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Scoring was up in two of the NCAA men's divisions this past season and rose for the second straight year in all three NCAA women's divisions. The increases in men's Divisions I and III are the first of any consequence since 2000, although the scoring in 2007 in all three divisions remains well below their respective averages at the beginning of the decade.
For this analysis, we used scores for men's and women's Divisions I, II, and III for the last four seasons, added those to an existing data set for 2000-2003, and examined both scoring (average total goals per game) and high score differentials. Only games within each division were included.
The two graphs below show the scoring trends by division for men's and women's teams over the last eight years. For all three men's divisions, average goals per game generally decreased during that period. This year's increase in Division I and Division III was a little over a half goal a game. Scoring in Division II dropped by over a goal a game in 2007, but the average continues to be appreciably higher than it is in the other two divisions.
The average goals per game in Division I for the past season was 18.5. For sake of contrast, compare this to the MLL, where the scoring this summer through the All-Star break is 29.9 goals per game.
The situation in women's lacrosse in quite different. As the second graph below shows, average goals per game in all three divisions are higher than they are in men's lacrosse. In addition, since 2001 the scoring trends have generally been either stable or upward. As on the men's side, the scoring in Division II is noticeably higher.
Note: Click any of the graphs to view a larger (948 x 650) version.
What has happened with score differentials over this period? Large margins of victory (which some argue amount to "running up the score") were examined for each division. The graphs below show the percentage of games each year with differentials of 20+ and 15+ goals.
High goal differentials are fairly uncommon in men's Division I. In Division III, the percentage of high differential games has increased modestly the last two years following a several year period of decline. The biggest change can be seen in Division II, where the percentage of large-margin victories dropped sharply this past season.
On the women's side, the percentage of games with high goal margins has exhibited a generally stable or downward tend in Divisions I and III, although there was an increase in Division III this year. In Division II, on the other hand, there has been a three-year rise in 15+ goal games, and this season the percentage of 20+ goal games jumped dramatically to 9.2%.
In men's Division I, the average differential (not depicted in the graphs) has remained relatively stable at 4.8 to 5.2 goals per game over the last five years. For women's Division I, on the other hand, the average has risen from 5.8 to 6.5 goals per game over the last four years, which may be associated with the increases in scoring during this period.
On a side note, for those interested in home field advantage, the average goals per game in favor of the home team for 2007 for this data set were 2.02, 0.73, and 1.69 in men's Divisions I, II, and III, respectively. The corresponding figures for the women's divisions were 1.62, 1.04, and 1.88.
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