March 17, 2007

Site:  Ann Arbor, Mich. (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)

Score:  #3 Michigan 17, Western Michigan 5

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

Attendance: 525

Next U-M Game:  Friday, March 23 at 7:00 p.m. - vs. Eastern Michigan (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)

Kohlitz, Reinhard Set the Tone in Victory Over Western

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

Ann Arbor, Mich. - The #3 ranked University of Michigan men's lacrosse team dominated their opponent Saturday night (March 17), defeating the Broncos of Western Michigan by a score of 17-5 in front of 525 fans at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  After a slow start, the Wolverines got things going in the second quarter and behind a 9-0 first half, cruised to the victory.   Junior faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) went 9 for 11 and freshman David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) went 12 for 13 in faceoffs to help the Wolverines keep the pressure on throughout.

Just over a minute into the game, Michigan opened up the scoring after a lengthy possession in the Bronco zone, jumping out 1-0 on a tally from senior attackman Evan Fox (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) who was fed by sophomore attackman Jared Blechman (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville).  After multiple possessions for both teams, the Wolverines extended the lead on a goal from senior midfielder Matt Hudson (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) followed by a strike from Blechman on a laser from the left side. 

Leading 3-0 entering the second quarter, sophomore midfielder Peter Vasher (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) capitalized on the first Michigan possession burying a shot from the left side that snuck just over the goaltender's left shoulder and inside the pipe.  After a Western penalty just over a minute later, Michigan continued to keep the pressure on with a man-up goal from Hudson, immediately followed by another score, Blechman's second of the game.  On the other end, the combination of the Michigan ride and their domination on faceoffs left WMU without many chances for quality possession as the period wore on. 

Goals from junior midfielder Bobby Morales (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice), Jared Blechman, and sophomore midfielder Anthony Hrusovsky (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) finished up the scoring for the Maize and Blue in the second quarter as the team's entered the locker room with Michigan leading 9-0.  

With the sizable lead after one half, Michigan swapped goaltenders at the break with junior Graham Townsend (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville East) stepping into the cage.  Western Michigan was finally able to get on the board just moments into the third quarter on a tally from Ryan Juntunen, the first of his four goals.  Michigan responded, scoring three of the next four goals however and headed into the final frame with a 12-2 lead.

Michigan emptied the bench in the final quarter, adding five more goals down the stretch for the 17-5 win. 

Statistically, Michigan dominated the entire gamut, out-shooting their opponent 56-17, while scooping up 59 groundballs to the Broncos' 24.  U-M won 21 of 26 faceoffs, and was nearly perfect on clears, finishing 23-26 while holding WMU to 20-43.  The Wolverines were 4-8 on the man-up as Western finished 1-3. 

NOTES

● David Reinhard paced the team with 10 groundballs, a career high for the first-year player.

● Starting the game, senior goaltender Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) finished with three saves, while Graham Townsend stopped seven Bronco shots during his half of play. 

● Jared Blechman and Bobby Morales each notched five points to lead the team.  Blechman had three goals and two assists while Morales had two goals and three assists.  Blechman tied a career high with his three goals, set multiple times last season while Morales set a career high with his three assists. 

● Sophomore attackman Wes McGowan's (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) three assists set a career high.  His previous high was one set multiple times last season.

● Junior midfielder Lawrence Okwali (Silverspring Md./Springbrook) notched his first career assist in the contest, feeding senior Matt Mierendorf (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) on his first goal of the season. 

● 11 different Wolverines scored goals in the contest and eight players had multi-point games. 

● Representatives from the Pioneer High School booster club were in the crowd promoting next Saturday's game against Division 3 Wooster that will be played at Pioneer on Hollway Field.  A crowd of 2,000 to 3,000 is expected.

QUOTES

U-M Head Coach John Paul

On the game itself:  "We lacked intensity to open the game.  We were flat in warm-ups, and it showed.  We've discussed how we want to establish our dominance in the conference and that includes coming out in these games fired up, and I don't think we did that.  Having the two weeks off can go either way, either you're raring to go, or you come out flat and complacent.  We need to come out next Friday with a much better attitude."

On the team's lack of execution early:  "I think that was another part of it.  A lot of mental errors and we were turning the ball over a lot early.  About mid-way through the second we started cleaning that up.  The good part is I think we did improve our intensity and focus as the game went on, and we also got to play everyone.  As the season goes on that's going to pay off down the road.  I told the younger guys that they did a nice job tonight."

On who stood out:  "I think Mierendorf was impressive.  He's working so hard to come back from his knee injury, and he's not quite there yet, but he's working his butt off and it's so nice to see him come in and make something happen.  As soon as he came in tonight, he scored.  It's nice to have Mueller back full time now.  Flaum and Huspeni are both going to be worked in as well now that they are healthy."

On the faceoff situation:  "What were doing with our faceoff guys is that they go until they lose two and then the next guy goes.  Brekan had a long run there, and then Lawrence lost both of his, and then Reinhard went the rest of the way.  He's actually playing with a pretty badly hurt hand, and he's barely practicing.  He also did a nice job creating fast breaks.  You're usually going to get more fast breaks off the faceoffs rather than in transition and when you have a guy who can win it forward you can create a lot of unsettled situations."

What needs to be done headed into next weekend:  "Well it's all about getting the intensity up.  I thought our practices last week were ok, so it was more about just coming out flat, so this week we'll really emphasize that this Eastern game is another chance to put our stamp on the CCLA.  We want to be back in a position we once were in."

Sophomore Attackman Jared Blechman

 On the team's effort:  "We started off the game kinda slow.  We've really been discussing how we need to come out with a better effort for these teams and not wait for games against BYU or Colorado State.  We started picking it up later in the game, but it's all about our starts."

On how to up the intensity for next weekend:  "We've got a full week of practice before next weekend and hopefully we'll use it.  We've been focusing on the fact that we need to come out and establish our dominance again in the CCLA."

On the team's offensive effort:  "We're still dropping passes and playing sloppy at times and that's simply not our game.  It's simple execution and fundamentals, but it's obvious we still need to work on it."

Freshman Midfielder David Reinhard

 On his efforts on faceoffs:  "I was really happy to have the opportunity to step in tonight.  Our rotation is based on how you're doing and I was able to get a lot of reps to continue to work on my technique.  It's great to be able to work on your stuff in a game setting."

On the relationship between the three faceoff specialists along with coach Trevor Broad:  "The relationship between Trevor, Brekan, Lawrence and myself is great.  We're all out to help each other.  All the drills Trevor is having us do are about muscle memory and technique and it's really helping."

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