Lax Weekend Report: Directional Michigan Comment Count

Tim
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The Michigan Men's Lacrosse team took on a pair of in-state (and in-conference) opponents this weekend, squaring off against Western Michigan Friday night, and Central Michigan on Saturday. As is often the case against weaker opposition, the Wolverines took no prisoners, pounding both teams. I was only able to make it to Friday's game, the that report will be in a little more detail.

Western Michigan

In front of a packed house at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse, the Wolverines struggled to start the game. Though they finished the first quarter with a 7-3 lead, expectations are a bit higher against lower-tier CCLA squads. Michigan responded with a strong second quarter, outscoring the Broncos 11-1, while taking 11 shots to the Broncos' 3, winning 10 of 12 faceoffs, and holding Western to 3/7 on clears.

Freshman goalie Conor McGee took over for Mark Stone after the break, but the second half was no different, as Michigan continued to dominate, putting up 11 goals, while holding Western Michigan to just one - the first score of the half. The half was not as high-scoring as the first two quarters, as Michigan was content to keep the Broncos from scoring, and dominate possession of the ball - as well as try a number of behind-the-back passes and shots.

As should be the case with such a dominant performance, there were a number of statistical firsts and season-highs. Freshmen Sean Sutton and Joe Hrusovsky each recorded their first career goals in Michigan uniforms, while their classmate Thomas Paras collected career-highs in points (11) and goals (6). Senior attack Josh Ein set a career high in points with eight, as did midfielder Jamie Goldeberg, with with five.

Also the Wolverines did the old man-up-hidden-ball trick to score. Twice.

Official Site Recap.

Central Michigan

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On Saturday night, the Wolverines made for their slow Friday opening frame by blitzing Central Michigan with seven goals in the first seven minutes, fueling a 19-1 blowout over the Chippewas. Junior goaltender Andrew Fowler got the start in net (more on the goalies later), yielding to McGee for the fourth quarter.

Trevor Yealy (pictured at right) notched one assist to go along with seven goals, giving him an even 200 scores for his career after the weekend. Joey Hrusovsky scored for the second consecutive game, and his big bro Anthony tied his career high with three assists.

The Wolverines dominated statistically, winning 22 of 24 faceoffs (including a perfect 8-for-8 by Edward Ernst), taking more than four times as many shots as Central, collecting a 62 to 29 advantage in Ground Balls, and riding the Chips to a dismal 8-20 success rate on clears.

Official Site Recap.

Weekend Thoughts

It's always nice to see the team dominate a pair of lesser opponents, not only because that's what a squad of this caliber should do, but also because it gives young guys a chance to step up and show their stuff. With Michael Bartomioli and Clark McIntyre out injured, some youngsters were going to get a chance to prove themselves either way, but improving the depth by giving bench players some experience is always a positive.

While talking about young guys, I'd better point out that Thomas Paras looks like he's going to be a special player. just a freshman, he is a huge threat to score at any time, and he's significantly more likely than other attackmen to rack up big assist numbers as well. When Michigan returns to full strength, the number of offensive options will be astounding.

As for the goalies, I'm still a little confused as to what to rotation is. Andrew Fowler seemed like the better goaltender last year until he suffered a foot injury midway through the season (though he would come back healthy by the end of the year). That confidence was shared by the coaches, as he went wire-to-wire in the National Championship game, despite a poor first half. This year, Mark Stone is the clear #1, and I'm not sure if it's because Fowler regressed, Stone improved, or some combination of the two.

Up Next

Next weekend, the Wolverines hit the road (as they've been doing a ton this year, with only four home games out of a 13-game schedule) to take on Colorado and Colorado State. Colorado is pretty bad this year, but a win over the Wolverines could spark a run to salvage their season. With #2 Chapman falling to Oregon, Colorado State will likely be the #2 team in the country going into this weekend, for a huge #1 v. #2 matchup in Fort Collins.

I'll preview both teams in more depth in a diary later this week.

Comments

expatriate

April 5th, 2010 at 11:12 AM ^

Being from Maryland, as much as I want to get excited about Michigan lacrosse it is just hard to knowing that they don't play with the big boys. I would love to see this team get to play against the likes of Maryland, UVA, Navy, Johns Hopkins, or even UMBC (I am omitting Syracuse since I can't stand them in lacrosse).

Watching the team whoop on directional schools and second-tier programs is nice, and I know that Michigan wouldn't be a top program in D-1, but it is just sad to think that the University of Michigan wouldn't field a lacrosse team in the highest division. I know there are Title IX considerations, but you'd think with the money this athletic department rakes in they could spare some to get ahead of the fastest growing sport in the country.

laxalum

April 5th, 2010 at 12:16 PM ^

I'm alum of the team and I can understand your viewpoint. I kind of relate. I'm really proud of what the team is doing now, and I'm a little jealous that it's happening after I graduated. But I also think it's high time lacrosse was D1. They have proven all they can prove in the MCLA. Lacrosse would be a great varsity sport at Michigan. It fits.

