Michigan announces 2014 signing class

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Tim

Via press release:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — University of Michigan men’s lacrosse head coach John Paul has announced the addition of 12 standout prep student-athletes to the 2015 squad on Friday (Nov. 22). The class is highlighted by goalie Tommy Heidt (Greenwich, Conn./Brunswick School), who comes in at No. 39 in the Inside Lacrosse Top 50 Young Gun rankings heading into his senior year. The publication also ranks him as the No. 1 senior goalie in the country.

Others slated to join the Wolverines will be attackman PJ Bogle (Culver, Ind./Culver Military), longstick midfielders Liam Bourke (Ross, Calif./Redwood) and Jackson Kinley (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge), attackmen BJ Mattheiss (Owings Mills, Md./St. Paul’s School) and Sean McCanna (The Woodlands, Calif./The Woodlands), midfielder Parker McKee (Dedham, Mass./Noble & Greenough), long pole Hugh Mosko (Bethesda, Md./Boys Latin), attackmanWill Reynolds (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand/Choate), long pole Eric Smith (Dover, Md./Taft School), and midfielders Shawn Smith (Cross River, N.Y./John Jay-Cross River) and Chase Young (Ambler, Pa./St. Joseph’s Prep).

“Our third Division 1 recruiting class is going to help propel the Michigan program forward as we begin Big Ten play next year,” said Paul. “We’re confident that this class will help us at every position, and we can’t wait to welcome this group to campus.

PJ Bogle – Attack – (Culver, Ind./Culver Military)

Prep … Culver Military Academy (2014) … Member of the Blue Key society and National Society of High School Scholars … Recipient of the Mark Todd Berger Scholarship Award … Gold A Award Recipient … All-Conference as a sophomore … Under Armour underclassman All-American as a sophomore and junior … Committed to University of Michigan as a sophomore … North American Elite League champions as sophomore and junior … Finished junior year ranked No. 5 in the nation and No. 1 in the Midwest … Midwest Select Fall Tournament champions senior year.

Personal … Peter Andrew Bogle Jr. … Son of Peter and Megan Bogle … Father played lacrosse at College of Wooster … One sister, Katie, and one brother, Harry.
Liam Bourke – LSM – (Ross, Calif./Redwood)

Prep … Redwood High School (2014) … Second team All-MCAL Lacrosse as a freshman … First team All-MCAL as a sophomore and junior… Played for Alcatraz Outlaws and Golden State Titans.
Personal … William Everett Bourke … Son of Anthony and Mary Bourke … Father played soccer at University of California, Berkley … Two sisters, Hannah and Sarah.

Jackson Kinley – LSM – (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge)

Prep … Glen Ridge (Glen Ridge, N.J.) (2014) … First team All-Essex County as an offensive midfielder, scoring 22 goals and dishing out 31 assists … First team All-Gibbs Conference … Second team All-Group 1 …. Section North Finalists … Played defensive midfield as a sophomore, scoring seven goals and five assists to go along with 28 ground balls … Won Essex County Tournament … Played varsity lacrosse as a freshman, one of three players on the team to do so … Will captain lacrosse team as a senior … Three-year starter in football, finishing third in the state of New Jersey with 11.5 sacks as a sophomore … Honorable mention all-conference for basketball as a junior … Zebra/Nike Blue Chip, Trilogy lacrosse, Maverik Showtime, Blue Chip 225, Project 9.9., and Top 205 Participant.
Personal … Jackson Brooks Kinley … Son of Guy and Tami Kinley … Father was on the crew team at Princeton … Has two sisters (Caroline, Lily), as well as a brother, Davis … High Honor Roll student.

Tommy Heidt – Goalkeeper – (Greenwich, Conn./Brunswick School)

Prep … Brunswick School (2014) … Played four years varsity lacrosse, was named captain senior year … Ranked 42nd on Inside Lacrosse rankings as a junior … First team US Lacrosse All-American as a junior … First team All-League as a junior … Ranked 39th Top 50 Young Gun senior in Inside Lacrosse Magazine as a senior.

Personal … Thomas Clark Heidt … Son of Doug and Kathy Heidt … Father played football at the University of Maine … Two brothers, Jimmy and Billy, play lacrosse at Dartmouth College.

Hugh Mosko – Defense – (Bethesda, Md./Boys Latin)

Prep … Boy’s Latin School (2014) … Academic Honor Roll Winter/Spring 2013 and Fall 2013 … Selected to play on the Washington D.C. Under Armour Underclassmen All-Star Team as a sophomore … Selected to play on the Baltimore Under Armour Underclassmen All-Star team as a junior … Played varsity lacrosse sophomore and junior year … MIAA League Team Runner Up as junior.
Personal … Hugh Alexander Mosko … Son of Michael and Pam Mosko … Father played lacrosse at the University of Maryland … Four Siblings, Andrew, Maeve, Bliss and Libby … Brother, Andrew, plays lacrosse at the University of Michigan … Sister, Libby, rows at Cornell University.

