Michigan
Cleveland State
Wolverines to Host Cleveland State in 2020 Season Opener
2/4/2020 5:26:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
» Head coach Kevin Conry enters his third season as head coach of the Wolverine program.
» Junior attackman Kevin Mack enters the season with a point in 26-straight games, and has a point in all but one of his contests as a Wolverine.
» Junior Alex Buckanavage, as well as sophomores Bryce Clay and Andrew Darby were tabbed as U-M's Big Ten Players to Watch.
THIS WEEK
Saturday, Feb. 8 -- vs. Cleveland State (U-M Lacrosse Stadium), 1 p.m.
TV: BTN+ | Tickets | Live Stats | Live VideoÂ
PROMOTIONS
• Feb. 8: Poster Giveaway
• Full Promotions Schedule
• Season Preview
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
The University of Michigan men's lacrosse team (0-0) will open up year three of the Kevin Conry era with a matchup against Cleveland State (0-1) on Saturday (Feb. 8) at 1 p.m. from U-M Lacrosse Stadium.
Wolverine Bites
• Junior Alex Buckanavage, as well as sophomores Bryce Clay and Andrew Darby were tabbed as U-M's Big Ten Players to Watch. In the Big Ten Preseason Poll, U-M was picked to finish sixth. Penn State was the unanimous choice for the top spot, followed by Maryland, Johns Hopkins, Ohio State, and Rutgers.
• Mack enters his junior season with a point in 26 straight games, and has a point in all but one of his contests as a Wolverine. The streak is the 19th-longest in the country.
• U-M's 16-member recruiting class, ranked No. 13 in the country by Inside Lacrosse, features three top-50 recruits in No. 18 Ryan Schriber at close defender, No. 23 Josh Zawada at attack, and No. 35 Jake Bonomi at midfield. The trio also played in the Under Armour All-America game, the most for a Wolverine signing class in program history. The quartet is joined by another four-star recruit in defender Miles Bollman.
• Offensively, U-M will have to replace the program's all-time leading goal scorer in Brent Noseworthy (102), as well as Decker Curran, who ended his career ranked No. 4 in the U-M record books with 106 career points. In all, the unit returns 70 percent (102 goals, 61 assists, 163 points) of its point scoring from 2019.
• U-M's 13-game schedule features six home contests, six away contests and one neutral-site matchup. Six of this season's opponents finished the 2019 season ranked in the top-25 of the NCAA RPI, with Penn State, Yale, Notre Dame, Maryland and Johns Hopkins making NCAA Tournament appearances, with Yale falling in the NCAA title game and Penn State falling in the semifinals of the tournament. Additionally, U-M will take on first-year Division I program Merrimack, which won the 2019 NCAA Division II national title.
Opponent Preview
Cleveland State
Winners in seven of its final 10 games last season, Cleveland State will be looking to ride last year's late-season rally to improve on an 8-7 record. The Vikings started last year 1-4 before their strong finish.
Cleveland State opened its 2020 season at home with an 11-10 overtime loss against Marquette on Feb. 1. The Vikings fell to the Golden Eagles despite a goal from junior Tristan Hanna with 13 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
The Vikings boasted a top-20 offense in assists per game last year, averaging 7.53 assists per contest. Cleveland State's offense is led by junior attackman Michael Wilson, who had 35 assists and 53 points in 2019. The Vikings are returning their leading goal scorer from the 2019 season in Tristan Hanna (26 goals).
Cleveland State also returns one of the best faceoff men in the country in senior Danny Tessler, who performed at a high level in 2019 winning 64.4 percent of his faceoffs -- good for the eighth-highest faceoff win percentage in the nation.
Close defender Michael Harris anchors a defensive unit that ranked 22nd in the nation in caused turnovers per game (8.93) last season. Harris is coming off a season with 25 ground ball pickups and 11 caused turnovers. Junior Stephen Russo returns in goal for the Vikings. Russo boasted a .497 save percentage and finished the season with 91 saves.
This will be Cleveland State's first season under head coach Andy German, who served as the Viking defensive coordinator since the program's inaugural 2015 season. German was tapped for the head coaching position following the exit of former CSU head coach Dylan Sheridan, who accepted an assistant coaching position at Ohio State.
Cleveland State trails, 3-0, in the all-time series against the Wolverines.
Ticket Information
• Tickets are on sale for all Michigan men's lacrosse home games, with general admission tickets available for $6 and group tickets (10 or more) on sale for $3 each.
• For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the men's lacrosse tickets page.
Tweet of the Week
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— Michigan Men's Lacrosse (@UMichLacrosse) February 3, 2020
Game week is here!#WearIt | #Scrum20? pic.twitter.com/uTK1nalShT
Keep Up With the Wolverines
Stay current with everything going on with the Wolverines by following Michigan men's lacrosse on Twitter and Instagram (@umichlacrosse), on Snapchat (@umichathletics) and "liking" the Wolverines on Facebook. Inside access can also be viewed via the team's YouTube page by searching 'MGoBlueLacrosse'.
Up Next
Saturday, Feb. 15 -- at Hofstra (Hempstead, N.Y.), 11 a.m.
