March 26, 2006

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site:  Ann Arbor, Mich (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)

Score:  #3 Michigan 14, Boston College 7

Records:  U-M (7-3, 1-0 CCLA), Boston College (0-5, 0-0 Pioneer League)

Next U-M Game:  Friday, March 31, 8:00 PM - vs. Minnesota - Duluth (Ann Arbor, Mich., - Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)

Wolverines Overcome Slow Start to Sweep Invitational

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

Ann Arbor, Mich. - The #3 University of Michigan men's lacrosse team grabbed their third win in as many days, defeating Boston College by a score of 14-7 on Sunday afternoon in Ann Arbor at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse in the final game of the Michigan Invitational.  The Wolverines led only 8-6 at halftime before blowing it open in the second half and outscoring the Eagles 6-1 in the final 30 minutes. 

After a somewhat uninspired opening for the Wolverines, Michigan was finally able to crack the Eagles' defense with the help of a man-up opportunity just under 10 minutes into the contest.  A feed from the right wing from junior Matt Hudson (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) found an open Evan Fox (Suffern, NJ/Suffern) parked right outside the crease for the first tally of the game.  Boston College responded a minute later on a skipping shot from the top of the box from Ryan O'Neil.

After a Jared Blechman (Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) goal helped the Wolverines regain the lead, Boston College responded with two unanswered goals to close out the period with the 3-2 edge.

BC continued their solid play early on winning the opening faceoff of the second quarter and scoring on the resulting possession on a tally from Chris Clark for a two-goal advantage.  A one-minute unnecessary roughness call on the Wolverines gave Boston College another man-up chance that was quickly capitalized on before BC returned the favor and committed their own penalty under a minute later.  The Wolverines took advantage of the opportunity and scored their first goal of the second quarter on a tally from sophomore midfielder Mark Hammitt (Madison, NJ/Delbarton – Boston  College).  Hammitt and sophomore midfielder Bobby Morales (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) employed the same "fake pass and shot" routine that worked to perfection vs. Lindenwood and found similar success this time around. 

After Matt Hudson helped the Wolverines draw within one on a goal at the 7:24 mark, Boston College responded just over a minute later to regain the two-goal lead.  It appeared as though BC would increase their lead following another Wolverine penalty, but an intercepted pass in the U-M box from junior defender Abdul El-Sayed (Bloomfield, Mich./Andover) and a quick pass up-field to fellow junior defenseman Brad Ferriell (Cockeysville, Md./Dulaney) resulted in a U-M scoring chance.  Ferriell cleanly received the pass and took a few strides before firing a low shot from just outside the box that snuck inside the left post to tighten the game further at 6-5. 

Just over a minute later, Mark Hammitt added his second goal of the game on a feed from behind the cage from Evan Fox as Michigan tied the game at 6-6 late in the first half.  The Wolverines weren't done however, and quickly scored two more goals before the break, on tallies from Matt Hudson and Bobby Morales, with Morales' goal coming just before the horn sounded ending play in the first half. 

After an unsatisfactory opening half according to Michigan standards, it was no surprise that the Wolverines came out of the locker-room roaring, scoring just 23 seconds in on senior midfielder and captain Jim Constantine's (Troy, Mich./Seaholm) first goal of the game.  Constantine wasn't satisfied, adding another tally just under two minutes later dodging in on the right, before cutting left and finishing giving Michigan their largest lead of the game to that point at 10-6.

After multiple possessions for both squads, BC scored to draw within three at 10-7 on a goal from John Montana with just over five minutes left in the third quarter.  Michigan answered back at 3:24 after receiving a man-up opportunity on a BC interference call.  The Wolverines used a little trickery to score their 11^th goal, employing some more misdirection fakes to get Constantine an open shot that the senior buried for his third of the game. 

With a four-goal lead heading into the final frame, Michigan wanted to put the game out of question, and a Thomas Lehman (Beverly Hills, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) goal five minutes into the quarter was certainly a start.  Michigan added two more down the stretch, both from Jared Blechman to give the freshman his first career hat-trick in the Wolverine's 14-7 victory.    

Statistically, Michigan won every major category, finishing with 42 shots to the Eagles' 29, and scooping up 49 groundballs vs. 32 for BC.  The Wolverines were 16-24 on faceoffs, and cleared the ball at a better rate than Boston College with the teams finishing 26-33 and 15-28 respectively.  Michigan was quite successful on the man-up, posting 5-7 totals, while holding the Eagles to one goal on five attempts. 

