March 21, 2008

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich.  (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)

Score:  #1 Michigan 28, Oakland 0

Records:  U-M (7-0, 2-0 CCLA), OU (0-3, 0-2 CCLA)

Next U-M Game:  Friday, March 28, 2008, 7:00pm EST - vs. University of Illinois - Ann Arbor, Mich. (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)

Michigan Crushes Oakland in Second Straight Shutout

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

Ann Arbor, Mich. - The University of Michigan men's lacrosse team showed again why they are the top squad in the CCLA on Friday evening (March 21), defeating Oakland University by a score of 28-0 in Ann Arbor at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse in front of over 250 hardy fans who braved the heavy snow to catch the contest.  The Wolverines put the game away in the first 15 minutes, jumping out to an 8-0 lead after one quarter, rolling through their opposition and clearing the bench early on. 

After a somewhat sloppy start from the Wolverines, Michigan broke through at the nine-minute mark on a tally from senior midfielder Peter Krauss (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central).  The combination of Krauss and freshmen Trevor Yealy (Pittsburgh, Penn./Upper St. Claire) and Roy Ichikawa (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines), and)  then exploded and accounted for six of the eight goals in the first quarter, while the Wolverines out-shot their opponent 21-1. 

Michigan kept the pedal down in the second quarter, as Yealy notched the first two goals of the frame followed by a third mid-way through the period.  Ichikawa added his third of the first half, and Michigan finished a perfect four for four on the man-up in the quarter to take an 18-0 lead into the half-time break.

The Wolverine offensive effort slowed coming out of the gates in the third quarter, but their defense was still up to the task in the most tightly contested period of the evening.  Michigan killed three penalties in the first five minutes of the quarter and led 22-0 after three.

The fourth quarter saw two goals from sophomore attackman Josh Ein (Potomac, Md./Bullis) to increase his total to four on the night, and back-to-back goals from senior attackman Doug Bell (Troy, Mich./Troy) mid-way through the quarter.  Oakland's best offensive chance came in the fourth quarter as well when the Wolverines were nabbed for a double off-sides call resulting in a two-man down situation for the Maize and Blue.  U-M was up to task however and killed off the penalty, preserving the shutout in the process.

Statistically, the Wolverines dominated every category.  U-M outshot their opponent 64-12, including 43-5 in the first half, and recorded 56 groundballs to the Grizzlies' 19.  U-M was 24 of 30 on faceoffs, and finished 18 of 23 on clears, while OU struggled mightily to clear the ball at a rate of 6 for 30.  Michigan finished 6 for 8 on the man-up, while holding Oakland scoreless on all five attempts.

The Wolverines will be back in action next Friday, March 28, when they host Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference opponent Illinois to Ann Arbor for a 7:00pm EST start at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse.

NOTES

● Michigan has out-scored their opponents 41-0 in their first two games of the 2008 CCLA schedule.

● Michigan's third CCLA game, against Western Michigan, scheduled for Saturday, March 22, in Kalamazoo, has been postponed because of a severe spring snowstorm.  The game will be played in Kalamazoo on April 16.

● The 28-goal differential ties the previous record set on March 26, 2000 when the Wolverines defeated Ball State by a score of 29-1.  The 28 goals scored are fourth place all-time.

● Senior captain and faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) finished 14 of 18 on faceoffs while sophomore David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) won nine of his eleven attempts.

● Kohlitz also paced the team with nine groundballs to add to his team-leading 53.

● The Wolverines featured another spread scoring attack, with 14 players scoring goals, including Trevor Yealy who led all goal-scorers with a career high five (19 on the season).  Peter Krauss led all players with six total points on three goals and three assists. 

● Freshmen goaltenders Mark Stone (Greenwood Village, Colo./Cherry Creek) and Ben Scherr (Baltimore, Md./Pikesville) each saw their first action of the season, with Stone starting the contest and Scherr playing the entire second half.  Both finished with two saves while Scherr recorded two groundballs as well.   

● Freshman Alex Beltrani (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) recorded his first career three-point game with a goal and two assists.

● Roy Ichikawa recorded his first career hat-trick, while Josh Ein recorded his first career four-goal game.

● With another dominant performance on special teams (6 for 8 on the man-up while holding OU to 0-5), Michigan is now 26 for 40 (.650) on the man-up and has held opponents to only six goals on 31 attempts (.194).

● Michigan is holding opponents to an average of 5.29 goals per game in 2008. 

● Michigan improves to 15-1 all-time vs. Oakland. 

● Every healthy Wolverine saw action in the contest besides goaltenders Graham Townsend and Andrew Fowler.

QUOTES

Head Coach John Paul

On his general impressions:  "Obviously we knew what kind of game it might turn out to be, and we just wanted to come out and execute and correct the issues from last week.  Last weekend we had trouble executing offensively and I think we improved on that tonight.  We got what we needed out of it."

On keeping the level of intensity up the entire game:  "I was happy to see all the guys play hard through the entire game, but at the same it's uncomfortable.  You don't want to be winning a game like that, and I know some of the kids on that team, and the coaches are good friends of mine, so it gets a little uncomfortable when the game is so one-sided.  At the same time however, we're playing everybody and trying to work on what we need to work on.  My philosophy has always been, and always will be, that we won't sit on the ball in games like this.  I'm not going to put my subs in and tell them to go any less than 100% or that they can't shoot once we hit a certain score."

On the young players getting a chance:  "I thought Stone played very well and he's been showing it in practice and Scherr made some saves in the fourth.  Yealy continues to show that he's going to be a special player, and the rest of the guys played pretty well.  You have to consider that even in some of the bigger games, a lot of guys are seeing action because we're so deep.  We only really have a handful of players who aren't seeing consistent time and those guys did a good job for the most part tonight.  We also got a chance to rest some guys who didn't absolutely need to rest, but it'll still be good for them."

On the cancellation of the Western Michigan game:  "Right now it's good.  It's Easter Weekend, there are a lot of parents in town and guys can go home for Easter now.  And no one really wanted to play in the conditions we were going to have to play in.  So for now it's good.  But in the long run, we're going to have a tough last couple of weeks.  We're going to come back from Colorado and have to play a game in the middle of the week, on a week we would like to use to prepare for Michigan State."

Senior Peter Krauss

On the keys to victory:  "The most important thing for us is to play our game and show the kind of focus we need to.  We never got down on ourselves when we made mistakes, we just went out there and corrected them.  Last week we had a focus issues and the sideline wasn't the greatest it's been.  We need to make sure we're all backing each other up."

On maintaining the focus in the upcoming weeks:  "Every time I look up at that banner and don't see a CCLA Championship in 2006, it sort of makes my blood boil.  So we need to maintain our focus and make sure we don't have slip-ups like we did that year."

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