April 21, 2007

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site:  Birmingham, Michigan (Maple Field)

Score:  #5 Michigan 14, #20 Michigan State 6

Records:  U-M (10-3, 5-0 CCLA), MSU (9-3, 3-1 CCLA)

Attendance:  4235

Next U-M Game:  Saturday, May 5, 5:30 PM EST - vs. TBD - CCLA Semi-Final - Mason, Ohio (Kings Stadium)

Blechman's Four Goal Burst Powers Wolverines Past Spartans

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

Birmingham, Mich. - The #5 ranked University of Michigan men's lacrosse team got a small measure of revenge Saturday night (April 21), defeating #20 Michigan State 14-6 in front of 4,235 fans at Seaholm High School in Birmingham, Michigan.  After dropping a 12-11 contest to Michigan State in the 2006 CCLA Conference Tournament semi-final round, tonight's game had been marked on the Wolverines' calendar all year, and it showed in their inspired play.  For the second year in a row, the battle between the schools was televised by Comcast Local Sports. 

After a lengthy opening possession, the Wolverines struck first on a dodge from the left wing by junior midfielder Bobby Morales (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice).  Just over a minute later on the Wolverines' next possession, senior attackman Evan Fox (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) took a feed just outside the crease and buried it for the 2-0 lead early on.  Freshman midfielder Matt Huspeni (Greenwood Village, CO./Regis Jesuit) scored again for U-M before MSU got on the board at the 2:05 mark to draw within two at 3-1. 

Continuing his solid play as of late, sophomore attackman Jared Blechman (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) blew the game open in the second quarter with four unanswered goals of his own to propel Michigan to a 7-1 lead.  Blechman's goals came from all over and from every angle, with Evan Fox assisting on the final two.  MSU's all-time leading scorer Brian Baines finally got the Spartans on the board in the second quarter at the 2:35 mark on a dodge from the right wing off transition.  Sophomore midfielder Peter Vasher (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) finished the scoring in the first half, as the Wolverines headed into the locker-room for halftime with a 8-2 lead. 

The teams traded possessions in the opening minutes of the third quarter, with junior goaltender Graham Townsend (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville East) entering the contest in relief temporarily of senior Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) who experienced an equipment malfunction when his throat guard was split by a blast from 10 yards out.  Junior attackman Peter Krauss (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) notched the first goal of the third with just over eight minutes remaining, followed by a goal just under two minutes later from junior Thomas Lehman (Beverly Hills, Mich./U of Detroit Jesuit) to make it 10-2.  The teams traded goals in the final minutes of the quarter with Evan Fox notching his second of the contest with the Wolverines leading 11-3 with one quarter to play.

Graham Townsend was back in the cage in the fourth after his brief stint in the third, while the Wolverines got goals from sophomore Wes McGowan (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and freshman defenseman Zach Mueller (Arlington, VA./Sidwell Friends) early in the third as Michigan continued to pull away.  The Spartans scored two late goals, but it was obviously too little, too late, as the Wolverines walked away with the 14-6 win, closing out their conference schedule with a perfect 5-0 record and a #1 seed headed into the conference tournament.       

Statistically, Michigan won every category, out-shooting MSU 31-30, while the Wolverines scooped up 34 groundballs to the Spartans' 33.  The Wolverines were 16-23 at the "X", and cleared the ball at a higher rate, finishing 20-27 with MSU posting 11-17 totals.  U-M was 0-1 on the man-up, while Michigan State scored once on four attempts.

Michigan will be back in action in the semi-final round of the CCLA Conference Tournament on Saturday, May 5, at 5:30pm EST in Mason, Ohio at Kings Stadium at Kings High.  The Wolverines' opponent is yet to be determined. 

NOTES

● Junior faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) finished 11-13 on faceoffs, while fellow junior, Lawrence Okwali (Silver Spring, MD./Springbrook) posted 2-3 totals.  Freshman David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) was 3-6.  Sophomore defender Jim Petoskey (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) lost his lone faceoff opportunity. 

● Kohlitz and junior long-stick midfielder Alex Martusiewicz (Troy, Mich./Troy) tied for the team lead with five groundballs.   

● Senior goaltender Ryan Kaufman finished with 7 saves in just under three full quarters of play, while junior Graham Townsend posted 3 saves as well, all in the fourth quarter. 

● Jared Blechman led all Wolverines with five total points, tying a career high, set multiple times.  His four goals in the contest are a career high however, besting a previous high of three set multiple times. 

● After notching four points in his last four games, Evan Fox scored four points on two goals and two assists.  He also scooped up two groundballs.    

