March 17, 2006

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site:  Ann Arbor, Mich. (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)

Score:  #3 Michigan 16, Pittsburgh 3

Records:  U-M (3-3, 1-0 CCLA), Pittsburgh (5-3, 2-1 CCLA)

Next U-M Game:  Sunday, March 19, 7:00 PM - vs. Western Michigan (Kalamazoo, Mich. - Intramural Field)

No Irish Luck Needed - Wolverines Dominate Panthers 16-3

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

Ann Arbor, Mich. - The #3 University of Michigan men's lacrosse team climbed to .500 (3-3) for the first time in the 2006 season with a 16-3 win over Pittsburgh on Friday, March 17 in Ann Arbor at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse.  The Wolverines used a five-goal first period to blow open the game and received contributions from a number of players as 10 different Wolverines found the back of the net. 

After playing some sluggish opening quarters on their west-coast swing, Michigan was set on opening the game fast and furious on their home turf.  The Wolverines accomplished what they set out to do, notching five goals in the first quarter of play to open the game. 

Senior captain, midfielder Jim Constantine (Troy, Mich./Seaholm) opened the scoring for Michigan on a high shot from the top of the box, 10 yards out on a feed from behind the cage from sophomore attackman Evan Fox's (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern).  Junior midfielder Matt Hudson (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) banged in the second Maize and Blue goal on a wrap-around, getting knocked down on the side of the goal before placing a shot just around goaltender Josef Kaufer.  Constantine added his second of the game at the 5:04 mark on a dodge from the top of the box.  Fox added two of his own to close out the first quarter, with the Wolverines up front 5-0 early on.

In the quarter break, the Wolverines were awarded a three-minute un-releasable man-up advantage after Pittsburgh was called for an illegal stick penalty.  Evan Fox capitalized for the Wolverines burying a quick-stick shot just outside the crease on a pass from behind the goal from Hudson.  U-M extended the lead to 7-0, exactly two minutes later on sophomore Michael Shearman's (Madison, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) first goal of the season after the midfielder cut in front and received a pass from Constantine. 

It was then time for the freshmen to get into the mix for the Wolverines as two first-year players, attackman Wes McGowan (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and defender Zach Elyacher (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands) each notched their first career goals.  Elyacher's was especially notable, as the defender intercepted the ball on a Pitt clear, then while tangled up at midfield he tossed a long shot towards the Panther goal that found the goaltender out of position.  By the end of the scoring barrage, Michigan led 12-0 headed into the locker-room for halftime. 

In the second half, Michigan emptied the bench, with every healthy Wolverine seeing the field.  The results on the field were quite a bit different from the first half, with Michigan failing to score a goal in the third, and not scoring until the 10:09 mark of the fourth quarter on Jared Blechman's (Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) first career goal.  Pittsburgh scored just 1:30 into the third quarter and again at 13:35 and 6:27 of the fourth for their three lone goals of the game. 

Statistically, the Maize and Blue dominated the contest out-shooting Pitt 51-17 and scooping up more groundballs, 43-20.  Michigan finished 13-20 on faceoffs, with the Wolverines platooning their faceoff men.  Michigan was highly successful clearing the ball, finishing 26-29 while doing a nice job on their rides, as Pitt finished 19-32.  Michigan was perfect on the man-up, finishing 3-3, while holding the Panthers scoreless on five attempts. 

U-M will take to the road again on Sunday, March 19 at 7:00pm to take on Western Michigan in Kalamazoo in the Wolverines' first conference divisional game of the season.  The Wolverines will then return home for three games against ranked opponents in the annual Michigan Invitational March 24-26.

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NOTES

● Evan Fox and Matt Hudson led all scorers in the game, with Fox notching three goals and an assist and Hudson adding two goals and two assists.

● Three Wolverines, attackmen Wes McGowan and Jared Blechman, and defender Zach Elyacher each notched their first career goals.  Blechman was especially impressive, notching two man-down goals in the game.    

● Two Wolverines had their first multi-point games of their careers, with freshman Aaron Hodari (Bloomfield, Mich./Country Day) finishing with one goal and one assist, while sophomore Matt Mierendorf (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) added two assists in the contest. 

● Sophomore midfielder Michael Shearman (Madison, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) scored his first career multi-goal game notching two in the contest. 

● Multiple members of the Maize and Blue squad set career highs for groundballs in the contest.  Sophomore Lawrence Okwali (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook) scooped up five groundballs vs. Pitt after recording three vs. Kenyon earlier this year (Feb. 18).  Sophomore Alex Martusiewicz (Troy, Mich./Troy) scooped up six, busting his previous high of five set earlier this season vs. BYU (Feb. 25). 

