Lax beats Mercer 14-4 FIRST WIN IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Today at 10, the lacrosse team is taking on Mercer in Flordia. The game is being streamed live on laxx.tv. The web site is free so lets get as many people watching as possible.
As for the game itself, Mercer is a very bad D1 team. They are currently 0-4 with losses to Detroit, Ohio, North Carolina, and Bellarmine. Common opponent being Detroit, Mercer lost 16-7, while we lost 13-9. I know it is hard to compare teams based on scored, but what i will say is that Michigan lost to Detroit in their very first lacrosse game ever at the D1 level, Mercer lost to Detroit in the 4th game of the season at home. This is Mercer's second season as a D1 program.
Should be a great game, but i think we will see Michigan pull out a 3-4 goal victory today and see Team One get the first win in program history.
14-4
i don't understand what the hell is going on, but the fact that their guy knocked ours down and the result is that the ball is theirs makes me think i'll like lacrosse.
Michigan wins! There's win #1
Great job Team One!
My impression of the game today is that Michigan has already made a huge stride in being a D1 program. It is huge to get that first win in program history, just ask Mercer, they are still looking for that first win in program history vs a D1 opponent.
The defense was ok at best; they allowed a few sloppy goals. The other problem I noted was they allowed too many Mercer players to sit wide open on the crease and didn’t follow the cutters close enough, especially those cutting down from up top. Weiss played a great game, not only making some great saves, but also picking off Mercer’s sloppy passes. The thing that impressed me the most was the effectiveness of the 10-man ride that Michigan uses.
On the offensive side, I thought Michigan played well. They didn’t force anything and only drove when Mercer gave them the lanes to drive. Michigan could have had a lot more goals, but the second half goalie for Mercer (Bateman, I think) played well, he stopped a few shots that should have been goals. Regardless, Michigan moved the ball around to kill some time and was able to set each other up for some good shots. Also, nice to see the man-up get some goals today.
In addition, Michigan handled Mercer pretty easily and this speaks volumes to the level of club that Michigan had prior to going D1. I have said this all season, we are still playing with a club team, essentially, and to come out and easily beat a program that is in their second year speaks to the dedication Coach JP put into the club program. I am not sure how Mercer established their D1 program, I know a lot of brand new program (at all levels) will have a year or two of recruiting and maybe play a year as a club team against D1 opponents. Regardless, Michigan controlled this game from the start and I think this is a great positive sign for Michigan Lax future.
Great win from Team One today, lets hope that Michigan can upset a few more teams this year to have a great first season.
One last thought, lax.tv did a great job with this broadcast. The announcers were great, they broadcasted in a way that allowed an ex-player enjoy the broadcast as well explained lacrosse enough to those that are new to the game. BTN and ESPN should take note of lax.tv.
Agreed. While they are basically a club program, they still have talent. It's too bad that they are only 1-5 now. They are much better than their record indicates.
I think Weiss' impact in goal is huge. He seems to be the big difference maker since his return. One can only wonder what could have been if he played vs. Detroit & Air Force. Maybe those teams don't go on their big 3rd quarter runs if Weiss is in goal. Maybe Penn State's run is held to only 3 goals instead of 6. They let one slip through their fingers on Friday vs Jax in which they had a 3-0 lead. But notice - Jax didn't have a huge run like Michigan's previous opponents did.. This team could easily be 3-3.
Regardless - it seems like they're getting better and will continue to do so. Go Blue!
TEAM ONE. WIN ONE.
the commentators said something about the team being all freshmen and sophomores with one junior, so i'm guessing the junior is a walkon and the rest are (at least nominally) D1 recruits.
They did it! Congratulations! That's a huge monkey off their back. They get to play their first game at home now. Beat Loyola!
WIN #1.
YES!
GO BLUE!
GO BLUE!
Congrats on your first win. Michigan has some good recruits already signed up in the next two classes and will be turning the corner into a competitive team in no time.
Other interesting and relevant scores from around Division 1.
Loyola beat Bellarmine 11-8, which is not really the resounding victory you would expect from the Greyhounds. Maybe that means Loyola is not as strong as we thought (or that Bellarmine is stronger than we thought - lets hope its the former).
Ohio, after beating #5 Denver a few weeks ago, laid some eggs against UMass, losing 9-3 and Penn State, losing 5-2. I won't say that this looks winnable now, but it doesn't look like the beating we envisioned after they beat Denver. Plus, it will be at the Big House - who knows what will happen?
Also, the fact that ND and Ohio put up 3 and 2 vs Penn State, respectively, while Michigan hung 9 on them is a little weird and oddly encouraging.
Meanwhile Denver continues to confuse me. They barely escaped an 0-4 Hartford team.
I know that trying to divine predictions from the scores of common opponents is an ultimately pointless exercise but I thought these were interesting nonetheless.
Congrats, gentlemen. Go Blue!
Gotta break through sooner or later. We are very proud of you xo xo.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
Michigan-Mercer
shots 36-14
ground balls 47-22
faceoffs 15-5
clears 14/21-9/19
EMO 3/7-0/2
Saves 4-9
Turnovers 25-21
What stands out to me is the ride by Michigan (ride is defense played against an opposing clear), we held Mercer to only 9 successful clears, or 47%. Coach JP 10 amn ride works to perfection. Also the faceoffs, Great Lakes Lax was predicting Mercer would dominate FO today, but Michigan obviously studied up and dominated the FO, winning 75%. Also, the number of GB is great to see.
For those of you interested in learning more about lacrosse, Syracuse and Virginia are playing on ESPN at 4:30. These two teams have been the most talented teams in the game over the last 20 years and it should be an exciting matchup. Expect a lot of speed and a lot of scoring.
that has to feel real great for these kids to get that monkey of their backs. Go Blue
Nice! Michigan basketball gets first B1G championship since 1986 and lacrosse gets their first win ever. Great day! GO BLUE!!
Nice! Michigan basketball gets first B1G championship since 1986 and lacrosse gets their first win ever. Great day! GO BLUE!!
just keeps on getting better and better. Are their two 4-5 star recruits who want to make a call, too?