March 1, 2008

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site: Provo, Utah (RB Turf Field)

Score:  #7 Michigan 12, #1 BYU 9

Records:  U-M (4-0, 0-0 CCLA), BYU (2-3, 0-0 RMLC)

Next U-M Game:  Saturday, March 8, 2008, 6:45pm MST -- vs. #3 Minnesota-Duluth - Minneapolis, Minn.

Third-Quarter Surge Propels Wolverines Past BYU in Provo

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

Provo, Utah. - In a tightly contested and highly intense early season battle between two of the MCLA's top programs, the University of Michigan men's lacrosse team defeated the #1 ranked Brigham Young University Cougars in Provo, Utah on Saturday (March 1) by a score of 12-9.  Trailing 6-4 late in the second quarter, the Maize and Blue rallied to score seven of the next nine goals between the end of the second and into the third, earning their fourth win of the season, and their first in program history over the Cougars on their home field. 

After a sloppy start for both teams, the Cougars opened the scoring on a high blast by Steve Naegle, but Michigan answered on their next possession as sophomore David Rogers (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) evened the game on a bouncing shot from the left wing that snuck inside the far post.  Michigan followed with a lengthy possession resulting in two fantastic chances that were thwarted by two equally fantastic saves from BYU goaltender Christian Kikumoto who ended up with 22 total saves in the contest.

The teams traded possession until junior midfielder Peter Vasher (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) found freshman attackman Trevor Yealy (Upper St. Claire, Penn./Upper St. Claire) cutting to the crease for Michigan's second goal and their first lead.  BYU answered in the closing seconds of the period however, banging home a rebound with two seconds left in the first quarter as the team's entered the second quarter tied at 2-2. 

Michigan opened the scoring in the second quarter on Rogers' second of the game, another bouncing shot from the right wing.  Senior captain and faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) won the ensuing faceoff and Mark Hammitt fed a cutting Kevin Zorovich (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa - Marist) for the 4-2 Michigan lead.  The Cougars quickly answered, cutting the Wolverine lead to one goal before tying the game on a man-up opportunity with 7:47 left in the half. 

BYU earned their first lead at the 5:39 mark, and then notched their fourth unanswered goal of the quarter just under a minute later for the two-goal lead.  Michigan called a timeout after gaining their next possession, and although their initial shot out of the timeout found the keepers' pocket, the Wolverine ride produced a turnover deep in the BYU end, resulting in an open chance for Yealy who tallied his second of the game as U-M drew within one at 6-5. 

The Wolverines knotted the contest up with 29 seconds left in the first half on a dodge from Vasher who fired low for his first of the game as the teams entered half-time with the score even at 6-6. 

The squads traded possessions following half-time for the first eight minutes of the period, before BYU re-gained the lead at the 6:22 mark on a quick-stick shot from just outside the crease.  The Maize and Blue tied the game at the 4:34 mark on another Vasher dodge as the third-year player shot off-hip to tie the game at 7-7. 

Junior attackman Riley Kearns (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) gave the Wolverines their first lead since early in the second quarter firing high just thirty seconds later.  Kearns then fed junior Matt Huspeni (Greenwood Village, Colo./Regis Jesuit) two minutes later as the Wolverines extended their lead to 9-7. 

The Cougars answered under a minute later as the late-period scoring bonanza continued, but Michigan was just as quick to respond, winning the ensuing faceoff as senior defensive midfielder Bobby Morales (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) scooped up the groundball, raced down-field and blasted one on the run from the left wing for the 10-8 lead.  Michigan kept their foot on the pedal as Yealy notched his third of the game on a feed from Zorovich, scoring with just 16 seconds left in the quarter as U-M took a three goal lead into the final frame. 

BYU had the first quality chance of the fourth quarter on transition but senior goaltender Graham Townsend (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville East) stepped up, cutting off the angle for the point-blank save.  Two minutes later BYU was able to draw within two as freshman Patrick Matheson won possession in the Wolverine end, plowed his way up-field and fired low as the Cougars cut the Michigan lead to 11-9 five minutes into the fourth.

After eight minutes of frenzied action on both sides of the field, the Wolverines were awarded a man-up opportunity with just over two minutes remaining.  After working the ball around the box for half of the minute-long penalty in order to burn a penalty of their own, Yealy took a feed from Zorovich and shot low to re-build U-M's three-goal lead with just over two minutes left in the game.  Michigan locked down defensively as time winded down, and the Wolverines walked away with their fourth win of the young season.

Statistically, the Wolverines won nearly every category, with clear success as the only even mark.  U-M outshot their opponent 53-38, and recorded 71 groundballs to the Cougars' 32.  Kohlitz continued to display his dominant form, winning 21 of 25 faceoff attempts, while each team struggled to clear the ball with the Maize and Blue finishing 18-31 and BYU posting 21-32 totals.  Michigan finished 1-3 on the man-up, while BYU scored once on four attempts.  

