U-M to Welcome Rutgers Sunday in B1G Home Opener
4/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 1, 2015
Michigan Stadium
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THIS WEEK
Sunday, April 5 -- vs. Rutgers (Michigan Stadium), Noon
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The University of Michigan men's lacrosse team (4-5, 0-1 Big Ten) hosts its first Big Ten home game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-7, 0-1 Big Ten) Sunday (April 5) at noon from Michigan Stadium.
The contest will also be played in conjunction with the One Love Foundation, which was founded in honor of Yeardley Love, a University of Virginia women's lacrosse player who had her life taken by an ex-boyfriend, a member of the UVA men's lacrosse team. The U-M men's and women's teams, as well as Rutgers' men's team and Duquesne's women's team will be wearing identical One Love t-shirts during pregame warmups to signify that the issue of relationship violence is bigger than the game of lacrosse and that all teams involved are committed to making a change on the global issue. The official hashtag of the event will be #Be1ForChange.
· Michigan opened up Big Ten play with a 13-4 loss to the No. 3 Maryland Terrapins last Sunday (March 29) in a game that was the first-ever Big Ten lacrosse game shown via the Big Ten Network. U-M was held scoreless for the first 28:53 of the game and never recovered in the defeat and was led by junior Kyle Jackson with a goal and a pair of assists as well as freshman Patrick Tracy (1+1=2), who saw his first extended action of the season on attack.
· Patrick Tracy's goal marked the fourth of the season for a U-M freshman, as PJ Bogle scored his first NCAA goal at the 7:59 mark of the second quarter against Bellarmine. Classmates Parker McKee and Sean McCanna each scored in the win over Canisius.
· Junior longstick-middie Chase Brown stood out against the Terps, collecting a ground ball and tied a season high with three turnovers. Brown, who hails from Annapolis, Maryland, also won the most face-offs of any Wolverine, going 3-of-8 in the second half. Brown now ranks No. 1 in the Big Ten with 1.33 caused turnovers per contest.
· Junior Peter Kraus, who notched the game-winner against St. Joseph's (March 14) with nearly one minute left in the fourth overtime, has filled the void on attack left by Ian King by going for 13 points in three games (7+6=13). Kraus, who previously saw limited reserve action this season, notched the second hat trick of his career against Brown, as the first came on March 1, 2014, vs. Cornell in a contest when he came off the bench. Additionally, senior Mike Francia (7+4=11) has stepped up on the attack unit alongside Kraus over the same span.
· Sophomore Stefan Bergman started his third straight contest of the season on close defense against the Terps. Against Drexel (March 21), he caused three turnovers and collected two ground balls and caused a turnover against the Hawks (March 14).
· Junior/sophomore goalie Gerald Logan made 18 saves in the win over the Hawks (March 14), one off his season-best 19 stops against Notre Dame. Logan has surpassed the 15-save plateau on three occasions this season.
· U-M figures prominently in multiple NCAA team rankings, as the Wolverines are No. 3 in caused turnovers per game (9.75), No. 29 in scoring offense (10.22) and No. 3 in saves per game (14.22). U-M's man-up offense is No. 2 in the Big Ten, converting at a 38-percent clip.
Individually, Gerald Logan is No. 18 in the country in save percentage at 55 percent and is No. 3 in saves per game with 13.11.
· The injured Ian King continues to lead the team in assists as well as points (12+10=22), while Mikie Schlosser leads the squad in goals with 13 and in shots with 40. Attackman Mike Francia paces the Wolverines in man-up goals with three, while junior Chase Brown narrowly leads a Wolverine contingent in ground-ball pickups with 24.
· The two 15-plus goal efforts this season also equal the total output of 15-plus games from a year ago (20 goals versus Mercer, 19 vs. Robert Morris). Michigan is 3-0 this season outshooting opponents and 3-1 when winning the ground ball battle.
· Eleven freshmen -- Chase Young, PJ Bogle, Parker McKee, Patrick Tracy, Will Reynolds, Hugh Mosko, BJ Mattheiss, Sean McCanna, Michael McDonnell, Tommy Heidt and Eric Smith -- and sophomore transfer Aaron Madaisky have all made their U-M debuts this season.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
Rutgers boasts a 4-7 mark on the season along with a 0-1 Big Ten record. The Scarlet Knights most recently fell to No. 19 Johns Hopkins by a 9-7 count on Saturday (March 28) in Baltimore, marking the second time this season RU has lost to a ranked opponent by a two-goal margin (9-7 vs. Army on March 3). Additionally, the team boasts a 'quality loss' against No. 12 Princeton, who beat Rutgers, 12-11, on March 17. The team is 2-2 in away games this season. Their offense ranks No. 26 in the country (10.55 goals per game), while the defense is No. 42 (10.36 goals per game).
Rutgers is led by a pair of standout players in attackman Scott Beida, who is No. 2 in the Big Ten in points per game with 3.55. He leads the team in both goals (23) assists (16) and points (39). Additionally, FOGO Joe Nardella ranks as the top faceoff man in the conference and No. 3 nationally, winning 68 percent of his chances at the dot. Additionally, he leads the conference in ground balls with 8.73 a game and ranks No. 4 nationally in the category and also contributes offensively with three goals and nine assists on the year.
Goaltending has been suspect the entire season, as the team ranks No. 66 in the country in saves per game at only 8.55, while the man-down unit has also struggled, allowing goals on 52 percent of man-up opportunities for opposition. Kris Alleyne, the choice goalkeeper of late, has played in nine games with seven starts, and he boasts a10.55 goals-against average to go along with stopping 45 percent of shots faced.
U-Mfell to the Scarlet Knights April 21, 2012 by a 13-9 count in Piscataway in the only previous meeting.
· Three U-M players hail from the Garden State in Jackson Kinley (Glen Ridge), Charlie McPeters (West Caldwell) and Andrew Portnoy (Mountain Lakes).
· Michigan has played the No. 24 schedule in the country according to LaxPower and has faced three top-10 teams thus far in current No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 3 Maryland and No. 10 Brown. Two future ranked opponents remain in No. 14 Ohio State as well as No. 19 Johns Hopkins.
· The Wolverines are in midst of a season when it will host a record nine home games in 2015 and opened the season with a 3-2 record with all five games coming in Oosterbaan Field House. U-M's first home game in Michigan Stadium resulted in a defeat against Drexel (March 21). The nine home games tie for the most amongst Big Ten teams (Rutgers) and No. 2 nationally behind only North Carolina and Stony Brook (10 home games).
NEXT UP
Sunday, April 12 -- vs. Ohio State (Michigan Stadium), 2 p.m. [ ESPNU ]
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