050902 USLIA Brigham Young

May 9, 2002

Site: St. Louis, Missouri (Anheuser-Busch Sports Centre)

Score: #4 Michigan 3, #5 Brigham Young 10

Records: UM (17-3), Brigham Young (17-4)

Next U-M Game: Friday, May 10 -- vs. #6 Stanford, USLIA National Tournament Consolation Game (St. Louis, Mo.), 1:30 p.m. CST

Brigham Young Defense Stifles Michigan

Wolverines Suffer Fourth Straight USLIA Quarterfinal Loss

ST. LOUIS, Missouri -- When the 4^th-seeded Michigan men's lacrosse team (17-3) last played 5^th-seeded Brigham Young, the Wolverines had trouble stopping the Brigham Young attack and lost in Provo, 12-9. This time, however, Michigan had trouble figuring out the defense and fell 10-3. Attackman Jordan Archibald led Brigham Young with four assists and assisted all of attackman Mike Lee's three goals. Attackman Rex Hardy also had two goals and two assists for Brigham Young (17-4). Sophomore attackman Kevin Toller (Ann Arbor, MI/Pioneer) led Michigan with two goals.

Michigan took control of the game early, taking the opening face-off and controlling the ball for a few minutes. But both teams turned the ball over a few times, and Brigham Young took advantage when Archibald broke free and fed Lee on the crease with 8:24 remaining. Brigham Young got another fast break, but junior goalie Sooman Kim (Troy, MI/Troy) made a spectacular save on Archibald. Midfielder Jordan Peel was there for Brigham Young, however, and he put in the rebound to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead. Brigham Young scored again to take a 3-0 lead, this time on a settled situation as Josh Heckathorn cut to the goal and got a feed from Hardy at 4:13. Michigan would quickly respond, as Toller won the ensuing face-off and used a split dodge to create a shot that found its way past Brigham Young goalie Glenn Makechnie. Kim prevented Brigham Young from extending their lead when he made another spectacular save, this time on a high shot by Hardy. Michigan closed the lead to 3-2 when junior attackman Sloan Buchan-McGilliard (Ann Arbor, MI/Pioneer) fed junior midfielder Chip Thomas (Tenafly, NJ/Dwight-Englewood) from behind.

Michigan took control of the ball to start the second quarter, but had trouble creating quality scoring opportunities. Brigham Young defenseman Aaron Quiggle took the ball into the Michigan end when the Wolverine ride broke down and fed Hardy all alone to take a 4-2 lead. The Michigan defense continued to play well and force turnovers on settled possessions for Brigham Young, but the offense continued to struggle and turn the ball over. Hardy closed out the half with a 5-2 Cougar lead when he fought off a triple-team and scored extra-man with 0:18 remaining.

It was more of the same early in the third quarter, as Michigan controlled the ball for a three-minute possession but still could not score, not even when they had a pair of extra-man opportunities. Toller finally cut the deficit to 5-3 when he bull-dodged his defender and scored unassisted with 6:56 remaining. The Cougars responded with another goal off of the clear, this time again from Archibald to Lee. Michigan had several opportunities, but Makechnie stepped up and made a point-blank save after a great dodge by freshman attackman Ryan Clark (Summit, NJ/Summit). The fourth quarter did not provide Michigan an opportunity to come back, as they had more difficulty on offense and could not convert extra-man opportunities. Brigham Young would score four more goals and would close out the game 10-3.

NOTES

● Michigan's offensive woes were indicative in its failure to convert on extra-man opportunities; the Wolverines were 0-6 for the game.

● Michigan's three goals are the team's lowest output ever since the founding of the USLIA.

● Sophomore midfielder Justin Gal (Amherst, MA/Milton Academy) won all five of his face-offs. Toller went 7 for 12, and the Wolverines won 12 of 17 overall.

● Despite losing, Michigan topped Brigham Young in almost every statistical category--face-offs (12-5), ground balls (43-32), shots (31-18), and clears (20/27-18/30). Michigan's 31 shots match the March 2 Brigham Young game for its lowest shot total of the season.

● Michigan still managed to hold Brigham Young to just 18 shots; however, the Cougars scored on 55.5% of them. Going into the Virginia Tech game yesterday, Michigan's opponents were averaging a 27.9% shooting percentage.

● This is Michigan's 4^th-consecutive loss in the USLIA quarterfinals, with previous games lost to Simon Fraser (1999), Colorado State (2000), and Cal-Santa Barbara (2001).

● Michigan has held its opponents to just two goals in the third quarter over the last seven games.

● Tomorrow, Michigan will play the loser of the quarterfinal game between 3^rd-seeded Colorado State and 6^th-seeded Stanford in the consolation round. It will be the last game of the season for both teams.

