Second-half Surge Powers Wolverines in Opener
from press release
TUCSON, Ariz. - The University of Michigan men's lacrosse
team won their season opener on Saturday night in Tucson, defeating
No. 23 Arizona, 15-5. The Wolverines struggled to find their
rhythm early on, but eventually picked up the pace in the second
half, outscoring the LaxCats 10-2 in the final 30 minutes.
Junior attackman Trevor Yealy (Pittsburgh, Penn./Upper St. Claire)
picked up where he left off from his past two seasons, notching six
goals in the contest to pace the Wolverines.
The Wildcats got on the board first, scoring under two and half
minutes into the game after earning the first solid possession of
the contest. The Wolverines answered midway through the
quarter on the man-up on a shot from the left wing from Anthony
Hrusovsky (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) that snuck inside the
far-post. Yealy gave Michigan their first lead of the game
with 3:02 left in the first putting home a rebound in front
following a shot from Hrusovsky.
The LaxCats tied the game with just 15 seconds left in the first
quarter on a low screamer from the left wing. Michigan
regained the lead early in the second period on a tight angle shot
from freshman attackman Thomas Paras (Lakewood, Ohio/St. Ignatius)
just over a minute in. Senior captain David Rogers (Wayne,
N.J./Wayne Hills) gave UM a two-goal lead at 9:02, clearing the
ball down the right wing before firing low from 15 yards out for
the 4-2 lead.
Under two minutes later Arizona responded, cutting the lead to one
midway through the period. After multiple possessions for
both squads, Yealy banged home his second of the game on a feed
from behind by senior Kevin Zorovich (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa)
with just 52 seconds left in the first half as Michigan took
the 5-3 lead into the break.
Yealy got the Wolverines going early in the second half, scoring
just over a minute in following a successful Michigan ride that
forced a turnover just outside the box. Yealy scooped up the
loose ball and raced in one on one with the goaltender before
dipping and dunking for 6-3 lead.
Arizona didn't back down however, scoring at 9:14 to trim the lead
to two on a low shot from the left wing. Hrusovsky's second
goal helped the Wolverines regain the momentum and the three-goal
lead at the 4:36 mark before Yealy notched his fourth of the game
just 46 seconds later as Michigan started putting things together
offensively.
The UM run continued as Paras netted his second of the game,
cutting across the face of the goal before firing low. Senior
attackman Clark McIntyre (Little Silver, N.J./Rumson - Fair Haven)
gave Michigan a six-goal lead just before the end of the third
quarter on a transition feed from freshman defenseman J.D. Johnson
(Malibu, Calif./Loyola) as the Wolverines started to pull away.
Senior midfielder Jordan Kirshner (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) kept the
momentum in Michigan's favor scoring just 14 seconds into the
fourth, taking it down the right wing by himself before shooting
from 15 yards out. Kirshner was on the other end of the next
tally, feeding a cutting Yealy on the transition for the 12-4 lead
with less than 12 minutes left in the game.
Yealy and Zorovich connected again at 9:49 on another feed from
behind, this time on the man-up for Yealy's sixth and final goal of
the game, and Zorovich's fifth assist.
McIntyre netted his second tally just under a minute later on a
feed from senior attackman Josh Ein (Potomac, MD./Bullis) before
Paras closed out the Michigan scoring with his third of the game
with 5:33 left. A late goal from Arizona with 1:04 left
resulted in the 15-5 final.
Statistically, the Wolverines won every category. UM outshot
their opponent 46-29, and recorded 48 groundballs to the LaxCats
32. UM was 15 of 24 on faceoffs, and finished 18 of 26 on
clears, while riding UA to 9-24 totals. Michigan scored three
times on five man-up attempts, while allowing Arizona one goal on
three attempts.
The Wolverines will be back in action Wednesday, March 3, when they
travel to Tempe to take on No. 3 Arizona State at the ASU Women's
Soccer Stadium at 7:00 p.m. MST.
NOTES
- Senior faceoff specialist David Reinhard (East
Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) won 15 of 24 faceoffs and scooped up a
team-high seven groundballs. Sophomore Edward Ernst
(Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends) won both of his attempts and
scooped up two groundballs in the process.
- Junior goaltender Andrew Fowler (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Hotchkiss
CT) put together a solid performance, especially in the first half
when the game was still in balance. Fowler finished with 15
saves including nine in the first 30 minutes.
- 10 Wolverines registered points in the contest with six
different players finding the back of the net.
- With the win, Michigan extends their winning streak to 41
games.
- Every healthy field player saw action in the contest.
QUOTES
Head Coach John Paul
On his general impressions: "Credit to
Arizona for playing us so tough in the first half. They were
doing some pretty good things and it took us a while to
respond. Part of it is also us trying to solve why we're such
a second half team the last couple of years. We need to come
out the way we did in the third quarter right out of the
gates."
On Fowler's play: "We missed some chances in the
first half that could have extended the lead but regardless, Fowler
was very solid tonight. You want your goalie to make the
saves he should make and make a few he shouldn't and he did that
tonight."
On the second half: "We didn't make a ton of
adjustments in the second half. It was just a matter of
executing better the things we wanted to do, especially on the
ride. The only real adjustment we made at the half was that
we wanted to put a little more pressure on them defensively and not
let them get so comfortable."
On Yealy: "He's obviously a special player and we
expect teams to try and shut him off a lot this year. He
works hard on being able to finish whether he's shut off or not
though. Ultimately it's going to force teams out of their
comfort zones when they're focused too much on trying to shut him
off.
On the ASU game: "They're a potential final four
team and we know that. We expect a really good team and a
great atmosphere. The next couple of days are just about
getting set for that game and fixing some of the things we didn't
do tonight to make sure we're ready to play a game and a team like
that."
On whether the first half was a wake-up call: "We
played a lot of good teams this year in our scrimmages, but I think
the guys learned tonight that there is a big difference in emotion
in scrimmages versus a regular-season game. And to be honest,
I think a lot of these top MCLA teams might have better athletes
from top to bottom than some of the teams we've seen in the
pre-season. They might not all be better lacrosse players but
they've definitely got the athletes. Athletically we've got
to pick things up a notch."
Junior attackman Trevor Yealy
On the first half: "It's been a couple of
weeks since we've played any sort of game and practice is one
thing. I think we were just a little frantic early on.
We were so excited to finally play and I think our minds were just
moving faster than our bodies."
On trying to shut him off: "I think that's the worst
thing a team can do because it effectively takes away their slide
and I have complete confidence in the guys around me. You
look at what Paras was able to do, and how guys like McIntyre, Ein
and Hrusovsky contribute and it's coming from a lot of different
places."
Junior goaltender Andrew Fowler
On the team's overall play: "The first half was
about us getting used to a new team. Their fans really helped them
out as well but we were able to put together a full sixty minutes
and that was the difference tonight.
On the second-half ride: "The ride was failing a
little bit early because we were having trouble turning them and we
had some miscommunication up the middle which gave them some easy
clears. In the second half we just did a lot better job
changing sides of the field and communicating. We didn't give
up anything easy down the stretch."
On the upcoming schedule: "We are all looking forward to
Wednesday and we just want to come out and squash any momentum
early on. We need to step on the gas early on and not let
them build confidence as the game goes on."
