2B — February 23, 2015
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
The house Michigan lacrosse built
T
he Michigan men’s
lacrosse team is about
to play the No. 2 team in
the country,
and for pos-
sibly the first
time in its
short history,
it doesn’t feel
like it’ll be a
blowout.
The
crowd files
in early to
Oosterbaan
Field House,
and for the first time in this
program’s short history, they
are turning away fans at the
door. There are still 20 minutes
before the game begins.
Dads stand in packs, arms
crossed, previewing the match,
while moms sit together on the
bleachers. Kids from all over
come to watch, some needing to
be hoisted up on shoulders for
a glimpse, for a chance to see
the game. They pack the cor-
ners and the sidelines, and for
a moment, it seems there might
be more fans in attendance than
the end of the football team’s
game against Utah.
They announce teams, and
now, for one of the rare times,
Michigan’s starters are juniors
and seniors. The Wolverines
have players who have grown
into their roles, who aren’t just
learning them.
Before the first faceoff
against Notre Dame, Michigan
is 2-0 to begin the season. It’s
the first time in the program’s
history. And for the program
that endured 37 losses in its first
three years, Saturday’s game
feels different — everything
feels different.
***
F
or the past three years
the Wolverines have
started each afternoon in
the weight room above Canham
Natatorium. They lift for part
of the day, then walk across
the track at Ferry Field to their
locker room at Ray Fisher Sta-
dium. Some days, they go to
the Academic Center to watch
film. Then they change and run
around the baseball and softball
fields to practice in Oosterbaan.
The Michigan men’s lacrosse
team doesn’t have a home on
campus. It shares space and
makes do with what’s available.
The team is lucky just to
have a place to lift, practice and
watch film.
When the Wolverines were a
club team, they didn’t have the
same luxuries. So players and
coaches haven’t complained
about their facilities now — it’s
better than what they had.
Legitimacy isn’t just given
after complaining and begging.
It’s earned. And it has a chance
to earn it is against Notre
Dame.
***
T
he first quarter begins
with Notre Dame’s
Logan Connolly barrel-
ing over players into a penalty.
The Fighting Irish are the No.
2 team in the country. They’re
bigger, faster and, most impor-
tantly, they’re a program with
many more years of experience
than the Wolverines.
Michigan takes each hit,
each stick check and finds a
way to work through it. It has
faced tough teams in the past,
but rarely does it face a team as
good as the Fighting Irish, who
fell to Duke in the national title
game last season.
Sophomore goalie Gerald
Logan makes a save at point-
blank range, and the crowd
erupts. He finds an outlet, and
Michigan rushes down the field.
It runs its offense quickly until
a shot goes wide.
The Wolverines trail 2-1 at
the end of the first quarter and
somehow, it feels as if Michigan
is still able to win the game.
***
B
uilding the Michigan
men’s lacrosse team is
like building a house.
Coach John Paul tells his
team that it is building each
part of the house with every
week. He’s built the founda-
tion, as he says, if he can be so
humble as to say he built the
foundation. Really, he had to cut
down the trees, level the land
and build the road to get there,
given how this team started.
The head coach of the club
varsity lacrosse team — essen-
tially one step below varsity sta-
tus — Paul and the Wolverines
were granted varsity status in
late May 2011. They began prac-
tice for their first season the
same year.
Paul never had time to
recruit his first class to come
play, instead using the club
players who had come to
Michigan for academic rea-
sons. Unlike the women’s team,
which was given a year to build,
Paul was thrown into the fire.
“There were a lot of culture
changes we had to go through,”
Paul said. “We anticipated this
would take a while, but we
wanted to do it the right way
and build culture first.
“If you’d ask the guys, years
ago, to give you an honest
answer (about buying into the
culture), I don’t know if that
was the case.”
But over time, Paul has
brought in bigger, better
recruiting classes. Now, as
he says, this year is different
because they have the “frame”
in place. You can see the house
being built, and now, you can
see the tangible successes after
double-digit-loss seasons.
“You do so much work from a
distance that it doesn’t look like
you’re making any progress,”
Paul said.
***
T
he second quarter, and
really the remainder
of the game, unraveled
from underneath Michigan.
Paul described his team as
“emotional” afterward; unable
to stay upbeat when it was
knocked down.
Notre Dame outscored the
Wolverines 7-1 in the second
quarter, forcing five turnovers
with a defense that flustered
the Wolverines. The Fighting
Irish offense pushed the ball
inside to create easy scoring
opportunities.
“I think, more than anything,
they were disappointed in the
way they were playing,” Paul
said. “Our guys certainly feel
like they could be a lot better
than they were. And that’s what
we want.”
This used to be a team that
slowed down the pace of play
so that it could limit a game
getting out of hand, and it
dropped players back faster to
make sure its defense wasn’t
exposed. And now, it’s playing
the faster up-tempo game it
always wanted.
