Release

Michigan Advances to CCLA Final with Win Over CMU

May 3, 2009

Notes

● Junior faceoff specialist David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) finished 10 of 18 and scooped up a team-high 11 groundballs to increase his team lead to 173. Freshman Edward Ernst (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends) won both of his attempts and grabbed two groundballs.

● Yealy paced the team in goals with four. He has led the team in goal scoring in every game this season except the season opener against Arizona (Feb. 21).

● With only two goals allowed, the Wolverines' defense held an opponent to a season low in goals.

● 10 Wolverines scored in the contest for Michigan for the second game in a row.

● Elyachar's assist was his fourth of the season and second in two games.

● For the fifth time this season, the Wolverines held an opponent to under 20 total shots in the game.

● In his last three games, McIntyre has registered five goals and two assists.

● Michigan improves to 6-0 all-time vs. Buffalo.

● Sophomore goaltender Mark Stone (Greenwood Village, Colo./Cherry Creek) started the game and played the first three quarters recording six saves while allowing both goals. Fellow sophomore Andrew Fowler (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Hotchkiss, CT) played the final quarter, and stopped two shots.

● With the win, the Wolverines increased their consecutive victories record, notching their 36^th straight win. The squad is also on a 21-game road winning streak spanning back to an 8-5 victory over UC-Santa Barbara on May 5 of 2006.

● The win improves Michigan's all-time CCLA record to 91-2.

● In six CCLA games this season, the Wolverines outscored their opponents 126 to 33.

Quotes

Head Coach John Paul

On his general impressions: "I thought we were still a little flat to start the game, but we picked it up once we saw that Buffalo really came to play. Once we knew we had to work to get things done we picked up the intensity a bit. We were really happy with the play in the second half. That was how we look playing every facet of the game properly."

On the lack of turnovers: "We made that a point of emphasis today, and it's not so much us having throwing or catching errors, it's just about the guys making the right decisions with the ball. We also did well getting to groundballs, and that helps cut down turnovers when you're on the ball if a pass is dropped or thrown away."

On the defense providing offense: "We are a pretty conservative clearing team, but our defense certainly has the stick skills and speed to get up the field and we want them to take advantage of those opportunities. We worked a lot on shooting skills this year but for some reason those chances just haven't been there very much. I have complete trust in our guys to make the play."

On keeping the team focused through the week with no school: "We're going to keep these guys busy. They're going to have tomorrow off but we will be doing runs and lifts and practice every day before we leave so this might be one of their hardest weeks of work all year. Hopefully that will have us focused and improving as we approach Denver. Our man-up is still under-performing a little bit. We only had two opportunities this whole weekend. We just need to get more consistent and make the right decisions. Overall I like where we are, but we just need to understand that every game from here the competition is going to get better."

Sophomore Defenseman Harry Freid

On the defensive effort: "Any time we're in a tight position early, the whole team buys into the defensive mindset a little more. Even though we weren't scoring a lot early, we were always fresh when they had possession because our offense was controlling the ball so much. It's a little tougher to stay focused when you're seeing limited action, but our ride really helps to keep us involved because we're all communicating and trying to get into proper position. That helps feed into the six-on-six situations."

On the defense providing support up front: "It's easy to get in on the action when we're clearing the way we're able to. We emphasized it in practice recently and it showed today. We're getting in the right spots and the ball is getting there. You can separate good teams and bad teams in all levels of lacrosse when the defenseman has the kind of stick skills to make a play. We pride ourselves in that aspect."

Senior captain Riley Kearns

On the offensive effort: "Their defense was different from what we saw yesterday with all that zone. It allowed us to get some more shots, but their goalie was saving everything high. It took us awhile to figure out that we need to go low, and after that we started to get going. We knew this was going to be a good team after they beat Michigan State, and it's a Championship game so you're going to be ready."

On the focus this week: "We just need to get prepared for Denver and be moving forward going in. We're going to be pretty involved with lacrosse all day, every day this week so I think the focus is going to be there. You're not going to have any long periods this week with nothing to do, and you're always going to be thinking about lacrosse."

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