April 6, 2007

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site:  St. Louis, Missouri (Hunter Field)

Score:  #1 Michigan 11, #15 Lindenwood 7

Records:  U-M (9-1, 4-0 CCLA), Lindenwood (7-4, 4-0 GRLC)

Attendance:  209

Next U-M Game:  Saturday, April 7, 4:00 PM EST - vs. #4 Colorado State - St. Louis, MO. (Lindenwood University - Hunter Field)

Wolverines Silence the Lions

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

St. Louis, MO. - The #1 ranked University of Michigan men’s lacrosse team won the first of back-to-back games this weekend, defeating #15 Lindenwood by a score of 11-7 on Friday (April 6) in St. Louis, MO at Hunter Field on the Lindenwood Campus.  In frigid temperatures, Michigan overcame a shaky start, and built a 6-2 halftime lead they would never relinquish. 

The Lions got on the board first, five minutes in on a tally from Daniel Wyatt from deep on the left wing.  The Wolverines answered moments later when senior Matt Hudson (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) buried a 12 yard shot, knotting the game up.  Unfortunately, Hudson was injured on the play and did not return.

The Lions re-gained the lead at 5:07 on a shot from the far left wing that snuck past goaltender Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) just inside the post.  Back to back goals from junior Mark Hammitt (Madison, N.J./Delbarton - Boston College) and senior Evan Fox (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) just before the end of the quarter gave Michigan a 3-2 lead after one. 

After a long scoreless stretch to start the second quarter for both squads, the Wolverines extended their lead to 5-2 at the on back-to-back goals from junior Bobby Morales (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) within two minutes of each other midway through the quarter.  Sophomore Jared Blechman (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) added another two minutes later on an excellent pass across the face of the goal from sophomore Anthony Hrusovsky (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) followed by a quick-stick shot from Blechman.  Blechman's goal gave Michigan a 6-2 lead as the team's entered halftime. 

Lindenwood opened the scoring in the second half two minutes in, but the Wolverines answered right back after the ensuing faceoff on a goal from Thomas Lehman (Beverly Hills, Mich./Univ. of Detroit Jesuit) to thwart any possible momentum gained by the Lions.  Lindenwood had a chance to answer three minutes later on the man-up, but Ryan Kaufman came up big on a bouncing shot from just seven yards out to maintain the Wolverines' four goal lead.  Three minutes later, LU closed within three on a quick-stick goal on the edge of the crease to make it 7-4.  Kaufman was solid again just a minute later however on another feed down low that redirected off a Lion player and made its way on goal. 

Blechman answered for Michigan at the three-minute mark on another long shot from 15 yards out, before Hrusovsky made it 9-5 on a dodge from the left wing to close out the scoring in the third quarter. 

The Wolverines extended their lead to 10-4 with the first goal of the final quarter as sophomore Wes McGowan (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) scooped up a loose ball in front and fired over the top of the goaltender.  Sophomore Peter Vasher (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) added another to give the Wolverines their largest lead of the game mid-way through the fourth at 11-4.  Lindenwood scored three late goals, but it was too little, too late as Michigan walked away with their ninth win of the season.     

Statistically, Michigan won nearly every category, with each team registering 30 shots, while the Wolverines scooped up 45 groundballs to the Lion's 25.  The Wolverines were dominant on faceoffs, winning 16 of 21 and cleared the ball at a much better rate, finishing 16-21 while Lindenwood posted 5-21 totals.  Michigan was scoreless on six man-up attempts, but held Lindenwood to only one goal on nine attempts, including a two-man opportunity in the second quarter.

Michigan will be back in action tomorrow afternoon (Sat., April 7) at Hunter Field when they take on #4 Colorado State at 4:00 p.m..

NOTES

● Junior faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) finished 0-2 on faceoffs, but freshman David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) was the real story, finishing 16-19 at the "X", both career highs.

