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March 1, 2004
Michigan
Men’s Lacrosse
2004
Weekly Release #3
Upcoming Schedule
● Saturday, March 6, 8:00pm EST -
vs. Buffalo – Ann Arbor, Mich. (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)
● Friday, March 12, 7:00pm EST - vs.
Western Michigan – Ann Arbor, Mich. (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)
● Saturday, March 13, 8:00pm EST -
vs. Arizona – Ann Arbor, Mich. (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)
This Week – CCLA Opening
Weekend
After a 10-day, three game spring break trip to the Central Florida area
where the Wolverines captured two of three, Michigan comes back to Ann Arbor
for a single game this weekend. U-M will face off against fellow CCLA
member Buffalo in Michigan’s first of two CCLA regular season home games
this season. The contest will take place on Saturday, March 6, at 8:00pm at
Oosterbaan Fieldhouse.
Three of the Wolverine’s next four games will come against CCLA opponents in
what figures to be a crucial stretch in Michigan’s hopes for a sixth
straight CCLA championship. This will also be Michigan’s first chance this
year to protect their 50-game CCLA winning streak.
Last Week
Last week, the 5th ranked Wolverines traveled to Orlando to play
the University of Central Florida, the University of Florida, and Brigham
Young University. Michigan captured two of three, defeating UCF and
Florida, while dropping a close game to BYU in the trip’s final game. The
Wolverines spent 10 days in Central Florida, practicing and visiting the
area’s attractions on their off days.
In Michigan’s opening game of the season, the Wolverines rolled past the
University of Central Florida Golden Knights 24-0 on Monday, February 23.
Nine Wolverines had multi-point games including leading scorers junior
Ryan Clark (Summit, N.J./Summit) who tallied one goal and six
assists for a total of seven points, senior captain Ray Lombardi
(Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) who notched 2-3-5 totals and freshman
reserve attackman Joe Williamson (Romeo, Mich./Romeo) who tied
the team high with three goals and added two assists. In a game where
Michigan’s reserves saw almost a full half of play, the Wolverines dominated
in every aspect, winning faceoffs 22-4, collecting 56 groundballs compared
to UCF’s 19, and tallying 57 shots, while Michigan’s defense held the Golden
Knights to only six shots.
Michigan opened the season 2-0, defeating the #6 University of Florida
Gators 12-5, in Gainesville on Wednesday, February 28. The Wolverines
trailed by a goal after the first half of play before exploding for nine
goals in the second half including two goals in the first three minutes of
the third quarter. Both junior Ryan Clark and senior captain Jeff
Hanna (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manilus) tallied five
points apiece with Hanna netting five goals, and Clark assisting on three of
them. Michigan’s defense held Florida to only 23 shots in the game while the
Wolverines were able to tally 52. Michigan was also able win the ground
ball battle 58-41 with Jeff Hanna scooping up nine ground balls while Ray
Lombardi was able to pick up eight of his own as the Wolverine attack
smothered the Gators with a tenacious ride throughout the game.
In the final game of the trip, Michigan’s late game rally vs. #3 BYU fell
just short as the Cougars pulled off a tight, 8-6 victory. Trailing by a
score of 7-3 with just under four minutes left in the contest, the
Wolverines stormed back with a goal from Ryan Clark at the 3:58 mark,
and with two minutes left junior Mike O’Leary (St. Louis,
Mo./Clayton) netted back to back goals just under a minute apart to draw
the Wolverines to within one goal with just under a minute remaining.
Michigan was able to gain possession of the ball and called a timeout but a
turnover in the Wolverines’ zone led to BYU’s eighth goal of the game.
Junior goaltender Dan Webber (Weston, Mass./Weston) made 11
saves in the contest, and kept the Wolverines close as BYU was able to
register 35 total shots compared to Michigan’s 19.
Scouting the Opponents
Buffalo - A fellow member of the Central Collegiate Lacrosse
Conference (CCLA) the University of Buffalo Bulls enter the contest this
Saturday with a 1-1 record after splitting two games last weekend in
Pittsburgh, Pa. The Bulls opened the season with a double overtime 11-10
loss to fellow CCLA member, the University of Pittsburgh, on Friday,
February 27. The next night, Buffalo bounced back with a 10-8 victory over
CCLA opponent Purdue.
