May. 11th, 2004 - Michigan advances with four goal victory over Poly
Fenton, MO – 7th seed Michigan used an air tight zone defense for long stretches to earn a methodical opening round victory over 10th seeded Cal Poly 7 – 3 in St. Louis. Michigan advances to play the winner of the Colorado State (2 seed)/Simon Fraser (15 seed) on Wednesday afternoon in quarterfinal play.
Maybe it was the 9:30 AM local start time. Biggest game of your life, 6:30 AM for all you West Coast time zone fans. The truck rumble from nearby Interstate 44 was the only audible sounds coming from both teams during a reserved warm-up.
Prior to the game, Michigan Head Coach John Paul previewed the match up against the 10th seeded Cal Poly Mustangs. "We are worried about their quick attack unit, especially (Tim) Casey. They run a disciplined offense, similar to us."
Poly Head Coach Ryan Herchenroether was certain that his attack would be up for the challenge against the talented Michigan defense. "Roth and Kotzel are good players. But we had a good week of practice and we are ready."
Goalie Ryan Parr (13 saves) was up to the challenge early for the Mustangs. The junior netminder from La Costa Canyon High School turned back several shots during the 1st part of the quarter.
But Michigan midfielder Jim Constantine bounced a shot past Parr stick side to open the game scoring at the 7:51 mark.
Senior Ray Lombardi added an extra-man goal a few minutes later before Attackman Ray Hudson scored on an inside roll. The Wolverines led 3 - 0 after the first quarter.
Cal Poly had trouble solving the Michigan zone most of the contest. The high scoring Mustang attack unit had trouble creating space all game long against the Wolverine defense as they were limited to a season low 3 goals.
Herchenroether noted the zone defense. "It rattled us. This was the worst game we played all year long. You have to play smart against a team like Michigan."
"We hadn't seen an effective zone like that all year long," added Cal Poly Attackman Peter Reed.
Constantine, a sophomore from Seaholm H.S. in Troy, Michigan, scored to increase the Michigan lead. His wrist shot after a nifty roll from 12 feet out padded the Wolverine lead to four.
Reed finally got Cal Poly on the scoreboard at the 6:21 mark of the 2nd quarter. The Attackman from Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona scored after a feed from Kenny Williams from behind the goal.
Michigan quickly responded with a goal by midfielder by Mike O'Leary less then a minute later.
The score at the half-time break was 5 to 1 in favor of the Wolverines.
"We had good match-ups all day long," said Paul. "Our close defense played well. It isn't easy to contain their attack."
Jeff Hanna scored for Michigan at the 11:21 mark of the 3rd quarter from 10 feet out.
The "Poly, Poly" chants are out, but they aren't as loud as the first half. Michigan by five midway through the third quarter.
Junior Brian Kelly scored for Cal Poly on a feed from Conor Le Clair at 8:46. But just like the first half, Michigan was quick to respond.
Justin Gal's rocket left-handed shot beat Parr high to give Michigan a 7 – 2 lead less then a minute later. This would be the last Michigan goal of the afternoon.
But they wouldn't need anymore.
Cal Poly added another goal from Reed, but the outcome was never in doubt in the 4th quarter as Michigan coasted to a 7 – 3 final on a hot Missouri morning at the A-B Sports Center.
Michigan defenseman Mike Roth remarked on his team's sterling defensive effort. "Cal Poly's attack was quick, but we had confidence today. We knew we couldn't throw any lazy checks today. Our goalie (Webber) played well today. We knew he could stop the long shots from outside and he did just that."
Michigan swarmed the field all morning long winning 33 groundballs to 27 for Cal Poly.
"We lost to Oakland in the CCLA tournament (two weeks ago) because we didn't hustle on groundballs," said Paul. "We emphasized groundballs hard this week and it showed today."