No. 1 Michigan Powers Past Michigan State
from press release
EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The No. 1 ranked
University of Michigan men's lacrosse team wrapped up their regular
season on Saturday night (April 24) in East Grand Rapids, Michigan
at East Grand Rapids High School, defeating No. 9 Michigan State by
a score of 11-8 in the annual Great Lakes Lacrosse Classic. With
the game tied at 3-3 after 15 minutes, the Maize and Blue put
together a 6-2 second quarter and amped up the ride in the second
half to earn a first-round bye in next weekend's Central Collegiate
Lacrosse Association conference tournament.
Michigan State opened up with back-to-back goals from just outside
the crease to forge an early 2-0 lead just five minutes into the
first quarter. The Wolverines responded at 9:09 as senior
defenseman Zach Mueller (Arlington, VA./Sidwell Friends) fed junior
attackman Trevor Yealy (Pittsburgh, Penn./Upper St. Claire) on the
transition following a successful Wolverine ride. Michigan put home
another transition goal just over two minutes later as senior
midfielder Jordan Kirshner (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) put home a high
to low shot after dodging across the face of the goal.
Tied 2-2 with time running out in the first quarter, State put
together their own transition tally, finished up with a blast from
the right wing as MSU took a 3-2 lead. U-M responded immediately on
a nice feed from senior midfielder Anthony Hrusovsky (Lake Forest,
Ill./Lake Forest) who delivered a perfect pass to fellow senior
midfielder Svet Tintchev (Rockville, Md./Bullis) who quickly turned
and fired from 10 yards straight out to knot the game up at 3-3 as
the teams entered the second quarter.
The teams traded possessions for the first five minutes of the
second quarter before State buried another transition chance at
9:12. The Maize and Blue responded immediately however, as senior
faceoff specialist David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East
Lansing) won the ensuing faceoff and fed Yealy right out front to
tie the game at 4-4 just five seconds later.
MSU regained the lead at 7:26, but once again, the Wolverines were
quick to answer, as freshman attackman Thomas Paras (Lakewood,
Ohio./St. Ignatius) stripped the ball from a Spartan defender on
the ride before Yealy came in to scoop up the loose ball. The
third-year player cut in and fired high for his third of the
game.
Michigan earned their first lead of the game 1:37 later, as
Tintchev fed senior attackman Josh Ein (Potomac, Md./Bullis) right
out front for the 5-4 lead as Ein dipped and dunked for his first
of the game. Senior midfielder David Rogers (Wayne, N.J./Wayne
Hills) increased Michigan's lead to 7-5, dodging in and firing from
the right GLE, only to get illegally checked into the crease
following the goal. Ein added his second on the ensuing man-up,
firing a low to high side-arm shot from the right wing that snuck
just inside the far-side elbow.
Yealy put home his fourth with just :17 left in the first half,
taking a feed from senior midfielder Michel Bartomioli
(Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville - Providence) right outside the
crease before tossing three fakes on the Spartan net-minder. With
the late tally, Michigan took a 9-5 lead into the half-time break
with five unanswered goals to close out the first 30 minutes.
Michigan opened the scoring in the second half with a nifty play as
Kirshner teased his defender into thinking he was going to sub at
midfield, before darting back into the box alone, taking a feed
from Ein on the right GLE and firing high for the 10-5 lead moments
into the third.
MSU answered at 11:32 to cut the lead to four on another transition
tally, before earning back-to-back man-up chances that the
Wolverines were able to kill. The Spartans scored at 4:50 however
on yet another transition tally that resulted in a one-on-one as
Michigan clung to a 10-7 lead entering the final frame.
Just over a minute into the fourth quarter, U-M took two slashing
penalties on the same play, resulting in a two man-up chance for
the Spartans. The Maize and Blue were up to the task however, with
junior goaltender Mark Stone (Greenwood Village, Colo./Cherry
Creek) coming up with two big saves during the Michigan State
opportunity.
Another Michigan penalty five minutes later resulted in another
Spartan man-up chance but this time they were able to find the back
of the net on a low shot from just above the left GLE to cut the
lead to 10-8 with 7:25 left in the game.
