Michigan 15, Illinois 6
12:00 p.m., Saturday, March 10, 2001
Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois  

Wolverines Extend CCLA Win Streak

8-1 First Quarter Buries Illinois  

Champaign, Illinois – The Michigan men’s lacrosse team had a very good week.  First they found out that the USLIA Laxpower rankings had vaulted them to #1 after victories over Florida and Siena.  Then the Wolverines moved up to the #3 spot in the latest USLIA National Poll, the highest ranking in team history.  To end the week, Michigan soundly defeated arch-rival Illinois 16-5 today in Memorial Stadium in Champaign.  The win improved Michigan’s record to 4-0 (2-0 CCLA) and extended their CCLA win streak to 26 games, dating back to April of 1998.

An unsportsmanlike conduct foul before the opening faceoff gave Michigan the ball to begin the game, and freshman Kevin Toller (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) put the Wolverines on the board only 8 seconds in with a quick shot that found the upper corner over All-American goalie Mike Vanderweide.  Toller scored again less than a minute later, and defenseman Greg Deutch (Boca Raton, Flor./St. Andrews HS) made it 3-0 before Illinois coach Brian Mosher called a timeout to stop the bleeding.  The Illini responded with a Mike Copher goal, but when Chip Thomas (Tenafly, New Jersey/Dwight-Englewood HS) answered with an unassisted drive with just over 10 minutes to go in the first, the rout was on.  The Wolverines scored the next four as well to take a commanding 8-1 lead into the second quarter.

The second was much like the first, although the Michigan offense was slowed by 4 penalties while Illinois stayed out of the box.  Kevin Chan (Manhasset, New York/Manhasset HS) had a goal and an assist in each of the first two periods on his way to a 3 goal – 3 assist day.  Jeff Hadwin (Vestal, New York/Vestal HS), who was shut off all day by the Illini defense, finished the first half scoring on a breakaway created by a turnover on an Illinois clear.

Illinois outscored the Wolverines 4-3 in the second half as Michigan slowed down offensively and played every player on the roster.  The story of the day was ground balls, as Michigan gathered 62 to 26 for Illinois.  The Wolverines outshot the Illini 53-32.  Despite playing on an injured leg, Vanderweide’s 22 saves kept the score closer than it could have been.  The three Michigan goalies combined for 11 saves.

The Wolverines now have a week off to prepare for the Michigan Invitational March 23-25 in Ann Arbor.  In a three day span the Wolverines will face #2 Colorado State, #5 Sonoma State and #18 Texas.

NOTES

·       Two Wolverines, Brian Marchena (Troy, Mich./Country Day HS) and Jason Hall (Pittsford, New York/Pittsford Sutherland HS), sat out the game to rest injuries.  Marchena is rehabbing a sprained ankle suffered against Siena, and should be ready to play in the Michigan Invitational in two weeks.  Hall is day-to-day with a herniated disk in his back.

·       Freshman Kevin Toller continued his faceoff dominance, winning 16 of 24 draws on the day.

·       Jeff Hadwin’s two goals added to his Michigan career record (since the inception of the USLIA) 268.

·       The Michigan Invitational in two weeks will give the Wolverines a chance to faceoff against two teams that beat them last season.  #5 Sonoma State defeated Michigan 7-4 last March in a mudfest in California, and #2 Colorado State eliminated Michigan from the USLIA tournament last year 11-10 in the quarterfinals.  Michigan and Texas have never met.

QUOTES

UM Head Coach John Paul

On the game overall…”We came out on fire today.  We wanted to continue to improve our intensity and focus, and I think we did that at first.  I’ll have to look at the film, but I wasn’t especially pleased with some of the decisions we made after the half.  We played a very sloppy second half.”

On the Michigan defense…”Our team defense is our single biggest improvement this year.  We have some outstanding talent at longstick, but it’s our system that has improved the most.  (Assistant Coach) Ron Hebert has to be credited with much of that improvement this year.  So far, we’ve been able to limit quality scoring chances fairly consistently.”

Box Score

Goalies

Michigan:   Sooman Kim – 5 saves / 2 goals against

                     Jeremy Menkowitz – 5 saves / 3 goals against

                     Jerry Perez – 1 save / 1 goal against

Illinois:        Mike Vanderweide – 22 saves / 15 goals against

Team Statistics

Officials

Ray Tucker, Richard Baurenschmidt, Bill Russell

Attendance

Scoring Summary

Contact: Sarah Johnson (734) 213-0325, sarahcj@umich.edu