● The Wolverines shuffled their starting lineup somewhat with sophomore Peter Krauss (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) suffering from a pulled hamstring as freshman Jared Blechman (Setauket N.Y./Ward Melville) earned the nod. 

● The Michigan goaltenders split time, with junior Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) playing the entire first half and recording one save, and sophomore Graham Townsend (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville East) playing the entire second half and stopping a career-high eight shots. 

● The Wolverines dominated possession throughout most of the game and it was evident in the shot totals as U-M held the Panthers to only 17 shots, the lowest amount tallied by an opponent this season. 

● The Wolverines are now 27-2 since 2002 at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse. 
 

● The third quarter was only the second time this season that Michigan was held without a goal in a quarter.  They were scoreless in the fourth quarter of 12-7 win over UC-San Diego earlier this season (Feb. 27).

● Every healthy Wolverine saw action tonight, except for third-string goalie Sundaresh Mahendra (Short Hills, N.J./Millburn).  For a number of players it was their first action in a Wolverine uniform.

QUOTES

U-M Head Coach John Paul

On his general impressions of the game:  "I was happy with the first half.  We executed our offense a little better than we had in the past couple of weeks.  We really didn't get tested defensively, I don't think they threatened more than once or twice in the first half.  But I was happy with our intensity coming out.  Sometimes in a game like this you never really know what you're going to get.  But I was happy with the way we came out."

On the offensive execution:  "I still think there are a few small things that we need to work on - there are still a couple of little things that we're really trying to drill home to these guys.  It's just guys not being in the right spot or not recognizing situations the way we want them to.  But the number one thing we're looking for is intensity and passing and catching execution and we took care of that in the first half."

On the slow-down of the second half:  "I think being up 12-0 had a little to do with it.  But we also subbed everybody.  There were a lot of guys who played in that second half who have never seen the field in a college lacrosse game before.  We played five tough games before this and there were a lot of guys who hadn't played yet.  Some of the guys were running out there like a chicken with their head cut off.  They probably had a lot of adrenaline going.  But any playing time you can get those guys will help them.  I was still a little disappointed in some of the efforts.  If they get a chance they need to step up and take the opportunity."

On hitting the road again:  "I always worry about playing road games.  We're going to have to deal with a field that's not as nice as we're used to, weather conditions that probably aren't going to be perfect, it's a Sunday night game.  There are just a lot of potential road-blocks coming out that might stop us from playing well.  We keep telling the guys that a championship team overcomes all of those things and plays well.  All the other stuff they can't control.  But they can control their intensity.  On paper it's a team we should beat, but three years ago we had that attitude and only ended up winning by a goal.  They can't turn it on when the whistle blows.  They need to start thinking about this game tomorrow morning."

Freshman Defenseman Zach Elyacher  

On his goal from mid-field:  "I picked up a groundball at midfield as their goalie was trying to clear it out.  He was trying to clear it up because we were in our ride that lets him work it up, but he was already at mid-field when I scooped it up.  I knew I would draw the defenseman to me so I would have a clear shot on goal.  The second I took it, I thought to myself ‘everyone is going to be mad if I miss this'.  Luckily it went in and I could hear the people celebrating so I knew I'd gotten it."

On playing his first game in Oosterbaan in front of a rather raucous crowd:  "It was really exciting - an unbelievable experience.  The crowd was ridiculous.  It's a lot different than high school.  Tons of people out here, kids coming up after the game talking to you, looking for autographs - I love it."

Freshman Attackman Jared Blechman

On his two man-down goals:  "It felt good.  With the first one Shearman fed me a great ball and I just finished on that, and with the second one the guy was just over-playing me on the wing so I just took it towards the goal."

On getting the start:  "I was a little surprised with the start but I was certainly excited when I found out.  I tried to remain as calm as possible and keep my cool.  I still wanted to come out and play well.  Everything worked out in the end.  And the crowd was great here tonight."

Sophomore Midfielder Matt Mierendorf

On his game tonight:  "It wasn't my best game by any means.  It was nice to get a couple of points on the board but there is a lot of stuff to work on.  I've got some things to think about over the weekend and we're back on the road vs. Western and we need to come out strong again.  It was nice to get back home though.  We've got a lot of games coming up back to back so we need to stay focused.  We need to understand that any team out here can surprise us, so we need to stay on our toes.  We've had some good practices, and we've had some bad ones.  We need to get some consistency."

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