“We showed what we’re
capable of doing, and I think
that’s a big step,” said senior
attacker Will Meter.
The Wolverines were silent
heading off the field after the
final horn, because this game
stung. But in a different way
than it used to.
***
T
he season ahead is filled
with even more ranked
teams, and the ones that
aren’t have already built their
houses.
But this year is different
because by now, they’ve been
through a gauntlet schedule like
this before.
“If we’re going to get where
we want to get with this pro-
gram, at some point it’s got to
stop being intimidating,” Paul
said. “In the first three years,
we’d approach games like this
and say, ‘Man, I hope we can
hang with these guys.’ And I
don’t think that’s the case any-
more.”
But this year is different, not
because a boy sits on his dad’s
shoulders to watch or because
players are older. It feels dif-
ferent because, going to any
game, it feels as if Michigan
has a chance. And this team
likely won’t be in line for some
miraculous season, but it has its
foundation and its frame.
“We’ve turned a corner,
and it’s visible when you see
us every day now,” Paul said.
“We’re a very different pro-
gram.”
That much has never been
truer. Because a good house
stays standing, even after it
loses.
Garno can be reached
at ggarno@umich.edu or
on Twitter @G_Garno.
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Michigan men’s lacrosse coach John Paul has made his team more competitive in each of its four seasons as a program.
GREG
GARNO
Sunday, the Wolverines’ pass-
ing was crisp and quick, never
allowing Ohio State to set up its
defense. The Buckeyes didn’t
go to their zone until just three
minutes remained in the first
half,
when
Michigan
found
Doyle for an easy layup under
the basket. And they didn’t go
to their full-court press until
90 seconds into the second half,
when Albrecht and Bielfeldt
connected on a quick give-and-
go to get Albrecht down the
court safely.
By that time, the Wolverines
led by double digits and had set-
tled into a rhythm offensively. It
was too late.
“We struggled against their
press and how they guarded us
in the first game when we played
in Columbus,” Irvin said. “I just
thought we’d be able to watch
film and be able to counter that
this afternoon.”
Added Ohio State coach Thad
Matta: “It seemed like we were
on our heels too much defen-
sively. Give them credit. They
were able to do, especially in
the first half,
anything
they
wanted
to do against
us. You can’t
do that with
that type of
offense.”
When
the
going
got
tough,
the
Wolverines’
composure
never wavered. They, not Ohio
State, looked like the team with
three seniors in its rotation.
In the end, Albrecht and Irvin
roared with delight after finally
finishing off a win in February
on their sixth try.
“It was just a lot of frustra-
tion let out in the last couple
minutes,” Albrecht said. “We’ve
had a tough stretch here these
past five games, so to be able
to finally get a win, it was awe-
some.”
Michigan
used
a
classic
Beilein offen-
sive
game
to
generate
all
kinds
of
opportunities.
After
Doyle’s
screen on Rus-
sell in the first
two
minutes,
he leaked out
from the paint
and
drained
an open base-
line jumper. A moment later,
freshman guard Muhammad-Ali
Abdur-Rahkman drove down
the baseline and kicked out to an
open Irvin for a 3-pointer.
That passing continued for
most of the first half as the Wol-
verines built their lead, bringing
to mind some of their perfor-
mances of the past two years.
“We had 13 assists. We haven’t
had 13 assists in a long time (only
once since Jan. 6),” Beilein said.
“I know that’s a stat a lot of you
don’t value probably as much as
I do, but it means you made two
people guard you and you got
somebody open.”
In the last seven minutes,
Ohio State had a 20-point defi-
cit trimmed down to three after
blocking a shot near the end of
the shot clock and scoring at the
other end.
But the Wolverines’ motion
on offense worked to perfection
again, giving Irvin an open tri-
ple from the corner.
Then it was just a matter of
Michigan making the plays it
hasn’t all month. This time, the
Wolverines put themselves in
position to finish the game.
“I wasn’t going to let us lose
that game,” Albrecht said. “I did
not want to lose that game.”
The Wolverines’ lead bal-
looned to as many as 20 points
in the first half before Ohio State
whittled it to three in the sec-
ond. But Michigan has struggled
to hold late leads and close out
tight games in recent weeks, most
notably in overtime losses to
Michigan State and Illinois.
That wasn’t the issue on Jan.
13, when the Wolverines were,
by and large, run out of the gym
against the Buckeyes’ 71-52 Ohio
State victory.
The Wolverines were deter-
mined to flip both narratives
on their heads in their rematch
with the Buckeyes (8-6, 19-8).