But I do hope you go out and support the team now. If you want varsity lacrosse, then Brandon needs to see how much support there is for lacrosse. Big crowds and lots of fans are part of that. I also hope you respect the team for doing what they are doing. They can't help that they aren't D1. They are dominating at the level they are allowed to compete at. 200 other club teams can't say that. 90% of varsity teams can't say that. They are respected enough that varsity teams schedule them and Hopkins and Army even traveled out to Ann Arbor to scrimmage them and has offered to come back. That says a lot about both the current club program and the potential at Michigan.

And I disagree about Michigan becoming a top D1 program. I'm from Long Island. I went to a high school that is often ranked nationally. I think Michigan could build a competitive D1 program very quickly.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

April 5th, 2010 at 12:49 PM ^

Right now (and mind you this is totally without ever having seen an M lax game) I think Michigan would get slaughtered trying to play against the big boys of D-I, and probably a lot of the medium programs of D-I too. The scrimmage win over Bellarmine says they wouldn't be out of place in D-I, but they'd have a ladder to climb. Being Michigan, it could be done within a few years, but they'd have to establish a foothold in the hotbeds (Long Island, Baltimore, etc.) and fight against the powers and the local programs to do so because you can't be successful in D-I lacrosse recruiting the Midwest.

Would LOVE to see U-M make the D-I jump though. LOVE it. I'm a relatively recent convert to the awesomeness of lacrosse, but it's a great way to get your college sports fix in the spring.

Old Blue

April 5th, 2010 at 1:05 PM ^

I don't think anyone would argue that they could hang with Virginia or Syracuse right now, but who would expect them to? You can't really compare this team to those teams. They dominate the level they are allowed to play in. That's all you can expect of them. It's actually more than you should expect of them, but certainly all you could want from them. The fact that they can hang with, and even beat, ANY D1 team with scholarships is a pretty strong statement on the strength of the club team.

If they become varsity they'll be recruiting the blue chip players and the top players on this team probably become role players and walk-ons. That's a given isn't it?

I'm all for making noise about adding varsity lacrosse. But in the meantime, we have an incredibly successful team on campus that is fun to watch. By the way, Sparty is in the top ten of the MCLA for the first time ever(?). They play each other April 24. Big game. We may all put a higher priority on football, basketball and hockey wins (thank you Hunwick) over the greenies, but here's another chance to crush some Spartan dreams.

phjhu89

April 5th, 2010 at 2:40 PM ^

...I saw them play this weekend.

The last time I saw them play was three years ago when they scrimmaged Hop and Army.

Since then, they have gotten bigger and more athletic, but more importantly, they play a better team game. They are very disciplined, and they play hard. They would still get killed trying to play 1-5, surely lose to 6-15, but they might have a shot at 16-25, and they would likely be competitive with those below.

As myself and others have noted, Michigan is a very popular school for kids from LI and MD (less so central NY), so inroads into that hotbed would not be so hard. Take a look at the current roster - still mostly midwestern kids, but quite a few from LI and the Baltimore-Washington corridor.

The first few years would be tough, but look - the new Jacksonville program even has a few wins this year! They would probably be in a weaker conference like the ECAC (OSU is on the decline without Breschi, and Tierney hasn't transformed Denver yet - the only powers there are Loyola and Hobart - schools rarely in the top 8), and I bet that a couple of big names would make room for them on their expanding schedules.

phjhu89

April 5th, 2010 at 3:00 PM ^

Loyola will always be pretty good, and Hobart is up and down. The conference has not really had anyone who could threaten to make the FF regularly. But watch out for Denver. Now that Coach Tierney is there, I expect it to get really good, really soon. When he took over Princeton, it was a doormat. Within three years he had their their first championship. Another good reason to go D1 as soon as possible, before places like Denver become major destinations!

phjhu89

April 6th, 2010 at 3:32 PM ^

until after the season! Have there actually been any in program discussions of this?

So much movement with the emergence of a Big East lax conference. Really good for ND - they get Cuse and G'town every year. The old GWLL would have made a lot of sense, but the ECAC is weird - Loyola and Denver in the same conference?

phjhu89

April 5th, 2010 at 1:18 PM ^

I was at the Central game this weekend, and as a recent observer of the team, I was surprised (both positively and slightly negatively) by what I saw:

On offense this team is exceptionally disciplined and fundamentally sound. The speed and crispness of the offensive cycling was impressive. Although Central was REALLY bad, and not particularly capable of forcing a significant number of turnovers, you would still expect the occasional pass gone awry, especially with the amount of time spent in the offensive zone. I think I only saw one or two bad perimeter passes all game. Most offensive turnovers seemed to be from passes to cutters that just didn't make it through after they were overwhelmingly up. It looked at that point like they were using some of their offensive possessions to practice. Nevertheless, the off-ball movement was good as well.

