May 16, 2008

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site: Irving, Texas (Texas Stadium)

Score:  #1 Michigan 11, #4 Brigham Young 7

Records:  U-M (19-0, 7-0 CCLA), BYU (16-5, 5-0 RMLC)

Next U-M Game:  Saturday, May 17, 2008, 7:00pm CST - MCLA National Championship Finals - vs. #2 Chapman - Irving, Texas (Texas Stadium)

Defense, Ride Up to Task vs. Cougars; Michigan on to Finals

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

Dallas, Tex. - The #1 University of Michigan men's lacrosse team took one step closer to their first national championship on Friday night (May 16) in Irving, Texas, defeating #4 Brigham Young by a score of 11-7 in a semi-final match at Texas Stadium.  Michigan jumped out to an 8-4 half-time lead and shut-out their opponent in the fourth quarter en-route to their first visit to the finals.

Michigan got on the board on their first possession after a clean faceoff from senior captain Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) followed by a dodge and feed from senior Peter Krauss (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) who found sophomore transfer Kevin Zorovich (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa - Marist) open just outside the crease for the 1-0 lead. 

An illegal procedure on the next faceoff resulted in a quick odd-man opportunity for Michigan as junior Peter Vasher (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) faked a pass to the wing before firing high for the 2-0 early lead.  Senior Mark Hammitt (Madison, N.J./Delbarton - Boston College) extended the Wolverine to 3-0 on a dodge and fire down the middle.  BYU answered shortly after to cut the lead to 3-1 on a goal from the edge of the crease before scoring on the man-up to claw within one. 

Freshman Trevor Yealy (Pittsburgh, Penn./Upper St. Claire) made it 4-2 on the ensuing Michigan possession on a shot from just outside the crease, but the Cougars answered right back to make it 4-3 on a quick-stick goal of their own at the three-minute mark to close out the first-quarter scoring. 

Yealy added his second of the game on a feed from Krauss as the first-year player faked high and shot low for the 5-3 lead two minutes into the second quarter.  Krauss created another opportunity on the transition, avoiding a BYU check and feeding Yealy on the crease for another dunk goal and the 6-3 lead mid-way through the second quarter. 

An off-sides call two minutes later gave BYU a man-up chance 30-seconds later, but the Wolverine man-down unit was up to the task, keeping BYU to the outside and eventually picking off a cross crease pass.  After the successful clear, Vasher found Yealy parked outside the crease for another dunk and the 7-3 lead at the 6:02 mark for Michigan's third unanswered goal.

BYU notched their first goal of the quarter to draw within three two minutes later, but the Wolverines re-gained the four-goal lead on a long blast from the right wing from Zorovich at the 2:16 mark to close out the first-half scoring as Michigan led 8-4 going into break.    

Michigan opened the second-half scoring with an extra-man goal on a low blast from the left wing from Riley Kearns (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) to give Michigan it's largest lead of the game at 9-4. 

BYU was awarded a two-man advantage shortly after however and was able to capitalize on a rebound attempt after senior goaltender Graham Townsend (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville East) made the initial save.  The Cougars added another just under a minute later to draw within three on a dunk goal in front after a missed assignment in front. 

Zorovich slowed the BYU momentum with his third goal of the game, coming out from the right GLE and firing low for the 10-6 lead with 5:09 left in the third quarter.  2:38 later, an off-sides call on Michigan resulted in a BYU man-up opportunity and the Cougars were able to capitalize on a shot from the left wing that snuck just inside the near-side post.  The teams traded possessions in the final minutes of the third, but neither team was able to capitalize as Michigan took a 10-7 into the final frame.

Hammitt opened the fourth-quarter scoring on a dodge from the left wing before firing low to the far-side for the four goal lead with 13:36 left. 

A one-minute slashing call on Michigan gave BYU another lengthy man-up, but once again the man-down unit came up big, shutting down the lanes and keeping the Cougars to the outside as the fourth-quarter clock continued to whittle down with Michigan holding onto the four-goal lead. 

After killing another man-down resulting from an off-sides call, Michigan began utilizing the stall, working the ball around the box as time started to become an ally of the Maize and Blue.  With 2:17 left on the clock, BYU called a timeout to set up their final push.  Smelling victory, the Wolverines buckled down however and the Cougars were never able to put together a serious threat in the final minutes of the game.  As the clock hit 0:00, the full complement of Michigan players both on the field and off rushed their goaltender in celebration as the squad moved a win away from the ultimate prize.

Statistically, Michigan won nearly every category.  Each team registered 32 shots in the contest, with U-M winning the groundball battle, 42 to 36.  The Wolverines were 12 of 22 on faceoffs, and finished 15 of 24 on clears, while doing a stellar job on the ride, holding BYU to 15 for 30 totals.  The Maize and Blue scored once on three man-up attempts, while the Cougars notched three goals on eight chances.