Albrecht, Irvin and senior for-
ward Max Bielfeldt, especially,
made sure Michigan didn’t suc-
cumb to its late-game malaise of
weeks past. Irvin made a critical
layup following a steal by fresh-
man guard Aubrey Dawkins with
1:01 left in the game, and Albrecht
drained an equally important
pair of free throws with 55 sec-
onds left to push Michigan’s lead
to 60-50 and eventually seal the
Wolverines’ victory.
“I don’t think it was as much
relief as it was just excitement,”
Bielfeldt said of finally getting
over the hump. “We hadn’t had
a good win like that in a while.
It reminded me a little bit of the
day where we had those big wins
more often.”
Albrecht
finished
with
16
points, five assists and four
rebounds. Irvin, who has strug-
gled periodically throughout the
season, put together a complete
game Sunday, finishing with 15
points, seven rebounds and four
assists.
Freshman
guard
Muham-
mad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman was
impressive early as well, breaking
through the Buckeyes’ front line
multiple times. The penetration
left sophomore forward Zak Irvin
and junior guard Spike Albrecht
with open looks at 3-pointers on
multiple occasions — the pair col-
lectively shot 4-for-7 from beyond
the arc in the first half.
Sunday’s win, Beilein said, was
a case study in playing college
basketball the right way.
“I told our freshmen today,
‘Watch Spike Albrecht.’ That’s
what college basketball is gravi-
tating to,” Beilein said. “Diving on
the floor, playing at high speed,
playing so hard that you can’t
breathe sometimes — that is what
the great players do, and we’re
learning that.”
Michigan upset bid
falls short vs. Irish
By TAHMEED TUREEN
For the Daily
Fans walked into Oosterbaan
Field House hoping to get a
glimpse of the Michigan men’s
lacrosse
team’s
match
against No.
2 Notre Dame. But not all fans
were able to watch the game
firsthand, as the game sold out,
resulting in fans being turned
away.
But the Fighting Irish made
sure those who couldn’t get
in didn’t miss a major upset,
topping Michigan 17-8.
The game started off with
both teams fighting for ground
balls and goals. Sophomore
attackman Ian King started off
the scoring with 9:38 left in the
first quarter, while sophomore
goalie Gerald Logan backed
up the team with six saves.
Notre Dame (2-0) responded
with just two goals to end the
first quarter. The atmosphere
promised a thrilling game for
both fan bases.
However,
the
momentum
changed when the Fighting
Irish began to dominate from
the X with consecutive face-
off wins. With much more
possession than the Wolverines,
the Fighting Irish netted seven
goals in the second quarter
while Michigan was only able
to score once from the stick of
senior attackman Mike Francia.
The seven Irish goals came from
six different players.
Michigan’s
second-quarter
offense wasn’t able to settle
down due to constant pressure
from the Fighting Irish defense,
as they also kept the Michigan
offense from entering into their
territory.
The transition game was
key during this game, which
ultimately gave the Fighting
Irish the upper hand until the
final whistle.
“(Notre Dame is) a very
strong transition (team) with
big shooters and nifty inside
attackmen,”
said
freshman
midfielder
Parker
McKee.
“They definitely, definitely got
their chances (off transitions).”
The
third
and
fourth
quarters were a much better
representation of the game
in comparison to the second
quarter. Notre Dame was held
to eight goals by the Michigan
defense
while
the
offense
rattled the Irish net six times.
King scored his third tally
with 9:37 left in the third
quarter, and junior midfielder
Mike Hernandez and senior
midfielder Will Meter followed
King with a goal apiece.
However,
Notre
Dame
outscored the Wolverines once
again, scoring five unanswered
goals to pull ahead 17-6. Meter
would tally one more goal, and
King added another with 23
seconds left in the game.
King had a total of four goals
and two assists while Logan
had 16 saves between the pipes.
Hernandez also scored his first
goal of the season in the second
half.
On the other side of the field,
Matt Kavanaugh, known as the
face of the Irish attack, scored
three goals and three assists.
Brother Rice (Michigan) High
School graduate Sergio Perkovic
also scored two goals in his
return to his home state.
While it was a tough loss
for the fourth-year program,
Michigan
can
take
some
positives from the experience
going forward. The Wolverines
still have to face lacrosse
powerhouses Johns Hopkins
and Maryland during Big Ten
play.
“Thankfully, we have a game
like this to prepare before we get
into the Big Ten,” said Michigan
coach John Paul. “I’m really glad
we scheduled this game.”
But the season goes on for
the Wolverines, and they’ll
have to move past the tough
loss, especially with Canisius
coming to town in a week.
MEN’S LACROSSE
NOTRE DAME
MICHIGAN
17
8
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Sophomore forward Zak Irvin totaled 15 points, seven rebounds, three 3-pointers and a career-high four assists Sunday.
MICHIGAN
From Page 1B
BEILEIN
From Page 1B
“It seemed like
we were on our
heels too much
defensively.”