I was also impressed that despite the ability to feed Yealy on the crease almost at will, the team worked hard to generate offense from the midfield as well. Although playing a tomato can, it is clear that they are working on diversity of scoring for those (few) times they are playing a team that can deny Yealy the ball near the crease.

Ground ball skills were very good (they obviously spend a lot of time on man-ball drills) and I was struck by the size and speed of these guys.

As long as we are on that end, all of this is tempered by the fact that Central was entirely unable to play team defense, or pick the ball off the ground. Slides rarely came, and the Central defense was being called from the sideline - an indicator that the goalie doesn't have the ability to direct his D. Central's dmen were big and fast however, and did OK in many of their one on one matchups, but ball movement, as well as the second and third chances they constantly provided by failing to pick up uncontested ground balls killed them. (A great testament to M's offense is how assist-heavy it is)

On the other end, I was blown away by the M long poles stick skills. They handled the ball well, passed accurately, and had the ability to press way out on Central (Central didn't play much team offense either, so pressing out wasn't much of a risk.) Central had some very skilled offensive players, but they rarely played together - I lot of isos.

While the D was very skilled, the D took way too many penalties, and many of them were careless and from overly aggressive play. It got really ridiculous when Goldberg took a pushing, off-sides, and slashing penalty all in a row. A better team would have made them pay for all that man-down time. Considering their stick skills, and the team's overall discipline, the carelessness of the penalties seems problematic.

It has got to be really hard for this team to prepare to play the few teams that can run with them. I haven't seen State, but the rest of the teams in their division are ridiculously weak. The things that work great when playing the tomato cans that are the majority of their schedule (no fault of their own - these are conference games) are not as likely to work against elite competition: those penalties would have been deadly, and the 10-man ride against a team that can execute is very risky (see the snippets of video from the Oregon game - at least one, open-net goal from an instance of the ride being broken by Oregon.)

This is all another reason why this team MUST go D1 NOW. Most of their games are now glorified practices, with a few tough (and really expensive to get to) matchups punctuating the season. I can't imagine how hard it is for Coach Paul to keep up this team's mental discipline when there is so little competition - maybe that's why they served 9 penalties against Central, and the Oregon game was so close. It makes this win streak that more impressive.

All of the stars are properly aligned right now: the quantity of high school talent is big enough to be causing more parity in the 6-25 range of D1 than ever (1-5 are still locked up as ever), D1 schedules are expanding as more games are being played in early March and even February - there will be some space on some impressive programs' schedules for Michigan, kids from the hotbeds of LI and Md love Michigan, ESPNU desperately needs a bigger name on their lax broadcasts to increase viewership - and we know ESPN/ABC love them some Michigan. AD Brandon - do it now!

michlaxref

April 5th, 2010 at 1:45 PM ^

I'm with Laxalum and Old Blue. The recruiting will get better when they go D1 and that will help them get to the next level. They already get some kids that could play D1. And some of them are already coming from the east coast. Look at the roster. While the Midwest D1 teams struggle to get kids from the coast, Michigan will get kids from the coast due to Michigan's name on the east coast as well as the huge alumni base in New York and other east coast towns. Along with Notre Dame, Michigan will immediately become one of the destinations of choice for the talent around the midwest and the rest of the country as well as the east coast.

I sure hope the paucity of great home games this year means these teams like CSU, BYU, ASU will be making the trip to Michigan to give us some great games to watch.

rwc123

April 5th, 2010 at 1:52 PM ^

So glad Michigan Lacrosse is getting better coverage these days. It's well deserved. The program has so much momentum that, if given varsity status, they should be in the mix of the top D1 teams before not too long. the top D1 programs are great schools but Michigan has plenty to offer. The midwest and west are producing so much talent that is overlooked by east coast teams who focus on the hot beds of Baltimore, Long Island, and upstate NY. It's only a matter of when the athletic department at Michigan will turn the corner and support a great program.

nyalum83

April 5th, 2010 at 1:56 PM ^

Michigan lax could undoubtedly break into the top tier of D1 lacrosse if given the opportunity and a few years with which to work. Look at Northwestern's longstanding dominance of Women's lacrosse and Notre Dame's ranking in D1 mens lax. Even OSU managed to break into the top 25. Being located in the Midwest may have once been an issue, but it surely is no longer. Last I heard, the largest contingent of out of state student's at the University came from New York. Michigan has never had a problem recruiting top students from New York (or, for that matter, any place else). If it had a fully supported D1 lax team, top student athletes who had not heretofore considered UofM would surely be knocking on the admissions office door. It is time to elevate the fastest game on 2 feet and the fastest growing team sport in the US to the D1 level at Michigan. If this is accomplished, I have little doubt that, within a few years, the team will break into the top 10 teams in the nation.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

