April 6, 2008

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich.  (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)

Score:  #1 Michigan 24, Eastern Michigan 4

Records:  U-M (10-0, 3-0 CCLA), EMU (4-4, 1-1 CCLA)

Next U-M Game:  Thursday, April 6, 2008, 7:00pm MST - vs. Colorado - Boulder, Col. (Franklin Field)

Wolverines Ground Eagles with Spread Attack

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

Ypsilanti, Mich. - The #1 University of Michigan men's lacrosse team remained unbeaten on Sunday, defeating Eastern Michigan by a score of 24-4 in Ypsilanti, Michigan on Sunday (April 6).  After a slow start, the Wolverines got rolling in the second quarter, eventually scoring 19 unanswered goals through the fourth. 12 Wolverines scored in the affair and sophomore attackman Josh Ein (Potomac, Md./Bullis) recorded seven goals as the Maize and Blue won their 10^th game of the season. 

Michigan opened the contest in a sluggish manner, turning the ball over on offense and failing to execute consistently.  Ein opened the Wolverine scoring with back-to-back tallies almost eight minutes apart in the early going.

Eastern Michigan kept up the fight early on, scoring back-to-back goals of their own in the span of 25 seconds starting at 3:03.  With the game knotted at 2-2 late in the first quarter, sophomore attackman Kevin Zorovich (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa - Marist) scored from the right wing to close out the scoring as U-M  re-gained a 3-2 lead headed into the second quarter.

Michigan looked sharper in the second, and opened with two quick goals including a clever man-up misdirection play that eventually found junior attackman Riley Kearns (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) wide open on the edge of the crease.  Freshman attackman Trevor Yealy (Pittsburgh, Penn./Upper St. Claire) followed with back-to-back goals shortly after, followed by two more from Ein mid-way through the quarter. 

Zorovich notched his second, and junior attackman Wes McGowan (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) got in on the action late in the quarter as U-M took a 10-2 into the half. 

Yealy scored on the Wolverines first possession out of the half on a feed from behind the cage from senior midfielder Peter Krauss (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central).  Ein scored on the ensuing possession just under thirty seconds later as the Wolverines built their lead to 12-2.  Freshman midfielder Powell Perng (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) notched his second of the season and Ein scored two more in the quarter for a total of seven goals through three periods.   

The Maize and Blue continued to roll through their bench in the fourth quarter as every healthy Wolverine saw action except for goaltender Graham Townsend (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville).  Perng added his second for his first multi-goal game, and senior Matt Mierendorf (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) tallied his first of the season as well.

Statistically, the Wolverines dominated every category.  U-M outshot their opponent 62-12, and recorded 70 groundballs to the Eagles' 18.  U-M was 26 of 31 on faceoffs, and finished 16 of 18 on clears, while EMU struggled to clear the ball at a rate of 8 for 27.  Michigan finished 2 for 3 on the man-up, while allowing Eastern to score once on three attempts. 

The Wolverines will be back in action on Thursday, April 10, when they travel to Boulder, Colorado to take on the University of Colorado before heading to Fort Collins on the 12^th to battle Colorado State.

NOTES

● Michigan has out-scored their opponents 104-11 in their last five games. 

● Senior captain and faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) finished 12 of 13 on faceoffs, while sophomore David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) won fourteen of his eighteen attempts.

 ● Kohlitz also paced the team with 11 groundballs to add to his team-leading 79. 

 ● Ein's seven goals are a career-high, besting a four goal effort from earlier this season vs. Oakland on March 21.  It is also the first seven goal effort since Jim Constantine scored seven vs. Eastern Michigan on April 9, 2006. 

● All three freshman goaltenders saw time in the contest with Andrew Fowler (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Hotchkiss) starting the game and recording two saves through a half of play.  Mark Stone (Greenwood Village, CO./Cherry Creek) played the next 23:54 before giving way to Ben Scherr (Baltimore, Md./Pikesville) for the final 6:06.  Both Stone and Scherr finished with one save a piece.  

● The Wolverines allowed a man-down goal for the first time since Minnesota-Duluth (March 8). 

● With another stingy defensive performance, Michigan is holding opponents to an average of 4.8 goals per game in 2008. 

● Michigan improves to 4-0 all-time vs. Eastern Michigan. 

● Peter Krauss recorded his first career four-assist game.

● Sophomore midfielder Jordan Kirshner (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) recorded his first career two-assist game.

● Freshman Trevor Yealy (3g, 0a) has scored at least three goals in five consecutive games, totaling 21 goals in that span.

QUOTES

Head Coach John Paul

On his general impressions:  "We came out a little flat, which is to be expected at times, but we woke up in the second quarter and got going well enough.  In some of these games you just want to see the guys working hard, which we weren't early on, and you want to come out injury free.  You just breathe a sigh of relief and move on.  To Eastern's credit, they're short-manned and they might not have top-level talent, but I was really impressed with how hard that team worked today."

On executing:  "In a game like this we're very focused on executing what we want to do.  One thing we're focused on this year is our transition play, and I think we rode well, and we got a lot of transition goals and guys did what we wanted them to do in those situations."

On the upcoming week:  "We're giving the guys tomorrow night off, but allowing them to come in and do a shoot-around if they want.  We had a game Friday, met yesterday for film and played again today, so they could use a night off.  We'll have a tough practice on Tuesday, travel on Wednesday and hopefully be ready to go on Thursday.  This is like our spring trip again where we're going to have to play top teams on the road and we need to get in that mind-set of road warriors.  There is nothing about this trip that will be a vacation; we're going out there to work.  We're going to have to put together two great games to beat two great teams."

Freshman Andrew Fowler

On getting the start:  "In preparation for this upcoming week it was nice to get a chance to give Graham a break.  It was a little tough to come out and play the way we should have, and it took a quarter for us to get there, but personally I just tried to keep the defense calm and focused."

On staying focused regardless of the amount of shots faced:  "Communication is important in times like that.  I just want to keep talking; telling the defense what we're doing on rides, and on clears and keeping everyone involved."

On the transition from being a starter in high school to a reserve at the next level:  "It was a little tough to get used to the role change early on.  It's tough because you can't make a physical difference, but I've learned how I can make a vocal difference.  I just want to remain prepared and ready to go at any time, and I look forward to next year as well."

Sophomore Josh Ein

On his performance:   "Definitely a good feeling.  We came out a little slow, and but we eventually picked it up.  A lot of opportunities started to come about once we got it together."

On  the upcoming schedule:  "Obviously we're excited about this upcoming week.  We've worked hard over the past six weeks to improve and we're been looking forward to this trip for awhile."

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