BJ Mattheiss – Attack – (Owings Mills, Md. /St. Paul’s School)

Prep … St. Paul’s School (2014) … Cum Laude Society Member … Headmaster’s List as freshman, sophomore and junior … Member of the Spanish National Honor Society … Recipient of the Washington and Lee Book Award for Academics, Athletics, and Leadership as a junior … Played varsity soccer all four years and was named captain senior year … Has played three years of lacrosse and is team captain senior year.
Personal … Bryce John Mattheiss … Son of Tanya and Blair Mattheiss … Father played tennis in college … Has one sister, Colbee.

Sean McCanna – Attack – (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands)

Prep … The Woodlands High School (2014) … Three-year varsity lacrosse letterman … Recipient of the Most Valuable player and Outstanding Offensive Player award on junior varsity team as a freshman … Texas Top 99 All-Star, and Adrenaline High Rollers All Star as a sophomore … Texas High School Lacrosse League South District All-District second team as sophomore … Denver Shootout All-Star and King of the Hill All-Star as sophomore and junior … Lettered in varsity football junior year … Texas High School Lacrosse All-American as junior … Texas High School Lacrosse League Division I South District All-State as junior … Texas High School Lacrosse South District Most Value Player and The Woodlands High School Most Valuable Player as junior

Personal … Sean William McCanna … Son of Patrick and Carey McCanna … Father played baseball at Central Michigan University … Has two brothers, Brendan and Kevin, who plays baseball at Rice University.

Parker McKee – Midfield – (Dedham, Mass./Noble & Greenough)

Prep … Noble & Greenough School (2014) … Lacrosse Independent School League (LISL) First team All-League … BostonLax All-ISL Team … LISL Honorable Mention as a sophomore … Two-year letterwinner in soccer … Noble & Greenough Lacrosse Arnold Bowl Recipient … Team captain in both lacrosse & soccer … Top Gun Fighting Clams … Jake Reed Nike Blue Chip … All-Star Philly Showcase 2011-12.
Personal … Father played soccer at University of California, Berkley … Two sisters, Hannah and Sarah.
Will Reynolds – Attack – (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand/Choate)

Prep … Daniel Hand High School (2013) … Currently a post-graduate student at Choate Rosemary Hall (2014) … Four years on the Honor Roll … JV lacrosse MVP as a freshman … Play varsity football junior year and won Class L state championship … Member of the CT Super Junior All-Star Team … Three years varsity lacrosse and named captain senior year … First team all conference and New Haven All-Area Team junior and senior year … Second team All-State junior year and first team All-State senior year … Member of the Hartford Courant First team senior year … Daniel Hand High School Lacrosse Player of the Year senior year.

Personal … William Toll Reynolds … Son of Jeff and Joanne Reynolds … Has three siblings, Chase, Brynn, and Carter, who plays lacrosse at Trinity College.

Eric Smith – Defense – (Dover, Ma./Taft School)

Prep … Taft School (2014) … Member of the Swedish National Lacrosse team … Captain of the 2014 Taft Lacrosse team … TC Jamboree, Brine Shootout, Top 205 Rising Junior participant … Also played linebacker/defensive end on the football team.

Personal … Eric Carl Johan Smith … Son of Dickson and Monica Smith … Sister, Elisabeth and brother, Dickson, who plays lacrosse at University of Virginia.

Shawn Smith – Midfield – (Cross River, N.Y./John Jay)

Prep … John Jay (2014) … All-New York Section I Class B as a junior … All-Section as a junior … All-league, all-section honorable mention as a sophomore … Lettered in lacrosse as a freshman … Also a standout hockey player, earning Section I Division II Player of the Year, MSG Player of the Year, MSG Varsity All-Tristate second team, and all-league, all-section honors as a junior and sophomore … Prime Time Lacrosse, King of the Hill, Battle of the Hotbets, Jake Reed’s Nike Blue Chip, Maverik Showtime participant.

Personal … Shawn Robert Smith … Son of Robert and Laura Smith … Mother played soccer at Boston College … Has two sisters, Kaitlyn and Tory … National Honor Society & Spanish National Honor Society member.

Chase Young – Midfield – (Ambler, Pa./St. Joseph’s Prep)

Prep … Saint Joseph’s Preparatory High School (2014) … Academic Second Honors 2011-2013 … Recipient of the Bakari Freshman of the Year award, Bakari Academic Honorable Mention, and National Latin Exam Award in 2011 … Nike Blue Chip All Star and Big 4 All-Star as a freshman … Member of the Philly Showcase Gait Fab 40 as a freshman … Philadelphia District 12 Catholic League champions as a freshman … Pennsylvania State Championship finalist as a freshman … Third team All-Catholic as a senior … Tri-State national champions and Champ Camp national champions his senior year.

Personal … Chase Alexander Young … Son of Donovan and Robin Young … Has a brother (Jordan).

U-M’s 2013 season begins on the road against the Penn State Nittany Lions in a matchup with Creators Trophy implications on the line on Saturday, Feb. 8, in State College, Pa. Michigan’s first home game of the season will take place inside Oosterbaan Field House on Friday, Feb. 14, against the Mercer Bears at 7 p.m.

