April 1, 2005                                                                      

Event:  Men’s Lacrosse

Site: Austin, Texas (Whitaker Fields)

Score: #5 Michigan 12, Texas 4

Records: UM (8-2, 1-0 CCLA), Texas (5-9, 4-1 LSA)

Next U-M Game: Saturday, April 2 – Texas A&M (College Station, Tex. - Penberthy Field)

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes

Austin, Tex. – On a fair but windy night in Austin, Texas, the University of Michigan men’s lacrosse team defeated the Texas Longhorns on Friday by a score of 12-4.  Led once again by freshman attacker Evan Fox (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) who added two goals and three assists in the contest, the Wolverines won their fifth game in a row. 

Michigan jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first six minutes of the contest on goals from freshmen Peter Krauss (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) and Bobby Morales ((Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) and from senior captain Ryan Clark (Summit, N.J./Summit). 

After six minutes of scoreless play, Texas snuck back into the game on back-to-back goals, one from R.J. Broderick and one from Andrew Matthews at 3:53 and 1:46 respectively.  Krauss added his second, just under a minute later at :57 to give Michigan the two-goal lead once again. 

The Maize and Blue came out strong in the second period, notching the first three goals and building a 7-2 lead by midway through the second quarter.  Sophomore attackman Matt Hudson (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) added two of his season-high four goals in the second quarter.  The Longhorns added a goal before the half, with the teams entering the locker room with Michigan leading by a score of 7-3. 

The defense clamped down in the second half as the Wolverines rattled off five unanswered goals through the third quarter and the majority of the fourth, with Texas scoring their fourth and final goal at 2:48 of the fourth quarter.   

Senior goaltender Dan Webber (Weston, Mass./Weston) finished with seven saves.  When Webber received a one minute slashing penalty in the second quarter, sophomore Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) replaced him for the ensuing man-down situation and saved the only shot he faced. 

Statistically, Michigan dominated every category, posting 41 shots to Texas’ 14, and scooping up 51 groundballs to 25.  The Wolverines were 14-20 in faceoffs, and were stellar clearing the ball, posting 23-26 totals, while holding the Longhorns to 19-34.  Michigan was 2-5 on the man-up and Texas was 2-4.

U-M will take to the field again tomorrow, Saturday, April 2, in College Station, Texas to take on Texas A&M at 5:00pm CST.

NOTES

●  2004’s Team Rookie of the Year, sophomore attackman Matt Hudson (Libertyville, Ill. /Libertyville) tied a career-high with four goals vs. Texas.  Hudson previously recorded four goals at Miami (Ohio) on April 11, 2004.  This is only Hudson’s fifth game of the season after working himself back into the lineup following an ankle injury he suffered early in the fall.  He played approximately the half the game tonight, the most time he’s managed so far this season.

● Senior long-stick midfielder David Silverman (Potomac, Md./Churchill), the team’s leading groundball man last year with 106, finished tied with senior face-off specialist Trevor Broad (Grosse Pointe, Mich./University Liggett) for the game-high with groundballs on the evening.  This is the first time this season Silverman hasn’t led the team by himself.

● Michigan was once again able to spread around the scoring, with five Wolverines recording multi-point games.  The teams’ leading point-man in ’05, freshman attackman Evan Fox (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) finished with a team-high 2-3-5 to extend his point total to 28-16-44.

● Senior Mike O’Leary’s (St. Louis, MO/Clayton) nine-game point scoring streak ended on Friday vs. Texas.  It was the first game of the 2005 season O’Leary hadn’t scored in, and it was also the first game he hadn’t scored in since an April 10, 2004 contest vs. Indiana.

●  This is the first-ever trip for the Wolverines to the Lonestar State.  Following the game, senior captain Paul Passino's (Houston, Tex./Episcopal) family put on an impressive Texas-style barbeque for the team.

QUOTES

U-M Head Coach John Paul

On the game itself: “I thought we were flat.  It really showed in our execution.  We had trouble with the basics tonight.  We had a lot of unforced turnovers, which drive me crazy.  It made for a really sloppy game.  Maybe it was a function of the long travel day we had yesterday, and maybe it was just our first day outside since the spring trip, but we’ll have to get a spring in our step for tomorrow.”

On the re-emergence of Clark and Hudson: “They have both worked hard to come back from their injuries.  I was really happy for Huddy tonight.  He’s not going to be 100% this season.  He’s playing through some significant pain and waiting until summer to get the procedure done that will completely heal him.  It’s limited his mobility, but you can see his confidence coming back.”

On the play of the defense: “Uninspired, especially in the fourth quarter.  We have very high expectations of our defense this year.  They can set a tone for us in every game we play.  I don’t think they were satisfied, and I expect them to pick it up tomorrow.”

On who impressed: “I mentioned Hudson already.  He had his best game so far this year.  Trevor Broad played with a really bad sinus infection and still had a great night facing off.  I like the spark Kaufman gives us when he comes in.  We’re perfectly comfortable with any of our goalies in the game right now.”

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