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April 12, 2004
Michigan
Men’s Lacrosse
2004
Weekly Release #9
Upcoming Schedule
● Saturday,
April 17, vs. Michigan State University – East Grand Rapids, Michigan (East
Grand Rapids High School, Memorial Field) – 7:30 p.m.
●
April 30-May 2, CCLA Tournament –
Pontiac, Michigan (Notre Dame Prep High School)
The #4 University of Michigan men’s lacrosse team will play a neutral site
game in East Grand Rapids, Michigan on Saturday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m. vs.
the Michigan State Spartans in the Wolverines last regular season game of
the year. Michigan enters the season finale with a perfect 5-0 conference
record after recording two victories last weekend over Indiana and Miami
(Ohio) and capturing the 1st seed entering the CCLA playoffs.
Michigan holds an 11-2 overall record.
The Maize and Blue will be off for a week before heading to the CCLA
Tournament in Pontiac, Michigan from April 30 to May 2.
Last week the Wolverines squared off against two CCLA members, Indiana on
Saturday, and Miami (Ohio) on Sunday in Oxford, Ohio at the University of
Miami (Ohio) campus. The Wolverines captured two more victories over the
weekend, and captured the first seed of the CCLA Tournament in the process.
Saturday afternoon Michigan defeated the #21 ranked Indiana Hoosiers by a
score of 14-6, in front of 312 fans. Although IU came out scoring first,
grabbing a 1-0 lead just under a minute and a half into the game, it was the
Wolverines who would soon take the game over, notching five unanswered goals
spanning the first quarter and the first five minutes of the second. In the
first of two good performances over the weekend, leading scorer, senior
Jeff Hanna (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manilus) broke out of
a small slump in which the captain had only scored three goals over the
course of the three-game Michigan Invitational. Versus Indiana, Hanna
recorded a career high eight-point outing with 5-3-8 totals.
Indiana notched the first goal of the game and looked to get to an early
lead on the Wolverines. Senior captain Ray Lombardi (Lake Forest,
Ill./Lake Forest) had different plans however, and evened the score at
1-1 just over two minutes later at the 11:25 mark. Bobby Groenke
(Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) gave Michigan the lead for good less than
two minutes later on goal assisted from Hanna. U-M dominated action once
again in the second quarter, notching two more goals before IU could answer
back and bring the game to 5-2
The Wolverines didn’t show signs of slowing up coming out of the locker
room, tallying two goals in the first three minutes of the third period
before the Hoosiers answered back at the 9:42 mark of the third quarter.
Once again, however, the Hoosier offensive surge was quickly thwarted with
two more Michigan goals at the end of the third quarter giving U-M a 11-3
lead entering the final frame and giving the Maize and Blue the opportunity
to rest starters and give reserves experience throughout the course of the
second half.
Starter Dan Webber (Weston, Mass./Weston) recorded three saves
in three quarters of play, allowing three goals while earning his 10th
win of the season. Ryan Kaufman (Olney, Md./Magruder) played
11:01 of the third quarter and recorded five saves while allowing two
goals. Zach Mintz (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) finished the final
3:59 and allowed one goal and made no saves.
Michigan outshot the Hoosiers by a 41-24 margin, while also nabbing ten more
groundballs (47-37), winning 14 of 22 faceoffs, outclearing IU 16-23 to
14-26, and scoring two of three man-up opportunities while holding Indiana
for 3-8 totals resulting in total statistical domination in the game.
On Sunday, the Wolverines took the field against the #24 ranked Miami (Ohio)
Redhawks, defeating the home team, 13-4 in front of 321 fans in Oxford,
Ohio. The Wolverines rallied off five unanswered goals to begin the game,
and pulled away at the outset of the second half to earn their 11th
win of the season and conference leading 5-0 CCLA record. Justin Gal
(Amherst, Mass./Milton Academy) led the Maize and Blue with 3-2-5
totals, while both freshman Matt Hudson (Libertyville,
Ill./Libertyville) and junior Mike O’Leary (St. Louis,
MO./Clayton) recorded career days by netting four and three goals
respectively.
The Wolverines came out firing on Miami and rattled off five unanswered
goals, and seven of the first ten to give the Wolverines a 7-3 halftime
lead. The Wolverines were on the good end of a three-minute illegal stick
penalty that occurred at the beginning of the second quarter as Michigan
took advantage of the un-releasable penalty and scored two goals to help the
Wolverines jump out quick.
Michigan didn’t slow up entering the second half, notching the first four
goals on the third quarter, giving Michigan an 11-3 lead after three
quarters of play, allowing the Wolverines to rest some of their starters.
The second half of play was bogged down by a number of penalty calls that
didn’t allow either team to get in any type of offensive flow.
Michigan goaltender Dan Webber recorded 11 saves including six in the
fourth quarter as the Wolverines were constantly in man-down situations.
