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March 29, 2004
Michigan
Men’s Lacrosse
2004
Weekly Release #7
Upcoming Schedule
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Friday, April 2 – Sunday, April 4 –
Michigan
Invitational – Ann Arbor, Mich. (Oosterbaan Fieldhouse)
Friday, April 2
7:00 p.m. #5 Michigan vs. #1 Colorado
State
10:00 p.m. #2 California - Santa Barbara
vs. #12 Minnesota - Duluth
Saturday, April 3
4:00 p.m. #1 Colorado State vs. #12
Minnesota - Duluth
7:00 p.m. #5 Michigan vs. #2 California
- Santa Barbara
Sunday, April 4
12:00 p.m. #1 Colorado State vs. #2
California - Santa Barbara
3:00 p.m. #5 Michigan vs. #12 Minnesota
- Duluth
This upcoming weekend the #5 University of Michigan men's lacrosse team will
face off against three of the country's best teams at home when the
Wolverines play #1 Colorado State on Friday (7:00p.m.), #2 UC-Santa Barbara
on Saturday (7:00p.m.) and #12 Minnesota-Duluth on Sunday (3:00p.m.) in the
Michigan Invitational Tournament at the Oosterbaan Fieldhouse in Ann Arbor,
Michigan. The games vs. Colorado State and Santa Barbara will represent
Michigan's third and fourth games this season against a top-10 opponent.
Michigan has defeated Arizona when the Wildcats were ranked sixth, and
Florida, when the Gators were ranked sixth in the pre-season poll.
After the Michigan Invitational, the Wolverines will head out on the road
for a three-game CCLA stretch as the Wolverines take on conference foes
Indiana (April 10), Miami (Ohio) (April 11), and Michigan State (April
17).
Last week the Wolverines played a lone weekend game vs. fellow CCLA member,
the University of Pittsburgh, defeating the Panthers 13-8 in front of 156
fans at the Charles L. Cost Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Senior attackman Ray Lombardi (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest)
notched a career high eight total points finishing with three goals and five
assists (3-5-8), and junior Bobby Groenke (Cincinnati, Ohio/St.
Xavier) set a career high with three goals to help the Wolverines emerge
from a 4-3 half-time deficit and win their fifth game in a row and their 53rd
straight CCLA conference game.
After a scoreless first period that saw Michigan register eight shots while
holding Pittsburgh to only four, both teams began finding the back of the
net in the second period with Pittsburgh holding a 4-3 lead entering
halftime. While the Michigan offense was sputtering, solid play from the
Michigan defense led by juniors Kirk Kozel (Barrington, Ill./Taft),
Brian Anderson (Lansing, Mich./Waverly) and Mike Roth
(South Orange N.J./Montclair Kimberly) kept the Wolverines in the
game while they figured out the questions downfield. The Wolverines solved
their offensive puzzle at half-time and came out on fire in the third
quarter registering 20 shots to the Panthers 4 and scoring seven goals while
holding Pittsburgh to a lone goal, and entered the final period of play with
a lead of 10-5.
A key point occurred just moments into the fourth quarter when senior
captain Justin Gal (Amherst, Mass./Milton Academy) was called
for a three-minute unreleasable illegal stick penalty, giving the Panthers a
guaranteed three minutes of man-up play. 42 seconds after the penalty
started, Michigan was assessed another penalty giving Pittsburgh a two-man
advantage for 30 seconds. Michigan killed off the two-man advantage, and
the subsequent 1:38 remaining in the original penalty.
Michigan goaltender Dan Webber (Weston, Mass./Weston) stopped
17 Panther shots, while Pittsburgh goaltender Rich Grant recorded 22 saves
of his own. The Wolverines recorded 49 groundballs to Pittsburgh’s 35, as
the Wolverines also won the face-off battle winning 13 of 22 face-offs.
Michigan was 5-10 on man-up, while Pittsburgh was successful on 3 of 10
chances.
#1 Colorado State Rams - A member of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse
Conference (RMCL), the number one ranked Colorado State Rams enter this
weekend’s action with a 14-0 overall record, winning their first RMCL
conference game last weekend vs. Utah by a score of 19-4. The Rams have
already defeated three top-10 teams this year, defeating Arizona 9-4 (Feb.
6), Texas A&M 22-8 (Feb. 28) and vs. Sonoma State 10-6 (March 13).