The Wolverines will look to capture their first national championship in program history on Saturday (May 17) when they take on the #2 seed, Chapman at 7:00pm CST at Texas Stadium, in Irving, Texas.  Please visit http://www.mclachamptx.com/ for all your tourney info.

NOTES

● Senior captain and faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) finished 12 of 22 on faceoffs.

●  Kohlitz and junior defender Zach Elyachar (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands) tied for the team lead with six groundballs.  With 127 groundballs this season Brekan Kohlitz is now tops in career groundballs with 375.

●  Yealy led all scorers with four goals and one assist and has now totaled 69 on the season for third on the single-season scoring list.  Adam Denenberg scored 79 in 2000 for second all-time. 

●  Krauss added three more assists for a career total of 76.  Krauss is now fifth all time on the career-assist list.  Kevin Chan is fourth with 79.

●  Michigan improves to 4-10 all-time vs. BYU.

●  The Wolverines are holding opponents to a 50% clear rate (269 for 535) through 19 games.

●  Goaltender Graham Townsend finished with a season low five saves in the contest.  There were only 9 saves made by both teams in the entire game.

● The game was televised by Fox College Sports.  Please check your local listings for air dates or visit http://msn.foxsports.com/fcs.

QUOTES

Head Coach John Paul

On his general impressions:  "I'm equally excited and relieved.  Excited because we are where we are, but relieved as well because I felt like this is where we belonged all season long.  You don't want the disappoint of failing to reach where you think you should be.  I know it's cliché, but none of us are satisfied."

On the fourth-quarter shutdown of BYU's man-up:  "Our man-down has been great all year, and it's never a real panic situation for us.  Obviously you never want to take penalties, but it also allows us to go a little harder.  Even on their two-man up situation we did what we wanted to do and got the ball on the ground, but they just got the loose ball.  That was as confident a game as we've played all year."

On the ride:  "So much of it is about desire, and a lot of it is knowing what to do in a specific situation.  BYU typically rides a lot like we did tonight so obviously they should be prepared for a ride like that, but if we're flying around like we do, I don't care who you are, you are going to have trouble with it.  If you're going to beat us, you're going to have to make amazing plays.  Our defense also does a great job recovering when a team is able to break it."

On Yealy's game: "I was a little surprised he was as open as he was at times but they adjusted in the second half and started to take him away, but we also felt our midfielders, especially our first line, would be able to get to the goal, and if they're reluctant to slide off of Yealy at that point, it's just going to open it up for others."

On the finals:  "Chapman is not going to know a whole lot about us, and we're not going to know a whole lot about them, but ultimately both teams are going to stick to what we do successfully and line up and play our games.  I'm sure they're saying the same thing over there."

Senior Bobby Morales

On his the meaning of the win:  "It means a lot, but I think the focus is completely on tomorrow.  You could see it in the celebration tonight, and all the guys were saying is that we have one left ahead of us."

On the defensive effort:  "I took it upon myself to make a statement today and line up against one of the best middies in the country, but everyone was shutting down their guy tonight.  When we're all playing that way we're going to be successful and it really shows how we've gelled as a unit this year."

Junior Zach Elyachar

On the man-down in the fourth:  "Going into the fourth we knew we only had 15 minutes left to prove we belonged in the national championship.  We wanted to work hard, and play smart together and we were able to get the job done."

On the importance of the win:  "It's nice, but if we don't win tomorrow, none of it matters.  Not the 19 wins, not the road play, not beating BYU twice.  The coaches, captains, seniors and really everyone is focused on the ultimate prize."

On the game-plan going in:  "We don't know a lot about these guys, but I'm completely confident in our coaching staff to have us prepared.  They have all season, and I'm sure they'll be up all night working on it."

Senior Peter Krauss

On his impressions:  "We came out solid but they certainly hung in there.  I think in the end we out-worked them, and when you can out-work BYU, that's certainly a good thing."

On the ride:  "It goes back to the beginning of the season, and to the fall, and everyone bought into the kind of effort and hard work that was going to be required to be successful.  We knew it would make a difference and it certainly has."

On going into tomorrow:  "They have a solid offense and they're a streaky team as evident by today.  We can't get too high or too low, and we just need to play our game – ride hard, get every groundball and outwork them.  We're not in some sort of Hollywood movie where someone has to go above and beyond themselves. We just need to play within ourselves and do what we've been doing all year." 

Freshman Trevor Yealy

On his effort:  "I was a little shocked with how much freedom I had at times, especially against a team like BYU.  But I'm not going to complain.  We've still got some business to finish up and we just need to stay focused.  If they elect to shut me down tomorrow, I hope they have fun with the rest of us."

On how everyone buys into the ride:  "It really shows the kind of work ethic that we have as a team.  In high school no one really focused on the ride, but once I got here it was a totally different story.  It makes a huge difference, and when everyone is working collectively together like that it's amazing.  I don't think I've ever seen so many sticks hit the ground."

Contact: Joe Hennessy (734) 276-8493, jjhennes@umich.edu