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February 26, 2003
Site:
Santa Barbara, California (Harder Field)
Scores:
#6 Michigan 7, #4 California-Santa Barbara 9
Records: UM (1-2), UCSB (5-0)
Next
U-M Game: Saturday, March 1 -- vs. Sonoma State (STX Tournament,
Leavey Field @ Loyola Marymount, Los Angeles, Cal.), 3:00 p.m. PST
Michigan Falls to #4 UCSB
Santa Barbara, Cal. --
For the second straight game the Michigan lacrosse team was outshot,
this time by a determined UCSB squad 28-20, and the lack of scoring
opportunities hurt the Wolverines as they fell 9-7 at Harder Field in
front of a vocal partisan crowd.
In a game that featured more dropped balls than pretty plays, a problem
that seemed to plague both teams, UCSB got on the board first with two
goals only 13 seconds apart just over two minutes into the game.
Michigan answered at the 9:30 mark when Ben Herbst (Pikesville,
MD/Pikesville) fed Jim Constantine (Troy, Mich./Seaholm)
cutting on the crease. Bobby Groenke (Cincinnati,
Ohio/St. Xavier) then tied it up when some quick ball movement found
him alone on the backside of the defense with 2:21 to go in the first.
Michigan was able to kill a key penalty when they found themselves two
men down, but the Gauchos, capitalized on their next extra-man
opportunity just before the quarter ended, and it was 3-2 after one.
Michigan tied it up again when Chip Thomas (Tenefly,
NJ/Dwight-Englewood) beat his man and shot before the slide arrived,
but the Gauchos answered just seven seconds later off a clean faceoff
win. UCSB increased the the deficit to two when Tom Smith rifled
one in with a defender draped all over him less than two minutes before
the half.
Jeff Hanna (Fayatteville, NY/Fayatteville-Manlius) brought
it back to a one goal game early in the third, but once again UCSB had
an answer. The gauchos scored two in the quarter, first on a
man-up chance and then when Nick Schooler faked to his brother Ben,
fooling half of the Michigan defense, and fed Lynn Matthew for an easy
dump behind goalie Dan Webber (Weston, Mass./Weston).
Trailing 7-4 going into the fourth quarter, the Wolverines unleashed a
furious onslaught. The Michigan defense picked up their pressure,
especially Kirk Kozel (Barrington, Ill./Taft, CT) who had
a couple of key clears off takeaways and turnovers. Ryan Clark
(Summit, NJ/Summit) beat his man less than a minute into the
quarter to draw within two, and then Thomas scored his second on
Michigan's first man-up opportunity to get within one.
After several possessions by each team, UCSB's Jim Clark found himself
in the right spot as a loose ball off a Michigan stick-check landed
right in his stick, and he put the gap back at 2 with 2:10 to play.
Tom Smith iced it 43 seconds later when he beat the defense, playing
aggressively now to try to force turnovers, and scored his second of the
game. Herbst finished the scoring in the final seconds on
Michigan's second extra-man chance.
Michigan will take a day
off tomorrow to rest and recover from the busy week so far. After
a day of practice Friday and clinic for local youth players, the
Wolverines face off in the STX Tourament this weekend at Loyola
Marymount University. They play defending national champion, and
current #1 ranked, Sonoma State at 3:00 p.m. PST this Saturday.
NOTES
●
Injuries continue to plague the Wolverines this year. A few
minutes after scoring the game-tying goal late in the first quarter,
Groenke went down with a badly sprained ankle and did not return.
Three other players were already on the sidelines nursing injuries.
Groenke will be evaluated tomorrow, but he is doubtful for Saturday's
game against Sonoma State.
●
Michigan did not get their first man-up opportunity until the 12:17 mark
of the 4th quarter. The Wolverines were 2 for 2 on extra-man
opportunities, while UCSB went 2 for 6.
●
This was the third
meeting of these two teams, and Michigan is still winless against the
Gauchos. Their last meeting was a one goal game in the 2001 USLIA
quarterfinals.
●
Brian Anderson (Lansing, Mich./Waverly), in his first game
of the season after serving a two-game suspension for breaking team
rules, collected a game-high 8 ground balls.
●
The weather for the game was cool, but conditions were ideal - aside
from the plague of man-eating mosquitoes that swarmed the field during
warm-ups.
QUOTES
UM Head Coach John Paul
On the
game overall: "I don't think either team is satisfied with
their performance tonight. I know we're not. These were two
good teams who didn't show their abilities in this one. They just
outfought us for it. I know we wanted it as much as they did, but
we just couldn't seem to execute tonight."
