April 29, 2006

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site:  East Grand Rapids, Mich (Memorial Stadium)

Score:  #1 Michigan 11, #22 Michigan State 12

Records:  U-M (12-4, 5-1 CCLA), Michigan State (11-6, 4-2 CCLA)

Next U-M Game:  CCLA Consolation Game, Sunday, April 30, 11:00 AM - vs. Indiana (East Grand Rapids HS, East Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Spartans Outlast the Wolverines in CCLA Semi

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

East Grand Rapids, Mich. - Coming off their win last week over the Spartans, the #1 University of Michigan men's lacrosse team was confident entering today's game vs. #22 Michigan State in a CCLA Conference Tournament semi-final match.  Michigan came into the game having won 70 of their last 71 conference games but also knew Michigan State would come out fired up as they had in their previous encounter.  MSU repeated the quick start at East Grand Rapids High School Saturday afternoon, but this time held on to the momentum for just long enough.  Jumping out to an 8-3 lead at halftime and holding on through the game's final minutes after a furious Michigan comeback, Michigan State handed the Wolverines only their second conference loss in program history. 

Just as they had last weekend at Forest Hills Central, the Spartans came out firing on all cylinders, opening the scoring after a lengthy possession on the Wolverine's side of the field.  Michigan answered back on a tally from sophomore midfielder Mark Hammitt (Madison, NJ/Delbarton - Boston College) midway through the quarter only to see MSU regain the lead just 30 second later.  The Spartans went on to score four more goals in the period with sophomore Kyle Kirch assisting on three of them. 

Limping into the quarter-break the Wolverines looked to get back on track to start the second, but it was the Spartans who kept their foot down on the pedal, scoring the first goal of the period two minutes in.  Although Michigan answered with a goal of their own from freshman attackman Jared Blechman (Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) four minutes later, MSU didn't let up, notching two more unanswered goals for their biggest lead of the game at 8-2. 

Down by six goals with under five minutes remaining in the half, the Wolverines were called for two simultaneous penalties resulting in a two man-down situation.  Michigan was successful in keeping State off the board during the crucial man-down period and scored a goal of their own while they were man-down from freshman Peter Vasher (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) to cut the lead to 8-3 as the teams entered the locker rooms for halftime. 

The Wolverines were hoping the halftime break would settle them down and slow the Spartans attack, and Michigan was successful in tightening up their defense, but it took the Wolverines nearly nine minutes to get on the board in the third quarter, as Hammitt opened the scoring in the second half at 6:32.  The goal came on a beautiful man-up effort as Hammitt faked a flip to Jim Constantine (Birmingham, Mich./Seaholm) that had most of the State defense and their goalie looking to the right while Hammit dodged in and lobbed it in.  (Earlier the Wolverines had run the same play with the flip, but that time Constantine's wide open shot hit the goalie in the foot to stay out of the cage.)  The wild goal appeared to finally light a fire under the Wolverines, who scored two more goals in the third from freshman Riley Kearns (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) to cut the deficit to two.

Trailing 8-6 with 15 minutes to play and the chance to play in the CCLA Championship game as their prize, the Wolverines were in a unique position heading down the stretch.  It was only the second time in the 2006 season that U-M had trailed going into the final quarter.

State wasn't about to make it any easier for the Wolverines, as they regained their three-goal lead notching the first goal of the fourth just under two minutes in.  Sophomore attackman Peter Krauss (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central), in his first action back since the fifth game of the season, answered for Michigan under a minute later before U-M clawed within one goal at 9-8 on another tally from Hammitt at 10:18.  It was the first time since the opening minutes that Michigan had trailed by such a small margin.

After multiple possessions for both squads, the teams traded goals with State extending their lead to two goals, before Michigan answered with another Hammitt goal on a blast from the right wing. 

Just after the ensuing faceoff, the Spartans were called for an illegal body check penalty resulting in a Wolverine man-up and an excellent opportunity to tie the game.  Michigan was able to capitalize, as Krauss fed a pass across the front of the cage to an open Bobby Morales (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) who put a bouncing shot past Ryan Doski to tie the game. 

A Michigan holding penalty thirty seconds later helped the Spartans regain the lead for the second time at 11-10.  Michigan had three minutes to find a way to tie the game, and although the Wolverines were able to put together a few quality chances, MSU was able to put the nail in the coffin, extending their lead to 12-10 at the :27 mark with Michigan's goalie Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) on the bench after a pushing call sent him to the box.  Hammitt added his fifth for the Wolverines with 11 seconds left, but Michigan's comeback attempt would fall just short as the clock ran out on the Maize and Blue and their attempt at another CCLA Championship. 

Statistically, Michigan won the shots on goal battle, totaling 57 shots while MSU fired 50.  U-M scooped up 37 groundballs to the Spartans' 40 but faired slightly better on their faceoffs, finishing 15 of 27.  Michigan was 20-28 on clears while MSU totaled 19-27.  The Wolverines and Spartans both finished 2-7 on the man-up.   

