March 24, 2007

Site:  Ann Arbor, Michigan (Pioneer High School - Hollway Field)

Score:  #3 Michigan 10, Wooster 4

Records:  U-M (7-0, 3-0 CCLA), Wooster (4-2, 1-0 NCAC)

Attendance: 635

Next U-M Game:  Saturday, March 31, 7:30 PM EST - vs. Arizona State - Ann Arbor, Michigan (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)

Stingy "D" Instrumental in Victory over Wooster

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

Ann Arbor, Mich. - After putting up 20-plus last night, Saturday turned out to be the defense's day to shine as the #3 ranked University of Michigan men's lacrosse team won their second game in as many days, defeating Division III Wooster by a score of 10-4 on Saturday (March 24) in Ann Arbor, Michigan at Pioneer High School.  Michigan jumped out to a 5-0 lead after one half, and held tight down the stretch, earning their seventh win of the season. 

Michigan controlled the first quarter with a combination of solid possessions and tight defense and buried two goals, one from junior Bobby Morales (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) at the 12:05 mark, before senior Evan Fox (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) made it 2-0 with 4:13 left in the quarter.

Michigan opened the scoring in the second quarter to build their lead to 3-0 as sophomore Jared Blechman (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) wrapped around the cage and found space on the left side before burying a shot just inside the near-side post.  The Wolverines continued their solid play on a transition goal at 6:34 from junior Peter Krauss (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) who flashed in on the right side and was fed by Blechman for the goal.  Michigan took a 5-0 lead into the locker-room after sophomore Anthony Hrusovsky (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) scored with 4:24 left in the half. 

Trailing by five goals entering the second half, Wooster needed a momentum change, and found it, burying the first goal of the third quarter, followed by another tally at 11:12 to cut the lead to 5-2.  The Wolverines answered back however on a tally from Blechman who was fed from behind the cage by Evan Fox at the 10-minute mark. 

The see-saw scoring continued as the Fighting Scots drew within three again at 6-3 on an outside shot from Ben Abbott.  Pioneer High School native Peter Vasher (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) answered for Michigan at 5:54 on a score from the left side to give the Wolverines the 7-3 lead.  Vasher struck again with just under a minute remaining in the third quarter as the Wolverines took a five-goal lead into the final frame. 

The teams traded possessions in the opening minutes of fourth quarter before junior Mark Hammitt (Madison, N.J./Delbarton - Boston College) extended the Michigan lead to 9-3 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game on a dodge from the right side.  The teams traded goals in the game's final minutes, with Fox adding the last Wolverine tally, as the U-M walked away with the 10-4 victory.      

Statistically, Michigan won every category, with U-M outshooting Wooster 42-19, and scooping up 40 groundballs to the Scots' 19.  The Wolverines won 12 of 17 faceoffs, and cleared the ball at a rate of 15-21, while Wooster finished 12-22.  Michigan's potent man-up was held to only one goal on seven chances despite several quality opportunities, while Wooster was shut out in their four extra-man opportunities..

Michigan will be back in action next Saturday evening (March 31) when they take on Arizona State at 7:30pm at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  

NOTES

● Junior faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) saw all the action at the "X", finishing 12-17.

● For the second game in a row, Kohlitz also paced the team with 11 groundballs.

● This was the first regular-season meeting between the two squads. 

● Senior goaltender Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) was solid after a night off, stopping 11 Wooster shots on the afternoon.

● Michigan improved to 7-0 on the season for the first time since 1998 when the Wolverines started 8-0.

● Jared Blechman led all Wolverines with four total points on two goals and two assists.

● The Wolverine players stuck around after the game for an autograph session for the local youth.

● Junior attackman Tom Lehman (Beverly Hills, Mich./Univ. of Detroit Jesuit) missed his second straight game with a minor knee injury.  He should be back in time for Arizona State on Saturday.

● Three Wolverines, Vasher, defenseman Jim Petoskey (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) and Michigan head coach John Paul were on their old turf for the game.  All three are Pioneer High School alums.

QUOTES

U-M Head Coach John Paul

On the game itself:  "We came into this knowing we were playing another good team, but it had been a couple of weeks since our Florida trip.  We wanted to use this game to prep us for the tough part of our schedule coming up.  Coming off the game last night, we came out absolutely ready to play."

On the short turnover:  "I really can tell what the guys are going to be like by the team meal.  Today, nobody was complaining about being up so early, everybody was ready to go, and knew what they were doing.  It's always going to be a better day when the guys are focused well before the game like that."

On the play of the defense:  "As I've said all along, our defense is a project this year.  We're still rebuilding.  We're very young there.  Today I thought they took a big step forward.  We did a very nice job on-ball, but even more importantly our off-ball help and communication were better than they've been all season.  It was definitely a positive step for us today." 

On the offensive execution:  "That's all we wanted to focus on this week was the simple stuff, passing and catching.  We sort of simplified the game-plan today, and just focused on execution.  We did a much better job today of possessing.  Playing against a pretty good team we had fewer turnovers than we've had in awhile."

On the team's offensive balance:  "We're a tough team to match up against.  We're not about finding a particular guy or creating the right matchups so much this year because we have a lot of guys who can generate offense.  We played well today.  We moved the ball well.  We got our off-ball guys into space.  When all six guys are working together like that, it puts a lot of pressure on the defense."

On the tough road ahead:  "Well, first of all we've got the two CCLA games in there.  And a big thing we've talked about this year is re-establishing ourselves to where we want to be in the conference.  So that's important to us.  We've got Arizona State coming in, and that will be great to host them here.  They're on a roll.  This game today ultimately was a stepping stone for us in terms of how we're playing.  The games that actually mean something are coming up."

Sophomore Defender Zach Elyacher

 On the defensive effort:  "I think it was a tribute to the way the coaches prepped us for today's game.  We had a game-plan back there and we executed it well.  I don't think you can pinpoint one guy, and say Brad played great, or Jim played great, but I think when we're playing well together as a unit, we're going to be pretty tough.  Coach always tells us if you work your butt off for thirty seconds and get the ball up to the offense, they'll give us a break."

On the unit coming together:  "The only real carry-over from last year is Brad.  Jim and myself got a little time, but we had a big loss when Jimmy [Constantine] left.  Having Kaufman back there is big for us as well.  But now, a lot of the young guys are really starting to step up, especially the defensive middies and when they're playing well it makes our life a lot easier."

Sophomore Midfielder Peter Vasher

 On returning to his former home field at Pioneer:  "It was wonderful being out here today, playing on Hollway field, especially on a great day like this.  It brings back a lot of memories."

On the team's intensity today:  "It was good to see us come out strong especially after playing two games in 16 hours.  We were definitely excited to play this game.  Each game we're finding something different to motivate us.  I think games like this definitely prepare us for the post-season.  We've been thinking about lacrosse for two days straight and that's what it's going to be like in Dallas and having to play games on back-to-back days."

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