In their inaugural season to the Division 1 level of Men’s lacrosse in 2012, the Michigan Wolverines went 1-13, defeating Mercer 14-4 for their only win. Going into 2013, things seemed hopeful for the Blue and Gold, with the return of Senior Thomas Paras, who was second in scoring in 2012 with 23 points.
Enter new crop of rookies and a brand new season. Recruiting helped out the Blue in a big way. Their rookie class gave their future a bright look. Michigan was lea din scoring by freshman Kyle Jackson and Mike Hernandez, followed by Paras. Hernandez and Paras each tallied 19 points, with Jackson recording 26 (15G, 11A). Neither of the goalies from 2012 returned, giving Head Coach John Paul a little bit of a mess to clean up. Low and behold, another member of the rookie class came in as a saving grace in Gerald Logan out of Sachem, NY. He played through a shoulder injury that should have had him sitting out. Logan made 210 saves on 374 shots, boasting a .561 save percentage, finishing 17/50 in save leaders and had the second most saves this past season, behind Towson’s Andrew Wascavage’s 230.
Michigan has a lot to work on heading into their 2014 campaign. Their offense averaged just 6.4 goals per game, while the defense let up 11.7 goals on average. Not to mention going 0-7 in ECAC conference play. However, like last year, the Blue have recruited hard and gotten some decent talent coming through.
Defensively, Coach Paul mentioned, in an article on the Michigan Men’s Lacrosse website, that Andrew Hatton (Fairfield Prep) and rookie goaltender Rob Zonino (Conestoga) have been really eye opening to the staff. Along with defensive midfielders Christian Wolter and walk-on Peter Khoury, who would play big roles as well.
The Blue offense is looking stronger than last year with the return of Hernandez, Jackson and Paras (fifth year). They will also see David Joseph, Dan Kinek and Mikie Schlosser to round out the Wolverines top six offensive guys.
Coach Paul has put his team up against some of the best teams in NCAA D1 Men’s lacrosse. I believe that has helped his players understand more about what’s expected out of them and what they need to put into the program. It’s rough going 1-13 two years in a row. However, the team from 2013 now have more experience and bring with them a whole new perspective of what they need to do to get over that one win hump.