Michigan will compete in the third-place game Sunday morning at 11:00am at East Grand Rapids High, taking on Indiana.  Following that contest, Michigan will have a week of practice before traveling to Dallas, Texas for the USL-MDIA National Championship from May 9-13.

NOTES

● Mark Hammitt led all scorers in the contest with five goals.  The five-goal effort is a career high for the sophomore.  He previously recorded four, multiple times, most recently vs. Central Michigan (April 1). 

● Junior goaltender Ryan Kaufman finished with 16 saves in the contest after posting 17 last week vs. the Spartans.  He was also called for pushing with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter for his first penalty of the season.   

● The 50 shots recorded by the Spartans is a season-high for a Wolverines opponent as was the nine total assists recorded by MSU.

● Brekan Kohlitz finished with a team-high six groundballs. 

● The Wolverines struggled on faceoffs, winning only .555 (15-27) of their attempts.  They were running at a .738 clip coming into the game.  Michigan State won 8 of 13 in the first half before Michigan started controlling the X in the second half, winning 10 of 14 to help in their comeback attempt.  Brekan Kohlitz (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) went 8 and 6 and Lawrence Okwali (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook) went 7 and 6.

● Senior captain and defenseman Joe Stelmark (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich./Grosse Pointe South) recorded his first career point, assisting on Peter Vasher's second quarter goal.

● The Wolverines leading scorer, senior captain Jim Constantine (Troy, Mich./Seaholm) was held scoreless in the game for only the second time this season.  He also failed to record a point vs. Whittier (March 1).

QUOTES

Head Coach John Paul

On his general impressions of the game:  "Obviously we dug a big hole.  I thought State came out with a ton of energy and were very motivated.  Part of our game-plan was to extend on them defensively but we didn't do that for a large chunk of the first half.  We were in a zone and the zone is supposed to extend out but our guys were really flat-footed early on and waiting on them.  Once we started to extend we started giving them a little trouble.  They were also doing all of the little things they need to do, winning the groundballs and winning faceoffs."

On the offensive effort:  "We were really getting a lot of the shots we wanted to get, but we just weren't finishing.  We didn't have our best shooting game.  We were hitting the goalie and missing bad a lot and that's not characteristic of this team this year.  We'll rebound from that.  We were really thin today up there because of the guys who were sitting.  I think that took away from some of the stuff we could run.  We missed a couple of opportunities on the man-up too.  You have to give State a lot of credit though.  They played tough."

On the effort of coming back:  "I don't think we had enough in the tank at the end.  Some of the goals they had late were just because we were a little flat.  I don't think it's because the guys weren't trying, I just don't think they had enough in the tank."

On keeping the guys even-keeled:  "I'm kind of thankful we have a consolation game.  We're not going to have a good taste in our mouths overall but at least we can come out tomorrow and try to put together a good game heading into nationals."

On the increased parity of the league:  "This is what's been happening all over the country this year.  A lot of it is a function of the top teams rebuilding this year, but yeah, there is definitely more and more parity every year."

On putting together a complete game:  "We haven't put together a solid four quarters yet, and at nationals you're going to have to do that four times.  I guess you could say it was a gutsy come-back but we're the number one team in the country and we're supposed to do that.  I don't really think there is a silver-lining to this game.  They were hungrier than us, and a champion doesn't let that happen to them."

Comparing the loss to the Oakland loss two years ago:  "I think that one stings a little more to me personally just because it was the first one [first ever conference loss].  But it never feels good, and I'm sure to these guys it doesn't hurt any more or less.  We just need to go forward with this though and move towards nationals.  I told the guys that our biggest goal is still ahead of us.  This has to be a learning experience for this season, and for next year."

The focus going into next week:  "First we need to heal physically - we still haven't done that.  We played today without our entire starting attack until we put Krauss in late.  He battled, but he's not 100% yet.  I thought we still did some good things offensively today, but we're not going to get through nationals without some of these guys back.  That tournament is just too grueling.  And we need to go back and look at what we did wrong today and correct those mistakes, especially defensively."

Senior Captain Jim Constantine

On what did the Wolverines in:  "A lot of things got us today.  Games aren't played out on paper and that's why you play them out here.  We've been winning and you start to expect to win and when we go out there and just expect to win and it's not working and nothing is going your way, it starts to get very frustrating.  It was just one of those days where we couldn't get anything right."

Senior Captain Eric Rimmke

On where the squad goes from here:  "I think we need to come together as unit and get stronger rather than letting this loss let us fold up.  In my opinion we haven't had sharp practices lately and we can't just come out here and expect to win.  Everyone's gunning for us and giving us their best games and we have to respond to that."

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