February 16, 2007

Site:  Ann Arbor, Mich. (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)

Score:  #5 Michigan 22, Central Michigan 3

Records:  U-M (1-0, 1-0 CCLA), Central Michigan (1-1, 0-1 CCLA)

Attendance: 540

Next U-M Game:  Saturday, February 17 at 7:00 p.m. - vs. Kenyon (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)

Balanced Attack Crushes the Chippewas

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

Ann Arbor, Mich. - The #5 ranked University of Michigan men's lacrosse team kicked off their 2007 campaign with a dominating 22-3 win over Central Michigan University in Ann Arbor, Michigan at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse.  The Wolverines jumped out to a 12-1 lead at halftime and never looked back behind a successful mix of solid possessions, a series of well-coordinated rides, and an aggressive defense.

Sophomore midfielder Anthony Hrusovsky (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) notched the first Wolverine goal of the season five minutes into the game followed by another U-M goal just over a minute later from junior midfielder Bobby Morales (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice).  Senior attackman Evan Fox (Suffern N.Y./Suffern) made it 3-0 at the five minute mark before Central Michigan put their lone first-half goal on the board two minutes later.  Fox gave the Wolverines a three-goal lead again just following the ensuing faceoff as Michigan took a 4-1 lead into the first-quarter break.

The Maize and Blue erupted in the second quarter, scoring two goals in the first two minutes to build a 6-1 lead.  Morales notched his second of the game, while sophomore attackman Jared Blechman (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) added his first.  Freshman Jamie Goldberg (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) notched his first career goal at 10:48 followed by a tally from sophomore midfielder Peter Vasher (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) just 15 seconds later to give Michigan the 9-1 lead.  The Wolverines added three more goals in the second, including two more from Fox.

Leading 12-1 coming out of the locker-room, the Wolverines kept the pedal down, scoring just 15 seconds into the third quarter on junior midfielder Mark Hammitt's (Madison, N.J./Delbarton - Boston College) second of the night.  After scoring three more goals in the third quarter, U-M entered the final frame leading 16-1.

The Wolverines added six more goals, including two from freshman attackman Josh Ein (Potomac, MD./Bullis) and two from junior attackman Doug Bell (Troy, Mich./Troy). 

Statistically, Michigan dominated every category.  The Wolverines out-shot CMU by a 51-15 margin, and scooped up 47 groundballs to Central's 15.  U-M won 22 of 28 faceoffs, and cleared the ball at a better rate, finishing 19-24, while Michigan's ride held CMU to 13 of 31 on their clears.  U-M finished 2-9 on the man-up with Central going 1-5. 

The Wolverines will be back at it tomorrow night, facing off against Division III Kenyon College at 7:00pm EST in Ann Arbor, Michigan at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse. 

NOTES

● Every healthy Wolverine saw action in the game. 

● All three goaltenders saw action with senior Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) playing the first half and stopping two shots, junior Graham Townsend (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville East) playing nearly the entire second half and recording six saves, while freshman Drew Donnell (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) finished the final 3:15 but did not record a save.

● Junior faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) finished 8-10 on faceoffs while fellow junior faceoff specialist Lawrence Okwali (Silversprings, MD./Springbrook) finished 7-10.  Freshman David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) also faired quite well at the X, finishing 7-8 in his first game as a Wolverine. 

● Okwali also finished first on the team with seven groundballs. 

● Senior midfielder Matt Mierendorf (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) notched his first multi-goal game of his career with two goals. 

QUOTES

Head Coach John Paul

On the game itself:  "I really liked the way we came out.  We had a lot of intensity on both sides of the ball.  We were aggressive on defense which is something we talked a lot about.  We rode hard as well, and we were getting to the majority of the groundballs.  We definitely dictated the tempo which was another thing we wanted to focus on and we did that."

On the rides:  "We ran a couple of aggressive take-away rides and I don't think they were ready for that type of ride.  Eventually they were forced to just start tossing long balls down the field and our defense did a nice job of picking up those loose balls and turning it up the other way."

On the attack:  "We were pretty balanced up front.  I think in the scrimmages we rushed things a little bit and today I was happy to see the guys stay patient, resetting the offense when they needed to and keeping their focus.  I think at times we were almost a little too patient so I told them to pick up the pace a little.  We've still got some things to work on up there but overall I was happy."

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