The Wolverines will be back in action next Saturday, March 8, when they hit the road again to battle #3 Minnesota-Duluth in Minneapolis. 

NOTES

● Kohlitz's 21 faceoff wins set a career high, besting his 20-win performance earlier on the trip vs. Arizona State (Feb. 24).

● Morales and Kohlitz tied for the team lead with eight groundballs. 

● Townsend stopped 14 shots in the contest, including seven in the decisive fourth quarter.

● Trevor Yealy's four-goal effort set a career high, besting his three goals vs. Kenyon earlier this season (Feb. 16).

● Rogers' two goals set a career high. 

● With the win over #1 BYU, the Wolverines defeated three teams ranked in the top 10 at the time of the game over the course of their Spring Break trip (#6 Arizona State, #9 Arizona).

● Michigan improves to 3-11 all-time vs. the Cougars.  BYU and Colorado State are the only two MCLA programs that hold an edge over Michigan in their all-time records against each other.

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

QUOTES

Head Coach John Paul

On his general impressions:  "We were confident going into this game, especially after the way we've played the last couple of games.  We liked our gameplan and I think we did a nice job of executing it.  We focused on our strengths and hid our weaknesses.  Overall, I'm very happy for the seniors more than anything.  This was a big win for them.  We dominated the first quarter but the shots just weren't falling.  We told them to keep at it and eventually things were going to go our way."

On Brekan Kohlitz's play: "Not only do his possessions obviously help us, but now teams are having to scheme for him.  They started out with two long-sticks on the wings, and he still won almost every faceoff.  The wings are also doing a great job to help him out.  He's absolutely focused on having an outstanding year this year, and teams are going to have to continue to account for him."

On the keys to keeping sure this isn't the highlight of the season:  "I don't think this year's team is going to have a problem keeping their focus up.  This is a four game stretch that looks a lot like the National Tournament, so now we need to go out next weekend and beat Minnesota-Duluth in the championship game."

On the play of Trevor Yealy:  "He's got a very cool head on his shoulders.  He's got a great attitude as well.  He came up to me in the middle of the game after a couple of missed shots, and apologized and told me he was going to work his butt off to get better finishing, but regardless, he had four goals. He's not the only young guy stepping up though.  We had two sophomores and a freshman starting at attack today.  This is going to be a good unit for a while."

On the defensive effort: "Scott Morrison put in a great game plan today and the guys executed it very well.  We really limited them to the shots we wanted them taking for the first three quarters and when the play started scrambling in the fourth, Graham [Townsend] came up with some big saves at the end.  He's been waiting four years for this opportunity and he stepped up when it counted."

On what a win like this does for the team's confidence:  "They (BYU) are team we all measure ourselves against. But more importantly, winning three games like this on the road is huge for us.  Playing at Oosterbaan is such a unique situation for us because we know we can have success there, but I think we have a slight disadvantage compared to everyone else when we go out on the road because it's such a different environment.  Coming out and beating three tough teams on the road is really going to help these guys later in the season."

Junior Zach Elyacher

On the team's defensive effort:  "We knew they had a potent offense, so we tried to take care of their attack and force their middies to provide the bulk of the offensive.  In doing that, we felt that Graham would stop their shots from the outside middies and we would slow them down enough and let the offense do enough to take care of business." 

On the intensity of the game:  "That's got to be the most intense and emotional game I've played since being here.  From the top to the bottom, everyone was playing incredibly hard.  We wanted this game immensely, especially on their field.  We wanted to show everyone we're one of the best teams in the league, and I think we showed that today with this win."

On riding the wave of confidence throughout the season: "We wanted to prove to folks, and to ourselves that we not only can win at Oosterbaan, but that we can go on the road and beat solid teams.  But now we need to come out and keep this same intensity through the rest of the season, including throughout conference play. We want to keep building, and continue to improve and to keep focused on Dallas.  That's the goal."

Senior Brekan Kohlitz

On his play as of late:  "Once again the wings played great today, and having a guy like  Reinhard push me like he does at practice, and having someone to work with like him is great.  It's a position that you need to have confidence, but it's also a lot about preparation."

On keeping an even keel:  "There is no doubt we're a confident group right now, but we can't let that confidence turn into cockiness.  There is still a lot of lacrosse left, and we know we can get better.  As a group of captains, we just need to keep on everyone and make sure we're working hard every night in practice."

Sophomore David Rogers

On having a sense of what this game meant to the seniors:  "You couldn't help but understand how bad some of these guys wanted this game.  Having them come into our place last season and beat us like that for the first time, and knowing the kind of success they've had on us over the years, it was huge to get a win like this on their field."

On his effort:  "Those goals helped a lot with my confidence.  Scoring my first two goals of the trip against a team like that, in that situation, that was incredible."

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