On the lack of scoring in the last two games: "Our offense is not
fluid right now. I'm the offensive coach, so that has to fall on
my shoulders. We aren't executing. Turnovers are hurting us,
but more importantly, we have some guys who are pressing and trying to
take things over themselves. We have a system, and we better start
believing in it fast if we are going anywhere this year."
On the Sonoma State game this Saturday: "Obviously, this is
a huge game for us. Our backs are to the wall a bit. We
started last season 1-2, just like this, and then we responded and
didn't lose again until the national quarterfinals. Sonoma State
presents our third huge challenge in a row. We'll see what we are
made of this weekend."
On the
injury situation: "This year is just bizarre. We lost Groenke
tonight, probably for at least a couple of games. We lost Smith
for the week in the USC game. We lost two All-Americans for the
season before we got started, and I don't know how many other guys off
and on since September. We have to find whoever has the voodoo
dolls and get them to stop."
GAME SUMMARY
Michigan vs. California -
Santa Barbara
Wednesday, February 26
7:00 p.m. PST, Harder Field, Santa Barbara, California
Score by Quarter
1 2 3 4 OT Totals
Michigan ………… 2 1
1 3
7
UCSB..............…..
3 2 2
2
9
Michigan Scoring
Ben Herbst 1G/2A - 3 Pts.
Chip Thomas 2G/0A - 2 Pts.
Jeff Hanna 1G/1A - 2 Pts.
Ryan Clark 1G/0A
- 1 Pt.
Bobby Groenke 1G/0A - 1 Pt.
Jim Constantine 1G/0A - 1 Pt.
UCSB
Scoring
Hank Caulkins 3G/1A - 4 Pts.
Jim Clark 2G/1A - 3 Pts.
Tom Smith 2G/1A - 3 Pts.
Luke Wilson 0G/2A - 2 Pts.
Ben Schooler 1G/0A - 1 Pt.
Lynn Matthews 1G/0A - 1 Pt.
Nick Schooler 0G/1A - 1 Pt.
Goalies
Michigan: Dan Webber – 4 saves / 9 goals against
UCSB: Ryan Brittain - 7
saves / 6 goals against, Mike Wood - 0 saves / 1 goal
against
Team Statistics
1 2 3 4 OT Totals
Ground Balls
Michigan
8 6
7
9
30
UCSB
8 5 8
10 32
Shots
Michigan
7 3 2
8
20
UCSB
7 5 10
6
28
Face-offs
Michigan
1
2
2 3
8
UCSB 5
2 2
2
11
Clears
Michigan
10/10 10/11 8/13 6/10 34/44
UCSB
7/9 8/9 9/11 6/9
30/38
Extra Man
Michigan
- -
- 2/2
2/2
UCSB
1/2 0/1 1/2 0/1 1/6
Scoring Summary
12:53 (1st)….SB….B
Schooler….UM 0, SB 1
12:40 (1st)….SB….Caulkins
(Clark)….UM 0, SB 2
9:30 (1st)….UM….Constantine
(Herbst)….UM
1, SB 2
2:21 (1st)….UM….Groenke….UM
2, SB 2
0:07 (1st)….SB (EMO)….Clark
(Wilson)….UM
2, SB 3
End of 1st
Quarter: Michigan 2, UCSB 3
9:29 (2nd)….UM….Thomas….UM
3, SB 3
9:22 (2nd)….SB….Caulkins
(Smith)….UM 3, SB 4
1:50 (2nd)….SB….Smith….UM
3, SB 5
Halftime: Michigan 3, UCSB
5
12:39 (3rd)….UM….Hanna….UM
4, SB 5
6:27 (3rd)….SB (EMO)….Caulkins
(Wilson)….UM 4, SB 6
4:25 (3rd)….SB….Matthew
(N Schooler)….UM
4, SB 7
End of 3rd
Quarter: Michigan 4, UCSB 7
14:04 (4th)….UM….Clark….UM
5, SB 7
11:49 (4th)….UM (EMO)….Thomas
(Herbst)….UM 6, SB 7
2:10 (4th)….SB….Clark
(Caulkins)….UM 6, SB 8
1:27 (4th)….SB….Smith….UM
6, SB 9
0:03 (4th)….UM (EMO)….Herbst
(Hanna)….UM 7, SB 9
End of Regulation:
Michigan 7, UCSB 9
Officials
Almy, Stanton, Newcome
Attendance
250
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