Michigan will be right back at it next weekend in two more home games at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse in Ann Arbor, taking on up and coming #11 Minnesota-Duluth on Friday, March 31 at 8:00pm before battling CCLA opponent and intra-state rival Central Michigan on Saturday, April 1 at 7:00pm.

NOTES

● Jim Constantine led all scorers in the contest with three goals and one assist.  He also led the team with 10 shots.

● Junior goaltender Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) finished with 12 saves in the contest and was especially sharp in the second half as the Wolverines slowly pulled away. 

● The Wolverines continued to get scoring from unlikely sources, with junior Brad Ferriell adding his first of the season and only the second of his career.  In recent weeks, the Wolverines have received scoring from three defensive-minded players, in senior captain Eric Rimmke (Portage, Mich./Portage Northern), freshman defenseman Zach Elyachar (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands) and this afternoon from defenseman Brad Ferriell.

● With the three-game sweep of the Invitational, the Wolverines are now 30-2 since 2002 at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse. 

● Jared Blechman notched his first career hat-trick as a Wolverine on only five shots in the game.  He also contributed on the Michigan ride, helping to single-handily thwart two Eagle clear attempts. 

● Sophomore faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) had another impressive effort on Sunday, finishing with 15 more faceoff wins and a team-high 11 groundballs, one short of his career high. 

● In other Invitational action, #10 Lindenwood dropped a 12-9 decision to #15 Arizona in the first game of the day.

QUOTES

Head Coach John Paul

On his general impressions of the game:  "Obviously we were a little sloppy to start.  We came out a little flat on the third day.  I was hoping that wouldn't be the case.  When you play a team you should probably beat and you give them a chance they're going to take advantage.  They're a talented team and they started to get momentum.  We just needed to regroup a little bit.  We started in the second quarter and in the second half we really started to put things together.  We just needed to kick the guys in the butt a little at halftime."

On the offensive effort:  "I thought they did a nice job on defense.  We got the shots we were looking to get, but they did a really nice job on one-on-one defense.  Where I think we got them was on the invert.  They didn't really have an answer for our invert and I thought that was what really got us going."

On the play of the defense:  "They were scoring on some outside shots, so I'm not sure if Kaufman was seeing the ball really well early on.  But I think it was just an intensity thing with us overall.  Once we started to play, and not take things for granted we were fine.  If we just go through the motions against a good team like this they're going to stick around and stay in the ball-game.  We had to snap out of that."

On three games in three days:  "It does two things to the guys.  It's tough physically, but all three teams are dealing with that.  But it's also tough emotionally, especially with a game like last night.  But you need to overcome that if you're going to be a successful team.  You need to get up for every game."

On the evolution of the team:  "I think we're really starting to play better offensively.  You could see it coming but we're a young team.  The guys are starting to mature and they're starting to understand what we want to do out here and as that comes along we're going to be a challenging team to face offensively.  We've got a lot of guys who can get the job done."

On the Wolverines' success at home in recent years:  "We take pride in playing here.  Every Michigan team takes pride in playing at home.  This is a unique facility here, it's a neat place to play.  We have a special connection to this place.  It's not just some random field they throw us on – it's our home and we take pride in protecting this place.  We're also comfortable here.  This is where we practice and this is where we spend a lot of our time every single day.  We get up to play here and we feel comfortable here."

Freshman Attackman Jared Blechman

On his performance:  "Felt great to come out today, but we were a little flat there early.  It's been a long weekend.  It was too close there at the beginning and we came together and knew we had to step it up.  I felt confident though, and I wanted to improve a little on yesterday when I didn't get any.  I thought I came in with a good mindset.  Fox told me I was going to get three goals.  With the team struggling I knew I had to pick up my intensity personally."

On the change of attitude coming out of the half-time break:  "Coach told us at half that we had to keep going and shut these guys out.  We came out strong and never looked back."

On three games in three days:  "It was a good test for us.  Personally I was a little banged up, but you just need to work through it.  Hopefully we'll remember this feeling so we know what to do when it comes time for Nationals."

Sophomore Faceoff Specialist Brekan Kohlitz

On getting things together after a slow start:  "We settled things down and starting running the offense a little better.  They were giving us some trouble early on.  We came out on fire though in the second half and started playing our game.  With three games in a row, you get a good idea where you really are." 

On his efforts on faceoffs:  "I think the UC-Santa Barbara game was a turning point for me.  I was a little nervous there early on with the starting role.  I just started playing my game and getting a little more comfortable out there and my confidence started to build.  I'm working the ball down more, not giving it up as soon.  I'm not as hesitant as before."

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