April 5th, 2010 at 2:42 PM ^

Ehhh....I think the top 20 estimate above is more likely, and even that will take work. Top ten is really pushing it. Remember that most of the best lacrosse schools are competitive with and in some cases better than Michigan in the academics department. The idea that people are suddenly going to be banging on the door of the admission office is a little conceited when the competition for the best lacrosse recruits includes Princeton, Cornell, UVA, UNC, Duke, Hopkins, etc.

dmoo

April 5th, 2010 at 3:51 PM ^

Who knows how recruiting will go once Michigan goes D1. What I do know is this. If OSU and ND can field competitive and nationally recognized teams in the midwest, them Michigan is a lock to recruit better students and better athletes to a school that competes academically with the stronger schools out east as well as having a stronger althletic tradition (recent football and basketball performance not withstanding) than either of those two schools. It is certainly not conceited to suggest that a school with the type of atletic and academic tradition as UM and with the vast alumni network of UM is losing potential lacrosse recruits because they do NOT currently offer a D1 lacrosse program. The cases of better academic schools that curently reside in the top 10 of the lacrosse polls is a misnomer. Let's take them 1 by 1 and assess the schools' academic merits according to US News and World Reports 2010 National University rankings:

1. UVA - on par
2. UNC - on par
3. Syracuse - lower
4. Maryland - lower
5. Hofstra - much lower
7. Lafayette - not national, hard to compare
8. Princeton - IVY - need I say more
9. Bucknell - not national, hard to compare
10. Drexel - lower ranked
Just to clear up my perspective. I was accepted to Penn, UVA, GT, and UM. I was rejected by Cornell. I chose to come to A2 for the quality of the experience, the huge academic resources, and the highly touted engineering program. I grew up on the East coast, went to a prep school, and planned on staying out there until I researched and visited Michigan. The Michigan experience is unique and there are plenty of top lacrosse all-stars from both coasts who would love the opportunity to play D1 lacrosse in a place with huge athletic resources and rhe breadth of academic opprtunities at a place like Michigan. Now if we can only get the traditional UM sports to start holding up their end of the bargain. Let's go Rich Rod!

phjhu89

April 5th, 2010 at 4:15 PM ^

...thinking that Michigan is better than specific schools like Hopkins, Duke, UVa, Princeton, etc, but more the transferring of the usual Michigan thinking that M is a better school than its traditional competition, and that Michigan's tradition is richer than its rivals (the only one Michigan usually sees as in its class tradition-wise is ND, and fans still remind ND that M taught them how to play football) to lacrosse. In the world of Michigan athletics, the power of that Michigan tradition is very real.

The world of lax has its own culture, history, and tradition. There is no Notre Dame mystique in lax. Hopkins and Syracuse are the Michigan and Notre Dame of college lacrosse, in a very real way. Those traditions have as much power in the world of college lax as the block M does in football. The overconfidence is thinking that this is easily transferable.

I DO believe that Michigan can make the jump to D1, and become a player. But don't underestimate the power of a lacrosse tradition that keeps the best recruits going to the same 6 schools year in and year out. And its not just tradition - look at the blood lines of the coaches - how many of the high school coaches of the better high school programs come from these 6 programs? BTW, Jamie Goldberg, from Yorktown NY, was coached by Dave Marr - the all time assists leader at JHU - so it is doable. But we shouldn't expect an impact anything like the NU Women's team - being competitive in conference, with a decent shot at making the tournament would be a great start.

L'Carpetron Do…

April 5th, 2010 at 6:34 PM ^

You make some strong points. I have to say I agree with you. Are the top dogs (Princeton, Cornell, Duke, etc.) still getting the best talent? Yes. Are they better schools than Michigan? Yes. But that is still no reason why Michigan can't throw their hat in the ring and be competitive.

One thing Michigan has going for it is that it will be the first big name, highly reputable school to add lacrosse in a long time. Now that the sport is peaking in popularity, it may be incredibly attractive to HS players who would want to play on a varsity Michigan lacrosse team.

While lacrosse may have its own mystique and traditions, Michigan has an overall athletic mystique. They've been good at EVERYTHING. Is there one team on campus that has not enjoyed some type of success at some point? Off the top of my head I can tell you that the men's football, basketball, hockey, baseball, and swimming/diving teams have all won national championships (I'm pretty sure) and the wrestling team has produced many individual champions. How many other schools can say that? Teams at Michigan have created a unique tradition of success. Michigan lacrosse would undoubtedly carry on that tradition(and has already been doing so).

Like yourself, I am also from the east coast and chose Michigan. I played for an awesome high school team which was stacked with Division 1 talent and has become a perennial contender for county, LI and NYS championships. I sort of slipped through the cracks of the recruiting process but chose to go to Michigan instead of playing at a handful of mid-level D-1 programs. When I played at U of M there were a handful of other players who had done the same, now there are several.

