April 4, 2008

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich.  (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)

Score:  #1 Michigan 20, #14 Lindenwood 5

Records:  U-M (9-0, 2-0 CCLA), LU (9-3, 2-0 GRLC)

Next U-M Game:  Sunday, April 6, 2008, 4:00pm EST - vs. Eastern Michigan - Ypsilanti, Mich. (Rynearson Stadium)

First Quarter Barrage Lifts Michigan Over Lindenwood

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

Ann Arbor, Mich. - The #1 University of Michigan men's lacrosse team put together another impressive effort on Friday night in Ann Arbor, defeating #14 Lindenwood by a score of 20-5 in front of 561 fans at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse.  The Wolverines dominated early, jumping out to a 9-0 lead after one quarter of play, and maintaining intensity throughout the contest to earn their ninth win of the season and fifth over a ranked opponent. 

Freshman attackman Trevor Yealy (Pittsburgh, Penn./Upper St. Claire) opened the scoring in the contest with back-to-back goals just nine seconds apart starting at the 10:36 mark.  A nifty feed on the transition from junior defenseman Zach Elyachar (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands) kick-started the first goal, and Yealy buried a feed from faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) after the ensuing faceoff win. 

The onslaught continued as sophomore midfielder David Rogers (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) added the third Michigan goal just over thirty seconds later before senior midfielder Mark Hammitt (Madison, N.J./Delbarton - Boston College) started the second flurry at the 6:29 mark scoring back-to-back goals in under thirty seconds to make it 5-0. 

The Maize and Blue scored twice more in the next minute on goals from senior attackman Doug Bell (Troy, Mich./Troy) and sophomore midfielder Svet Tintchev (Rockville, Md./Bullis).  Two more U-M tallies, including Yealy's third of the quarter gave Michigan a 9-0 lead going into the second frame. 

Lindenwood opened the second quarter scoring five minutes in, but junior attackman Peter Vasher (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) scored his second of the game just under a minute later to rebuild the nine-goal lead for U-M.  Lindenwood registered their second goal of the game two minutes later, but the Wolverines quelled any momentum gained for LU, notching three more goals before the end of the half, including two on the man-up, and one as time expired from junior attackman Riley Kearns (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) to make the score 13-2 after two periods. 

U-M kept up their trend of solid third-quarter play, outscoring Lindenwood by a 5-0 margin in the third quarter, including Yealy's fourth of the game, and two from sophomore attackman Kevin Zorovich (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa - Marist).  Sophomore midfielder Jordan Kirshner (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) closed out the third quarter scoring on a dodge down the middle followed by a high shot over the goaltender's shoulder with under a minute left.

Zorovich added his third to open the fourth quarter scoring, and senior attackman Thomas Lehman (Beverly Hills, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) added his second goal of the season in the fourth quarter as the Wolverines cruised to the 20-5 victory.   

Statistically, the Wolverines dominated every category.  U-M outshot their opponent 52-28, and recorded 41 groundballs to the Lion's' 20.  U-M was 18 of 27 on faceoffs, and finished 25 of 30 on clears, while LU cleared the ball at a rate of 15 for 24.  Michigan finished 4 for 9 on the man-up, while holding Lindenwood scoreless on all six attempts.

The Wolverines will be back in action on Sunday, April 6, when they travel up the road to Ypsilanti, Michigan to take on CCLA opponent Eastern Michigan at 4:00pm EST.

NOTES

● Michigan has out-scored their opponents 80-7 in their last four games. 

● Senior captain and faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) finished 15 of 21 on faceoffs, while sophomore David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) won three of his six attempts.

 ● Kohlitz also paced the team with eight groundballs to add to his team-leading 60, while Zach Elyachar finished with five.

● Three Wolverines finished with four points.  Trevor Yealy scored four goals, while Peter Vasher and Mark Hammitt each scored three goals to go along with one assist.  This was Vasher's first four-point game. 

● Senior goaltender Graham Townsend (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville East) played the first half before giving way to freshmen Andrew Fowler (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Hotchkiss) in the third quarter and Mark Stone (Greenwood Village, CO./Cherry Creek) in the fourth.  Townsend finished with five saves, while Fowler stopped six shots in the third, and Stone recorded two saves in the fourth. 

● With another dominant performance on special teams (4 for 9 on the man-up while holding LU to 0-6), Michigan is now 33 for 53 (.623) on the man-up and has held opponents to only six goals on 43 attempts (.140).

● With another stingy defensive performance, Michigan is holding opponents to an average of 4.9 goals per game in 2008. 

● Zorovich sat the first half for disciplinary reasons.

● Michigan improves to 3-0 all-time vs. Lindenwood.

● In losing the fourth-quarter battle 3-2, the Wolverines lost a quarter for the first time since the fourth quarter against Minnesota-Duluth (also 3-2) on March 8. 

QUOTES

Head Coach John Paul

On his general impressions:  "I was very happy with the way we played tonight.  I was a little worried that we'd come out flat, but that wasn't the case.  The guys flew around in the first quarter and we set the tone.  I think we lost a little momentum when they suffered the injury.  I really hope that kid is going to be ok, but I think both teams struggled a little after that.  We came out strong in the third quarter though and the thing about this team is that we're deep and there isn't a lot of drop off once we start subbing.  The backups are executing at almost the same level as the guys in front of them."

On getting back into a planned-attack:  "This was the first game in four weeks that we game-planned for, and we stressed that this was a tournament level team, and that we needed to come into this game with the right level of intensity.  I think that helped them get up a little.  I know they are extremely excited about the Colorado trip."

On the upcoming game vs. Eastern:  "We want guys to play with a high level of intensity but we want to have them do the right thing on the field.  We want to run our offense the proper way; we want to run our defense like we normally would.  We also want to play with class.  Tonight Coach Hood came over after the game and told me that our team had a lot of class, and that's the kind of thing you want to hear from another coach."

On striving for perfection without the fear of mistakes:  "As a coach you have to find a balance about how and when you criticize, and how often you encourage.  What gets us is mental mistakes and when they're doing the wrong thing when it's something we stressed.  Those are things we'll always jump on them about.  If we're generally playing at a high level, execution mistakes and dropped balls are going to happen, and they need to know that it's ok, but if they start steam rolling and becoming contagious we'll get on them about that as well.  The other thing we want is that no matter what's happening in the game, we always want them to be positive with each other."

Senior Matt Mierendorf

On his final game at Oosterbaan:  "I've been here a long time and I've played a lot of games here at Oosterbaan and it was nice to come out here and get a win like this.  You like to think that it's tough for other teams to come in here and play.  I'm just glad we were able to prove that tonight."

On the keys to domination this season:  "I can't say that we've been able to maintain a high level of focus and intensity in every single practice, but for the most part we've been working extremely hard this year.  Our conditioning is at a very high level, and considering the hard work we've put in so far, I can't see this team allowing there to be any let downs."

Senior captain Graham Townsend

On senior night:   "It was nice.  We had a great crowd, and we got the win.  On the way in, Peter Krauss mentioned to me that this was the last time we'd be going into Oosterbaan and it hit me for the first time then."

On the benefits of practice:  "The coaches are doing a great job of keeping us motivated and keeping us focused.  They have it pounded into us that if no one out works us, no one can beat us."

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