● Michigan improved to 19-1 all-time vs. Michigan State since they dropped their varsity program.

● For the second year in a row, Comcast Local Sports televised the regular season match-up between the intra-state rivals.  The game will be televised on Comcast Local Cable on Thursday, April 26 at 8:00 p.m. and replayed several times.  Please check your local listings or visit www.comcastlocal.com for the time and channel in your area. 

● Handling the color commentary for Comcast was former Michigan State head coach Rich Kimball.  Kimball served as the final head coach of the Spartan Division 1 NCAA program until it was cut by the school in 1997.

● Following the game, the Wolverines were presented with a trophy honoring the team's win over rival Michigan State.  The trophy will be awarded to the winner of the annual battle of the two schools.  It was generously provided by the Krueger family who's son Kyle is a senior midfielder at Yale and a Forest Hills alum.

● 10 different Wolverines scored goals in the contest, with Fox and Blechman as the only multiple goal scorers. 

● Michigan improved to 4-3 vs. ranked opponents this year. 

● This was the first time the Michigan - Michigan State game has been played at Birmingham Seaholm in four years.  The series, which now alternates between Grand Rapids and Birmingham, was played three straight years at Seaholm from 2001 to 2003.

● Michigan unveiled brand new maize jerseys for the game.  It was the first time since the 1980's that the Wolverines have worn maize jerseys.

QUOTES

U-M Head Coach John Paul

On the game itself:  "The things we wanted to do today were to establish ourselves defensively and to execute the way we can on offense and to finish.  I think we did a really good job on both sides."

On what led to the success:  "We had a solid game-plan going in, and the guys had a good understanding of what they were doing.  We played within ourselves and we didn't try to do too much.  So much of defense is how the guys are working together and today the guys were communicating very well and were in the right spots.  I think we found some favorable match-ups as well."

On another solid performance from Blechman:  "He's a prime example of what happens if you actually put in all the off-field work to improve your game.  He came in last year and was a really solid player, but he wasn't a shooter.  Now he's a shooter.  He keeps adding to his game because he works on the things we tell him to work on.  All these guys who want more time and want to contribute more can look at him and they'll get it."

On the built-in emotion:  "Obviously with the setting and playing State, and even without the loss last year, we'd be up for this one.  The key now for us is being up in two weeks at the tournament.  Two out of the last three years we've come out with absolutely no intensity.  We've got to approach the tournament with a completely different attitude."

On the approach:  "We're going down a day before this time.  We've always gone the day we're going to play.  Having another week to prepare also helps.  We're in the middle of finals, so we can have a light week.  We'll only practice twice this week and come back next week and have a full week with no distractions.  It's completely on our minds that we've only won one of the last three tournaments after winning the first five.  Compartmentalizing our season, we've done what we wanted to do in the CCLA season, and now it's on to the tournament."

On the large crowd and the game's growing popularity:  "It's a great tradition if we can keep this going.  Obviously having the beautiful weather helps two times in a row.  But more importantly, I think it shows what lacrosse can be in this state.  It's two teams playing at a pretty high level, and its good lacrosse for people to watch.  If two club teams can draw how many thousand were here tonight, and the game can be televised, imagine what two D-I teams could do in this state.  In 10 years, this game could have 20,000 at it."     

Freshman defenseman Zach Mueller

On the importance of the game:  "All season we've been doing the 12 jumping jacks to remember the loss from last year, and this week we were getting a lot of emails from alums about how important this game is.  We've got a lot of friends on each side as well, so that makes it interesting.  It's just a great rivalry and it's fun to be a part of.  The maize jerseys just put it over the top for us.  We were ready to go, and then he pulled those out." 

On the defensive unit coming together:  "Over the past couple of weeks I've really felt like we're starting to gel a lot.  We made some changes after the CSU loss, and I can see us improving every day in practice.  We're starting to do the little things that we were having so much trouble with before."

On his second goal of the season:  "I don't know how I got so close to the goal.  I want to pass it off and help my teammates out but if they're going to give me the shot, I have to take it.  You can't argue with a 100% shooting percentage so far."

Sophomore attackman Jared Blechman

On his impression of the contest:  "We wanted to come out strong tonight and we've obviously been looking forward to this game.  We came out and had a decent first quarter and then started putting things together in the second.  I knew the team was ready this morning and our efforts paid off."

On seeing MSU again down the road:  "I wouldn't be surprised at all if we saw these guys again.  I think we've learned our lesson though.  This was a big win for us and I'm sure our intensity will be through the roof over the next couple of weeks."

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