May 4, 2008

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site: Saline, Mich. (Saline High School)

Score:  #1 Michigan 21, #25 Michigan State 5

Records:  U-M (16-0, 7-0 CCLA), Michigan State (10-6, 6-2 CCLA)

Next U-M Game:  Tuesday, May 13, 2008, 4:00pm CST, MCLA Tournament 1st Round - vs. TBD - Dallas, Tex. (Ross Stewart Complex)

Michigan Crushes Michigan State for CCLA Championship

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

Saline, Mich. - The #1 University of Michigan men's lacrosse team captured their eighth CCLA Conference Championship on Sunday (May 4), defeating #25 Michigan State by a score of 21-5 in Saline, Michigan at Saline High School.  Michigan jumped out to a 9-1 lead after the first quarter and never looked back as freshman Trevor Yealy (Pittsburgh, Penn./Upper St. Claire) and junior Riley Kearns (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) each scored five goals and sophomore transfer Kevin Zorovich (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa - Marist) added six assists. 

The Spartans opened the scoring just over a minute into the game on a feed in front, before senior captain Bobby Morales (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) answered on the Wolverines' next possession with a rocket from the top of the box.  Michigan took the lead two minutes later on a man-up goal from Yealy who was fed on the play by Zorovich.

The Wolverines increased their lead on a shot from just above the GLE from Kearns at 8:39 of the first, before sophomore Jordan Kirshner (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) took a feed from Morales and finished the play less than a minute later for the 4-1 lead. 

The Wolverines kept their foot on the pedal as Yealy added his second of the game just over a minute later on a pass from sophomore David Rogers (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills).  After a hustle play deep in the Spartan box resulted in another possession for the Wolverines, senior Peter Krauss (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) fed a cutting Peter Vasher (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) for Michigan's sixth unanswered goal of the quarter. 

Kearns added two more and Zorovich registered his first goal of the game as the Wolverines took a dominating 9-1 lead after one quarter of play. 

Kearns and Zorovich kept up their solid starts in the second quarter, connecting on the first goal of the second quarter with Kearns tallying his fourth of the game.  MSU answered a minute later with their first goal since early in the first to cut the lead to 10-2. 

The Wolverines increased their lead to 11-2 with 8:26 left in the second on another man-up feed from Zorovich who found Yealy parked just outside the crease.  Vasher notched his second of the game a little over a minute later, before Zorovich registered his fifth assist of the game on a pass to senior captain Mark Hammitt (Madison, N.J./Delbarton – Boston College) who quick-sticked the ball into the back of the cage for 13-2 lead. 

Michigan was awarded a man-up following the goal, and Hammitt capitalized on a shot from the top of the box as the Wolverines continued to put together one of their best offensive halves of the season. 

MSU finished off the scoring in the second quarter at the four-minute mark as the Wolverines took a 14-3 lead into the second half. 

Yealy notched his fifth goal of the game on Zorovich's sixth assist to open the third quarter scoring for Michigan, before sophomore Jamie Goldberg (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) notched his second goal in two games, after failing to register a goal in the first 14 games.  Zorovich followed with his second of the game, before the Spartans answered at the 10-minute mark to cut the Wolverine lead to 17-4. 

Yealy's sixth goal of the game came on a between the legs scoop late in the third quarter, before junior Aaron Hodari (Bloomfield, Mich./Detroit Country Day) registered his first goal of the year on a blast from the top of the box to close out the third quarter. 

MSU opened the fourth-quarter scoring five minutes into the period, before Mark Hammitt scored Michigan's 20^th goal with 7:06 left in the game on a bad-angle shot from just above the left GLE.  Riley Kearns finished the scoring in the contest, registering his fifth goal of the game, as the Wolverines earned the 21-5 win and their eighth CCLA Championship in 10 years. 

Statistically, Michigan won every category.  U-M outshot their opponent 50-21, and won the groundball battle, 45 to 25.  The Wolverines were 19 of 29 on faceoffs, and finished 22 of 25 on clears, while riding MSU to 13 for 23 totals.  The Maize and Blue finished 6-8 on the man-up, while the Spartans scored twice on five attempts.

The Wolverines will be back in action in just over a week when they travel to Dallas, Texas for first round action in the MCLA National Championship Tournament.  The tournament opens on Tuesday, May 13, and seedings will be set on Monday, May 5.  Please visit MGoBlue.com for full details.

NOTES

● Senior captain and faceoff specialist Brekan Kohlitz (St. Claire Shores, Mich./Notre Dame Harper Woods) finished 15 of 25 on faceoffs, while sophomore David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) won all four of his attempts.

●  Kohlitz also paced the team in groundballs with seven. 

●  Yealy and Kearns each paced the team with five goals.  Yealy has also scored three goals in 11 consecutive games, totaling 46 in that span.  He has also recorded five goals on five different occasions this season. 

