February 27, 2008

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site: Tucson, Arizona (Lax Cat Coliseum)

Score:  #7 Michigan 9, #15 Arizona 4

Records:  U-M (3-0, 0-0 CCLA), Arizona (1-3, 1-2 WCLL)

Next U-M Game:  Saturday, March 1, 2008, 1:00pm MST -- vs. #1 Brigham Young - Provo, Utah (RB Turf Field)

Wolverines Tame Wildcats

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes

Tucson, AZ. - The University of Michigan men's lacrosse team improved to 3-0 on the season, defeating the University of Arizona in Tucson on Wednesday by a score of 9-4.  After a tightly contested first half, Michigan pulled away down the stretch behind a spread scoring effort and superb goaltending from senior captain Graham Townsend (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville).

In a low scoring first quarter, junior midfielder Peter Vasher (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) opened the scoring for the Wolverines moments into the game on a tally from down-low before senior captain Mark Hammitt (Madison, N.J./Delbarton - Boston College) fed sophomore attackman Josh Ein (Potomac, MD./Bullis) wrapping around the cage for the 2-0 lead after one quarter.  Townsend kept U-A off the board in the first quarter, making four saves, including multiple attempts from just outside the crease.

Both teams traded a number of possessions throughout the opening minutes of the second quarter with Arizona appearing to get on the board at the five-minute mark, only to have the goal brought back on an illegal-stick penalty.  Arizona was able to capitalize for their first tally two minutes later however, drawing within one. 

The Wolverines answered on a tally from sophomore attackman Kevin Zorovich (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa - Marist) with nine seconds left in the period to make it 3-1 as the teams headed into the locker room for half-time. 

Michigan came out of the gates strong in the second half, notching the first two goals, including a beautiful combination of passes that finished with Peter Vasher making the extra pass to an open Josh Ein, who banged home his second of the game, and fifth in his last two games, to give the Wolverines a 5-1 lead.  The Lax Cats scored before the end of the quarter to scratch within three goals as the teams headed into the final frame with the Maize and Blue leading 5-2.    

Zorovich added his second of the game just over a minute into the fourth quarter to make it 6-2 before seniors Doug Bell (Troy, Mich./Troy) and Bobby Morales (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) each scored to give the Wolverines their largest lead of the game.  U-A scored to make it 8-3 before Michigan's defense got in on the scoring action as Kevin Zorovich fed junior defenseman Jim Petoskey (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) cutting to the net.  Petoskey fired low for his first career goal as Michigan re-gained the six-goal lead late in the fourth.  U-A scored in the waning minutes, but it was too little, too late, as U-M earned their third win of the young season.  Townsend was especially solid in the fourth quarter making six saves to help the Wolverines pull away.

Statistically, Michigan won every category except for shots, finishing with 31 compared to the U-A's 41.  The Wolverines scooped up 54 groundballs compared to Arizona's 22 and cleared the ball at a better rate, finishing 21-32 while Arizona totaled 22-35.  Michigan was 2-2 on the man-up, and held U-A to one goal on five attempts. 

The Wolverines will be back in action this Saturday, March 1, when they battle long-time foe BYU in Provo, Utah at 1:00pm MST.

NOTES

● Senior captain and faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) finished 11-16 on faceoffs, while sophomore David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) won his lone opportunity.

● Townsend, Morales and Kohlitz tied for the team lead with five groundballs. 

● Townsend stopped 17 shots in the contest, tying a career high set vs. Georgia last season (May 17).

● Doug Bell's fourth quarter goal was his first of the season.

● Hammitt tied a career high with two assists in the contest.

 ● Freshman attackman Roy Ichikawa (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines) notched his first career goal as a Wolverine in the third quarter.

QUOTES

Head Coach John Paul

On his general impressions:  "This was a nice win.  It was sort of trap game for us and anytime you have a game against a good team like this it's nice to see the guys come out with the passion and emotion.  It was a sloppy game and I don't think either team played really well.  We kept the energy up though and that never really wavered during the course of the game."

On the play of Graham Townsend:  "He was big for us tonight.  They out-shot us quite a bit tonight in the first and fourth quarters, but he was seeing the ball pretty well tonight.  He was making all the saves.  Whether they went high or low on him he was there.  He's a big kid and when he's seeing the ball well, there just isn't a lot for the opposing team to shoot at." 

On the Wolverine clear:  "Part of our struggles were due to a coaching mistake.  We had a pretty good idea what they were going to do on their rides, but we didn't figure out the best way to attack it until the fourth quarter.  Regardless we had the same problem on both ends of the field and we were just throwing the ball away tonight.  We're better than that, and we can't do that in the future if we want to win.  Sometimes it's a lack of focus, sometimes it's the fundamentals.  We need to do the little things."

On playing BYU:  "They're the number one team in the country and we've never won in Provo.  If we want to be considered one of the best teams in the country, we're going to have to win games like this.  The guys will obviously be ready to play this game.  There have been some times in the past when we've approached this game with a little hesitancy but I know the guys will be ready for this one.  We'll need to execute a little bit than we did today to win against BYU."

On the current make-up of the team:  "This team is currently very emotionally together, and they're very focused on our goals.  We've talked about keeping an even keel during the games, and we've stayed steady so far and haven't gotten down regardless of the situation.  The sideline has been great and the energy has been there consistently."

Senior Graham Townsend

On his effort:  "It was nice to get that win.  The defense played well in front of me, and I made the saves I had to.  I felt really comfortable in there.  They had a lot of outside shots and we had some true bounces which is always nice.  I had a good practice yesterday and felt good going into this one."

On the team's energy:  "We knew we were going to have to come out with a solid effort tonight, and in the beginning it was close.  We've been stressing that we need to finish games and we did that in the fourth quarter.  It's good to see that.  Now we just need to go out and beat the number one team in the nation at their place.  This upcoming game will say a lot about us."

Junior Jim Petoskey

On the keys to success: "I don't think we've played a full game yet, and I think that's what we are going to need if we're going to be successful throughout this season, especially on the road against these good teams.  We need to work on our turnovers and we'll be fine.  I've got a lot of confidence with these guys though."

On his goal:  "I hate to say this, but I sort of black out a little when I play so I don't remember everything I did, but I remember that Zorovich made a great pass.  I took a chance and broke down field.  I probably didn't even communicate to have a middy get back like I should have, but once I got the pass I fired low, and I guess it was good enough."

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