February 27, 2006

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site:  La Jolla, Calif (Rimac Field)

Score:  #4 Michigan 12, #9 UC - San Diego 7

Records:  U-M (1-2, 0-0 CCLA), UC - San Diego (4-1, 0-0 WCLL)

Next U-M Game:  Wednesday, March 1, 7:00 PM - vs. Whittier (Los Angeles, California - Donald E. Graham Field)

Third-Quarter Surge Lifts Wolverines Past UC - San Diego

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes

La Jolla, Calif. - The #4 University of Michigan men's lacrosse team earned their first win of the season on Monday, February 27, defeating the University of California - San Diego Tritons by a score of 12-7.  After falling behind 3-0 to open the game, the Wolverines grabbed a 6-5 half-time lead before busting things open in the third quarter, out-scoring the Tritons 6-2 down the stretch. 

Michigan appeared sluggish early on while the Tritons came out firing, notching three unanswered goals from Eric Price to open the contest, and registering six shots on goal before the Wolverines were able to crack the UCSD defense at the 1:16 mark on a dodge from by freshman attackman Riley Kearns (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice).  Kearns darted down the right and fired a low shot past Dave Piccinati.  Michigan added another just moments later at the 45 second mark on a similar play from senior captain, Jim Constantine (Troy, Mich./Seaholm).  San Diego closed the scoring in the first quarter with just five seconds remaining to extend their lead once again to 4-2. 

Three minutes into the second quarter, Michigan was able to earn a one-minute man-up advantage after a lengthy possession in the UCSD end and capitalized just moments into the chance.  A blast from the left wing from sophomore midfielder Bobby Morales (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) drew Michigan within one at 4-3.  U-M was able to even the scoring at the 11:04 mark on a dodge from sophomore attackman Thomas Lehman (Beverly Hills, Mich./University of Detroit - Jesuit) who beat the goaltender low to the near-side.  Lehman added another 1:28 later, coming from behind the net and cutting across the circle to beat the goaltender five-hole to give Michigan their first lead of the game at 5-4 halfway through the second quarter.

Michigan extended their lead with 2:21 left in the first half on a wrap-around play from sophomore attackman Peter Krauss (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) who fired low past Piccinati from just above GLE on the right side of the defense.  UCSD answered the Michigan goal just under two minutes later drawing within one at 6-5 with half a minute left in the first half to close out the scoring.    

In a one-goal game, it was clear that whoever came out firing might be able to grab the early momentum in the second half.  Michigan was given the opportunity after a UCSD penalty that was followed by an unsportsmanlike conduct call that resulted in two minutes of man-up play for the Maize and Blue.  Michigan scored two goals on the man-up, on two long blasts, one from Constantine and one from sophomore midfielder Mark Hammitt (Madison, N.J./Delbarton - Boston College). 

Trailing 8-5, UC - San Diego drew within two mid-way through the third quarter on a tally from Chris McCall.  The teams then traded goals including Morales' second of the game before Constantine was able to give Michigan the three goal lead once again at the 5:59 mark after dodging down the right side alley. 

Lehman added his third of the game on Michigan's next possession with two minutes left in the quarter to give the Wolverines' their biggest lead of the game at 11-7.  Hammitt continued the third-quarter surge for the Wolverines with his second of the game extending the Maize and Blue lead to 12-7 entering the final period. 

Leading by five, Michigan locked down in the fourth quarter not allowing a single goal in the period including shutting down two man-up opportunities for their first victory of the 2006 season.  Junior goaltender Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) made four saves in the final period en-route to his first career win.

Statistically, Michigan played its best game of the year by far, out-shooting the Tritons to a tune of 46-31 and scooping up 40 groundballs compared to 24 for UC-SD.  Michigan was dominating on both sides of the man-up, going 4-6 in their attempts and holding their opponent scoreless in four chances.  Perhaps most impressive was the Wolverines ability to successfully clear the ball, finishing 21 of 22.  The Tritons were 20-24.  The Wolverines were also quite successful on faceoffs, winning 15 of 23 with sophomore midfielder Brekan Kohlitz (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) finishing 15 of 22 while doing an excellent job in securing the faceoff afterwards, leading the team with nine groundballs. 

The Wolverines will practice on Tuesday before taking on D-III Whittier on Wednesday, March 1, at 7:00pm PST in Los Angeles and then closing out their California swing with #3 UC-Santa Barbara on Sunday, March 5, at Noon PST in Santa Barbara.