For the second night in a row, the Wolverines dominated all aspects of play
in the game. Michigan outshot Miami by a 49-35 margin, while also scooping
up almost 20 more groundballs with a 53-32 tally. The Maize and Blue were
successful in man-up attempts six out of nine tries, while holding the
Redhawks to only 2-11 totals. The Maize and Blue cleared the ball extremely
well going 24 for 29 as Miami was successful 24 of 39 chances. Michigan
also won 11 of 17 faceoffs.
Michigan State Spartans - A fellow member of the Central Collegiate
Lacrosse Association, the Michigan State Spartans enter this weekend’s
action with a 4-8 with an overall record, including a 3-2 CCLA record. The
Spartans are coming off a tight 10-9 loss to the Oakland Grizzlies on April
8 in Pontiac, Michigan. MSU had recorded three straight conference
victories and were looking to grab the second seed in the CCLA Tournament.
Michigan State must now watch the scoreboard in hopes of Miami (Ohio) and
Oakland losing in their final weeks.
Michigan State University is led in scoring this season by Paul Trahan who
also leads in goals with 26-5-31 totals, while 2003 All-CCLA 1st
Team member Grant Griffith is first on the team in assists with 12 and has
registered 13-12-25 totals. Long-stick midfielder Alex Gannes leads the
team with 38 groundballs while junior Jon Dean, a 2003 All-CCLA second team
member, guards the cage for the Spartans and currently has a .551 save
percentage. MSU lost second team All-CCLA defenders Andy Freund and Nick
Nefouse to graduation after the 2003 season.
Coach Counes attended MSU after high school, but was never able to play for
the Spartans due to the cancelation of the program. The result was Counes
transferring to Rutgers where he contributed between the pipes for the
Scarlet Knights. After graduating from Rutgers he returned to East Lansing,
and served as an assistant coach for one year before taking over the role
last year as head coach.
http://www.msu.lax.net/
Other than the loss of junior Ryan Clark (Summit, N.J./Summit),
who suffered a complete tear of the ACL over a month ago, the Wolverines are
relatively healthy entering this week’s games. The Maize and Blue will
nurse a number of nagging injuries throughout the week but should have
everyone except for Clark available vs. Michigan State.
Through 13 games, senior Jeff Hanna leads the squad in goals and points with
39-13-52 totals and in shots on goal with 68. First in assists, second in
points, and tied for second in goals is fellow senior captain Ray Lombardi
who has tallied 20-22-42 totals. Justin Gal who is tied for second on the
team with 20 goals is also tied with Lombardi and Bobby Groenke for the team
lead with two game-winning goals apiece. Senior defenseman Kirk Kozel
(Barrington, Ct./Taft) currently has the most penalties with 9
while Justin Gal leads the team with seven penalty-minutes.
Junior long stick midfielder Dave Silverman (Potomac,
Md./Churchill) continues to lead the team with 79 ground balls through
13 games after picking up only 15 in his freshman campaign of 2002 and 45
last season. Silverman is averaging 6.07 groundballs per game. Jeff Hanna
is second on the team with 52 while Brian Anderson (Lansing,
Mich./Waverly) trails Hanna by only one groundball and currently resides
in third place.
For the fifth game in a row, some one other than the team's leading
groundball man Dave Silverman (Potomac, Md./Churchill) (79 on
the season) led the Wolverines in groundballs as Jeff Hanna scooped up seven
in the contest vs. Miami (Ohio).
The Wolverines’ man-up opportunities were highly successful with 8-12 totals
over the weekend, going 2-3 against Indiana, and 6-9 vs. Miami (Ohio). Over
the course of the season the Wolverines have registered 37 for 82 totals
(.451). Jeff Hanna leads all Wolverines with 14 man-up goals. Michigan’s
man-down has continued to play well this year, allowing only 13 goals in 62
chances including holding the competition to 5-19 totals this weekend. Jeff
Hanna and freshman attacker Joe Williamson (Romeo, Mich./Romeo)
are the only Wolverines to register a man-down goals this season.
Jeff Hanna’s seven goals vs. Oakland on March 20, (134 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 three goals per game and with three guaranteed games left, at this
pace Hanna would finish the season with 137 career goals.
During the Michigan Invitational, Jeff Hanna was held in relative check,
scoring four points in the entire tournament with two goals and two
assists. Hanna’s two goals in the past three games is well below the 3.83
goals-per-game average that the captain had earned headed into last
weekend's invitational.
Hanna notched 12 total points over the course of last weekend vs. Indiana
and Miami (Ohio) including setting a career high with eight points (5-3-8)
and tying a career high with three assists twice this weekend, vs. Indiana
and vs. Miami (Ohio). Hanna previously recorded three assists vs. Western
Michigan on March 12.
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 then, career-high four point game.
