3/2/00 – Michigan and Stanford seemed to be two teams heading in opposite directions heading into today’s game in Palo Alto. The Wolverines (2-2), stinging from two straight losses to top-5 teams, had dropped a spot to #8 in the USLIA poll, while the Cardinal (4-0), on the strength of a perfect start and wins against ranked opponents UCLA and UCSB, had moved up from #16 to #13. True to form, Stanford jumped out to a 5-1 lead before Adam Denenberg (Wynnewood, PA/Lower Merion HS) scored his second of the day with 43 seconds remaining in the 1^st quarter to trim the lead to 3.

From that point on the Wolverines seemed to get their legs back under them as they used an aggressive sliding defense and 22 saves from Josh Charm (Randolph, NJ/Randolph HS) to stifle Stanford and hold them to only 2 more goals in the game. The Michigan offense got back on track as well as they rattled off 10 more goals on the way to a 12-7 win.

The game was deadlocked at 7 going into the 4^th quarter, but the Wolverines found themselves two men up after an offsides call and a conduct foul at the end of the 3^rd. Jeff Hadwin (Vestal, NY/ Vestal HS) put Michigan up for the first time in the game with shot off a loose ball in front. Denenberg padded the lead off a beautiful drive and feed from Pierce Davis (Wellesley, MA/Wellesley HS), and from that point on it was all Michigan. The Wolverines outshot Stanford 15-7 in the 4^th, and outhustled them to the tune of 21 groundballs to 2 in the quarter. After two more Michigan goals, Denenberg capped the scoring with a pretty behind-the-back shot off a full-field clearing pass from Greg Deutch (Boca Raton, FL/St. Andrews HS).

Denenberg led the way for the Wolverines with 5 points on 4 goals and 1 assist, while Tom Burns (Bloomfield Hills, MI/Brother Rice HS) added 5 points of his own on 1 goal and 4 assists. Michigan takes on #4 California at Kleeberger Field in Berkeley this Saturday at 3:00 p.m.