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Lax Links: Nov. 21, 2013

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Tim

As always, news tips, links, stories, press releases, etc. can be sent to the inboxes on Twitter or e-mail. That includes signing day photos, to continue the three-year tradition around these parts.

Can-Am Showcase

I did a terrible job covering a premier event right in our backyard, but thankfully others were at Detroit Country Day to document the action of the Can-Am Showcase Nov. 9-10.

TopLaxRecruits brings the rosters. 412 Lax “previews” by also posting the rosters.

TopLaxRecruits has player reaction from the first day of action. StudentSports recaps the top performers.

Division-1 Women

Would you like to know about the nascent U-M women’s team? Learn about the world through their eyes:

Youth/Club

1763 Lacrosse club will hold its tryouts Dec. 1 in Pontiac. Register at the link – there’s an additional five dollar charge for walkups. There are teams for 2015 HS graduates through U13.

Registration is open for the 2013 DTown Lacrosse Classic. The high school divisions compete Dec. 27, and youth divisions Dec. 28.

The Philly Freshman Showcase is this weekend, and Michigan will be represented – albeit in very small numbers. Forest Hills Central midfielder Tanner Hallock will be in attendance.

True Lacrosse Youth clinic December 11 at Davenport University. 2nd through 8th graders.

Recruiting

I forgot to mention it at the beginning of the signing period, but you can always e-mail or tweet me signing day photos, whether you’re an in-state player signing to play anywhere, or an out-of-state player signing to play in Michigan (or a parent/coach/etc. of any such player).

StudentSports has a signing day photo gallery, including a couple with Block-Ms in there. TopLaxRecruits has a photo of U-M women’s signee Katie Melvin signing to the Wolverines. So too of Sydney Delmas.

PhillyLacrosse.com features Michigan women’s signee Lily Kovach, a defender at Strath Haven (Pa.) High.

Madison Heights Bishop Foley defenseman Nick McElroy committed to Alma College.

Salem senior defenseman Paul Sommerville committed to Aquinas.

Michigan release on the women’s signing class.

Signing Day analysis on Michigan men from Inside Lacrosse:

Whether it’s at attack, midfield, defense or in goal, the Wolverines’ class is all about athleticism. Heidt is the headliner and a steal for Big Blue – he has experience and accolades playing in one of the nation’s best leagues. The staff is also high on burners Smith and Young at middie, as well as face-off option McDonnell. Mosko could make an instant impact at close defense. Cali native Bourke could also dazzle.

Click through for more info on who those dudes are (and how Michigan stacks up against the rest of the league).

TopLaxRecruits’ roundup usually only has one piece of note for this site, but three pledges to GLS schools made the same post about two weeks ago. Two 2016 pledges for Michigan (A Harry Bogle and FO Matt Dellacroce) and one 2015 to UDM (M Patrick Walsh) make it a link-worthy item.

TopLaxRecruits has an in-depth post on Bogle’s commitment. He mentions Georgetown, Brown, and Dartmouth as other choices during his process. PhillyLacrosse.com (run by the same folks) covers Dellacroce.

TopLaxRecruits goes into detail on the UDM commit Walsh. The bland “I want to play Division I lacrosse” rationale for picking Detroit is not particularly enlightening. Inside Lacrosse also covers Walsh’s pledge.

Etc.

Do not forget about Michigan’s second of four coaching clinics, at 7 p.m. tonight in the Junge Family Champions Center just off the tunnel entrance to Michigan Stadium. They’re free, y’all.

You have just a couple days left to apply for a job as Michigan’s new video coordinator. The description is mostly standard, but I found this bit to be interesting:

Finally, the individual will also be asked to help capture raw footage throughout the course of the season to help document all aspects of the Men’s Lacrosse team’s daily life. The Film/Video coordinator will then work with our Media Relations and Marketing department to produce content that can be distributed on MGoBlue.com and various social media outlets.

#MARKETING

Former Grand Valley player (and Grand Valley and Hope assistant coach) Sean Blair has been named the headman at Colorado State-Pueblo, a new NCAA D-2 program.

Internal Linkage

A bit of analysis on both in-state Division-1 programs’ schedules.

2014 Michigan lacrosse schedule and breakdown.

2014 Detroit lacrosse schedule and breakdown. A few more thoughts from College Crosse. One correction: the initial schedule published (and therefore my post) had the Notre Dame exhibition in Pontiac. It is not: South Bend is the location for that one.

