game too much, but with an opponent ELO rating of 1264, it’s not as if this performance came against a world-beater. Goals Assists Shots (OG) 6 0 13 (9) GBs FO Won FO Pct 2 0 N/A Turnovers Penalties Caused TO 3 0 0