March 12, 2004                                                                      

Event:  Men’s Lacrosse

Site: Ann Arbor, Michigan (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)

Score: #5 Michigan 15, Western Michigan 3

Records: UM (4-1, 1-0 CCLA), Western Michigan (1-1, 0-0 CCLA)

Next U-M Game: Saturday, March 13 -- vs. #6 Arizona (Ann Arbor, Mich. - Oosterbaan Fieldhouse), 8:00 p.m. EST

Hanna Tames the Broncos

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes

Ann Arbor, Mich. – The #5 ranked University of Michigan men’s lacrosse team defeated CCLA rival Western Michigan 15-3, in front of roughly 450 fans at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse, Friday (March 12) night.  Attackmen Jeff Hanna (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manilus) and Ray Lombardi (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) tallied eight of Michigan’s 15 goals as the Wolverines jumped all over the Broncos early and often, opening the game with six unanswered goals until the 10:40 mark of the second period when WMU notched their first goal of the game from John Mauer.    

Senior captain Justin Gal (Amherst, Mass./Milton Academy) opened the Wolverine scoring just over 40 seconds into the game, on a man-up goal with a blast from the left corner.  Hanna would score the first of his eight goals just under three minutes later on a quick strike in front from a feed from behind the net from junior Ryan Clark (Summit, N.J./Summit), who notched five points (2-3-5) of his own.  Michigan was able to kill off two penalties midway through the first period while the game was still in the balance, with four key saves from junior goaltender Dan Webber (Weston, Mass./Weston).  A combination of well-played defense and Western’s apparent satisfaction with outside shots gave Webber the chance to make saves on three, hard outside shots that he handled with comfort.  

Entering the second period with a tight 3-0 lead, U-M opened the flood gates with three goals in the first four minutes of the second quarter, including two from Lombardi on feeds from behind the cage from Clark and Gal.  After allowing WMU’s lone goal of the half, along with a Lombardi one-minute personal foul, it appeared as though Western might be able to claw itself back into the contest.  With the first of two goals from junior Brian Vincent (Farmington Hills, Mich./U of Detroit Jesuit), U-M quelled all thoughts of a comeback however, rattling off four more goals in the second quarter, including two from Hanna, giving Michigan a 10-1 lead entering the half.  Hanna’s final goal of the half came on a an intercepted pass back to the goaltender that Hanna picked off, moved to the front of the goal and buried a low shot that got past scrambling goaltender Nate Sullivan. 

Bronco John Mauer notched his second goal of the game to open the third quarter scoring and to bring the game to 10-2.  Michigan would then successfully execute three consecutive man-up opportunities in a four-minute span in the third quarter and entered the final frame with a 14-2 lead.  Webber made four more saves after allowing WMU’s early third-period goal to keep Michigan’s comfortable lead comfortable. 

Freshman goaltender’s Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) and Zach Mintz (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) both saw action in the final quarter as Kaufman entered the game at the start of the period while Mintz entered with 3:20 left.  Kaufman made seven saves in just under 12 minutes of play, one short of Webbers’ total, and a new career high in saves for the freshman.  Kaufman was especially strong on a WMU breakaway chance as he squared himself to the shooter, neglected the attacker’s fakes and got his body in front of the Bronco chance.

Michigan won every key statistical category, registering 45 shots compared to WMU’s 24, collecting 39 groundballs vs. 29, going 11-21 on faceoffs, and clearing the ball 16-26, while holding Western to under 50% at 9-19.  Michigan finished the game 5-10 on the extra-man, while denying Western Michigan on each of their seven chances (0-7).  Junior long-stick midfielder Dave Silverman (Potomac, Md./Churchill) led Michigan again with seven ground balls, bringing his team-leading total to 33. 

The Wolverines play again Saturday night (March 13) vs. #6 Arizona at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse at 8:00 p.m. in the second of two weekend home games.

NOTES

●  This game was not one of Michigan’s six required CCLA Division A contests for 2004, so it did not count towards conference standings for either team.

●  After allowing their first man-down goal of the season in last week’s game vs. Buffalo (March 6), Michigan bounced back, denying WMU on each of their seven chances.

●  Jeff Hanna’s five goals (114 career) put him only four goals behind tying #3 all-time goal scorer Chip Thomas who finished his career with 118.

●  Hanna’s eight point night (5-3-8) marks a career high in points surpassing a seven-point performance on April 14, 2002 vs. Indiana. 

●  Brian Vincent’s two-goal night marked a career high in goals in a game.  Vincent only recorded two goals during the entire 2003 season.

●  Freshman Ryan Kaufman recorded a career-high seven saves in the contest while freshman Zach Mintz registered a career-high two saves.

●  Although this game did not count in the CCLA standings, the victory kept the Wolverines’ now 52-game winning streak against CCLA opponents alive.  Michigan will defend the streak next weekend vs. Oakland (March 20 at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse).

QUOTES

UM Head Coach John Paul

On the game itself:  “I think we took care of business tonight and I think we accomplished our goal that we set out early on in the year and that was to be relentless.  We rode hard, got the groundballs and other than a couple of small lapses, I think we played a complete game from start to finish.” 

On who impressed offensively:  “The entire attack was outstanding.  We possessed the ball very well and were very patient.  We played a patient and composed game and tried not to force anything.  We set the ball up and played our game.  The entire attack did a great job of controlling the ball in their zone.”

On the Wolverines’ defensive and midfield play:  “I think the midfield play was a mixed bag.  I think they were solid on defense but on offense we are still trying to force things a little and I think their entire game is still a work in progress.  We still have a few guys aren’t 100% or aren’t playing at all and that makes a difference.  Tonight I thought the defense played well.  There were a few lapses, mostly from our midfielders, but overall they played well.”

On the play of the goaltenders:  “Webber was great early on and helped us build the lead.  He knows he can be as good as he decides he wants to be.  If he keeps his head in the game, plays focused and intense he can dominate out there.  Kaufman played great in his time, as did Mintz.  We are very fortunate to have three quality goaltenders that we can turn to.”

On the play of Lombardi, Hanna and Clark:  “Lombardi and Hanna were great together all night, especially early on and were connecting all over the field.  Clark did it all too.  The three of them played their usual, steady games for us tonight.”

Contact: Joe Hennessy (734) 276-8493, jjhennes@umich.edu