Coming off a national championship year in 2003, the nucleus of the 2004
Rams returned for this season. On attack, 2003 Team Offensive MVP Kelten
Johnson returns along with attackers Matt Disney and Tim Chorey who helped
formed a formidable strike force in 2003. Also back at attack after missing
the 2003 campaign is Nick Stanitz-Harper, the 6th all-time
leading scorer at CSU. All three starting defenders, Ryan Price, Kellin
Bershinsky, and Michael Greeson (East Grand Rapids, MI) return as does long
stick midfielder Mark Plonkey, the team’s 2003 Defensive MVP, and the team’s
lone senior. Plonkey was named the Lacrosse Magazine USL MDIA Preseason
Player of the Year in January. Sophomore Pete Jokisch will take over in the
nets for Alex Smith, the 2003 Overall Team MVP.
Colorado State is coached by Flip Naumburg who enters his 8th year as head
coach at CSU. He graduated from Colorado College in 1975. During his time at
Colorado State, Naumburg’s record is 127-26. As owner of Rock--it Pocket,
Flip is well established in the lacrosse community. Naumburg has also been a
Director of the annual Vail Lacrosse Shootout for the last 33 summers, one
of the largest lacrosse tournaments in the world. Naumburg was named
National USLIA Coach of the Year in 1999.
#2 UC – Santa Barbara Gauchos – A member of the Western Collegiate
Lacrosse League (WCLL), the number two ranked Gauchos of the University of
California – Santa Barbara enter the weekend with a 11-0 record, including a
4-0 record in the Southern division of the WCLL. UCSB has defeated top-10
opponents such as BYU (10-8, Feb. 6), Sonoma State (8-5, Feb. 21) and
Arizona (9-8, March 7).
Santa Barbara lost last year’s USLIA National Championship to Colorado State
by a score of 6-4, but return nearly every key component from last year’s
squad to make another run at the title. All three of UCSB’s top three
scorers return. Leading the pack is junior Luke Wilson who led the team
last year with 62 points and currently leads them with 51. Captain Hank
Caulkins, last year’s second-leader scorer (56 pts.), is currently third on
the team with 32 points. Fellow captain Will Patton, the teams leading goal
scorer last year with 39, currently has 10. The midfield is a veteran
squad, having 14 juniors and seniors in the ranks, including former Michigan
recruit Nick Schooler. The defense is lead by senior captain Tycho Suter.
Third-year starter Ryan Brittain returns for his junior season after posting
an impressive .691 save percentage last season and .671 during his freshman
campaign.
The Gauchos are coached by Mike Allen, who enters his first year as head
coach of the Gauchos. Before coming to UCSB, Allen was head coach for UCLA
for four years. Allen is also a 1998 graduate of Princeton, and was a
four-year player winning three national championships from ’96 to ’98.
Allen holds a summer camp at Santa Barbara in July.
http://www.par.ucsb.edu/recsports/sportclubs/m_lax/2004/index.htm
#12 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs– A member of the Upper Midwest Lacrosse
League (UMLL), the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs enter this weekend’s action
with 4-1 overall record, including a league-leading 3-0 conference record.
The Bulldogs only loss came to the then 10th ranked Cal Poly SLO.
Minnesota-Duluth’s leading scorer this season is junior John Champ who also
leads the team in goals with 16-3-9 totals. Junior Matt Reeves is second on
the team with 14 points (10-4-14) while sophomore Pat Berger leads the team
in assists with 8 (3-8-11). Senior Sam Litman returns for his final season
with the Bulldogs and is currently posting a .677 save percentage over five
games.
The Bulldogs are coached by Rob Graff. Graff has a four-year letter winner
at Harvard where he graduated in 1987. Graff has been very active in the
world of lacrosse including time at Division I Drexel where he was an
assistant head coach and the defensive coordinator. During the mid-90’s,
Graff played and helped operate the men’s Twin City team out of Minnesota
where Graff would find himself playing against current Michigan Head Coach
John Paul, who played for the Motor City Lacrosse club in Detroit.
http://www.dulax.net/
The Wolverines suffered a major loss in the win over Arizona on March 13,
with Ryan Clark suffering a complete tear of the ACL on his left knee.
Junior Brian Ray (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Seaholm) tweaked his
knee during last week’s practice and will be questionable for this weeks
games. Other than Clark and Ray, the Wolverines should not be without any
of their players for this weekend’s game. Michigan had a number of players
suffering light injuries, but with time off during the weekend and selective
practicing, Michigan should finally have a relatively full compliment of
players ready for their next game.
