1/29/00 – As the 2000 US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates season gets underway, Michigan senior captain Dan Jerneycic (Bloomfield Hills, MI/Univ. of Detroit HS) and the rest of the Wolverines face perhaps the toughest schedule in the nation with non-conference games against Penn State, BYU, Sonoma State, Stanford, California, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Arizona, Tennessee and Northwood. The CCLA portion of the schedule includes two additional top-25 teams. Michigan will be shooting for a second consecutive CCLA championship and bid to the National Championship tournament in St. Louis in May.

3^rd year head coach John Paul is anxious to get started. "When you play this caliber of competition week in and week out, it can only help you focus on preparation. I don’t think we’ll have any problem getting fired up to play."

Michigan opens the season against conference foe Indiana on Saturday, February 19 in Ann Arbor. Last year Indiana came within one goal of stunning the Wolverines in Bloomington. "Indiana is a real up-and-coming program," said Paul. "We know they have had their sights set on this game since last year. This will be a great way to open up the CCLA season." It doesn’t get any easier for the maize and blue as they host defending NCLL national champion Penn State the next day. The Wolverines usually play NCLL teams only in the fall, but Penn State makes it into the spring schedule every year. "They are a quality program, with great athletes," said Paul. "We really enjoy playing them because of the natural Big Ten rivalry, and the fact that they are traditionally more structured than many NCLL teams." Sophomore scoring sensation Adam Denenberg (Wynnewood, PA/Lower Merion HS) will be matched up against his older brother Josh, who is a senior longstick for the Nittany Lions.

The Wolverines leave the following Friday for a whirlwind spring trip that includes games at BYU, Stanford, Sonoma State and California before heading across the country to Baltimore to play Georgia Tech on historic Homewood Field at Johns Hopkins University. After returning home, Michigan will get into the heart of their tough conference schedule that includes a visit to Missouri and Kansas State, and a regular season finale against Michigan State at Birmingham Seaholm High School. Breaking up the CCLA schedule will be early April home match-ups against top-10 SELC teams Virginia Tech and Tennessee, and WCLL powerhouse Arizona. All of this leads up to the CCLA Tournament the final weekend in April, where Michigan will look to defend their title and once again earn the automatic bid to St. Louis.

Michigan returns an experienced squad from last year’s 17-5 team that finished the regular season ranked 4^th nationally and ran away with the CCLA crown. The addition of nine new faces this fall added much needed depth. Most importantly, last year’s team with only one senior has turned into this year’s team with seven. "We were lacking strong leadership last year, and that has definitely changed," said Paul. "It sometimes takes four years for guys to mature to the point where they understand their roles as leaders. We’re fortunate to have this senior class. I couldn’t be happier with how these guys have accepted the responsibility of guiding this team."

All-USLIA 1^st Team attackman Tom Burns (Bloomfield Hills, MI/Brother Rice HS) anchors an attack unit for the Wolverines that ranks among the best ever at Michigan. Returning alongside Burns is 1999 leading scorer Adam Denenberg (Wynnewood, PA/Lower Merion HS) and creaseman Jeff Hadwin (Vestal, NY/ Vestal HS). Hadwin sat out last season to focus on academics, and he was sorely missed after leading the team in scoring his freshman and sophomore seasons. With Burns and Hadwin both having junior eligibility and Denenberg as a sophomore, this unit looks to be among the nation’s best for some time to come. Competition for backup positions will be fierce as newcomers Sloan Buchan-McGilliard (Ann Arbor, MI/Pioneer HS), Chip Thomas (Tenafly, NJ/Dwight-Englewood HS) and Chris Sigakis (Minnetonka, MN/Hopkins HS) and sophomores Mike Burns (Ann Arbor, MI/Pioneer HS) and Brian Fischer (Novi, MI/Novi HS) all add depth to the unit.

Three of Michigan’s four captains are at midfield, which indicates just how far this unit has come from last season. The Wolverines should have much needed depth here in 2000 after relying on only one line of middies for most of 1999.

Veteran Dan Jerneycic (Bloomfield Hills, MI/Univ. of Detroit HS), who earned 2^nd Team All-USLIA honors last season, leads a unit that returns five seniors, including Jerneycic’s high school teammate Tom Willis (Milford, MI/Univ. of Detroit HS) who is back from a knee injury that kept him out all of last year. Captains Pierce Davis (Wellesley, MA/Wellesley HS) and Alex Gregor (Bloomfield Hills, MI/Country Day HS) join Ross Tucker (Simsbury, CT/Grapevine HS) as the other seniors in the group.

The midfield should have added offensive punch this season with the improvement of junior Dave Bernard (Litchfield, CT/Westminster HS) and sophomore Eric DeLamarter (Concord, MA/Concord-Carlisle HS). Both have had very good fall and early spring practice sessions. Joining them in competing for spots on the top two lines are freshmen Brian Marchena (Troy, MI/Country Day HS) and Ben Herbst (Baltimore, MD/Pikesville HS).

Sophomore face-off/defense specialist Kevin Keenan (Bloomfield, MI/Seaholm HS) has been a force for the Wolverines in gaining possession of the ball and stopping opposing midfielders. The midfield position will also get an infusion of talent from newcomers Eric Carter (Ann Arbor, MI/Pioneer HS), Howie Fugate (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury HS) and Andy Vilardo (Rockville, MD/Wootton HS).

Michigan is not deep at longstick, but the unit has improved greatly over a year ago, and they are young. Back to lead the defense is second year junior Greg Deutch (Boca Raton, FL/St. Andrews). Juniors Brady Kim (Columbia, MD/Columbia HS) and Wesley Martus (Nashville, TN/Hillsboro HS) and sophomore Dave DiCamillo (Port Washington, NY/Paul D. Schreiber HS) have shown great improvement since a year ago. Senior Greg Graetz (West Bloomfield, MI/Cranbrook HS), who has been steady at longstick middie for the past two years, will also play some at close defense. Rounding out the defense is sophomore Mike Hages (Grand Rapids, MI/East Grand Rapids HS), a converted midfielder who is quickly learning the position. As long as the Wolverines stay healthy at this position, they should be in good shape.

Returning for his final season between the pipes is Josh Charm (Randolph, NJ/Randolph HS). Charm has shown great improvement this year after a solid first year as a starter. He was voted the Tournament MVP of the Falcon Cup at Bowling Green in the fall, and has continued to work hard in preparation for the 2000 season. Sophomore Kirt Marsh (Tacoma, WA/Curtis HS) returns as Charm’s backup, but he is being pushed by newcomer Jeremy Menkowitz (Ambler, PA/Germantown Academy).

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