Now, I have to wonder how many kids who are on rosters like UNC, Syracuse, Maryland, Duke, UVA, etc. would have considered Michigan as an option if they had a D-1 team. There's probably a few players who would love to come to U of M and play for the first ever Michigan lacrosse team rather than riding the bench for a top tier team. Michigan would absolutely be able to attract top talent and be successful. That's the Michigan tradition.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

April 5th, 2010 at 7:09 PM ^

Yes, the Michigan experience is unique, but don't let that fool you into thinking the other schools are not. The UVA experience is unique too. So is UNC, and Hopkins, and Syracuse, and Princeton, and the others. That's the fallacy that I see here.

phjhu is dead on: there is lacrosse tradition at these other schools that frankly Michigan cannot match. At Syracuse you can play your lacrosse games in front of a bigger crowd than Michigan basketball does. The US Lacrosse HOF is on the Hopkins campus. UVA...well...you be the judge:
http://www.virginiasports.com/pics5/1024/EC/ECNQRDAPJDOFXQQ.20070829212…

Point being, do not make the mistake of thinking you can wave a block M at a recruit and dazzle him. It doesn't work in basketball if the kid's got a Duke offer, it doesn't work in swimming if the kid's got a Stanford offer, it doesn't work in wrestling if the kid's got an Iowa offer, and it won't work in lacrosse if the kid's got a Hopkins offer. They're not going to be impressed by baseball's national championship twenty years ago when they can look at a national championship banner from just last year in their own sport at another school.

Can Michigan compete with and beat the Stony Brooks, Robert Morrises, and Loyolas? Yeah, of course. But the block M and Michigan mystique isn't an auto-ticket to D-I glory. You said it yourself: maybe some of those kids riding the bench for the top teams would prefer to be starters at Michigan. If Michigan's starters are UVA's bench riders, that's not the way to get past them to the top.

dmoo

April 6th, 2010 at 12:13 AM ^

Good points UVA blogger. I guess the issue I have with all of this sports specific tradition is that when it comes down to it, you just need to find 35-50 players who can play ball, an excellent coach, and a committed athletic director to field a top-tier program. We have to be careful talking about the DNA of lacrosse being entrenched so much at the Ivy's and East Coast teams that Michigan is not going to lure top talent. These were the same voices who probable suggested that ND was not going to lure top talent to that school when they began their varsity program in '81. Football tradition would insist that Princeton and Yale, with their 50+ championships would together occupy the epicenter of college football power. My, how times have changed. I think we would all argue that the Florida program is as strong and is positioned as competitively in college football as any other school. Yet, they only have 3 championships. Their "DNA" began very recently, and is etching its success into college football history. Old school lacrosse-a-philes have to realize that with the growth of the sport comes the thinning of its power base. The 6 powerhouses can still only field one team, so the pool of talented kids who will want to play immediately will only grow. Michigan is in a unique position to offer overall athletic excellence in an array of diverse sports, immense fiduciary resources, and a very strong academic rep - all of which magnify the appeal. No one is suggesting the block "M" is going to automatically equal immediate success, but let's be real and not suggest the lure of large schools is a fallacy: imagine this discussion if UVA did not have a varsity lacrosse program. There would be no sane reason for UVA to not become varsity, immediately start pulling top talent to its storied and beautiful campus close to the east coast, and soon begin forging its lacrosse legacy on collegiate athletics.

I feel the same way about the converse argument where Michigan already has a foothold. Let's take men's ice hockey for example. If NYU had a very successful D2 men's hockey team that seemed to be on the verge of gaining D1 status (and this is a big if), why wouldn't I think that they would not lure top talent from the northeast once D1 is the official status? NYU is a great school in a great setting that offers a unique experience that also benefits from being located in a great hockey state; it only makes sense that some of the top hockey talent finds it appealing and is lured to whatever unique qualities exist at NYU that the other 21,000 undergraduates find appealing. UM is a huge school, that competitively draws STUDENTS and athletes from the ENTIRE country, and has HUGE resources. Get a great coach - JP has proven himself to be a stellar coach and innovative leader who has formed a varsity mindset at the club level - and get Brandon behind the team, and there is no reason that 35-50 all-star lacrosse athletes from the widening world of high school lacrosse would not come on board every year.

phjhu89

April 6th, 2010 at 3:32 AM ^

Neither Wahoo or I argue that Michigan can't become competitive. It's this talk of "top tier" within a short period that is more problematic.

Take your ND example: It took almost two decades for ND to get to a point where they made the tourney as anything other than the token "Western" team, back when the tourney was only 12 teams. The expansion of conferences has gotten more teams that never had a chance into the tourney via autobid, and while ND and OSU were in a conference together, only once were they both good enough that both made it, with one as an at-large bid. (The last year of the GWLL) I don't think it will take Michigan decades to get there, but please note that ND is not yet consistent enough to make the tourney, even in a year when their new conference is more winnable. ND is not top tier yet, even with some blue chippers on their roster, and some trips into the stratosphere of the rankings.