●  With 56 goals this season, Yealy has overtaken Jeff Hadwin's 2001 total of 53 goals for fourth on the all-time single season goal record.  Adam Denenberg is third with 66 in 1999.

●  Michigan improves to 18-1 all-time vs. MSU and 85-2 all-time in the CCLA.

●  The win marks Michigan's 8th CCLA championship in the ten years of the conference's existence.  This is the first time since 2003 that Michigan has won back-to-back championships.

●  Mark Hammitt recorded a hat-trick for the third time in his last four games.

●  Kevin Zorovich set a career high in points and assists with eight and six respectively.    

●  Goaltender Graham Townsend (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville East) started the game and finished with seven saves in three quarters of play before giving way to  freshman Andrew Fowler (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Hotchkiss CT) who posted four saves in the fourth quarter. 

QUOTES

Head Coach John Paul

On his general impressions:  "Our focus for this game was to jump out early and come out with the right intensity.  We didn't execute quite the way we wanted to in the last game against these guys, and today we had the intensity and the execution."

On the offensive effort:  "This was some of the best first-quarter offense we've had all year.  We were firing on all cylinders.  We felt like we were doing similar things in the first game, but we just didn't finish.  That's about as well as you're going to see us play on the transition as well.  We were constantly looking for the extra pass, and it was impressive to even us."

On the energy level:  "The only thing we ever want to see out of the CCLA games is that we're playing to our potential.  It's easy to come into some of these games and look past them, but every single game except for the Central game, we've come out and played with the right intensity.  It's the mark of a great team that gets up no matter who the competition is."

On the play of Kearns:  "He's coming off the injury and he didn't have as productive of a fall that he probably wanted to, and I think it took him a little time to get adjusted to the kind of play we were looking for, and to his credit, he didn't go into a shell at all.  He just changed a little and became the player we needed him to be.  There was never any question of his skill, and that's apparent by games like this.  Now he's doing all of the other little things and he's a complete player."

On the play of Zorovich:  "We knew immediately that he was going to be a special player.  But what makes him really stand out is what he's able to do on groundballs.  He's a groundball machine and that's a huge bonus for us when we have attackmen with his talent who are willing to sell out for us." 

On the upcoming week:  "We'll have the same focus as always and work them hard early in the week.  We will get them in the weight room three times this week as well and try and get them to peak, and that's what you're looking for, is to peak at this time of the season.  A lot of teams taper right now, but we're actually doing our hardest stuff right now.  We hope we can get Svet back, and who knows about Ein, it's a long-shot, but who knows."

Sophomore Kevin Zorovich

On getting accustomed to the rivalry:  "Growing up on Long Island there really aren't college rivalries so when I came to Michigan this winter, that was very new to me.  But you can immediately sense the hatred that exists between these two schools and the guys just pound it into you, guys like Peter Krauss.  It makes the entire experience that much more fun, especially when you're performing well."

On the high volume of assists lately:  "It's funny because in high school, Trevor Yealy used to play the "X" and I was the crease guy, and now our roles are reversed and I'm feeding him on the crease.  My knee was also bothering me a little during the middle of the season, but as things have gone, it's gotten better, and I think it's helped my game."

On the upcoming week: "I think we just need to make sure we keep doing what's made us successful so far, and just to continue to hustle and out-work teams.  We can't fall into any traps early on.  I've heard the stories about Northeastern last year and I definitely don't want to see that happen this year.  The seniors won't let this team lose their focus though."

Freshman Trevor Yealy

On getting accustomed to the rivalry:  "I came into today and wanted to kill these guys and I don't know a single guy on the opposite side of the field.  The seniors have really pounded it into us how important these games are."

On the game itself:  "I was a little concerned early on after they got the quick opening goal, but we settled it down and got going.  I also didn't expect us to win that big and I thought early on it was going to be a game, but it's certainly a good feeling to spank one of your rivals like that."

On his expectations going into the season:  "I didn't expect any of this going in, both for myself and the team.  I didn't really have a specific and defined role early on, and I even gave midfield a go, but things really fell into place and I know where I stand now.  I'm getting really comfortable in that spot outside the crease.  Maybe not as comfortable behind the net with the ball anymore, but it's great to have a defined role and to be helping the team win.  But now it's one and done and the stakes are a lot higher."

Junior Riley Kearns

On having success vs. a rival: "After losing to them two years ago, I think every time we take the field against them we will play with this kind of intensity and focus.  Like Mike Hart said, they're the little brother and you want to take care of business."

On continuing to pick up his play:  "At the beginning of the year, the coaches challenged us to be a little more hardnosed and to do the little things.  Once I started to work my way back up, and to work on those aspects of my game, my confidence has really gone up, and so has my play."

On the offensive success in the first half:  "We had transition goals, we had settled goals, no dropped passes and a lot of solid execution.  It was a lot like the first game against them, but tonight we finished, and two weeks ago we didn't."

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