Through eight games, senior Jeff Hanna leads the squad in goals and points
with 31-5-36 totals and in shots and shots on goal with 57 and 48
respectively. Second in goals, assists, and points is fellow senior captain
Ray Lombardi who has tallied 15-19-34 totals. Junior Ryan Clark still leads
the squad in assists with 20. Justin Gal who is third on the team with 13
goals is tied with Lombardi for the team lead with two game-winning goals
apiece.
Junior long stick midfielder Dave Silverman (Potomac,
Md./Churchill) continues to lead the team with 58 ground balls through
eight games after picking up only 15 in his freshman campaign of 2002 and 45
last season. Silverman is averaging 7.25 groundballs per game. Goal and
point leader Jeff Hanna is second on the team with 31, including an
eight-groundball effort vs. Buffalo (March 6).
The Wolverines’ man-up unit went 5 for 10 versus Pittsburgh last weekend,
and over the course of the season the Wolverines have registered 27 for 58
totals (.465). Jeff Hanna leads all Wolverines with 11 man-up goals.
Michigan’s man-down has continued to play well this year, allowing only
seven goals in 35 chances including holding Pittsburgh to 3-8 totals in last
weekend’s game. Jeff Hanna and freshman attacker Joe Williamson
(Romeo, Mich./Romeo) are the only Wolverines to register man-down goals
this season.
Jeff Hanna’s seven goals vs. Oakland on March 20, (126 career) allowed him
to surpass Chip Thomas for third all-time on the career goal list. Thomas
had scored 118 during his career as a Wolverine. Thomas was the team
captain in 2003 and was also a 1st-Team All American. Next on
the list is Adam Denenberg who is second all time with 143. Hanna is
averaging 3.875 goals per game and with five guaranteed games left, at this
pace Hanna would finish the season with 145 career goals.
After a highly successful freshman campaign in which the junior attacker was
named team rookie of the year and notched 54 total points, Ryan Clark was
hampered by injuries during most of the 2003 season, and saw action in only
5 games. 2004 had been a different story until the March 13 contest vs.
Arizona. Until the second quarter of the contest, Clark had returned to his
freshman form and more, averaging 4.6 points per game – almost doubling his
rate from his freshman campaign when he finished with an average of 2.6
PPG. However, midway through the second frame the junior attacker suffered
a knee injury that with further examination was deemed to be a complete tear
of the ACL on the left leg. Freshman Matt Hudson (Libertyville,
Ill./Libertyville) will be asked to move up and fill Clark’s spot up
front. In Hudson’s first test vs. Oakland on March 20, the freshman scored
two goals and tallied two assists for a career-high four point game.
The Wolverines continued the trend of outscoring their opponent in the
second half last week vs. Pittsburgh they scored 10 goals compared to Pitt’s
four and are now outscoring their opponents 67-25 in the second half of
games this season. This may be attributed to the fact that U-M has recorded
more shots on goal than their opponents to the tune of 110 to 75 in the
final two quarters of games this season.
Junior Mike O’Leary (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) is averaging 1.00
points per game so far this season, doubling his .5 points per game average
during his first two years at Michigan. O’Leary also tied a career high in
the contest versus Pittsburgh (March 27), netting two goals and registering
four shots. O’Leary had most recently netted two goals vs. BYU this season
on February 28.
Senior Captain Ray Lombardi has recorded 34 total points (15-19-34) this
season which is only four points away from his career high which is 38 in a
season set last year when Lombardi registered 22-16-38 totals. Lombardi is
averaging 4.25 points per game which is over two more than his career mark
of 1.7 g.p.g.
Lombardi set a career high point mark recently, vs. Pittsburgh on March 27,
when the attackman registered 3-5-8 totals en-route to a 13-8 Wolverine
win.
Four freshman have more than one point in game this season including Mark
Idzenga (Rivervale, N.J./Bergen Tech), Joe Grimberg
(Lakewood, Ohio/St. Ignatius), Matt Hudson (Libertyville,
Ill./Libertyville) and Joe Williamson (Romeo, Mich./Romeo).
After a four-point performance vs. Oakland (March 20) stepping in for an
injured Ryan Clark and a lone assist vs. Pittsburgh (March 27), Hudson now
leads the freshman class in goals, assists, and points with 5-4-9 totals.
