Ann Arbor, Mich. ¨C The #1 ranked University of Michigan Men's Lacrosse team opened its eight-game home schedule with a decisive 13-4 win over #12 Colorado on Saturday night (March 14) in Ann Arbor. In front of a packed in Oosterbaan crowd of 357, the Wolverines blew the doors open in the second quarter, outscoring the Buffaloes 6-0 in the period while putting the game away in the process.

Michigan opened the scoring with back-to-back goals on their first two possessions of the game as sophomore Trevor Yealy (Pittsburgh, Penn./Upper St. Claire) and senior captain Riley Kearns (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) each found the back of the back of the cage to give Michigan an early 2-0 lead just three minutes into the contest.

After CU cut the lead to 2-1 at 9:13, Michigan responded on the man-up on Kearns' second tally of the game. The Buffaloes didn't back down however, scoring in the last minute of the first quarter to claw within one at 3-2.

Anthony Hrusovsky kept up his torrid play as of late to open the second, notching the first goal of the quarter at 13:33 before assisting on Yealy's second just over two minutes later. Yealy added his fourth immediately following the ensuing faceoff win from David Reinhard (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) as the first-year starter, won the draw and raced up field before feeding Yealy as Michigan started to roll.

The Wolverines added three more goals in the second quarter, including senior midfielder Aaron Hodari's (Bloomfield, Mich./Detroit Country Day) first of three goals as U-M took a 9-2 lead into the lockerroom at the half.

Yealy and Hodari kept the train moving early in the third, notching back-to-back goals two minutes into the second half as the Maize and Blue took their largest lead of the game at 11-2. The Wolverines offense sputtered out for the remainder of the quarter before Hodari added his third with just two seconds left in the third quarter.

Michigan continued to struggle offensively during the majority of the fourth quarter, as Colorado got on the board first at 5:59. It wasn't until Yealy banged home his fifth with 3:44 left in the game that the Wolverines put together a successful fourth-quarter possession.

Statistically, Michigan dominated all facets of the game. U-M out-shot their opponent 50 to 16, and won the groundball battle, 41 to 27. The Wolverines were 15 of 20 on faceoffs, and finished 17 of 24 on clears, while riding Colorado to 9-20 totals. The Maize and Blue finished 2-7 on the man-up, while the Buffaloes were never awarded a man-up opportunity.

The Wolverines will have a quick turn-around, getting back on the field on Sunday, March 15, at 12:00 noon vs. Minnesota at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse in Ann Arbor.

NOTES

¡ñ Junior faceoff specialist David Reinhard took all but one of the faceoffs in the contest, finishing 14 of 19, while freshman Edward Ernst (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends) won his lone attempt.

¡ñ Reinhard had a game-high 12 groundballs and currently leads the team with 46.

¡ñ Yealy paced the team with a game-high five goals, his second five-goal game of the season (Chapman ¨C February 28).

¡ñ Michigan improves to 6-0 all-time vs. Colorado.

¡ñ Michigan improves to 3-0 vs. ranked teams this year.

¡ñ After failing to score on the man-up in their first two games (0-6) the Wolverines have gone 6-13 in the next two games.

¡ñ Senior midfielder Aaron Hodari set career highs in goals and total points scored notching three goals and one assist. He has recorded two-point efforts multiple times (MR ¨C two goals vs. Sonoma State - 5/11/07).

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2009-03-15