Like you, I have argued that the exponential increase in the sport on the High School level provides Michigan with a great opportunity to make the jump without the usual growing pains. But that is a long way from being a perennial top 10 team.

I agree that the power base is thinning, but not so much since the FF is highly likely to be UVa, 'Cuse, UNC, and either MD, Duke, or Hofstra. Hofstra would be the newest face in the FF, but even their coaching bloodline is just one degree of separation from two different sources of Lax royalty.

What we are seeing in this thinning is more room in the top ten, and greater odds of new faces in the tourney. We may actually have a champion this year that hasn't won an NCAA championship in the last 20 years (UNC - but they have several championships from the 80s), but that is due to Breschi's return to his alma mater and the ankle-breaking moves of Billy Bitter than to the growth in talent overall.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

April 6th, 2010 at 7:23 AM ^

It's this talk of "top tier" within a short period that is more problematic.

Bingo. 20 years after going D-I, Michigan could be anywhere. It's the talk of being "top ten in a few years" (to me, "a few" means three or four) that I can't see happening. To use the Notre Dame and Florida examples above, Notre Dame broke into football, as mentioned, when the Ivies completely ruled the roost - it wasn't til 30 years later that they became Notre Dame. Florida was crap for decades until the sixties with Steve Spurrier quarterbacking, and then after that it still took 20 more years to become a power and 30 to win a national title.

Nobody's saying it can't be done ever. Michigan lacrosse would eventually be pretty damn good. But it's not going to happen within just "a few years" of making the leap. And I even worry that if Michigan doesn't go for it now, they may miss the boat. Right now is the perfect time: a new, forward-thinking AD, a dominating club team, new facilities on the way, and just in the era where the lacrosse Final Four occasionally even outdraws the basketball one.

phjhu89

April 6th, 2010 at 10:05 AM ^

And I even worry that if Michigan doesn't go for it now, they may miss the boat.

I also have this concern that if they don't do it now, the process will be much harder. I'm much less certain about my reasoning there. I guess it is based on the following developments.

We are seeing an unprecedented growth in D1 right now - 2 new programs in the last 2 years, as well as most of the MAAC programs going fully funded. Compared to college hockey's situation, this is massive growth.

More and more middle- to low- tier programs are making some noise right now. No, Drexel and Lafayette are not going to the FF. However, they are in the polls and being written about.

As more former D1 laxers stay in the business of lax as both MLL players and coaches, these mid and lower tier programs are getting coaches with NAMES that are recognizable. You've got big names at schools that don't have such a history.

Put these developments together, and that recruiting landscape that is so wide open RIGHT NOW is likely to tighten a little bit.

Another source of worry is that some of the way that the club plays the game could really backfire on them in D1. That 10-man ride would get exploited against a really skilled team, as would the really aggressive D that has been taking more penalties as the season has gone one. How much does this have to do with playing mostly tomato cans, with a few tough games interspersed? I don't know - I only know that unless they go D1 there is nothing they can do about this wildly inconsistent level of competition.

dmoo

April 8th, 2010 at 2:43 AM ^

Wahoo, I take no issue with your assertion that it takes some time to build a champion. I agree that Michigan won't immediately become a perennial national contender. My only issue is that I think Michigan's pedigree, while not in lacrosse, will lure top talent... IMMEDIATELY. This of course will not IMMEDIATELY translate into FINAL FOUR appearances (although the Fab Five did it with the help of Mr. Martin). You've got to recruit well for several years before you field a champion; a team of freshman ain't getting it done. The contender crowd is simply saying that Michigan will recruit with the big boys NOW and recruiting consistency will result in a steady increase in the level of competitiveness of the team. I have no idea how many of Michigan's current crop of players could play on a successful D1 team, so the personnel may need to be built from the ground up. But Michigan's size, tradition, national recruiting appeal, and athletic budget all combine to make Michigan a very marketable institution to young athletes. Can we find 40 of them every year who have sick lacrosse skills? - I bet.

L'Carpetron Do…

April 6th, 2010 at 1:51 AM ^

I didn't mean to say that UNC and Virginia and such schools didn't have unique experiences. They do. Those programs and athletic departments are highly prestigious. Of course, Michigan cannot match their lacrosse tradition - for example, Syracuse has been playing the game for roughly 100 years. U of M obviously can't match that.

But, Princeton's pedigree as a lacrosse power is not as deep as a Syracuse or Hopkins. Princeton only became a power when they shocked Syracuse in 1992, so they are relatively new to the top tier. Also, Duke only became prominent in the 1990s - largely due to its reputation as an athletic and academic elite.

