October 20, 2007

Event:  Men's Lacrosse

Site:  Delaware, Ohio (Ohio Wesleyan University)

Unofficial Scores:  Michigan 5, Ohio Wesleyan 14 - Michigan 3, Bellarmine 11 - Michigan 4, Wooster 6

Next U-M Game:  East-West Inter-squad Scrimmage - November 29, 2007 - Ann Arbor, Mich. (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)

Wolverines Wrap up Fall-Ball in Ohio

Event Recap I Boxscore I Notes & Quotes I Photos

Delaware, Ohio. - The University of Michigan men's lacrosse team completed their five-game fall-ball schedule this Saturday afternoon, October 20 in Delaware, Ohio on the Ohio Wesleyan campus.  Michigan competed in three scrimmages over the course of the day, taking on Ohio Wesleyan in their opening contest before battling Bellarmine and Wooster to round out the day.

The Wolverines opened strong in their first contest vs. OWU, looking solid behind three first-half goals from junior attackman Riley Kearns (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice), junior midfielder Mark Hammitt (Madison, N.J./Delbarton - Boston College) and freshman attackman Chad Carroll (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier).  OWU came out firing in the third quarter, notching five unanswered goals and eventually pulling away for the unofficial win. 

After a slight break, the Wolverines were back at it, taking on Division I Bellarmine and once again Michigan opened strong only to see their opponent outplay them in the second and third quarters.  For the second game in a row, Kearns and Hammitt kicked off the Maize and Blue scoring in the first, but the Wolverines would only manage one more goal in the contest, on another tally from Kearns as the Knights from Bellarmine out-scored Michigan 8-1 from the second quarter on.

In Michigan's final contest of the day, the Wolverines took on a familiar opponent in Wooster, a team Michigan faced during the '07 regular season.  In their tightest contest of the day, U-M fell behind 3-0 midway through the first quarter, but battled back in the third with three goals to cut the score to 5-4.  Michigan was unable to find the back of the net in the final quarter however, dropping their last scrimmage of the day. 

With their fall-ball schedule over, the Wolverines will return to the practice field this week with a different approach, focusing on individual skills, speed training, team scrimmages and team yoga.  Michigan will run their annual East-West team scrimmage in November as the puts in the final preparation for their spring season.

NOTES

● Every Wolverine saw action over the course of the day with each of the four goaltenders seeing significant action as well.  Freshman Mark Stone (Greenwood Village, CO./Cherry Creek) played the entire first game, while senior captain Graham Townsend (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville East) started the second game with freshman Ben Scherr (Baltimore, Md./Pikesville) spelling him in the second half.  In the final game, freshman Andrew Fowler (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Hotchkiss, Conn.) protected the cage for the entire match.

● For the second week in a row, the Wolverines were treated to another great day for fall-ball.  Just over a week after hosting Johns Hopkins and Army in an evening to remember, the Maize and Blue were treated to a gorgeous late-October day, shorter than expected bus rides and multiple spreads put on by the booster club throughout the afternoon.  The squad even returned to Ann Arbor in time to watch their grid-iron classmates take on Illinois.

● In their five fall-ball scrimmages, Michigan faced three Division I NCAA opponents and two Division 2 teams.

QUOTES

U-M Head Coach John Paul

On the games:  "I thought we looked really good in the first half of the OWU game on both sides of the field.  Offensively, we showed a lot of patience and the defense was playing well, but in the second half, we started giving up some back door looks and the offense started getting a little impatient.  I don't think we ever got back that early success the rest of the day though.  All in all it was a day about playing everybody and getting a good look at who can do what we're asking and who's going to bust their butt on the field.  Those are the things we're looking for.  We just need to see where we are and what we need to do in the next four months."

On the team's energy:  "I thought the energy and effort ebbed and flowed a little, but overall I was happy.  We played a lot of lacrosse today, and the fact that the guys were still going hard in the final quarter of the last game, that's what we want."

On the play of the freshmen: "We knew coming in we'd be in good shape in goal for awhile, and that was evident today.  Matt Asperheim got a lot of time and long-stick middie and himself and Martusciewicz give us a really good combo there.  Chad Carroll continued to show us why he's going to be a very good attackman and he had some flashes today.  He's just got to become a little more confident and consistent."

On what fall-ball success means to spring success: "It doesn't really translate.  It's nice to win these, but ultimately we’re playing to just get a look at our guys.  We also played some really good squads this fall.  They gave us the challenge we were looking for."

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