April 22, 2006

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site:  Grand Rapids, Mich (Forest Hills Central HS)

Score:  #1 Michigan 14, #22 Michigan State 8

Records:  U-M (12-3, 5-0 CCLA), Michigan State (10-6, 3-2 CCLA)

Next U-M Game:  CCLA Semifinal, Saturday, April 29, 3:30 PM - vs. TBD (East Grand Rapids HS, East Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Michigan Uses Big First Half to Top Michigan State

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

Grand Rapids, Mich. - The #1 ranked University of Michigan men's lacrosse team earned a 14-8 win over #22 Michigan State on Saturday night, April 22 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  The game was played at Forest Hills Central High School in front of crowd of 4418 fans and regional television audience watching the game on Comcast Sports.  In a rematch of last year's "snow-game" at East Grand Rapids High, the play was at times inspired and at times sloppy, but Michigan put together a run in the first half that created a comfortable margin to work with.  This time however no one could blame the sloppy stretches on the weather, as a beautiful evening greeted the teams and provided a perfect setting for the big crowd. 

Maybe it was the large crowd, maybe it was the rivalry, but it took the Wolverines some time to get in gear, with the Spartans jumping out to a 2-1 lead early.  Michigan then rallied to score five of the next six goals to close out the first period with a 6-3 lead.  U-M looked to six different goal scorers in the first quarter with sophomore midfielder Bobby Morales (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) netting the Wolverines' first goal.  Michigan State's Brian Baines did some damage in the first quarter, assisting on two of the Spartan goals as the junior moved into first place on the all time Spartan scoring list. 

The Wolverines kept their foot down in the second quarter, opening the frame with two more unanswered goals from junior Matt Hudson (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) and freshman Jared Blechman (Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) as Michigan extended the lead to 8-3. 

It appeared State was on the verge on climbing back in the game, notching two of the next three goals, but the Wolverines were quick once again to regain momentum, closing out the second quarter with two late goals, with senior captain Jim Constantine (Troy, Mich./Seaholm) and Morales scoring at :49 and :13 respectively. 

The third quarter was quite a different story for both teams, as each defense tightened up coming out of the break, as the first goal of the quarter came with under three minutes remaining.  Sophomore transfer, midfielder Mark Hammitt (Madison, NJ/Delbarton - Boston College) notched the first U-M goal of the second half at 2:27 while the Wolverines once again struck just before time expired as sophomore Tom Lehman (Beverly Hills, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) notched his lone goal of the contest with six seconds remaining in the quarter.  Michigan entered the fourth quarter with a comfortable 13-5 lead. 

Michigan State notched three of the four fourth quarter goals, but it was too little, too late, as the Spartans were never able to make a game of it after the first quarter.  Junior goaltender Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) was sharp throughout the contest, stopping 17 shots, just two off his career high of 19.  Kaufman was essential in keeping the momentum with the Wolverines at key points in the game as he came up with a number of big saves. 

Statistically, the game appeared closer than the final tally.  Michigan did out-shoot State by a high margin, totaling 52 shots while holding MSU to 38.  U-M scooped up 49 groundballs to the Spartans' 42 and faired much better on faceoffs, finishing 20 of 26.  Michigan had trouble on their clears, posting 15-26 totals as MSU finished 19-28.  Michigan was 5-8 on the man-up, with the Spartans scoring on three of four chances. 

Michigan will now sit back and wait to see who their opponent will be in the semi-final round of the CCLA Conference Playoffs as the Wolverines will earn a first-round bye and won't play again until next Saturday, April 29.  The Conference Playoffs will take place at East Grand Rapids High School Friday, April 28 through Sunday April 30.  Be sure to visit www.mgoblue.com and www.cclax.org for a complete schedule of the Wolverines' run for another conference championship.

NOTES

● Jim Constantine and freshman Riley Kearns (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) led all scorers in the contest with Constantine notching two goals and two assists and Kearns posting one goal and three assists.

● Michigan was strong again on faceoffs, with sophomore Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) finishing 15 of 19, while sophomore midfielder Lawrence Okwali (Silverspring, Md./Springbrook) posted five wins in seven attempts.

● Freshman attackman Jared Blechman notched his third career hat-trick, tying a career high with goals in a game.   

● With the victory, the Wolverines finished their regular-season conference schedule undefeated, a feat they have repeated for the past eight years.

● Sophomore goaltender Graham Townsend (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville East) finished the last 2:30 of the game.  He allowed one goal during his time in net.

● The game was televised on Comcast Local Sports and shown in a number of markets in South Eastern Michigan.  Comcast Local Sports is a 24-hour regional sports network serving Indiana and Michigan focusing on collegiate and professional sports.  In Ann Arbor, Comcast Local Sports can be found on channel 8, while in Grand Rapids it is channel 23 and Lansing is channel 22.  The game was shown live and will be repeated several times (check your local listings).  This was Michigan's first time playing in front of the cameras in their home state.

