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April 28, 2003
Kozel, Ten Others
Wolverines Earn CCLA Honors
Ann Arbor, Mich. -- The
Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association announced its 2003
all-conference teams today, and Michigan led the way with eleven
selections. Sophomore defenseman Kirk Kozel (Barrington,
Ill./Taft, CT) was named the CCLA Defensive Player of the Year and
was named to the All-CCLA 1st-Team along with Mike Roth (Montclair,
NJ/Montclair-Kimberly), Chip Thomas (Tenefly,
NJ/Dwight-Englewood) and Ben Herbst (Pikesville, MD/Pikesville).
When All-American defenseman John Morgan (Rockville
Centre, NY/Southside) was lost early-on to a season-ending knee
injury, Kozel stepped up to become the leader of a Michigan defense that
is allowing only 6 goals per game and just 21 shots per game. From
the time Morgan was lost during the BYU game, Kozel has consistently
drawn the assignment of the opponent's top attackman. He held
BYU's Jordan Archibald to 2 goals, Colorado's Chris Bok to 1 goals, and
most recently CCLA Offensive Player of the Year Billy Binge of Oakland
University, who had been averaging 8 points-per-game, to 2 goals and 1
assist in yesterday's CCLA championship game.
Roth missed the entire Fall practice and scrimmage season and most of
the preparation for the regular season with a knee injury suffered in
the first Fall practice in September. He came back to action in
Michigan's season opener against USC at longstick midfield, a new
position for him, and after Morgan went down he moved back to close
defense as a starter. Roth was an Honorable Mention All-CCLA
selection as a freshman last year.
Thomas was a 1st-Team All-CCLA honoree last season. He is second
on the team in scoring this year with 50 points on 39 goals and 11
assists for a 2.8 points-per-game average. He leads Michigan's
midfielders in all scoring categories. A senior captain, Thomas
started his Michigan career at attack, but made the move to midfield his
sophomore year.
Herbst, a senor attackman, returned this year after spending the 2002
campaign studying abroad. He leads the team in scoring with 75
points on 43 goals and 32 assists for a 4.2 points-per-game average.
Herbst played midfield his first two seasons at Michigan. He
earned 1st-Team All-CCLA honors as a sophomore in 2001, his last season
on the field.
Two Michigan juniors, attackman Jeff Hanna (Fayetteville,
NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) and midfielder Justin Gal (Amherst, Mass./Milton Academy)
were named to the All-CCLA 2nd-Team. Five Wolverines received
Honorable Mention recognition: sophomore goalie Dan Webber (Weston,
Mass./Weston), sophomore defenseman Brian
Anderson (Lansing, Mich./Lansing Waverly), senior attackman
Sloan Buchan-McGilliard (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer), senior
midfielder
Brian Marchena (Troy, Mich./Country Day) and sophomore
defensive midfielder Anthony Ragnone
(Flint, Mich./Flint Powers).
Along with Oakland
University's Binge receiving the CCLA Offensive Player of the Year
award, Oakland head coach Dwayne Hicks was honored as the CCLA Coach of
the Year for leading his team to a 13-2 overall record and a #10
national ranking.
2003 All-CCLA
1st-Team
Attack: Billy Binge
(Oakland), Grant Griffith (Michigan State), Ben Herbst (Michigan)
Midfield: Jim Derrick
(Indiana), Doug Kubiak (Buffalo), Jeff Serra (Oakland), Chip Thomas
(Michigan)
Specialist: PJ Mallon
(Michigan State)
Defense: Alex Beachy
(Purdue), Kirk Kozel (Michigan), Mike Roth (Michigan)
Goal: Nate Sullivan
(Western Michigan) |