QUOTES

UM Head Coach John Paul

On the game overall: "I thought their defense was the difference in the game. They played outstanding team defense and their goalie played well. I don't think we've ever been held to three goals. The other thing was transition--we did a good job of playing them 6-on-6, but they got a lot of goals off of unsettled situations."

On Brigham Young's ability to score off the clear: "Some of those (goals) were mistakes we made, some were outstanding plays they made. They were hot, and it was like playing a basketball team with great three-point shooters. It was frustrating--we would posses the ball for ten minutes, get a few good shots, and they'd run down the field and score in five seconds."

On the fourth-consecutive quarterfinal loss: "This year doesn't feel at all like last year. Losing by one goal in those last three feels horrible because we could have won, maybe should have won. This year we got outplayed by a superior team. With our young team, we'll improve and get past the quarterfinals soon. We met most of our goals this year. This was a great group that worked hard all year to bring our program up to a higher level. I'm very proud of all that we accomplished this year."

GAME SUMMARY

Michigan vs. Brigham Young

USLIA National Tournament Quarterfinal
Thursday, May 9, 2002
2:30 p.m., Anheuser-Busch Center, St. Louis, Missouri

Score by Quarter 1 2 3 4 OT Totals

Michigan ЕЕЕЕ 2 0 1 0 3

Brigham Young..Е 3 2 1 4 10

Michigan Scoring

Kevin Toller 2G/0A Ц 2 Pts.

Chip Thomas 1G/0A Ц 1 Pt.

Sloan Buchan-McGilliard 0G/1A Ц 1 Pt.

Brigham Young Scoring

Jordan Archibald 0G/4A Ц 4 Pts.

Rex Hardy 2G/2A Ц 2 Pts.

Mike Lee 3G/0A Ц 3 Pts.

Jordan Peel 1G/0A Ц 1 Pt.

David Rueckert 1G/0A Ц 1 Pt.

Josh Heckathorn 1G/0A Ц 1 Pt.

Jeff Jackson 1G/0A Ц 1 Pt.

Charles Kikumoto 1G/0A Ц 1 Pt.

Goalies
Michigan: Sooman Kim Ц 6 saves / 10 goals against

Brigham Young: Glenn Makechnie Ц 7 saves / 3 goals against

Team Statistics 1 2 3 4 OT Totals

Ground Balls

Michigan 8 13 9 13 43

Brigham Young 7 12 6 7 32

Shots

Michigan 7 6 12 6 31

Brigham Young 6 5 2 5 18

Face-offs

Michigan 4 1 2 5 12

Brigham Young 2 2 1 0 5

Clears

Michigan 4/7 7/8 4/5 5/7 20/27

Brigham Young 3/6 7/10 2/5 6/9 18/30

Extra Man

Michigan 0/1 - 0/3 0/2 0/6

Brigham Young - 1/1 - - 1/1

Scoring Summary

8:24 (1^st)Е.BYUЕ. Lee (Archibald) Е.UM 0, BYU 1

5:05 (1^st)Е.BYUЕ.Peel Е.UM 0, BYU 2

4:13 (1^st)Е.BYUЕ.Heckathorn (Hardy)Е.UM 0, BYU 3

3:54 (1^st)Е.UM Е.Toller Е.UM 1, BYU 3

1:48 (1^st)Е.UMЕ.Thomas (Buchan-McGilliard)Е.UM 2, BYU 3

End of 1^st Quarter: Michigan 2, Brigham Young 3

10:00 (2^nd)Е.BYUЕ.Hardy (Quiggle) Е.UM 2, BYU 4

0:18 (2^nd)Е.BYU (EMO) Е.HardyЕ.UM 2, BYU 5

Halftime: Michigan 2, Brigham Young 5

6:56 (3^rd) Е.UM Е.Toller Е.UM 3, BYU 5

3:41 (3^rd)Е.BYUЕ.Lee (Archibald)Е.UM 3, BYU 6

End of 3^rd Quarter: Michigan 3, Brigham Young 6

14:00 (4^th)Е.BYUЕ.Jackson (Hardy) Е.UM 3, BYU 7

8:42 (4^th)Е.BYU Е.Kikumoto Е.UM 3, BYU 8

7:45 (4^th)Е.BYUЕ.Lee (Archibald)Е.UM 3, BYU 9

0:36 (4^th)Е.BYUЕ.Rueckert (Archibald)Е.UM 3, BYU 10

End of Regulation: Michigan 3, Brigham Young 10

Officials
Alabaster, Dickert, Meyer

Attendance
271

Contact: Peter Lund (734) 604-8030