Rogers netted Michigan it's first goal since 13:23 of the third to
regain the three-goal lead with 4:24 left in the fourth. Up three
with time winding down, the Wolverines were able to maintain
possession in the final minutes as U-M earned the 11-8 win; it's
11th of the season and eighth over a ranked opponent.
Statistically, Michigan won every category. UM outshot MSU 36-26,
and scooped up a total of 56 groundballs compared to 28 by Michigan
State. U-M was 15 of 22 on faceoffs, and cleared the ball with ease
going 18-22 while riding the Spartans to 16-34 totals. The Maize
and Blue scored on their lone man-up attempt with Michigan State
scoring only once on six chances.
The Wolverines will practice throughout the upcoming week before
participating in the CCLA conference between May 1-2 at Saline High
School, in Saline, Michigan. The Maize and Blue will kick off the
weekend with a semi-final match on Saturday (May 1) at 4:00pm EST.
Their opponent is yet to be decided.
NOTES
- Yealy led the team with four points on four
goals.
- Reinhard was strong at the X once again, finishing
15-22.
- Senior attackman Kevin Zorovich (Massapequa,
N.Y./Massapequa) paced the team with nine groundballs.
- Zorovich failed to register a point for the first time this
season.
- Stone stopped 11 shots with eight goals against in the
game.
- Mueller's first-quarter assist was his first point of the
season, and third career assist.
- The Wolverines' second quarter play was the difference in
the game. U-M out-shot the Spartans 14-7, scooped up 16 groundballs
to only four for MSU, won all eight faceoffs in the quarter,
cleared the ball a perfect 4-4, and scored on their only man-up
chance while thwarting the Spartans' lone man-up of the
quarter.
- Despite chilly conditions, and a constant drizzle, over two
thousand fans (2246) attended the game at East Grand Rapids High
School. This was the fifth year of the annual Great Lakes Lacrosse
Classic between the two teams with the Wolverines taking home the
trophy for the fifth year running. Each year the game moves between
Grand Rapids and Birmingham.
- Michigan improves to 20-1 all-time vs. Michigan State.
QUOTES
Head Coach John Paul
On his general impressions: "I thought the key tonight was
about matching their intensity, especially at the start. You know
they were going to come out with a lot of emotion and intensity;
they always do in this game. We got behind a little early, but I
thought we did a nice job of bouncing back and matching their
intensity. We had to go blow for blow with them for a bit but we
eventually created some space there in the second quarter once we
started clicking. I thought Michigan State had the kind of team
this year that was able to give us a lot of trouble if we didn't
come in with the right mindset or if we didn't match their level of
intensity, but the guys were up for it tonight."
On the play of the man-down: "The man-down was obviously big for us
tonight. We never want to take six penalties in a game against only
one for them, but the guys stepped up when they had to and really
limited their scoring chances. We had that two-man down situation
at a crucial part of the game, but the man-down really buckled down
and bailed us out. I'm not sure they managed a shot on goal during
some of those opportunities. They really saved us tonight."
On their success on the transition: "I think that's a result of the
type of ride we run. When you're running a 10-man ride you're going
to give up some transition opportunities. We will trade those in
for all of the turnovers we create throughout the course of a game.
They've got some very good attackmen, and if you give them time on
the transition, they are going to find the open guy. There were a
few breakdowns on the transition defense where guys didn't pick
someone up, or guys were late getting back into the play, but in
settled situations our defense was great tonight. We pride
ourselves in our six's defense and it showed tonight."
On the little things: "I think tonight shows you again that when
certain things aren't going your way, you can always rely on
working hard and doing the little things to win a game. Rhino was
strong on faceoffs, we out ground balled them by a good margin, and
in the end, the ride was giving them a lot of trouble. They had
some success clearing the ball early in the game, but we got in a
groove eventually and I think they got a little desperate."
On the chance of playing MSU again this upcoming weekend in the
CCLA Conference Tournament: "I think that's what we want. Yes we
always want to come out and beat them, but we would really like to
see this rivalry become a fixture. I expect to see them again this
upcoming weekend and hopefully we will come out with the same focus
and intensity that we did tonight."