My point is that Michigan's overall athletic tradition will make it competitive. They have won national championships in 9 men's sports and have had dozens of individual national champions in various sports and sent over 200 athletes and coaches to the Olympics. Most other schools cannot match that type of tradition.

When I was a freshman I was surprised to hear that Michigan's men's soccer team was in its first season as a varsity program. They struggled at first but by the time I was a senior they finished second in the Big Ten and made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. I seriously doubt Michigan lacrosse would experience such a swift ascent but, then again - why should it be any different?

A block 'M' and winged helmet may not dazzle every recruit but it certainly would work on some. Don't you think that if UCLA fielded a varsity team that their history, the Rose Bowl and those powder blue and gold unis would entice some Long Island boys to head out to Westwood and play for the Bruins? That's the allure of a powerful athletic tradition.

Michigan wouldn't even have to poach bench players, they could recruit on their own strengths. While lacking the lacrosse tradition they could boast the school's overall athletic success and that it is on par academically with UVA and UNC and better than Syracuse and Maryland. Plus, Ann Arbor offers an amazing college atmosphere you may not find at other places.

As a college student I had the amazing opportunity to put on a maize and blue jersey, strap on a winged helmet and play for the University of Michigan. Eventhough it is always followed by an explanation of why it's not as cool as it sounds, it's pretty damn cool to tell people I played lacrosse at Michigan.

Go Blue! Keep rolling and get it done in Colorado and especially at Colorado State.

Tim

April 6th, 2010 at 2:16 PM ^

For the record, Michigan basketball averaged about 10k fans per game this year. Syracuse lacrosse is averaging fewer than 6k fans per game this year (I would estimate in the high 3k or low 4k, based on reported attendances and without looking at every single boxscore).

Seeing the crowds that have come out for the three (man, it sucks that there weren't many home games this year) home games this season, all with well over 1,000 fans, I think a Michigan lacrosse team could easily draw comparable crowds to Syracuse.

That said, your over-arching point is correct: The block-M isn't a magic elixir in lacrosse. I still think it would get a little more clout than you're giving it credit for, but your larger point is accurate.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

April 6th, 2010 at 3:16 PM ^

I kind of weaseled that stat a bit to be honest, but I think it's fair because that's the recruiting pitch you'd get at Syracuse, minus the voice of reason to say otherwise. Sometimes they do get enormous crowds. They don't have any marquee matchups at home this year, but they drew well over 16K for the UVA game in the Carrier Dome last year. That's three thousand more than would even fit in Crisler IIRC, which is why I feel comfortable saying that as if it were a Cuse recruiting pitch.

Tim

April 7th, 2010 at 11:11 AM ^

Just as a side note to this conversation (/argument, whatever it is), Michigan, should they go varsity any time soon, will (should?) also have, bar none, the best lacrosse facility in the nation.

Considering the coaches have always invited recruits to visit campus on football Saturdays, walking by the sparkling new facility on the way to the game, or watching the mob of people walking to the game from said facility, then attending a game in the Michigan Stadium atmosphere HAS to be considered a recruiting plus.

Sure, lacrosse might not have the Michigan mystique like football does, but selling the whole Michigan experience ("you can go to these games during your college years" and/or "help us build another program like this at Michigan") would be a boon to recruiting nonetheless.

MichFan17

April 5th, 2010 at 9:35 PM ^

The lacrosse team has the look and feel of a top tier d1 program, I am surprised they are not... Time for the athletic department to flip the switch and make it happen. Competition with schools like Princeton, Johns Hopkins and Virginia will serve to boost the Michigan brand and increase national exposure, especially on the east coast. Mgoblog, great job covering the team, keep it up!!

bighouselaxin

April 5th, 2010 at 5:46 PM ^

I agree with many of the above posts. Michigan lacrosse has grown in every way possible - from talent to the program's architecture to the facilities. There is no doubt the current team, or even the teams from the past few years, could compete on a D1 level. That said, the D1 level I am talking about is the mid-range teams where you would find many of the Ivy League schools. Michigan has shown they can beat some mediocre D1 programs and legit D3 programs. There is no doubt they can ball. Making the jump would be huge, and necessary, not only for the growth of the program, but for the growth of the game of lacrosse. While lacrosse still is predominantly east coast still, it is growing exponentially out west and there is a growing need for a connecting point in the midwest. Michigan going varsity would be the perfect solution. Also, to touch on the caliber of players currently in the Michigan program, the starters could without a doubt get playing time for a solid D1 program, a few of them may even be able to be starters at a current top 25 program.

phjhu89

April 5th, 2010 at 10:16 PM ^

It would be an awesome thing for Michigan to do what OSU does: they have a lax game in the shoe following the OSU spring game. This game has set regular seasons attendance records at an NCAA lax game - bigger than games in the Carrier Dome. Just think of the exposure that would come if that Michigan-Purdue game scheduled for the same weekend as the spring game were at the Big House after the spring game! (Then again, I don't think there is any way that the football program would ever allow lax lines to be drawn on a football field.

