Michigan Takes Bite Out of BYU; Semis Next
from press release
DENVER – The No. 1 ranked University of Michigan
men's lacrosse team advanced to the semifinal round of the MCLA
National Championship tournament with a 16-11 win over #8 Brigham
Young in quarterfinal action on Thursday night (May 13) in Denver,
Colorado at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Michigan jumped out to a
9-5 lead at the half, and after BYU cut the margin to two early in
the third, U-M was able to hold off the Cougars for the remainder
of the game while scoring five of the last six goals in the
contest.
BYU opened the scoring just 16 seconds in following a Wolverine
turnover, but the Wolverines answered immediately as junior
attackman Trevor Yealy (Pittsburgh, Penn./Upper St. Claire) took a
feed from senior midfielder David Rogers (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills)
and finished to knot the game at 1-1 early on.
The back and forth action continued as BYU scored at 13:01 to
regain the one-goal lead. Trailing by a goal, junior goaltender
Mark Stone (Greenwood Hills, Colo./Cherry Creek) came up with two
big saves to keep the BYU lead to one goal early in the first.
Freshman attackman Thomas Paras (Lakewood, Ohio/St. Ignatius)
knotted the game up at 2-2 at 10:07 on an unassisted tally before
senior faceoff specialist David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East
Lansing) won the ensuing faceoff, raced in and fired for Michigan's
first lead of the game.
BYU tied the game at 3-3 on a dodge down the left wing, before the
Wolverines killed off a one-minute slashing call, followed by
senior midfielder Anthony Hrusovsky's (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake
Forest) lone goal of the game as U-M regained the one-goal lead
with 3:10 left in the first quarter. Neither team found the back of
the net during the remainder of the period as Michigan took a 4-3
lead into the second.
U-M opened the scoring early in the second, as Reinhard won the
first faceoff, dished it to Paras who found senior attackman Josh
Ein (Potomac, MD./Bullis) on the close right wing for the two-goal
lead.
After multiple possessions for both squads, the Cougars closed the
gap to one following a Michigan turnover on a clear attempt. Paras
helped the Maize and Blue rebuild their two-goal lead over two
minutes later on a dodge from behind the cage as U-M led 6-4 with
just over five minutes left in the half. BYU immediately answered
however at 4:41 to once again cut the lead to one.
Yealy netted his second of the game just seven seconds later
following the ensuing faceoff as U-M quickly extended the lead to
two again. Yealy banged home another on a dodge from behind the
cage as Michigan built their largest lead of the game at that point
at 8-5 with 3:29 left in the second.
Paras extended the lead to 9-5 on a quick dodge down the left wing
followed by a shot against the grain as the Maize and Blue led by
four at the half.
BYU scored immediately after the opening faceoff in the
third-quarter, followed by another tally at 13:08 on a transition
tally to cut the lead to 9-7.
Michigan regained the three-goal lead on Yealy's fourth of the game
as he cut back-side and took a feed from Paras before firing
quickly. Yealy added his fifth on a nice goal from just outside the
crease, taking a low pass from Rogers and finishing as the
Wolverines regained the four-goal lead.
After possessions for both squads, BYU cut the lead to 11-8 on a
transition goal to close out the third-quarter scoring.
BYU opened the scoring in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to two
at the 11:10 mark followed by a thirty-second man-up opportunity
that the Cougars were able to capitalize on to trim the lead to
11-10 with over 10 minutes left in the final frame.
Senior midfielder Jordan Kirshner (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) got the
momentum back in the Wolverines' favor, scoring from the top of the
box following a nice fake-shot that cleared space. Michigan earned
a one-minute man-up opportunity shortly after and Yealy finished a
feed from Kirshner from just eight yards out as U-M rebuilt their
three-goal lead with 7:19 left.
Paras added his fourth and final tally of the game at 5:19 on an
unassisted tally from seven yards out as the Wolverines created a
four-goal cushion late in the game. BYU wouldn't pack it in
however, scoring on a dodge from behind the cage with 3:22 left to
cut the U-M lead to three. Yealy quickly responded however on a
dodge from the right GLE as the Maize and Blue regained the
four-goal lead.
Senior attackman Clark McIntyre (Little Silver, N.J./Rumson –
Fair Haven) closed out the scoring on a nice dodge followed by a
ringer off the post to give Michigan a dominating five-goal with
just a minute left.
Statistically, it was an evenly played game besides total shots.
The Wolverines were outshot by the Cougars 56-37, but scooped up 47
groundballs compared to 45 by BYU. U-M was 16 of 31 on faceoffs,
and cleared the ball at a rate of 19 for 28 while Brigham Young
cleared the ball successfully 12 times in 18 attempts. BYU scored
once on three man-up attempts while the Wolverines finished
1-2.
The Wolverines will be back in action on Friday (May 14) when they
play their semifinal matchup against #4 Chapman at 7:30pm MST in
the confines of Dick's Sporting Goods Park. For all of your
Michigan Lacrosse information please visit mgobluelacrosse.com.
QUOTES
Head Coach John Paul
On his general impressions: "We knew this was going to be a
pretty tough draw for a quarterfinal game. We have a lot of respect
for BYU, their program, and how they operate. We also know that
they knew how to win come tournament time so it was a tough
matchup. We didn't take this game lightly at all, and we put a lot
of effort and time into the preparation. As it went, we had to put
a lot of effort into winning it."
On the early portion of the game: "I don't know what it is, but it
seems like there have been times this year where it takes our
offense a little time to get going. Thankfully the offense got
clicking right away and I thought they were outstanding the entire
game. We were getting the looks we wanted early on, and I think the
first half was about us weathering the storm. The offense was able
to answer every time they were able to score and I thought that was
the story of the game."
On Yealy: "I never really expect him to get that many good looks
because everyone has to key on him one way or another, but when our
offense is moving the ball the way they did today, and you have
multiple guys that are threats, it can make things really difficult
for teams. We were getting good looks and I think we had so many
guys putting pressure on their defense that it really opened up
some things for Yealy."
On the timely goals: "We seemed to be able to answer every time
they kept getting after us. They continued to put pressure on us
all game, but every time we were able to answer and that's a
testament to the offense today. The defense also stepped up and
made plays when they had to make plays. Once they buckled down and
started to play smart we were able to get the ball back into our
offenses' hands and get after it again."
On the well-played aspect of the game: "I thought a lot of the
turnovers tonight were forced turnovers and for the most part it
was a pretty sharp game between two solid teams. There weren't a
lot of throw-aways and that's a sign of two good teams playing near
their potential."
On facing off vs. Chapman again: "We really consider them the other
premier program in the MCLA and it's a shame to see them in the
semi-final. But it is what it is. We love playing them, and I'm
sure they love to play us because you want that kind of challenge
and those are the games you really get up for."