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2014 Michigan Wolverines lacrosse schedule

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Tim

Michigan’s spring schedule has seemed on the immediate horizon for weeks, and it’s finally available. The gritty details:

Date Opponent Location
Feb. 1 Marquette (exh.) Home (Oosterbaan)
Feb. 8 Penn State Away (State College, Pa.)
Feb. 14 Mercer Home (Oosterbaan)
Feb. 19 Detroit Away (Pontiac, Mich.)
Feb. 22 Johns Hopkins Away (Baltimore)
March 1 Cornell Home
March 5 High Point Away (High Point, N.C.)
March 8 Furman Away (Greenville, S.C.)
March 15 Bellarmine Away (Louisville, Ky.)*
March 18 Maryland Home
March 22 St. Joseph’s Home
March 29 Air Force Away (Colorado Springs, Colo.)*
April 5 Fairfield Home*
April 12 Ohio State Away (Columbus, Ohio)*
April 19 Yale Home
April 26 Robert Morris Home

Interactive Whiteboards by PolyVision

A few thoughts:

  • This is the first year Michigan has put together a schedule where they can really win a few games. Of course, past games that looked like possible wins (namely High Point last year) didn’t pan out that way. This year there’s more than just one or two, however. You have a Mercer team that has struggled to reach any competency, a rematch against High Point, and a first-year program in Furman. Add in the St. Joseph’s team that U-M beat last year, and there are some real opportunities.
  • Of course, the hope is to sweep that slate and take a couple more games here and there from the middle ranks. It remains to be seen how much U-M improves, but I think the growth they showed with the eyeball test last year will translate to the results this season.
  • There’s also a ton of power at the top. As in… six of last year’s top nine teams nationally. That’s tough. Of course those teams aren’t all returning in full force (though Ohio State, for example, could be even better than last year), but Michigan is not really in a position to stand up to some of those teams.
  • The overall average 54.44% was about equivalent to the No. 28 team in the country. Obviously with a couple of the worst programs and a few of the best on the docket, this is a high-variance group.
  • A pretty good mix of home and away games. Of course the Detroit contest is more of a neutral-site deal in practice. Most of the winnable games are away from home (Mercer is the exception), making them both a little tougher to win and less likely to be seen by Michigan fans. Still, getting the likes of Maryland and Cornell into Michigan Stadium will be 1) awesome in general 2) good for the growth of the game, and 3) preparation for the Big Ten schedule in 2015.

This is a schedule that Michigan should finally turn into multiple wins after one in each of the previous two seasons. It should also show them a bit of humility and what sort of team they want to be in the future. For the season to be a success, it’s really taking care of business in the easy games, earning a win or two out of the middle, and building toward 2015 with the first fully-recruited (albeit not all recruited for D-1) roster in program history.

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2014 Detroit Titans lacrosse schedule

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Tim

The University of Detroit announced the spring slate this afternoon (and there was much rejoicing).

Date Opponent Location
Feb. 1 Notre Dame (exh.) Home (Pontiac)
Feb. 16 Mercer Home (Pontiac)
Feb. 19 Michigan Home (Pontiac)
Feb. 23 Robert Morris Away (Moon Twp., Pa.)
March 1 VMI Away (Lexington, Va.)
March 4 Bellarmine Home
March 8 Wagner Away (Staten Island, N.Y.)
March 15 Marquette Home
March 22 Canisius Away (Buffalo, N.Y.)*
March 29 Quinnipiac Home*
April 5 Marist Home*
April 12 Siena Home*
April 19 Manhattan Away (Riverdale, N.Y.)*
April 26 Monmouth Away (West Long Branch, N.J.)*

Interactive Whiteboards by PolyVision

A few thoughts:

  • The 12 opponents who played last year (this is Monmouth’s first season) averaged a Tempo Free Lax rating of 30.83%. That would be on par with about team No. 52 out of 63 last year. 
  • Of course, a few programs (namely Robert Morris, Bellarmine, Marist, and Siena) are way above the rest of the teams on the docket. All told, the Titans will play six of last year’s bottom ten teams in the nation. One is a local rival, and the majority of them are conference opponents. So goes it in the MAAC.
  • Speaking of that local rival, a couple points. First, I’m not expecting a third-straight year of U-M struggling to be even remotely competent. They’ll be better. Maybe not a 50th percentile team, but better. I’m also a little surprised to see them on the schedule after a couple sources had indicated they might take a year or two off to prevent the rivalry from getting too heated.
  • Three games (two exhibition) at Ultimate Soccer. A nice venue, but wouldn’t it be cool to see the Titans and Wolverines square off on Titan Field? I think so. Obviously, the access to an indoor venue for early-season games is still a huge positive.

All told, a nice slate for Detroit’s goals: win the MAAC to get into the NCAA tournament, and get some preparation to possibly spring an upset – one they fell just short of pulling against Notre Dame in the spring – in the first round. The three easiest conference games (Canisius, Manhattan, and Monmouth, per last year’s ratings) are on the road, meaning that the three tougher opponents come to Detroit. that should allow for a good UDM seed in the conference tourney, which will be held at Marist, another conference title contender.

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Lax Links: Nov. 6, 2013

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Tim

Rounding up the links in the world of Michigan lacrosse. As always, tips, press releases, college commitments, etc. can be sent to the Twitter machine or e-mail.

Youth

The annual U.S. Lacrosse Michigan 7-on-7 tournament takes place this weekend at the Hope Soccer Complex in Lansing. You can see schedule information, etc. at the website.

Winter box leagues in Rochester start this weekend as well. Since I’ve been derelict in my duties as a blogger, the registration deadline has passed. Keep the site in mind for future seasons, however.