● Reinhard also led the team with 10 groundballs, a career high as well. 

● Goaltender Ryan Kaufman finished with 13 saves while junior Graham Townsend (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville East) posted one save in his 9:19 of play in the fourth. 

● Jared Blechman led all Wolverines with five total points on two goals and three assists tying a career high in total points and setting a career high in assists.  This is the second game in a row that Blechman has paced the squad in total points. 

● Matt Hudson left the game midway through the fourth quarter with an apparent shoulder injury.  He is out for tomorrow's game vs. Colorado State and will be reevaluated on the team's return to Ann Arbor. 

● The win was the Wolverines' third over a ranked opponent this season with wins over Florida and Florida State earlier in the season.

QUOTES

U-M Head Coach John Paul

On the game itself:  “I don't think we came out flat, I think they just did a few things in the first quarter that we weren't prepared for.  They pressured us a little more than we thought they would and they out-worked us at times early on.  Once we adjusted and started moving the ball and spacing better you could see the difference in the second and third quarters.  It also took a little while to get our legs under us in the cold and our stick skills weren't quite there early on."

On Reinhard:  "He was big for us tonight.  Brekan lost the first two and that gave Reinhard the chance to go in and he really gave us some life in there.  He was getting us the ball back right after we scored and when they scored we were able to come down and answer right back.  Even when he didn't win it cleanly, and there was a scrum, he'd eventually come out with it.  We knew in the fall he'd be able to do this.  The question was always the next stage - getting rid of it under pressure.  He's doing that a lot better now than he was in the fall."

On Blechman's play lately:  "He is just so steady out there.  He's not flashy, he's not the guy you're going to look at out there and say 'Wow! What a play.'  But he never tries to do more than he can do.  You need guys that are going to take chances, but he's the ultimate example of a guy who plays within his game.  We need guys to learn that from him."

On Kaufman's play:  "I don't think our defense played particularly well today.  At times we were good, but he came up with some big saves when we weren’t.  They were taking some outside shots but he was making the saves and they've got some guys who can put some heat on the ball.  And to touch on Graham, we put him in a really tough position.  He was freezing cold coming off the bench and we had completely substituted everyone and they still had their starters out there.  Those goals had nothing to do with Graham."

On the effort required tomorrow:  "It's a small shot at redemption for us after last week.  More importantly, this team needs to understand where we are, and with CSU tomorrow and BYU next week we need to come out and show what kind of team we are.  It should be a blow by blow game if we play the way we want to.  We need to minimize their runs and answer them."

Junior attackman Thomas Lehman

On his effort tonight and getting back in the game:  "Coming off the knee injury and watching the guys play out there is tough on the sidelines.  You can't help at all.  Today was the first game I felt 100% and it was nice to be able to contribute to the team."

On the team's intensity early on:  "To be honest I don't think we came out as well as we could.  We fought through and battled especially after they took the lead two times.  Dave Reinhard deserves a lot of credit tonight though.  He stepped up big time today."

On the upcoming game vs. CSU:  "I think it's important for us to maintain possession tomorrow to keep them from getting too comfortable.  We've got a solid group of middies and attack and we're really starting to build the chemistry.  If we put together the kind of game we can, we'll be successful."

Freshman faceoff specialist David Reinhard

On his effort tonight:  "Things just felt good out there tonight.  With the cold weather I had to switch to my second move, but things were clicking and I got lucky on a few of them."

On winning the scrum-like faceoffs:  "Ideally you want to get it and get off as quick as you can to avoid the chance of losing it.  But the scrums are pretty fun once in awhile when you get a chance to mix it up with someone."

On the importance on controlling CSU's 'runs' with faceoff success:  "During those runs you can't get too down.  We've really been stressing the idea of learning from our mistakes, and continuing to pull through.  If we can do that, we'll be ok.  Against Kenyon we were down four goals and we battled back, so we know what we have to do if we get in that situation."

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