May 1, 2005

Event:  Men's Lacrosse, CCLA Championship Game

Site:  East Grand Rapids, Mich. (East Grand Rapids High School – Memorial Field)

Score:  #4 Michigan 9, #12 Oakland 7

Records:  U-M (16-2, 8-0 CCLA), Michigan State (15-3, 7-2 CCLA)

Next U-M Game:  Tuesday, May 10 – Saturday, May 14 – USL-MDIA National Championship Tournament (Blaine, Minnesota – National Sports Center)

Wolverines Re-Capture CCLA Crown with 9-7 Win Over Oakland

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes

East Grand Rapids, Mich. – The #4 University of Michigan men’s lacrosse team is bringing the CCLA Championship back to Ann Arbor with a 9-7 win over #12 Oakland in the CCLA Tournament Finals on Sunday, May 1 in East Grand Rapids, Michigan at East Grand Rapids High School.  By losing the semi-final game to Oakland last season, Michigan failed to win the CCLA crown for the first time in five years.  Michigan exacted revenge on the Golden Grizzlies on Sunday however, opening a 3-1 first quarter lead, a 6-1 halftime lead and held on down the stretch en-route to the 9-7 victory.

After multiple possessions for both teams to open the game, Michigan struck first on a goal from senior captain Anthony Ragnone II (Flint, Mich./Flint Powers).  Ragnone dodged in on the right side and fired a low shot that found its way just inside the near post.  Oakland had an answer in two-time All-American Billy Binge, who evened the game just over a minute later on a near-side shot that skipped past senior goaltender Dan Webber (Weston, Mass./Weston) and off the far-side post for a goal. 

Michigan re-gained the lead at 6:09 after a lengthy possession.  After working the ball around the top of the box, senior captain Ryan Clark (Summit, N.J./Summit) received the pass on the goal-line extended and fired a pass across the crease to an open Matt Hudson (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) who faked high and then beat Oakland goaltender Chris Wood on a low shot. 

The Wolverines scored again just under two minutes later, but the goal was waived off when the officials deemed that freshman Evan Fox (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) stepped in the crease as he shot. 

Grand Rapids native, Peter Krauss (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) couldn’t be denied however on the next Wolverine opportunity, as the freshman dodged in on the left side after an Oakland turnover in the midfield.  Krauss spun off his defender and deked the goaltender with a head-fake before finishing with a low shot to give Michigan the 3-1 lead heading into the first intermission. 

It took only seven seconds for the Wolverines to score first in the second period, with a faceoff win and the subsequent groundball by senior Trevor Broad (Grosse Pointe, Mich./University Liggett) and a quick pass to Peter Krauss who fired from the top of the zone.  Krauss’ high shot beat Wood over his right shoulder for the 4-1 lead. 

After multiple possessions for both teams, Michigan was able to extend the lead on a transition goal as senior captain Paul Passino (Houston, Texas/Episcopal) received a long clearing pass from senior defenseman Brian Anderson (Lansing, Mich./Waverly).  Passino found Ryan Clark open behind the net, as David Silverman snuck in on the near side and received the pass from Clark and found himself one-on-one with the goaltender.  Silverman faked and used his long-stick reach to drop the ball over the top of Chris Wood for the 5-1 lead.  Junior Jim Constantine (Troy, Mich./Seaholm) added another goal right before the break for the Wolverines as U-M entered half-time with the 6-1 lead. 

Michigan continued to ride the momentum coming out of the half, scoring first at 9:29 on a goal from Evan Fox.  Dodging in from the near-side, Fox fired a high shot over Wood’s right shoulder to extend the Wolverine lead to 7-1.  The goal was the first of the game for Michigan’s leading scorer.

Oakland scored three minutes later to draw the game within five at 7-2 with 6:23 remaining.  The goal was Oakland’s first since the opening minutes of the game.  Michigan answered back just over a minute later on Jim Constantine’s second goal of the game to rebuild the lead to six goals at 8-2.  But unlike the first game this year between the teams, Oakland didn’t back down, and kept firing, finding the back of the net at the 4:00 minute mark on a goal from Joe Opron. 

Oakland scored again with under a minute left in the third period to draw the game within four at 8-4 and the tide turning heading into the final frame. 

With the momentum in Oakland’s favor, and their backs against the wall looking for a birth to the National Championships, the Golden Grizzlies earned a two-minute man-advantage to open the final period after a penalty on Trevor Broad following the opening faceoff of the fourth quarter.  Michigan killed the penalty, but about halfway through, during a scrum in front for a loose ball, senior goaltender Dan Webber (Weston, Mass/Weston) was injured and had to leave the game.  Sophomore Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) came in and helped kill the rest of the penalty, but Oakland scored on him shortly after, before the Wolverines had a chance to get Webber back in the game, to make the score 8-5 with twelve minutes to go.

Four minutes later at 7:43, Oakland continued their climb back into the game on a goal at the top of the zone from Billy Binge to draw Oakland within two at 8-6, the closest they had been since the first quarter. 

Michigan extended the lead to three goals with 4:14 left after forcing an OU turnover at midfield as Paul Passino scooped up the loose ball, spun off his defender and carried the ball into the Oakland zone.  Passino kept the remaining defender off him by faking a pass and fired a low shot the beat Wood five-hole. 

Oakland didn’t back down, answering a minute later to bring themselves within two again with three minutes left in the contest.  After regaining possession, the Golden Grizzlies called a time-out with 1:32 remaining to set up their final push.  OU ended up turning the ball over however and Michigan was able to clear the ball up field before calling a timeout to set up what they hoped would be the final possession of the game.  Their plan worked and U-M worked down the clock to capture their sixth CCLA Tournament Championship in seven years. 

