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February 12, 2004
2004 Preseason Prospectus
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Entering the 2004 season ranked 5th
in the preseason USLIA Top 25 poll, Michigan finds itself again poised
to succeed in conference play, working towards a sixth straight CCLA
championship and building on a 50-0 conference record during the five
previous years. Michigan will also be gunning for their first ever trip
to the USLIA Finals after earning five consecutive trips to the
quarterfinals. Key matchups include early season contests at Florida
and versus BYU in Orlando, a March home game versus national powerhouse
Arizona and the Michigan Invitational Tournament on the first weekend of
April that features four teams that finished last season in the top 10;
Michigan, #1 Colorado State, #2 University of California-Santa Barbara,
and #9 Minnesota Duluth.
Offense
Entering the season with key losses to their offensive attack with the
graduations of Chip Thomas and Ben Herbst who combined to score 94 goals
along with 50 assists, the Wolverines will have to look elsewhere to put
the ball in the cage. Looking to step up this year and fill in will be
captains Jeff Hanna, Justin Gal, and Ray Lombardi, all capable of
answering the scoring questions. Juniors Ryan Clark and Bobby Groenke
will also be asked to make valuable contributions after both missed most
of the 2003 season with injuries.
Two midfielders looking to step up their offensive play this year will
be senior Justin Gal who scored just 10 goals in his junior year after
posting 26 in his sophomore campaign, and sophomore Jim Constantine, who
has battled injuries since joining the squad last year. Originally
recruited by Michigan for football, this athletic midfielder is going to
need to find the form he had in high school where he was a heavily
recruited All-State midfielder.
Defense
Michigan is returning one of the top defensive corps in USLIA play
returning every defensive starter who finished the season last year.
Kirk Kozel headlines the group after a 2nd-team All-American season
along with earning 1st-team All-CCLA honors and was also named CCLA
Defensive Player of the Year. Alongside him will be Mike Roth who also
earned CCLA 1st-team honors and Brian Anderson, just back from a
semester in Australia.
The defense will be bolstered with the addition of freshman Brad
Ferriell, along with the return of Dave Silverman who coaches have
deemed the team’s most improved player over the summer and who has a
chance to have an All-American season at long-stick midfield. Last
year’s starter Ray Chang, along with freshman Abdul El-Sayed will also
see time as well creating a formidable defensive group that should be
able to rotate five or six players consistently.
Goaltending
The Wolverines have last year’s starter Dan Webber returning for his
junior season along with the arrival of freshman goaltenders Ryan
Kaufman and Zach Mintz. A trio of quality goalies will certainly help
continue the Wolverines’ stellar defensive play from last season.
Pre-Season Q&A with Head Coach
John Paul
Q. After five consecutive conference championships and a perfect
conference record over that time, what is the ultimate goal for the 2004
Wolverines?
A. We have not set our final team goals yet. We are doing that
after these scrimmages. My own goals for this team are to be
accountable to ourselves and each other, on and off the field.
Q. Entering the season relatively free of injury, is this the
most confident your team has been entering a season during your tenure
as head-coach?
A. No. This is not the most talented team we've had, but it's
the hardest working. Unlike other teams we've had, I think this team
feels a little more urgency to improve as the season progresses.
Q. Who are you looking for to make an improvement over last year
and step up to become a major contributor for the squad?
A. Dan Webber, our goalie, absolutely must step up this year. He
was thrust into the starting position last year when we lost Sooman Kim
unexpectedly, and now it's his. We'll need him to be consistent.
Justin Gal and Jim Constantine are both going to need to play to their
potential at the midfield for us after what they both feel were
disappointing seasons last year. Bobby Groenke is another midfielder
with loads of potential who seems ready to take over. We all expect big
things out of Dave Silverman at longstick middie. Dave is without a
doubt our most improved player and has been the most impressive guy in
practice so far.
Q. In terms of the entire team, what aspects of the game do you
think the Wolverines will need to improve up to reach the next the
level?
A. We need to improve our offensive consistency. We need to
value every possession, play with composure and finish scoring chances.
We don't have any clear goto guys this year, which may help us
offensively. Everyone feels like they are a part of things this year.
We have to stay healthy, though. We're not deep.
Q. What information can you gain from early season scrimmages
against Division III opponents?
A. These scrimmages give us a chance to fine-tune some things
going into the regular season. We'll take a look at the film next week,
and it will show us which players are playing within the system in game
situations, if any of the new wrinkles we've put in so far need some
tweaking, things like that. It gives us some perspective.
Contact: Joe Hennessy (734) 276-8493,
jjhennes@umich.edu
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