Lacrosse falls in valiant effort, 10-8 at Fairfield

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

Wasn't able to post a game thread last night. Michigan went on the road to Fairfield, CT to play their 3rd ECAC game of the season against the 3-3 Fairfield Stags. Fairfield was ranked last week before losing to #20 Yale. They were exchanging punches the entire game. Michigan tied it 8-8 in the 3rd before the Stags scored 2 to ice the game in the 4th.

David McCormack and freshman Peter Kraus both had 2 goals on the night. Gerald Logan once again made great saves.

Michigan's faceoff man Brad Lott returned in this game and he had a massive effect. Also senior captain Thomas Paras made his return

It really was a good step in the right direction. 

Stats-

Stat U-M FAIR
Shots 31 40
Ground Balls 30 36
Faceoffs 13-20 7-20
Clears 12-15 12-16
Extra-Man 2-5 2-9
Turnovers 23 16
Saves 17 10

ECAC Standings-

  Team ECAC Overall
1. #3 Denver 1-0 5-1
  Hobart 1-0 4-2
  #10 Loyola 1-0 4-2
  Fairfield 1-0 4-3
5. Bellarmine 2-1 5-1
6. #12 Ohio 0-1 4-1
  Air Force 0-1 4-3
8. Michigan 0-3 0-7

Next Up: Colgate (5-2) (Metropolitan Lacrosse Classic; Citi Field; Flushing, NY)

Date/Time/TV- Sunday (Mar. 17), 3pm on ESPNU

quigley.blue

March 15th, 2013 at 8:45 AM ^

27 of Fairfield's 40 shots were on cage, and Logan had 17 saves, making his save percentage .630, which puts him at a very high level in lacrosse.  He's at .581 for the year, and it's his 4th game above .600.

SysMark

March 15th, 2013 at 9:33 AM ^

I was at the game and it was a good night despite the loss.  I live in Fairfield so know a lot of people on their side - very positive and non-hostile crowd.  Everyone I talked to was impressed with Michigan, particularly with their effort, hustle, and of course the goaltender.  Michigan went down early 4-1, came back to tie and it was close the rest of the way.

A lot of Michigan people there - fun night.

pkatz

March 15th, 2013 at 10:17 AM ^

and agree with the comments - Michigan defense and goaltending looked very good; middie and attack play need to become more consistent, but will get there.

Besides it being colder than hell, it was a great game and a very good showing for Michigan fans and the team.

Go Blue

Ccapilla

March 15th, 2013 at 9:51 AM ^

Is the sense that the team is progressing according to schedule? I know we are still waiting for the program to mature but I get the feeling that things are happening pretty much as they should. I have to be honest, though, and admit I haven't ben able to follow particularly close. Can someone who is more connected, or at least more informed, let me know if I am on the right track here?

WolvinLA2

March 15th, 2013 at 10:14 AM ^

Yeah, I think you're on the right track. I think a lot of people would have wanted to see us beat fellow noob High Point, but we played them very close and our games since then against Hobart and Fairfield were very close despite being teams no one thought we'd beat.

Most people who follow this stuff expected this season to be rough still, considering our only D1 recruiting class is the freshmen, but we've had a chance to win a handful of games and I bet we pull off a win or two before the season is over.

My guess is that we don't really take a leap until year four, but next year will be interesting.

mlax27

March 15th, 2013 at 2:07 PM ^

Capilla, I think this team is progressing along just as we'd expect, and to be honest games like this and Hobart have exceeded my expectations.  Next year I think we will still be underdogs in these types of games given that we will be playing almost all freshman and sophomores at that point, but the third year in I'm expecting the big jump as we will have two experienced classes in, plus a third group of Freshman.  There are a few Freshman on the field right now who look like they are ready for this level of play, but are still inconsistent and a handful of guys who are ready should not be enough to be competitive against this type of schedule just yet. 

Two weeks in a row we had a chance in the 4th quarter to actually beat an ECAC team.  We were right in both games and neither seemed to look like a fluke. 

MAgoBLUE

March 15th, 2013 at 10:54 AM ^

Fairfield grad here.  Lax is by far our best sport and the team is pretty good this year.  For Michigan to compete like that on the road against us is a good sign for the young program.  With the resources and reputation of Michigan and the growing popularity of lax around the country it's only a matter of time before you pass us by either in the ECAC or eventually in a B1G Lax conference.  (Sigh. . .)

chatster

March 15th, 2013 at 11:04 AM ^

The St. Patrick’s Day game against Colgate (5-2) at Citi Field should be an interesting test for this Michigan team. Colgate has last year’s Tewaaraton Trophy winner, attackman Peter Baum who scored six goals in a 12-5 win over Binghamton on Tuesday. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

Although they’re not ranked in the latest USILA Coaches Poll, they’re ranked 12th out of 63 NCAA Division One teams in Lax Power’s latest computer rankings, compared to Michigan’s ranking of 59th (and Fairfield’s ranking of 34th), the teams Colgate has beaten have a combined record of 8-18. They were crushed by 2nd ranked Cornell (19-3 on March 3) and lost in OT to Hobart (9-8 on March 5).

If Michigan can keep the final score against Colgate at least as close as Lax Power's 30th ranked Binghamton did, that should be a sign of progress for Michigan LAX. 

OT:  FYI for those who've denigrated Maryland's move to the B1G, the undefeated Terps (5-0 and outscoring opponents 70-34) currently are the top-ranked NCAA Division One men's lacrosse team.

Eastern Wolverine

March 15th, 2013 at 12:11 PM ^

I won't give the Fairfield crowd that much credit. There were the usual semi-inebriated youths yelling "you guys are horrible" etc. behind Michigan during the first quarter. That can't feel good when you're on the road and haven't won a game. As mentioned however the team stayed focused particularly after going down 4-1. They legitimately had a chance in this game up until 1:30 or so in the fourth. Regardless of what happens with a potential B1G league in the future I hope they continue to come out east to play. It has to be a help in recruiting as there are many quality programs in the area. I know "This is Michigan" and everyone should know it, but marketing a great thing never hurts particularly when there are so many alum & fans living in Metro NY. Very cool to be able to literally walk from my home in CT last night to see a UM Men's Varsity team in action.