Statistically, the game was fairly even, with Oakland outshooting the Wolverines 35-24 and recording more groundballs 37 to 33.  Michigan cleared the ball at a better rate than OU finishing with 14-21 totals, while Oakland was successful on 11 of 22 attempts.  The Wolverines were also successful on special teams, scoring on both man-up attempts and holding the Grizzlies scoreless on their three opportunities.  The teams split in the faceoff circle, each finishing 10-20. 

Webber was outstanding at times, stopping 12 shots in the contest including a number of chances on OU’s man-up opportunities.

Michigan will have a week and a half off before their first game of the USL-MDIA National Championship Tournament which begins on Tuesday, May 10, and runs to Saturday, May 14 in Blaine Minnesota at the National Sports Center.  Please visit MGoBlue.com for up-to-date tournament information.

NOTES

●  Senior captain Ryan Clark paced the team with three points, all assists.  Two other Wolverines recorded multipoint games, with Peter Krauss and Jim Constantine both netting two goals apiece.

●  Oakland recorded the second highest shot total for a Michigan opponent this season, notching 35.  BYU shot 37 times at home vs. U-M on March 5.  Both teams scored 7 goals against the Michigan defense, the highest point totals by MDIA teams this season.

●  It is also the second highest groundball total allowed by the Wolverines this year at 37.  BYU recorded 38 on March 5.

●  For the second time this season, someone other than David Silverman led the Wolverines in groundballs as Trevor broad scooped up six in the contest, with Silverman grabbing five.

●  After not scoring a point for the first 14 games, Trevor Broad has scored in three of the last four games.

●  Dan Webber’s 12 saves ties a season high, set earlier this year vs. BYU on March 5.

●  The win was Michigan’s 13^th in a row, after dropping a 7-6 contest to  BYU on March 5.  In their two losses this year, Michigan has fallen by a combined two goals including the 9-8 loss to Division II St. Vincent on February 19.

●  Michigan's 8-0 CCLA record this season improves the team to 64-1 overall in the conference.

●  Sophomore defenseman Brad Ferriell (Cockeysville, Md/Dulaney), usually in Michigan's top defensive rotation, did not dress for the weekend after injuring an ankle in practice last week.  He should return for the MDIA tournament.  Freshman attackman Tom Lehman (Beverly Hills, Mich/Univ. of Detroit Jesuit), who has not played for three weeks due to shin splints, will also return next week.  Several Wolverines were injured in today's game.  Freshman midfielder Bobby Morales (Bloomfield Hills, Mich/Brother Rice) suffered a knee injury in the game, but continued to play.  Peter Krauss, who scored two first half goals, had to leave the game in the third quarter after a big hit.  He was evaluated after the game and diagnosed with a collapsed lung.  He should return by mid-week.  Senior midfielder Brian Vincent (Farmington, Mich/Univ. of Detroit Jesuit), a starter at the beginning of the season who was lost for the season to a torn ACL after the first two games, was on the sidelines on crutches after having reconstructive surgery last week.

QUOTES

U-M Head Coach John Paul

On the game itself:  “We fully expected this to be a battle tonight, and not like the game earlier this year.  Even at halftime when it was 6-1 and it was looking similar we knew they were going to come back at us and we had to have poise and weather their runs.  We did, and that was ultimately what it came down to.”

On Oakland’s performance:  “You have to give them credit.  They came out and worked so hard in the second half and came back on us.  We got the key couple of goals to answer their runs but we had to dig down.”

On the offensive draught in the second half:  “It was us pressing, and we were just pushing a little bit too much and just weren’t running our system and staying patient.  Those were things we did in the first half.  Part of it was their possession too.  They did a good job and beat us between the boxes and were getting the groundballs and making things go their way.”

On letting the guys play down the stretch:  “We knew exactly the mistakes we were making when they were scoring and they have some great players making great plays.  It wasn’t something I saw on the sidelines where our heads were down or we looked beaten.  Then I would have called a timeout.  But we didn’t need that.  We talked about poise, and the guys accepted that challenge.”

On Webber’s play:  “Webber played pretty well.  I think our defense let him down a couple of times on plays we specifically spoke about not letting them get.  He made some big saves.”

On the offense:  “Clark was big for us and I think he played well.  He was also physical.  They were shutting off Fox a lot of the game and it was opening some things up for our middies.  Silverman was huge, and Passino’s goal was big.  We got it on the ride and we work on odd-man situations a lot in practice and stress finishing, and he finished it.”

On heading into next weekend:  “I think we’re ready.  They’ve got nothing else going on, graduation is over, finals are over.  We've just got to have a great week of practice.  We’ve got six practices between now and then and we’ll have to make every one count.”

Senior Captain Paul Passino

On his fourth-quarter goal:  “We were set up in the jump-ride and I didn’t have time to get to him but he fumbled it a little bit and I was able to get the groundball.  I saw the man coming across but Binge is not really a defender so I just ran by and took a shot and went low.”

On the third quarter:  “That’s part of the deal.  We got outplayed a little in the third quarter but we’ve got to get used to that.  They’re an emotional team and they can really get rolling.  But we held tough and got one back and held them off.”

Senior captain Anthony Ragnone

On the team’s poise:  “They’re a good offensive team and we’d been holding them down for six to eight periods so we knew a run was going to come at some point.  We just couldn’t get back on the field, and couldn’t keep possession.  But we weathered the storm and that’s what championship teams do.  That’s what I felt was important about today – we stayed calm and came out strong in the fourth and finished it off.  We’re a senior led team and we’re not going to let a team come back and beat us when we wanted this championship so badly.”

On the seniors last chance:  “There are 12 of us, we’ve all been there all four years.  And I don’t want to experience that feeling again.  I don’t think we’ll let that happen though.  We’re gonna get over that hump.”

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