There is box in the Grand Rapids area as well, hosted by the GR Dragonfish.

Coach B at 313 Lacrosse has fall clinics lined up for the end of this month and beyond. Check out more info on 313Lax.com.

TopLaxRecruits brings a story on club teammates from wide-ranging geographic locations coming together to play in the Quaker LaxFest. That includes Country Day 2015 midfielder Emilio Sosa, who bonded with Texan Andrew Eichelberger and Maine native Curtis Alexander over the weekend.

Fenton Winter leagues through True Lacrosse.

Division-3 Men

Albion has big goals for the 2014 season, according to head coach Jake DeCola:

DeCola knows one of his players’ primary objectives is to unseat Adrian as the MIAA king. It’s a good quest, but it’s also just part of a bigger picture.

“As my guys have talked about their goals for this year, one of the things I’ve worked with them on is making sure we’re not just thinking about an end piece, but we’re talking about the process of getting there,” DeCola said. “One of the things I’ve talked to them about this fall is one of our goals should be playing to our potential. If we’re turning the ball over unnecessarily when we have a lead and we’re losing a game because of it, that’s not really playing to our potential; that’s giving away a game that we should win.”

The Britons went 11-6 last fall, and fell to fellow in-state program Adrian in the MIAA Conference tournament. They recently announced their schedule, as well.

Division-1 Men

You can donate to Detroit’s fundraising for the Vs. Cancer foundation and see their annual Lift-a-Thon next Monday.

Fall wrap from the UDM athletic department:

The official Detroit site covers the team’s feature in Lacrosse Magazine. My media outlet is covering another media outlet’s discussion of coverage by a third media outlet. #inception.

Lacrosse Magazine props up UDM’s near-upset of Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament as one of the games of the year. Prepare to roll your eyes as hard as humanly possible, though:

How could you not root for a team from a city with so little to cheer about since the economic collapse of 2008?

Really? Really? 

Self-linkage on the Michigan scrimmage recap.

Michigan head coach John Paul was inducted into the Michigan Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame. End of fall wrap-up Q&A with JP.

The Wolverines support the Friends of Jaclyn foundation.

The Michigan schedule will be announced soon.

Division-1 Women

I didn’t see any results coming out of this event (and I imagine they weren’t pretty for the Maize and Blue), but Michigan’s women participated in a fall invitational at Duke just over a week ago.

High School

Friend-of-the-blog Trenton Gafner is the new boys’ head coach at Hartland High School (fellow FOTB Ty McGuire will be his defensive coordinator).

New helmets for Detroit Country Day.

Recruiting

The National Collegiate Scouting Association will be hosting an informational recruiting event at Ann Arbor Skyline Nov. 15.

2014 Grosse Pointe South midfielder Andrew Wright committed to D-3 DePauw.

TopLaxRecruits’ roundup includes two 2015 commitments to Michigan’s women. Okemos attack Bailey Ellsworth also picked the D-2 team at Grand Valley.

PhillyLacrosse goes into more depth on Shipley School (Penn.) goalie Alli Kothari picking the U-M women’s program.

Michigan picked up a commitment from Culver (Ind.) 2016 attackman Harry Bogle. He is the younger brother of 2014 pledge P.J. Bogle. He also has a classmate, fellow attackman Ryan Prior, committed to Michigan’s 2016 class.

The Michigan men also snagged Royersford (Pa.) Spring-Ford 2016 faceoff specialist Matt Dellacroce.

#GrowTheGame

New Jersey Institute of Technology might be adding a Division-1 lacrosse program in just over a year’s time. In 2007, there were 56 D-1 programs. That number has risen by at least one (including Detroit in 2009 and Michigan in 2012) nearly every year since (Presbyterian dropping its program for 2012 led to stagnation with Michigan’s new program), and the trend doesn’t look to be stopping.

The NCAA semifinals and finals could be coming to the Midwest sometime in 2015-18. Sure, Chicago isn’t in Michigan, but it’s still very cool – after last year’s quarterfinals in Indianapolis – to bring high-level lacrosse to the area. Michigan AD David Brandon hopes to create the Wow experience in Michigan Stadium in the future.

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Michigan 14, Michigan 13

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Tim

Since Manhattan was unavailable a week ago, Michigan ended its fall with an intra-squad scrimmage. It was a competitive match, and although Team Blue dominated early, Maize made it a contest and the fairly even split between the two halves resulted in a one-goal game. The winning goal didn’t come until 17 seconds remained.