This brings up another question - with so little sideline clearance in Oosterban, the field is too narrow. Anyone know if there is more sideline clearance in the Glick field house, and if there are plans to "harden" the building?

Tim

April 6th, 2010 at 2:28 PM ^

There was talk last year of trying to play in the Big House before the spring game this year, but I think the transition in ADs was a big part of why it didn't happen.

In future seasons, it might be a possibility.

laxalum

April 6th, 2010 at 4:17 PM ^

According to JP (Coach Paul), Rich Rod himself suggested this last year when the two of them met. I get the sense that Martin was the biggest roadblock. And yes, they would paint lacrosse lines on the Big House field. If Ohio State will do it in the Horseshoe...

The Ohio State athletic department markets their lacrosse game before the spring game very heavily, and Tressel is very involved in that marketing. 90% of the people in the stands may not be die-hard lacrosse fans, but playing a regular season game in front of 40,000 or more is great for the sport.

laxalum

April 7th, 2010 at 9:28 AM ^

Not sure that Rich Rod is actually into lacrosse. I seem to remember that he and coach Paul are both close to someone who is, and that same person is also close with Tressel and a bunch of other BCS football coaches. Agent or financial guy maybe? Whoever it is, he loves lacrosse and has influence with a lot of these football coaches.

laxman721

April 5th, 2010 at 8:14 PM ^

I grew up on the East Coast playing lacrosse and I live in Maryland now, so I get to see top notch lacrosse on television and in person. There is no doubt in my mind that if UM went varsity, they could recruit a top program. UM is a hugely popular school on the East Coast, and gets tons of applications from public and private high school students. It would be able to attract Maryland, Philly, New Jersey, Boston, and New York players. In addition, it would get the best high school players in the Midwest (who didn't want to go to Notre Dame). It would have an alumni base that would show up in droves for every away game played against the top schools on the East Coast. And with John Paul as coach, they'd have one of the best lacrosse minds in the country.

ely30

April 5th, 2010 at 8:48 PM ^

Just so pumped the program is getting this type of coverage. This team works so hard and at times does not receive the coverage it deserves. Thank you MGoBlog. Go Blue and let's see what the guys can do in Colorado.

mgofuj

April 6th, 2010 at 4:26 AM ^

My girlfriend's cousin plays lax for Western. The Aunts/Uncles were asking him this weekend about his most recent and upcoming games. When naively asked if Sparty was on par with Michigan, his reply was emphatic: "NO ONE is as good as Michigan". Damn right.

phjhu89

April 5th, 2010 at 10:08 PM ^

While much of our conversation has been based around questions like recruiting, how long it would take to establish a Michigan brand that could get the UA All-Americans that the big boys get, one thing to consider is the growth of TV coverage and the role that Michigan could play there.

Two years ago, ESPNU made a considerable investment in televising a TON of D1 games. (an investment they have NOT made in college hockey) As a Hopkins grad who rarely gets back to B'more, it has been great to have that many Hop games televised (well, not so great at times - too much losing the last few years - we are likely to miss the tournament for the first time in THIRTY years this year)

As some on other boards have noted, Hopkins has an outsized number of games televised - there are a few reasons for this that are useful to consider:

1. The local Baltimore ABC affiliate was already televising many Hopkins games already, and most of the ESPNU announcers already live in Baltimore already. Much of the lax world's infrastructure is there - lax HOF, US Lacrosse, Inside Lacrosse - this makes for an incremental cost increase to broadcast these games on ESPNU.

2. Lacrosse has been everything at Hopkins for over a 100 years - its alumni, while nowhere near as numerous as Michigan's, are national, and lax-hungry. We are a guaranteed audience for ESPNU's advertisers.

However, I am sure that lax broadcasts are still a loss-leader for the worldwide leader. Sure, there are a lot more lax merchandise companies advertising this year than last, but the big advertisers aren't there yet.

I am sure that ESPNU would love to tap into an audience far bigger, and there is no bigger audience than Michigan alums/fans. I think they would LOVE to broadcast Michigan lacrosse games. Michigan fans are used to turning on the TV and finding Michigan playing - they would watch lax on TV in numbers.

In addition, I bet the Inside Lacrosse Day of Rivals - which will pit JHU vs. MD and Army vs. Navy, would love to one day add Michigan vs. Ohio State to that dance card. From a national marketing point of view, the business of lacrosse is waiting for Michigan. I am sure they would love some other big name schools too, but Michigan's location is better than Texas, Florida, or USC.

Michigan on TV and in the big showcases held in NFL stadiums could really help with recruiting, and help build attendance and TV audience.

Something to think about AD Brandon!!!