2000-2001 Michigan Men's Lacrosse -- Game #17

Michigan 8,  Marquette 4
CCLA Championships - Final

3:00 p.m., Sunday, April 29, 2001
IUPUI Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana

Three-peat!  Michigan Takes the CCLA Title Again

Marquette Keeps it Close For Second Time in Two Weeks

Indianapolis, Indiana -- #2 Michigan won their third straight CCLA Championship today, when they defeated #17 Marquette 8-4 at IUPUI Stadium in Indianapolis.  The Wolverines built a 7-2 halftime lead, then slowed things down to seal the win.  Michigan improves to 16-1 (8-0 CCLA), while Marquette drops to 9-2, with their only losses coming at the hands of the Wolverines.

After Marquette played Michigan tough two weeks ago in a 13-10 loss, many were anticipating this matchup in the CCLA final to see if it had been a fluke.   Once again, the Golden Eagles used their possession offense to slow the game down, and a conservative defensive scheme to keep the Wolverines from getting easy looks.

Marquette's Brendan Rooney opened up the scoring less than two minutes into the game, but Michigan was able to put together a string of six straight goals to build a commanding 6-1 lead by midway through the second quarter.  The Wolverines outshot the Golden Eagles 27-7 in the first half and 45-15 on the day, but had trouble finding the cage as 22 shots missed their mark.

The two teams traded goals in the final minutes of the first half to make it 7-2 with two quarters to play.

Nobody could mount much of an offensive threat in the 3rd quarter as each team failed on their extra-man opportunities.  It wasn't until 12:25 of the fourth, when Marquette's Kevin Murphy scored his second of the day, that the score finally changed.  Jeff Hadwin (Vestal, NY/Vestal HS) answered three minutes later to push the lead back to five, and Murphy scored his third with 5:44 to go to finish the scoring.

Michigan's Sooman Kim (Troy, MI/Troy HS) only faced 11 shots on goal, but he turned away 7 of them.  Andy Gorski made 15 saves for Marquette.

The Wolverines await the results of the final USLIA poll tomorrow night, and the concurrent release of the National Championship Tournament seedings, to see who they will play in the first round.  The USLIA National Championship Tournament is May 8-12 at the Anheuser-Busch Sports Centre in St. Louis, Missouri.

NOTES
• Jeff Hadwin’s (Vestal, NY/Vestal HS) goal added to his Michigan career record (since the inception of the USLIA) 247.

• Michigan faced Marquette just over two weeks ago, and came away with a hard-fought 13-10 victory.  Last year, these two teams met in the CCLA semifinals.  Michigan won that game 11-4 after trailing 3-2 at the half.

• Michigan's CCLA win streak now stands at 32 games, with the last loss coming at the hands of Illinois in April of 1998.

• The CCLA Championships will return to IUPUI Stadium next year.


QUOTES
UM Head Coach John Paul
On Marquette's gameplan…”Marquette plays a smart game.  They slow things down and possess the ball offensively, and then count on their good feeders to find cutters on the crease.  They don't get a lot of shots, but the shots they get are usually high percentage.  Their defense plays conservative, position D.  They don't take a lot of chances, which forces your offense to play smart.”

On Marquette's tournament chances…”I think they are deserving of a bid.  They are a top-16 team in my mind.  I think they'll be handicapped by some of the voters for not playing a national schedule, though.”

On Michigan's tournament outlook..."We aren't where we need to be yet.  It may be a function of finals just ending, but we certainly weren't clicking this weekend.  Hopefully, with a full week of practice, and no school distractions, we'll be refocused and ready to go for St. Louis."


Box Score
Michigan (16-1) vs. Marquette (9-2)

CCLA Final
Sunday, April 29, 2001
3:00 p.m., IUPUI Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Goalies
Michigan: Sooman Kim (60:00 minutes, 4 goals allowed, 7 saves)
Marquette: Andy Gorski (60:00 minutes, 8 goals allowed, 15 saves)
 

Team Statistics

Penalties: Michigan 4/3:30, Marquette 9/8:30

Officials
Dave Hague, Rob Quinn, Jordy Almgren
 
Attendance
87
 

Scoring Summary

* Man-up Goal