Scoring Leaders

Since there were no official stats, these are from my notes. I did miss one goal (Blue’s third of the game, near the end of the first quarter), but the rest is pretty accurate. With typical caveats about the applicability of scrimmages applying…

  • Brendan Gaughan, A, Blue – 3G, 1A (4 pts)
  • Andrew Portnoy, A, Maize – 3G, 1A (4 pts)
  • Ian King, A, Blue – 3G
  • Andrew Roswell, M, Maize – 3G
  • David McCormack, A, Blue – 2G, 1A
  • Peter Kraus, A, Maize – 2G, 1A
  • Kyle Jackson, M, Blue – 2G
  • Will Meter, A, Blue – 2G
  • Andrew Mosko, M, Maize – 2G
  • Mike Francia, A, Maize – 2G
  • David Joseph, M, Blue – 1G, 1A
  • Riley Kennedy, M, Maize – 1G, 1A
  • Thomas Paras, M, Maize – 2A
  • Mike Hernandez, M, Blue – 1A
  • Paxton Moore, LSM, Blue – 1A
  • Gerald Logan, G, Blue – 1A
  • Brad Lott, FO, Maize – 1A

Most interesting, Blue had most of the players who have been (or are expected to be) offensive stars. Meter, Gaughan, and McCormack is a possible starting attack – with frosh Ian King also in the mix, and on the Blue team – while last year’s leading scorers Mike Hernandez and Kyle Jackson were starting midfielders for Blue. Despite that firepower (not to say Maize didn’t have any, with the likes of Thomas Paras and Peter Kraus on that squad), the match was pretty even.

There’s a mystery Blue goal not accounted for, as mentioned above. If anyone remembers it, drop me a note in the comments.

Starting Lineups

Freshmen denoted with an (f)

Blue Pos. Player Maize Pos. Player
G Gerald Logan G Mike D’Alessio
D Cooper Charlton (f-RS) D Mack Gembis
D Andrew Hatton (f) D Chris Walker
D Will Weichert (f) D J.D. Johnson
LSM Chase Brown LSM Paxton Moore
DM Jeff Chu DM Peter Khoury (f)
M Mike Hernandez FO Brad Lott
M Kyle Jackson M Doug Bryant
A Will Meter A Mike Francia
A David McCormack A Peter Kraus
A Brendan Gaughan (f-RS) A Andrew Portnoy

Interactive Whiteboards by PolyVision

Obviously that’s not an entire starting D-midfield and O-midfield for either team, but it was the first few players in at each position I could grab before the lineups started getting switched around. In an intrasquad, it’s not surprising to see just about everyone play.

General Impressions

This team looks a lot more like a Division-1 program at this point than they ever have in the past. The players are physically more impressive in size and athleticism, and aren’t going to step on the field and look out of place this spring. That aspect has been phasing in, and now it is fair to say they’re up to physical snuff.

A number of players who are expected to make big contributions were out of action. That applies most notably to freshman goalie Robbie Zonino and midfielder Mikie Schlosser. In fall ball, it’s no surprise (nor a big deal) to have some players missing, but it would have been nice to see those two in their first public scrimmage action as Wolverines, along with several others.

Speaking of goalie activity, Gerald Logan went the distance for Blue, and though he let in several goals, he looked the part once more. Obviously the defenses weren’t in all-star form (and his featured three freshmen), and the nature of fall ball isn’t going to allow a gamer like him to shine quite as much. Mike D’Alessio and Dylan Westerhold played the first/fourth and second/third quarters, respectively, and were adequate.

Freshmen who did make an impact were many – including pretty much all in the starting lineups above. There will be scoring options in both the attack and midfield this spring (barring major injury – not out of the question given that U-M has fought through it in the past two years), and seeing both units able to put up points is encouraging for depth.

Michigan will be fine on faceoffs. A number of players took draws, and it’s always tough to determine when you’re playing yourselves whether you’re that good or your teammates just aren’t. However, there were even matchups through most of the specialists, with one – sophomore Brad Lott – standing out above the rest. He was winning the clamp (which he did regularly last year), but has improved in winning draws cleanly to himself, and also in communicating with his wings to earn the wins as a unit. The coaches have a cohesive strategy on faceoffs there, and another year in the system with a top faceoff specialist will be big.

The most exciting sequence of the game came in the second quarter (that was also the highest-scoring quarter, with nine combined goals). With just a few seconds left, Blue goalie Gerald Logan made a save and launched a Gilman clear to the other end. Freshman attack Ian King corralled it and fired a quick goal (I – perhaps generously – credited Logan with an assist). Not to be outdone, Maize faceoff specialist Brad Lott earned a clean win with just three seconds on the clock, feeding Andrew Portnoy for the score at the buzzer.

With no official stats or film, no statistical breakdown, but a lot to be encouraged by out of Team Three.

 

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UDM’s Troy Dennis earns Lacrosse Magazine cover

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Tim

Big step for lacrosse in the state of Michigan. This isn’t exactly going to convince anyone in the state who isn’t already aware of the sport to take it up, but it certainly tells other regions that not only is Detroit playing the game, but they’re here to stay.

Detroit Mercy Titans Lacrosse Troy Dennis Lacrosse Magazine

Detroit’s Troy Dennis is featured on the cover (and inside) the November issue of the official magazine of US Lacrosse.

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Lax Links: Oct. 21, 2013

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Tim

Holding off on talking about the Michigan fallball events yesterday afternoon. I’ll have more on them later. For now, on to the links (as always, send anything you’ve got to the e-mail inbox or the Twitter machine).

