May 5, 2007

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site:  Mason, Ohio (Kings High School - Kings Field)

Score:  #4 Michigan 13, Central Michigan 2

Records:  U-M (11-3, 6-0 CCLA), Central Michigan (10-4, 3-4 CCLA)

Attendance:  212

Next U-M Game:  CCLA Tournament Championship vs. Michigan State - Sunday, May 6, 1:30pm EST - Mason, Ohio (Kings High School - Kings Field)

13-2 Win Propels Wolverines into CCLA Championship Game

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

MASON, Ohio. - The #4 ranked University of Michigan men's lacrosse team defeated Central Michigan by a score of 13-2 on Saturday (May 5) in the semi-final round of the CCLA Conference Tournament in Mason, Ohio at Kings High School.  The Wolverines opened a 6-1 halftime lead and never looked back, advancing to the championship game on Sunday at 1:30pm EST where the Maize and Blue will take on the winner of Michigan State - Buffalo in the other semi-final game. 

Michigan opened the scoring just over a minute into the game on a dodge from the left wing from junior midfielder Mark Hammitt (Madison, N.J./Delbarton - Boston College) which was immediately followed by a goal from junior attackman Peter Krauss (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) to give the Wolverines the early 2-0 lead.  Sophomore midfielder Anthony Hrusovsky (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) extended the lead to 3-0 with just seconds left to close out the first quarter scoring.

Hrusovsky added his second of the game three minutes into the second quarter on a feed from the right wing from freshman midfielder Jordan Kirshner (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron).  Leading 4-0 and starting to hit their offensive stride, junior midfielder Bobby Morales (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) added another Maize and Blue goal from just outside the crease after a feed from Krauss, followed by a tally from sophomore attackman Jared Blechman (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) to increase the lead to 6-0 with 4:40 left in the first half.  Central Michigan notched their first goal of the contest shortly before the end of the first half, as the teams entered the locker-rooms with Michigan leading 6-1. 

Peter Krauss added back to back goals to open the scoring in the third quarter before assisting sophomore Peter Vasher (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) on his first tally of the game as the Wolverines jumped out to a 9-1 lead after three quarters of play.

Junior goaltender Graham Townsend (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville East) spelled senior Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) in the fourth, but an equipment malfunction caused Kaufman to return for a brief period nearly four minutes in.  Kaufman took the opportunity to earn his first career assist, dodging a defender at midfield before feeding Krauss for his fourth goal of the contest.  Freshman Jamie Goldberg (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) followed with his first of the game and third of the season, followed by another Krauss goal, his fifth of the game.  The teams traded goals late in the fourth with freshman Clark McIntyre (Little Silver, N.J./Rumson - Fair Haven) adding his fourth of the season as Michigan walked away with the 13-2 win.

Statistically, Michigan won every category, out-shooting CMU 47-22, while the Wolverines scooped up 61 groundballs to the Chips' 34.  The Wolverines were 14-18 at the "X", and cleared the ball at a higher rate, finishing 27-35 with Central Michigan posting 21-29 totals.  U-M was 3-7 on the man-up while holding CMU scoreless on nine attempts.

Michigan will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at 1:30pm EST at Kings Field at Kings High School when they battle Michigan State for the CCLA Championship.

NOTES

● Junior faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) finished 12-15 on faceoffs.  Freshman David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) was 2-3. 

● Mark Hammitt paced the team with four groundballs, a career high.  His previous high was three set vs. Whittier last season (March 1).

● Senior goaltender Ryan Kaufman finished with seven saves in just over three full quarters of play, while junior Graham Townsend posted two saves.  Freshman Drew Donnell (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) saw 2:30 of action in the fourth quarter, and did not face a shot.

● Peter Krauss led all Wolverines with eight total points on five goals and three assists.  His five goals mark a career high, besting a four-goal performance set earlier this season vs. Kenyon (Feb. 17).  His eight points were also a career high, topping his five-point high set multiple times. 

● Jamie Goldberg tied a career high with three total points.  He recorded three points earlier this season vs. Eastern Michigan (March 23).

● Anthony Hrusovsky set a career high with three points on two goals and an assist.  His previous high was two points, set multiple times. 

● Michigan improved to 4-0 all-time vs. Central Michigan.    

● Michigan is 2-1 in neutral-site games this season.

● Eight different Wolverines scored goals in the contest, with Krauss and Hrusovsky as the only multiple goal scorers.

QUOTES

U-M Head Coach John Paul

On the game itself:  "The entire game was sloppy.  A lot of things were clicking today except for passing and catching.  I don't have an answer for that, especially at this point in the season.  I thought we were pretty focused today and ready to go but we just weren't executing.  The first five minutes went great and we scored the two goals, but then we just started throwing the ball away and dropping passes.  Overall, it was a win, and we move on, but overall I don't think we can be happy about the way we won." 

On what causes the lack of execution:  "I think part of it is the opponent.  But great teams rise above that.  The guys have a good idea of what we're doing and what we want to do, but it's just the ability to get it done and we don't have that right now.  I think playing outside also gets overlooked a lot.  Everyone talks about our big advantage at home, but I think we face a bigger disadvantage when we're playing on the road.  Again, great teams overcome that stuff, but it's a completely different game playing outside in terms of the spacing, the awareness.  Passing and catching are a part of that.  We've probably practiced inside over a hundred times since September, and maybe only 10 times outside including Florida and St. Louis."

On the defensive effort:  "Defensively I think we played pretty well today and our goalies also played pretty well."

On the play of Peter Krauss:  "He had a solid game but I'm sure there were few he'd like to have back.  There were a lot of opportunities and maybe he was one of the guys who did step up and play the way we want them to play.  We have some other guys we count on who weren't there today.  What we talked about after the game was being completely focused on tomorrow and everyone individually, not the team stuff.  We can't go into Nationals not feeling good about the way we're playing."

On the Championship game tomorrow:  "We need to watch Buffalo right now.  We haven't seen them in a couple of years.  I really feel like for us, in this league, that if we play the way we're supposed to play we will be successful.  And that's what is important for us.  We're not going to put in a ton of new stuff in 24 hours."

Junior attackman Peter Krauss

On his eight-point effort:  "My confidence in terms of finishing had been down a little bit lately.  I was focusing on other parts of my game like groundballs and feeding, but it was nice to come out today and get some confidence back as the important games are going to be coming up.  It was a good start to the post-season.  I think the difference in the goal differential between this game and the previous game falls on us though.  We had far too many turnovers."

On playing outside:  "You could tell in the first quarter that we needed to adjust a little bit.  But that is just one of the many things you could call an excuse and I don't like using those sort of things to explain why we didn't score more goals or execute better.  Every team has to deal with different conditions."

On the game tomorrow:  "I'd love to play State again and get a chance to get back our CCLA Championship from them.  A couple of my buddies play on the team, and its always fun to play against them."

Freshman midfielder Jamie Goldberg

On his confidence level growing:  "It's all about confidence.  I had a few rough spots earlier in the season, had some injuries to deal with.  But now things feel like they're starting to come together for me both in practice and games.  I'm not thinking as much and I'm just getting more and more comfortable with the guys around me.  Last year I had some of the same struggles early on in the season, but going into the playoffs I really started to play my best ball, so hopefully I can do that again this year."

On the team's performance:  "I think we were a little complacent in the first half and that's something we definitely have to fix tomorrow.  I love big games and big rivalries so I'd love to play State tomorrow."

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