Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Championship: The Big Game


As the clock hit zeroes, the Michigan bench sprinted towards their Sophomore Goaltender, Andrew Fowler. Fowler played a game that goalies live for. Amazingly, he, along with his Sophomore classmates have yet to lose a game at Michigan.

After getting put under a barrrage of Chapman shots, Fowler saw eight balls go into the cage behind him in the first half. Chapman's onslaught started early. They dominated the undefeated Wolverines, and left little doubt that they had earned their right to be in the Championship. But on this day, Fowler and Michigan would not go quietly into the Colorado night.

Going into halftime down 8-4 was nothing new for the 2009 Wolverines. Earlier in the year in Orange, Ca they faced the exact same margin at halftime. In the game, Michigan stormed back behind the superb netminding of Andrew Fowler and a gutsy performance by the Michigan defense. Implementing a unique zone was key for the defensive unit, who were able to stifle the Chapman offense and silence their snipers.

On the other side of the field, the UM offense picked up play, possessing the ball and working hard for opportunties. Dave Rogers, Michigan's Junior captain, turned in an incredible performance, ripping three goals to turn the momentum squarly in Michigan's favor.

But with 4:00 left, the game still remained in the balance. Chapman pulled within one goal on a pretty dodge from the top of the box, effectively breaking the UM zone. After winning three games in the tourney, two of which were in overtime, Chapman might have felt that destiny was on their side. But there is no such thing as destiny. Not unless you work for it.

Like the three previous meetings with the Wolverines, the Panthers were not able to keep up with Michigan's second half play. UM--after racking up 39 wins in a row--was the team that relied on hard work and dedication since September. This same team hadn't lost A FAME SINCE 2007 and wouldn't lose on this night; not to Chapman; not with the camera's rolling and the lights on; not after the speeches and the seasoned flow; not with a tournament Sick Lax film-joint upcoming.

And as the Michigan lacrosse team has grown accustomed to doing, they ran wildly towards their steady goaltender in the joyous thrill of victory. Fowler saw gloves, sticks and helmets rain down in front of him, as he looked towards his crazed teammates. He knew right then and there how much it meant. Another undefeated. Oh, man what a season!

Press:
The Ann Arbor News: "Michigan wins second straight national title"
The Michigan Daily: "Club Lacrosse repeats as National Champions"
Michigan lax release: Second Half Comeback Secures Second Straight Title
Inside lacrosse: in-game blog

Boxscore

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Rematch Live on FOX College Sports TONIGHT at 5PM ET, 7PM MT

© Dirk Dewachter
NEWS
The MCLA Finals between #3 Chapman University and #1 University of Michigan live on FOX College Sports channel 617 on direct tv at 7PM Mountain Time/ 5PM Eastern Time.

WATCH IT HERE

Semifinals: Michigan whips CU-Boulder, advance to finals


The Michigan men's lacrosse team continued their winning ways on Friday night in Denver. But before the lax team even suited up, drama filled the stadium. Michigan perched in a viewing gallery to watch the tail-end of #3 BYU vs. #2 Chapman semifinal game-- which turned out to be a thriller.

With a wide open lane to the net, the leagues best long-stick midfielder Britton Cone decided against a game winning attempt in regulation, and tried to settle the ball by throwing to an open teammate. Unfortunately for BYU, the pass bounced out of the reach of the attackman and trickled past the sideline. That was the last time they saw the ball on their offensive side. Within a few minutes of overtime, the stingy BYU defense stripped the ball from a Chapman attackman near the end-line. Then came any athletes worst nightmare. The BYU d-pole desperately tried to heave the ball downfield. The pass was intercepted by #3 on Chapman who was all alone on the goal crease. After two fakes and a solid finish, that was it. Michigan players walked down to their lockeroom. They knew well what the outcome of that game meant: rematch. All they had to do was take out the #5 Buffs first.

Michigan answered the call and went up on the Buffs early, leading by a score of 6-3 at the end of the first quarter. Riley Kearns was a hero again, especially after singlehandedly dismantling the CU defense with some creative play behind the net. Junior Midfielder, Jordan Kirshner (Ann Arbor Huron, woot woot) also got into the act, scoring an important last-minute goal that extended Michigan's halftime lead to 8-4. In the second-half, the bottom really fell out for the Colorado Buffalos. Not even their fans could bring them back from the sizable lead that Michigan produced in the 3rd quarter. Luckily, Dennis Kearns was in the attendence. The former P.I. made sure the unruly Boulder banterers knew their place. Nice work, D.

Final score: UM 17, CU-Boulder 7
Boxscore and flowtos

FINALS: #3 Chapman University
Saturday, May 16th. 7PM

Friday, May 15, 2009

UM live coverage tonight


Semifinal MCLA lacrosse contest between the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of Michigan live on FOX College Sports channel 617 on direct tv at 8PM MT.

Article: FCS Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Championships

WATCH IT HERE

Get em' Blue!!!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Quarterfinals: Celebratin' like White Shoes Johnson


The Sonoma State Seawolves ran into a buzz-saw Wednesday in Denver. From the start, UM was firing on all cylinders. The score ballooned to 17-4 by HALFTIME! The offensive explosion was ignited by Senior Attackmen, Riley Kearns (Birmingham Brother Rice) who scored a hat trick before Michigan got done breaking in their new Adidas cleats.

Props to Adidas for supplying the new shoe. It was like watching Billy Johnson score a TD for the first time. Except for these athletes actually celebrate with their teammates. Sorry, Billy.

Final score: UM 22, Sonoma State 6
Boxscore and flowtos
Ann Arbor News: UM routs Sonoma State, advances to semifinal

Next game: #5 ranked University of Colorado Buffaloes
Friday, May 15th. 8pm in Dick's Sporting Goods Park

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

First Round: Hookie and Hook 'em


The #1 ranked wolverines got off to a lackluster start in their first game of the National tournament. Texas gave Michigan all that they could handle in the unexpectedly hot Denver climate. The first couple frames featured back and fourth scoring with some sloppy turnovers. It seemed as though Michigan would have liked to skip over the first half in general. Play some hookie, perhaps?

But these Michigan kids never skipped school in their life. The boys in blue surged ahead in the second half, led by Senior Midfielder, Peter Vasher (Ann Arbor, MI). Vasher netted five goals after munching down some of his favorite cookies at halftime. Another notable performance came from Junior defenseman, Bob Diehl, nicknamed "fun-deihl-mentals" for his coachability. Diehl was a thorn in the side of the longhorns, forcing turnovers and creating general havoc for the UT offense. Keep it up, Bobby!

Hats off to the longhorns, who represented the Lonestar Alliance admirably.

Final Score: UM 11, UT 5
How about that? A little revenge for the 2005 Rose Bowl loss at the hands of Vince Young!

Ann Arbor News: UM tops Texas in tourney's first round

Next game: 2002 MCLA champs, Sonoma State Seawolves. Game is at 7pm on field #10.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Flowing Michigan femlaxers


#7 Michigan vs. #9 UCLA
First round of Nat'l tourney in Scottsdale, AZ

The Michigan men aren't the only team seeing success on the lacrosse field. The UofM Women's team has been on a tear since it's early-season trip out to California.

The fem-laxers are now ranked #7 in the country as they take on U.C.L.A. in the desert. Led by a solid Senior class, the Women are tourney bound and are looking for a cardinals-esque run to the finals.

If only, they can get their van on the right track!

Women's links:
Michigan women's site
Lacrosse Magazine article

Go Blue!!