Williamson notched a man-down goal vs. Oakland and now has 4-2-6 totals
while Idzenga has 4-1-5 totals. Grimberg sat out the March 20 contest vs.
Oakland due to illness.
The Wolverines have faired well compared to their opponents this year in
their attempts to clear the ball, tallying a .652 clear percentage (116-178)
compared to their opponents overall percentage, which is only .500
(91-182). Last year however, Michigan cleared the ball at a much better
.743 rate.
The Wolverines are averaging 41.5 shots a game and are holding their
opponents to only 24.6 shots a game through their first eight. Michigan is
dominating in the third quarter this season with 92 shots, while their
opponents have only registered 45. This has led to Michigan holding a 33-12
scoring advantage in the third. Michigan has also added almost two goals to
their goals-per-game average since last year, averaging 14.12 g.p.g., after
scoring 12.2 g.pg. last season.
U-M currently holds a .573 faceoff percentage (102 wins, 76 losses) while
their opponents have a .427 faceoff percentage (76-102). Full-time faceoff
man Trevor Broad currently has a .582 win percentage with 78 wins and 56
losses. Last season Broad recorded a .651 percentage with 181 wins and 94
losses.
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Ray Lombardi’s eight point performance vs. Pittsburgh
marked a career high. Lombardi’s previous high is seven points, scored
on March 23 of last season vs. Oakland. Also vs. Pittsburgh,
Anthony Ragnone (Flint,
Mich./Flint Powers) tied a career high with two points registering a
goal and an assist (1-1-2). Dan Webber recorded also recorded a
season-high, making 17 saves on Saturday. His career high is 18 vs.
Whittier last season on February 24.
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Multiple new highs were recorded over the course of the
two-game game weekend vs. Western Michigan and Arizona on March 12 and
13. Jeff Hanna’s eight point night vs. Western Michigan (5-3-8) marks a
career high in points surpassing a seven-point performance on April 14,
2002 vs. Indiana.
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Also vs. Western Michigan,
Brian Vincent’s
(Farmington Hills, Mich./Univ. of Detroit Jesuit)
recorded a two-goal night which marked a career high in goals in a
game. Vincent only recorded two goals during the entire 2003 season.
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Dave Silverman notched a career-high 11 ground balls vs.
Pittsburgh (March 27) topping his previous high of 11 that he set vs.
Arizona on March 13. Silverman leads the team with 58 groundballs.
With the home victory vs. Oakland, the Wolverines improved
their home record over the past five seasons to 35-1. Michigan will face
three daunting home games this upcoming weekend with games vs. #1 Colorado
State, #2 UC-Santa Barbara and #12 Minnesota-Duluth.
The victory over Arizona on March 13 was Michigan’s second win this season
against a top-10 opponent (Feb. 25 at then #6 Florida). The Wolverines have
a 47-19 record since 1999 against teams ranked in the top-25. All but one
of those 19 losses came against opponents ranked in the top-10 (23-18 versus
top-10 teams). Michigan will face two current and one former top-10 teams
during the Michigan Invitational from April 2-4 with #1 Colorado State, #2
California – Santa Barbara, and #12 Minnesota-Duluth coming to town.
Jeff Hanna is currently second in the CCLA in points (36) and first in goals
(30). Injured Ryan Clark still leads the league with 20 assists. Ray
Lombardi is currently second overall in the conference with 18 assists and
tied for third with 33 points. Dan Webber is also currently tied for fourth
in the conference with 69 total saves.
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, April 7 on
www.uslia.com.
Current USL MDIA Top 10 (Poll #3)
Place Team
Points
1. Colorado State 749
2. Cal.- Santa Barbara 695
3. BYU 687
4. Sonoma State 661
5. Michigan 611
6. Arizona 593
7. Colorado 557
8. Chapman 516
9. Oregon 482
10. Florida State 434
11. Cal Poly SLO 424
12. Minnesota - Duluth 412
13. Simon Fraser 388
14. Florida 330
15. Boston College 319
16. California - San Diego 283
17. Missouri 270
18. Loyola Marymount 187
19. Indiana 170
20. Texas A&M 162
21. Chico State 157
22. Virginia Tech 135
23. Georgia Tech 115
24. Miami University 109
25.
Pittsburgh 50
Contact: Joe Hennessy (734) 276-8493, jjhennes@umich.edu
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