Serious Interlude

Most of the news shared on these pages is happy, so unfortunately it’s time to bring something not so happy. Former Seaholm (and UNC, and MLL) attack Jeff Sonke‘s family has been hit by a cancer diagnosis. His wife Casey is suffering from a Desmoid Tumor (rare form of cancer), and your support would be appreciated – details at the link.

Sonke is a recent inductee to the Michigan Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and a great guy. Any help is surely appreciated.

MCLA

Michigan State’s web T.V. series focuses on coach Brandon Schwind in the latest installment:

Division-1

Mercer will play both Michigan and UDM this fall. Those games are just two days apart, as one road trip. That’s a little more rare in Division-1 than it is in the club ranks, but both Michigan and UDM scheduling should benefit long-term from being an easy two-game road trip.

You have a few more days to vote for Detroit in two categories on Lacrosse Magazine‘s best-of polls. The Titans are up for the Breakthrough Team of the Year and Game of the Year (NCAA loss to Notre Dame) awards.

As noted the other day, the Michigan women have released Schedule One.

Recruiting

I’ve talked about Michigan’s 2016 class a couple times in recent weeks, and Inside Lacrosse has taken note of the success the Wolverines are having on the recruiting trail, mentioning it among five that could be the best in the country:

The Wolverines’ success in recruiting is evidence that wins and program tradition aren’t everything. Their resources, academics and commitment to lacrosse are second to none, and the idea of helping build a program seems to be extremely attractive for highly touted recruits.

Sounds like their class got better yesterday afternoon and might get even more star power within the next few weeks, so it could be a special group – the kind people expect the Wolverines to have.

Haslett 2014 defenseman Jake Gornick committed to Albion.

Savage (Minn.) Prior Lake 2014 defenseman Austin Polson McCannon committed to Detroit.

Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga 2014 attack Mark Arnstead also picked the Titans.

Moorestown (N.J.) 2015 defender Maggie Handlan committed to Michigan’s women.

Club/Showcases/Etc.

Haslett senior attack Noah Taylor (committed to Hamilton College) got some press in Inside Lacrosse‘s coverage of Paul Rabil‘s Project 9.9 camp:

Taylor led the Black Team with five goals on the day. He’s a nifty shooter down low who’s a nice finish point for a transition offense. Kid won the unofficial best flow of the day too.

Better just make that award official.

The NXT Showcase is coming to Detroit Country Day Nov. 9-10 for the Can-Am event. True, Premier Lacrosse Group, and several other local clubs are participating in that portion of the event Sunday. Saturday is the individuals’ time to shine.

The Boo Bash is this weekend, and full schedules for all age brackets are now available. The high school portion is Sunday, for people into that.

Semi-Pro

The Grand Rapids Dragonfish hosted the Continental Indoor Lacrosse League tournament in Cedar Springs over the weekend. The Dragonfish fell to Chicago in the semis, and Colorado took home the crown.

Self-Linkage

Year-to-year change in stats for the Titans – and a bit of a forward projection in that regard.

Michigan’s offense was actually worse last year than it had been the previous season  (the Wolverines’ first as a Divsion-1 program). Exploring some of the reasons why.

As always, thanks for visiting GreatLaxState.com. Feel free to send any feedback to the contact channels listed above.

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Michigan women announce inaugural schedule

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Tim

This happened earlier, in the week, but I totally missed it. The Michigan women announced their Team One schedule:

Sat., Feb. 22 at Villanova Villanova, Pa. 12:00 p.m. ET
Fri., Feb. 28 vs. Marquette Oosterbaan Field House 5:00 p.m. ET
Wed., Mar. 5 at Jacksonville Jacksonville, Fla. 7:00 p.m. ET
Sat., Mar. 8 at Florida * Gainesville, Fla. 1:00 p.m. ET
Tue., Mar. 11 vs. Northwestern * Michigan Stadium 7:00 p.m. ET
Sun., Mar. 16 at Johns Hopkins * Baltimore, Md. 1:00 p.m. ET
Thu., Mar. 20 vs. Winthrop Michigan Stadium 7:00 p.m. ET
Sun., Mar. 23 at Penn State * State College, Pa. 1:00 p.m. ET
Sun., Mar. 30 vs. UC Davis Michigan Stadium 1:00 p.m. ET
Wed., Apr. 2 vs. Ohio State * Michigan Stadium 7:00 p.m. ET
Sat., Apr. 5 at Navy Annapolis, Md. 3:00 p.m. ET
Wed., Apr. 9 at Brown Providence, R.I. 4:00 p.m. ET
Sat., Apr. 12 vs. California Michigan Stadium 1:00 p.m. ET
Wed., Apr. 16 at Detroit Detroit, Mich. 4:00 p.m. ET
Sat., Apr. 19 vs. Vanderbilt Michigan Stadium 1:00 p.m. ET
Sat., Apr. 26 vs. Fresno State Michigan Stadium 4:00 p.m. ET

Obviously a tough slate with the ALC teams, but a good test in the inaugural season. With a couple years of buildup, hopefully their first year goes a little differently than things went on the men’s side.