NOTES

● Jim Constantine led all Wolverines in scoring with three goals and two assists for five points, one point shy of his career high set last season vs. Florida on March 27 when he tallied six points on four goals and two assists..

● Sophomore midfielder Matt Mierendorf (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) tallied his second career point, assisting on Mark Hammitt's third quarter goal. 

● Hammitt recorded his first multi-goal game and his first multi-point game of his career with the Wolverines, with two goals. 

● Kohlitz recorded a career-high nine groundballs in the contest. 

● Lehman's hat-trick is a career high for goals in a game.  His previous best was two goals scored in last season's opening round USL-MDIA game vs. Northeastern (May 10).

● Outscoring their opponent 6-2, and out-shooting them 28-14, Michigan played its best half of the year on Monday in the second stanza.  In their two previous losses, Michigan was tied at the half before letting the game slip away in the second half. 

● Michigan's defense held 2005's WCLL Offensive Player of the Year Nick Dean to only one goal and one assist after the senior had posted 27 points on 10 goals and 17 assists in the Triton's first four games.

QUOTES

U-M Head Coach John Paul

On the game itself:  "We really needed that one.  We didn't get off to a very good start and had some fundamental errors with things we actually addressed pre-game.  I'm not sure if we were tight or pressing a little too much, but after that start I was really proud of the guys for stepping up and playing the game I know we're capable of playing.  I was also very proud of them in the second half and especially the fourth quarter.  For our defense being as young as it is, I think this might be a nice stepping stone for us."

On the play of the defense:  "I thought the defense overall played really well.  I thought Brad [Ferriell] played a good game.  It was nice to see Elyacher come back also.  We weren't sure how long he was going to be out but he tested fine in some rehab stuff and we gave him a full quarter or so of field time.  Martusiewicz is starting to come on.  He was better with his groundballs, he was better with what he did with the ball afterwards and played a little better individual defense.  But overall we had a great team effort back there."

On the man-down defense going 4-4:  "They move the ball so well out there we really had to be aware of where certain guys were.  We had to pack it in and play conservatively and give them stuff from outside.  Kaufman was up to the task and got in front of the shots he had to get in front of."

On the play of Kohlitz on faceoffs:  "Brekan dominated, he had a great game.  We know he's going to win faceoffs, it's just about what he's going to do afterwards.  I thought tonight he did a really good job getting the ball down there and getting it to our offensive players and getting things set up.  Tonight was a big step for him."

On the play of Thomas Lehman:  "What Lehman did tonight was huge.  I actually thought he was the key to swinging things back our way.  He came in and scored three goals and created a lot of offense for us.  For whatever reason they were matching up a short stick on him and we were really able to trigger our offense off that.  He does a really nice job of stick protection and he likes to get into their body and play a contact game.  He had a great game."

On the mindset of the team following the win:  "I told them after the BYU loss that we had to feel bad about it.  There were some things in that game we were really disappointed about but at the same time we had to wake up the next morning and forget about it and have a good practice because we had another big game coming up.  We have tremendous respect for UCSD.  They were able to practice well the next day, and now the same thing is true again.  Whittier is a tough, tough team and they're going to have to forget about this one tomorrow and come out and practice as though this didn't happen."

Junior goaltender Ryan Kaufman

On earning his first win as a Wolverine:  "I've been waiting for it.  After those first two games this was definitely a do or die kind of game.  It was good to get those off our back.  It felt great though.  I just kept looking at the clock watching it tick down.  Our goal going into that fourth quarter was to not give them any.  We knew we weren't going to give up five goals, but we didn't want to give up any."

On working with the young defensive corps:  "We're just trying to force the shots to the outside and I'll take those all day.  I like staying active.  If I can stop half of the dunk goals in front I'll be happy.  If we run the defense right, I should still be staying active with shots from the outside."

Sophomore Attacker Thomas Lehman

On his hat-trick performance:  "I thought it started with the defense.  They got us the ball and I just wanted to get in there and change things up a little.  I came in, got the quick goal and felt really good.  After that the offensive was just clicking and it worked out good."

On bringing the physical game to the defenders:  "I feel like when you're farther away they can really use their sticks against you with the stick checks, and smaller guys like myself don't have as much to protect the ball with.  Once you get into them, you sort of jam them and it's a little easier to get in there and switch directions, and almost to play underneath them."

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