face-off vs commencement

face-off and commencement both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
face-off	Yes	No	No	No
commencement	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, commencement is a hypernym of face-off; that is, commencement is a word with a broader meaning than face-off:

face-off: (ice hockey) the method of starting play; a referee drops the puck between two opposing players
commencement: the act of starting something

Other hypernyms of face-off include beginning, start.

face-off (noun)	commencement (noun)
(ice hockey) the method of starting play; a referee drops the puck between two opposing players	the act of starting something
a hostile disagreement face-to-face	an academic exercise in which diplomas are conferred
	the time at which something is supposed to begin