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Michigan fall ball Preview: Manhattan

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Tim

Here is a preview for a game that will not happen. You can still tune in to the Twitter machine at 1 p.m. Sunday for thoughts from the U-M intrasquad scrimmage (with possibly more insight into the team than playing Manhattan would have revealed).

Manhattan

Manhattan Jaspers Lacrosse

What is a Jasper?

1 p.m. EDT
Oct. 20, 2013
Michigan Stadium
@UMichLacrosse. @GreatLaxState

Tempo-Free Profile

The TempoFreeLax.com numbers displayed here are last year’s digits, adjusted for strength of schedule. Manhattan played a pretty bad schedule last year, despite being unable to play itself.

Denver 2013
Pace 61.07 (56)
Poss% 44.21 (52)
Off. Eff. 27.44 (48)
Def. Eff. 36.45 (54)
Pyth% 16.79 (59)

Manhattan was bad at basically everything last year, but the worst individual area for their team was the defense. They didn’t play a murderer’s row of offenses, with Princeton (No. 4) and Binghamton (No. 12) at the high end, and everybody else varying degrees of bad. Despite that, they gave up fewer than 10 goals only twice, in a win against Lafayette and a loss to Canisius. The pace of play often (but not always) prevented them from getting blown out, but they certainly weren’t likely to get big stops down the stretch if they needed them.

The offense was not quite as – but still quite – bad. Again, that’s despite a really poor strength of schedule. On the flipside of the above stat, they broke double-digits only in the Lafayette win, 12-11 nail-biters against Mercer and Wagner, and their bizarre upset over Marist to close the regular season. If you almost always give up at least 10 and almost never score that many, you aren’t going to win a whole lot of games.

Hey, want to know another thing Manhattan was bad at? OK, fine. The possession game was very poor. They barely won a third of faceoffs, which sources indicate is not good. a couple other teams were within a couple percentage points, but that’s really, really bad.  They also had a bad clear, though they made up some of that with a strong ride.

All of that combines to indicate that the Jaspers were really bad at intercollegiate lacrosse last year. Last year is not this year, of course, so let’s take a look at whether they should be better or worse in certain areas.

Offense

For a non-prolific offense, basically any personnel loss is probably bad. Losing your leading scorer is definitely bad, and Manhattan does just that with the departure of Tyler Jarvis, who led the squad with 22 goals and six assists.

Fortunately for the Jaspers, most of their other production returns, and most of the top players on that ledger are seniors. Attack Ryan Payton and midfielders Marcel Godino, Patrick Hodapp, and Brett Madarasz are all in their final year on-campus. That’s the second through fifth leading scorers from 2013. No. 8, midfielder Tyler Eidel, is now a junior. That’s where the good news ends, since Nos. 7 and 8 Brian McGrath and Paul Moreau are departed.

Even though Jarvis didn’t dominate scoring (Payton was only one point behind him on the year), there will be some re-tooling necessary to match even last year’s meager production.

Defense

Manhattan was not an offense predicated on causing turnovers (or for that matter preventing goals – ZING!), but the top two non-faceoff specialists in that regard are both back, in senior longpole Dan McGreevy and junior Max Kerber. The third starting spot on the close D rotated between several players (the Manhattan roster doesn’t specify, so I’m assuming now-senior Sean McMahon is an LSM), so there’s at least a bit of experience regardless of who steps in.

Goalie Michael Wiatrak is a junior after seeming to supplant now-senior Rich Akapnitis during the course of the spring. Both area experienced, and uninspiring numbers (.496 save percentage for Wiatrak and .504 for Akapnitis) are partially explained by their own struggles, and partially by a generally bad defense.

Unlike the offense, this unit should be in position to take some big steps forward. The majority of the talent returns, and another offseason of cohesion should solidify things to a degree. There’s a long way to go up, but the Jaspers should take steps in that direction.

Special Teams

As noted above, Manhattan was terrrrrrrrible on faceoffs last year. The most oft-deployed player was longpole Sean McMahon, now a senior. I’m not positive if he’s primarily a close defender or an LSM – my speculation is the latter – but either way, deploying him to win .381 of his draws screams “concede the faceoff and play for the ground ball.” Two of the other four also-bad specialists have graduated.

Manhattan’s ride was pretty good, but they faced some of the worst-clearing teams in the country (TFL doesn’t adjust for opponent in that metric, if I recall correctly), so take it with a grain of salt. Like Detroit teams of the past, it’s in their best interests to prevent settled offense opportunities, despite the risks. Coming the other way, their clear was terrible. Opportunities should be there for the Michigan ride.

You’ll be shocked to learn that their EMO was bad (worse than their season-long offense, actually), and their man-down D was simply awful, allowing opponents to score more than 65% of the time. They commit a lot of penalties, too. WEEEE.

Big Picture

Since scoring is not that important in fall ball, no predictions here, but it is important that Michigan simply looks the better squad in this one. If they don’t, it could mean (more) big trouble for the spring.

Share your predictions, discussion, etc. in the comments.

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