Michigan Blitzes Sonoma State to Advance to Semis

May 13, 2009

Game Story

Boxscore

Notes

● Junior faceoff specialist David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) finished 16 of 19 and scooped up a team-high 14 groundballs to increase his team lead to 196.  Freshman Edward Ernst (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends) was also impressive, winning seven of his nine attempts and scooping up two groundballs.

● Yealy paced the team in goals with five after putting together his lowest scoring out of the season (one goal) vs. Texas a day before.

● A total of 11 Wolverines scored in the contest, and a total of 20 different players recorded a point, a season high for the Wolverines. 

● Michigan improves to 4-2 all-time vs. Sonoma State. 

● Sophomore goaltender Mark Stone (Greenwood Village, Colo./Cherry Creek) started the game and played the first half recording one save while allowing four goals.  Fellow sophomore Andrew Fowler (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Hotchkiss, CT) played the second half, and stopped five shots while allowing two goals. 

● With the win, the Wolverines increased their consecutive victories record, notching their 38^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 Wolverines are 6-0 all-time vs. Colorado, and defeated the Buffalos earlier this season in Ann Arbor by a score of 13-4.

● Michigan advances to the semi-final round of the MCLA National Championship for the third time in team history.  In 2005, the Wolverines lost to UC-Santa Barbara by a score of 4-3, and last year defeated Brigham Young by a score of 11-7 to advance to the finals the following day where they defeated Chapman to the earn the program's first National Championship. 

Quotes

Head Coach John Paul

On his general impressions:  "We were all pretty disappointed with the way we came out yesterday, and a lot of our success today was coming out and playing the way we know we're capable of playing.  Any anxiety we had yesterday was gone, and we executed our game plan and that is really the key for us.  We feel like we match up well against anybody.  As long as we bring energy and focus to each game we're going to be successful and today we were."

On the first half:  "That was definitely the best half of play we've had all year.  You could get a feel today that the guys were ready to go and were very loose and that's where we wanted them to be.  We did feel going in that we had a good game-plan and that we matched up very well with Sonoma in terms of style and personnel."

On the importance of possession:  "Today is a great example of how any defense is only as good as your offense is.  Any offense it going to beat a defense eventually if given enough chances, but in a game like today, where our offense is so efficient and we're also riding and facing off well, the game just boils down to possession and we had the ball pretty much the whole time."

On maintaining focus going into Friday:  "I know the guys believe in what we're looking to do as a staff, and for the most part they do a great job of executing what we ask them to do.  Today the guys were physically and mentally ready.  We need to make sure the guys have that bounce in their step and have the physical confidence we need to come out and play the way we're capable of."

On Colorado:  "They are different team than we saw earlier in the season.  I think they believe in themselves a bit more now, and they believe in their system.  They are healthier now, too.  They've always had talent and they get excellent coaching from John Galvin and the rest of that staff.  We bring some things to the table that you need to prepare for and knowing that they will game-plan for that and be prepared makes them fun to coach against.  They'll have a plan in place and if they execute it they could give us some trouble."

Junior midfielder Michael Bartomioli

On how the little things translate to the solid offense:  "I feel like it's absolutely crucial to do the little things well.  Tonight Rhino and Ed were dominate at the "X", and my second goal came right off the faceoff after Ed won it to me.  We were also doing a great job on the ride, and I think in terms of doing the little things right, this might have been our best game all year, and you can see how that translates to the offensive success."

On the feel coming in:  "From my personal experience, I think we were a little nervous coming in yesterday.  Today we were just loose and having fun, but we were having fun within the system, and just enjoying ourselves.  We were playing Michigan lacrosse today and it showed in the way we were able to dominate."

Senior Captain and Midfielder Riley Kearns

On the difference in the offense tonight:  "I think we were a little stressed coming in yesterday and I think getting that shoot-around in today really helped the guys loosen up and get relaxed.  Playing at night, in a big atmosphere also helps us get up a little more obviously and probably helps the level of focus."

On the mind-set going into Friday:  "We just need to make sure we don't concentrate on last year, or even think about Saturday.  We just need to focus on the task at hand on Friday.  Knowing that we've beaten them will help our confidence a little bit, but I think they're a different team now, and we recognize that."

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