● Handling the color commentary for Comcast was former Michigan State head coach Rich Kimball.  Kimball served as the final head coach of the Spartan Division 1 NCAA program until it was cut by the school in 1997.

● Following the game, the Wolverines were presented with a trophy honoring the team's win over rival Michigan State.  The trophy will be awarded to the winner of the annual battle of the two schools.  It was generously provided by the Krueger family who's son Kyle is a junior midfielder at Yale and a Forest Hills alum.

● The entire day was filled with lacrosse activities at Forest Hills Central that began with a high school match-up between Forest Hills and East Lansing.  Following the high school game, two of the famous Powell brothers, Mike and Casey, performed an on-field demonstration for the crowd before Michigan and Michigan State took the field.

● Sophomore attackman Evan Fox (Suffern, NY/Suffern) took a helmet to helmet hit to the jaw in the third quarter that stopped the game for several minutes.  He sat out the rest of the game with concussion symptoms.  He will be re-evaluated throughout the week.

● Sophomore attackman Peter Krauss (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) shared a homecoming with two Spartans (Michael Schumacher and Riley Turchetti) who were high school teammates of his at Forest Hills.  Unfortunately for Krauss, he is still recovering from a hamstring injury and did not dress for the game.

QUOTES

Head Coach John Paul

On his general impressions of the game:  "I thought the game was a little sloppy at times.  The third quarter was bad especially.  In the first half I thought we did a nice job offensively, but on defense we had some breakdowns we can't have.  Third quarter we couldn't clear the ball, we were throwing it away, everyone was having trouble with groundballs.  It turned into a physical game, and with the ball on the ground so much I thought that's why we started seeing all the penalties.  We did a nice job possessing though.  Between faceoffs and the decisions we were making offensively, we had the ball most of the game.  That was a big factor."

On the man-up:  "I thought we played relatively well.  We had some times where we'd get a good shot and they'd make the save or we'd miss but we were getting the rebounds and scrambling and getting the goals in the end.  And that's something you've got to do on the man-up."

On the troubles on defense:  "Problems on defense usually always come from a lack of communication.  You've always got help somewhere and if the help is slow to arrive, it's a communication problem.  We're going to get beat sometimes one-on-one, and when it happens you're going to have to have help.  That's what we stressed at half-time was coming out and playing better defense."

On Kaufman's play:  "I thought he did a nice job of keeping the momentum going our way.  They peppered him a little in the second half, and if he doesn't come up with some of those big saves, the way we were playing I thought they could have gotten back in the game there."

On the rivalry affecting the game:  "It's always tighter because of it.  You look at our teams on paper, and we're the #1 team and they are the #22 team, and you look at our schedules, and our scores in games and you think this is going to be a lop-sided game, but you know they are going come out fired up and they're going to be emotional and that is going to make it a really hard game to run away with for either team."

On the television broadcast:  "I'm sure the TV people are happy to get this size crowd.  This is a big event for showcasing the sport and that's wonderful.  That's what this is about.  I certainly hope we can do this again."

On going into the CCLA Conference Championships:  "It's a tough week with finals - we'll only end up practicing three days.  We'll have to wait for the seedings and the game on Friday to know who we're playing.  The guys won't come till Saturday, but myself and one of the coaches will come in on Friday to watch the game that will determine our opponent.  It will help not having to play three games in a row.  We're banged up, but so is everyone else."

On where the team is at this point in the season:  "I think we've made some steps.  We still have a way to go in some other places though.  I think offensively we're having consistency issues, not quite as much flow as we'd like.  We talk all year like every team does about playing four quarters and we still haven't done that against a solid opponent."

Junior Goaltender Ryan Kaufman

On the Wolverine's troubles early on:  "We came out flat and no one was talking out there.  We had some communication problems on defense and some breakdowns.  We worked through it though and things started to come around.  I felt we came out a little jittery.  I'm not sure if it was the cameras, or the crowd, but we just needed to calm down and slow things down a little bit.  I knew we'd come around."

On a nice flurry of saves in the third quarter:  "I kept trying to clear it but they kept knocking it down so I had to keep making the saves.  So at least I did that right.  When I came off the field I told the coaches that I wanted to make more saves so I kept throwing the ball away. [laughs]."

On his progression throughout the season:  "I remember talking to you during the scrimmages when it was all up in the air and I was still fighting for my spot.  It was completely up in the air.  When I got it, I became more confident, and throughout the season I've become more confident with every game."

Sophomore Midfielder Bobby Morales

On his impressions of the game:  "With Nationals around the corner, you really want to be playing your best ball, and I don't think we did that today.  Just catching and passing the ball were problems for us.  We weren't talking either and as a team we need to work on that."

On his personal enjoyment of the rivalry:  "It's always fun.  I've got friends on that team, but whenever you see that green and white you just get pissed off.  You know its going to get a little chippy, someone is going to get slashed, someone is going to get hurt, but it's always a lot of fun.  Always one of my favorite games."

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