Entering his first year as head coach of the Bulls, Head Coach John Stickl
is a 2003 graduate of UB and brings a wealth of lacrosse experience at such
a young age. A senior high school All-American, Stickl began his collegiate
lacrosse career at Mercyhurst College and then transferred to Adelphi
University and won the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2001. In
2002 he transferred to the University of Buffalo and was named to the USLIA
All-American Team (the Bulls’ first player to receive such honors) and
helped the Bulls to their first ever appearance at the National finals in
St. Louis. In 2002, Stickl was also selected as one of the twenty-three
members of Team England that played in the 2002 World Championships in
Perth, Australia.
http://wings.buffalo.edu/sa/lacrosse/
Injury Update
The Wolverines return from Florida with only two
significant injuries. Sophomore midfielder Jim Constantine
(Troy, Mich./Seaholm) left the BYU game early with a thigh bruise that
lists him as day-to-day. Constantine should be available for next
Saturday’s game vs. Buffalo. Junior Bobby Groenke (Cincinnati,
Ohio/St. Xavier) missed the game vs. BYU with a separated shoulder that
occurred in last Wednesday’s game vs. Florida. He will be re-evaluated
throughout the coming week.
Team Leaders
Through three games, senior Jeff Hanna leads the squad in goals with 10
(10-2-12 totals) and in shots and shots on goal with 16 and 13
respectively. Junior Ryan Clark leads the team in both assists and points
with 4-11-15 totals.
Scooping it Up
Junior long stick midfielder Dave Silverman (Potomac,
Md./Churchill) leads the team with 21 ground balls through three games
after picking up only 15 in his freshman campaign of 2002 and 45 last
season. Goal-leader Jeff Hanna is second on the team with 13.
Man-Up Success
Through three games, the Wolverines have registered nine man-up goals in
only 18 chances for a remarkable 50% success rate. Jeff Hanna leads all
Wolverines with four man-up goals. U-M has also been highly successful
while defending man-up opportunities, not allowing a goal in six man-down
situations. Jeff Hanna is also the only Wolverine to tally a man-down goal.
Climbing the Ladder
With two goals vs. BYU, Jeff Hanna moved into sole possession of fifth place
on the Wolverines all-time goal scoring list with 105. Hanna surpassed Dan
Jerneycic (’00) who recorded 104 goals in his Wolverine career. Next in
front of Hanna is Tom Burns (’01) who is only two away with 107.
Setting New Highs
Mike O’Leary tied career highs in last Saturday’s game vs. BYU with two
goals and five shots. O’Leary netted two goals most recently vs. Buffalo in
2003, and recorded five shots vs. Missouri in 2002. Two players recorded
career-high ground ball figures last Wednesday vs. Florida. Dave Silverman
and Ray Lombardi each scooped up eight ground balls in the game to set
career marks. In the contest vs. UCF on Monday, February 25, Ryan Clark
notched a career high seven points in the contest with 1-6-7 totals. Clark
notched six points, twice, in his freshman campaign of 2002.
Quick starts for Freshman
In the contest vs. UCF, six freshman notched their first points as
Wolverines in only their first game led by Joe Williamson’s five point
(3-2-5) performance while both freshman goaltenders saw action.
A New Record of Domination
With the 24-0 victory, Michigan tied its third largest margin of victory
ever. The last time the Wolverines won by a +24 margin Michigan defeated
Purdue on March 25, 2000 by a score of 25-1. Michigan used all 37 players
on the roster with the reserves seeing significant early-season action in
most of the second half.
Second-Half Surge
The Wolverines have dominated the second half of their contests this year
outscoring their opponents 28-7 and having recorded more shots on goal than
their opponents to the tune of 55 to 16.
Clearing Danger
The Wolverines have faired well compared to their opponents this year in
their attempts to clear the ball, tallying a .662 (47-71) clear percentage
compared to their opponents overall percentage, which is only .456 (36-79).
Last year Michigan cleared the ball at a much better .743 rate.
Michigan in the Polls
The Wolverines, who were picked to repeat for their sixth straight CCLA
championship, are currently ranked #5 in the USL MDIA poll. The next poll
will be released on Wednesday, March 10 on
www.uslia.com.
Current USL MDIA Top 10 (Week 1)
Place Team Points
1 Colorado State 745
2 Cal-Santa Barbara 724
3 Brigham Young 688
4 Sonoma State 657
5 Michigan 610
6 Florida 577
7 Arizona 559
8 Minnesota-Duluth 512
9 Texas A&M 393
10 Chapman 391
(the rest of the top-25 poll can be seen at
http://www.uslia.com/polls/polls.shtml
Contact: Joe Hennessey (734) 276-8493 or jjhennes@umich.edu
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