In Michigan’s wins last weekend vs. Indiana and vs. Miami (Ohio) the
Wolverines outscored those teams 13-5 in the second half. The Maize and
Blue are now outscoring their opponents 87-41 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 162 to 122 in the final
two quarters of games this season.
Junior Mike O’Leary (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) is averaging just
under 1.00 goals per game so far this season, doubling his .5 goals per game
average during his first two years at Michigan and has already surpassed his
season high of seven from 2002 and 2003 . O’Leary set a career high in the
contest versus Miami (Ohio) (April 11), netting three goals. O’Leary’s
previous high had been two goals set most recently vs. Pittsburgh on March
27. O’Leary has netted six of his goals against ranked teams and four have
come against top-10 teams.
Senior Captain Ray Lombardi has recorded 42 total points (20-22-42) this
season which has surpassed his career high which is 38 in a season set last
year when Lombardi registered 22-16-38 totals. Lombardi is averaging 3.23
points per game which is well over two more than his career mark of 1.7
p.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, a three goal performance in the Michigan Invitational,
and a career-high four goals vs. Miami (Ohio) (April 11), Hudson now leads
the freshman class in goals, assists, and points with 14-5-19 totals.
Williamson notched a man-down goal vs. Oakland and now has 4-2-6 totals
while Idzenga has 4-1-5 totals.
The Wolverines have faired well compared to their opponents this year in
their attempts to clear the ball, tallying a .673 clear percentage (202-300)
compared to their opponents overall percentage, which is only .543
(175-332). Last year however, Michigan cleared the ball at a much better
.743 rate.
The Wolverines are averaging 40.9 shots a game and are holding their
opponents to only 25.2 shots a game through 13 games. Michigan is
dominating when opening the game this season and is registering 139 shots in
the first quarter, while their opponents have only registered 59. This has
led to Michigan holding a 31-8 scoring advantage in the first.
U-M currently holds a .567
faceoff percentage (149 wins, 114 losses) while their opponents have a .433
faceoff percentage (114-149). Full-time faceoff man Trevor Broad currently
has a .558 win percentage with 111 wins and 88 losses. Last season Broad
recorded a .651 percentage with 181 wins and 94 losses.
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Junior
Mike Roth
(South Orange, N.J./Montclair Kimberly)
recorded his first career point against Miami (Ohio) on April 11,
assisting on Matt Hudson’s first goal of the game.
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Junior Brian Anderson
(Lansing,
Mich./Waverly) led
the team in groundballs in the game vs. CSU, recording nine, which also
sets a career mark for the defenseman. His previous high was eight, set
last season vs. UCSB (Feb. 26) and vs. BYU (May 8). Anderson’s best
groundball performances have come against some of the nation’s most
difficult opponents.
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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.
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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 also recorded a season-high, making 17 saves. His career high is 18
vs. Whittier last season on February 24.
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Vs. Western Michigan (March
12), Brian Vincent (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.
Starters Jeff Hanna, Justin Gal, Ray Lombardi were all celebrated on
Sunday, April 4 vs. UMD, along with two Wolverine seniors, Ray Chang
(The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) and Jason Hall
(Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford) who both started and both saw
extensive action in the game as it was the Wolverines last home game of
the season and the teams “senior night”. Hall registered four
groundballs while Chang scooped up one.
Michigan lost its second home game in five
years, losing to Colorado State on April 2, and with wins over
Minnesota-Duluth and UC-Santa Barbara, the Wolverines home record over the
past five seasons moves to 37-2. Michigan’s home season ended with the
Sunday, April 4 contest vs. Minnesota-Duluth.
The Wolverines grabbed another
top-10 victory over the course of the Michigan Invitational, defeating UC-Santa
Barbara 4-3 on Saturday, April 3. The Maize and Blue’s victory over Arizona
on March 13 was Michigan’s second win this season against a top-10 opponent
(Feb. 25 at then #6 Florida). Michigan also defeated the 12th
ranked UMD Bulldogs over the past weekend. The Wolverines have a 51-20
record since 1999 against teams ranked in the top-25 with two wins over
top-25 teams last weekend against #21 Indiana, and vs. #24 Miami (Ohio).
All but one of those 19 losses came against opponents ranked in the top-10
(24-19 versus top-10 teams).
The Wolverines, who were picked to repeat for their sixth straight CCLA
championship, are currently ranked #4 in the USL MDIA poll. The next poll
will be released on Wednesday, April 21. To view the entire Top-25
poll, click on
www.uslia.com.
Place Team
Points
1.
Cal.- Santa Barbara
731
2.
Colorado State
728
3. BYU
695
4.
Michigan
653
5.
Sonoma State
638
6.
Arizona
595
7.
Colorado
576
8.
Florida State
536
9. Oregon 462
10. Simon Fraser
422
Contact: Joe Hennessy (734) 276-8493, jjhennes@umich.edu
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