Daily Archives: January 30, 2011

After a long, productive off-season the University of Michigan Men’s Lacrosse team hosted the Bellarmine Knights in their first pre-scrimmage of the season this Saturday night in Ann Arbor.  The game opened with both teams performing well until the Knights took over in the second quarter, out-scoring U-M 9-3.  The Wolverines battled back to even play in the second half, but it wasn’t enough as Bellarmine took home the 18-11 unofficial win.

The game started off with a back and forth battle with each team getting chances in the opposing offensive zones. The Knights drew first blood on a fast break as a result of an offsides call on the Wolverines. After scoring two more, Matt Asperheim (Grand Rapids, MI/East Grand Rapids) scored Michigan’s first on a man-up opportunity.  Both teams’ performance set the stage for an exciting first quarter with high-tempo action and solid ball movement as Bellarmine led 3-1 after the first 15 minutes.

Bellarmine opened up the second quarter with a faceoff win, but Michigan eventually earned possession and drew within one on a goal from sophomore attackman Ryan Dutton-O’Hara (Mount Airy, MD – Urbana – St. John’s) [RIGHT] on a feed from freshman midfielder Fernando Murias (Rockville, MD – Georgetown Prep).  The Knights were tagged for a penalty on the goal, but Bellarmine was able to fight off the Michigan man-up offense and went on to score six unanswered goals to increase their lead to 9-2 with momentum clearly on their side.

Michigan finally answered when junior midfielder Brian Greiner (Grosse Point, MI – Grosse Point South/RPI) [LEFT] won a faceoff and pushed into the offensive zone to assist Trevor Yealy (Pittsburgh, Penn./Upper St. Claire) for Michigan’s third goal on a dunk out front.  After Bellarmine scored two more unanswered goals, U-M came back with a goal from Dutton-O’Hara with the assist from sophomore midfielder Joe Hrusovsky (Lake Forest, IL – Lake Forest). Bellarmine earned possession down the stretch and scored a quick-stick goal from just outside the crease as the second quarter came to an end with the Knights leading 12-4.

Both teams came out firing on all cylinders in the third with even keeled exchanges until Michigan started the scoring with a tally from Doug Bryant (Princeton, NJ – Princeton) [RIGHT].  After what looked like a momentum change for the Wolverines, Bellarmine responded with three of their own over the next five minutes.  Michigan went on a run of their own however to close out the third quarter, scoring three of the final four.  The Wolverines found their stride, dominating possession, and showing poise on offense with great ball movement, a number of shots and eventually, back-to-back goals from senior attackman Chad Carroll (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier High) as the Wolverines trailed 16-8 going into the final frame.   

The high-energy play continued into the fourth with well-executed plays and hitting-hitting action but it took over five minutes for someone to find the back of the net.  Bryant opened up the fourth-quarter scoring with a nice shot at the top of the box at the 9:56 mark.  Following more back-and-forth play, Bryant scored his third on a great effort with another shot from far out with just 39 seconds left as Bellarmine earned the 18-11 scrimmage win.

The Wolverines will be back in action on Friday, February 4^th, 2011 as they take on Wittenberg University in Ann Arbor at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse for their second pre-season scrimmage.

For more information on Michigan Men’s Lacrosse, please visit mgobluelacrosse.com.