» U-M head coach Kevin Conry enters year five at the helm of a Wolverine program that boasts one of the top offensive groups in the Big Ten Conference.
» Michigan is receiving votes in the preseason Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, and was picked fourth in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll.
» Due to poor weather in the Metro Detroit area, Saturday’s contest was moved from U-M Lacrosse Stadium at 1 p.m. to Detroit Country Day Fieldhouse (4 p.m.).
THIS WEEK
Saturday, Feb. 5 — vs. Bellarmine (Beverly Hills, Mich.), 4 p.m.
Ticket Information: Limited Capacity | Live Stats
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The University of Michigan men’s lacrosse team will open the 2022 season, and a five-game season-opening homestand, on Saturday (Feb. 5) when it plays host to Bellarmine. The game, originally scheduled to be played at U-M Lacrosse Stadium at 1 p.m., has been moved to Detroit Country Day Fieldhouse in Beverly Hills, Mich., at 4 p.m. due to inclement weather forecasted in the Detroit Metro area.
Michigan head coach Kevin Conry enters his fifth season at the helm of the Wolverine program and is coming off a season in which the Wolverines made the Big Ten Tournament for the first time in program history. A mix of new and old looks to keep U-M in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournament pictures.
Wolverine Bites
• Junior Michael Cosgrove and sophomores Jack Whitney and Michael Boehm were tabbed as U-M’s Big Ten Players to Watch on Tuesday (Feb. 1). In the Big Ten Preseason Poll, U-M was picked to finish fourth. Maryland was the unanimous choice for the top spot, followed by Rutgers and Johns Hopkins. Ohio State and Penn State were picked to finish fifth and sixth, respectively.
• Michigan returns a large chunk of offensive firepower, returning 61 percent of points scored (119 of 196), 59 percent of goals scored (77 of 131), and 65 percent of assists (42 of 65). However, they will be without attackman Bryce Clay, who was U-M’s third-leading scorer from a season ago. The senior will miss the season due to injury.
• Junior Josh Zawada (24 goals, 15 assists, 39 points) and Michael Boehm (21G, 15A) return as the team’s leading scorers and will anchor the attack unit. With Bryce Clay out, highly touted freshman and four-star recruit Ryan Cohen will fill the void. Additional contributors from last season in sophomores Ryan Sullivan and Ben Hull also could see time on the unit.
Josh Zawada ranks ninth all-time in U-M history in points (67) entering his junior season, and sixth in assists (31). He trails Ian King (2014-17) with 50 for the most in school history.
• The midfield unit will be anchored by a pair of juniors in Jake Bonomi and Jacob Jackson, each of whom have seen significant time the past two seasons between the first- and second-line midfield units. Bonomi was tied for fourth on the squad in goals a year ago with 13, while Jackson was on his heels with 12. The unit also has a distinctly young flavor, with sophomore Kyle Stephenson (four goals, three assists) in seven games last season and classmate Grant McCurry (4G, 1A) contending for first-line minutes.
Others in the mix will be junior Kevin Pimental and sophomores Justin Brown and Isaac Aronson. The highly-touted freshman trio of Aidan Mulholland (No. 15), Graham Hertzberg (No. 39) and Emmett Houlihan (No. 55) all arrive as top-100 recruits per Inside Lacrosse.
• The defensive midfield group is highlighted by a pair of junior mainstays in Michael Cosgrove and Oliver Mirer, both of whom boast significant experience with 19 games played in their U-M careers. New to the group are freshman Lucas Delgado and Justin Ennis as well as sophomore Cincinnati football transfer Jack Welcsh.
• U-M’s longpole group is led by four-year starter Andrew Darby, who has featured as U-M’s top cover man the past three seasons. Darby has 31 starts in his Wolverines career to his name and 65 ground balls to go along with 20 caused turnovers. He will be joined by sophomore Jack Whitney, who started all 12 games a year ago and had 15 pickups to go with five caused turnovers. Senior Zach Johnson, freshman Michael Frechette, junior Dylan Gardner and senior Drake Schaffner all could see time as well.
The longstick midfield unit, one of the strengths of the team, will be led by seniors Jackson Zaugg, Gavin Legg and junior Ryan Schriber. Zaugg, the most experienced player on the team with 36 games played in his career, had 12 ground balls and three caused turnovers last season, while Legg had 21 pickups and caused seven turnovers. Schriber was one to watch in transition, scoring twice on three shots to go along with 12 ground balls and six caused turnovers.
• Senior John Kiracofe returns as the starter in goal for the second-straight season. In 12 contests last year, he sported a 14.48 goals-against average, and a save percentage of .432. He will be pushed by sophomore Shane Carr, who saw time in two games in his freshman campaign.
• Senior Nick Rowlett returns as the main option at the dot after going 54 percent (172-of-320) on faceoffs to go along with 100 ground balls. Sophomore Justin Wietfeldt also is back after after serving as the primary backup and going 11-of-25 (44 percent) with five ground balls.
• Rowlett enters the year on the brink of history and is tied for the U-M record for career faceoff winning percentage (53 percent) and has the second-most wins at the dot in school history (245). He also boasts 139 ground balls and is within striking distance of Brad Lott’s (2013-16) program record of 178.
Newcomers
• U-M’s 16-member recruiting class is ranked No. 3 in the Big Ten by Inside Lacrosse and features a five-star recruit in midfielder Aidan Mulholland (Manhasset, N.Y.), who also was the No. 15 recruit in the country per Inside Lacrosse. The class also includes a trio of four-star recruits in Emmett Houlihan (Waxhaw, N.C.), Graham Hertzberg (Bethesda, M.D.) and Ryan Cohen (Boca Raton, Fla.).
• In positional rankings, Mulholland ranks as the No. 6 midfielder while Houlihan is the No. 21 midfielder. At attack, Hertzberg ranks at No. 11 and Cohen comes in at No. 25.
• Two transfers also will be joining the squad with Hakan Atillasoy joining the program from Ursinus College and Jack Welcsh coming from Cincinnati (football).
Schedule
• U-M kicks off their 14-game campaign with five straight home games before traveling to Marquette on March 1. The Wolverines are hosting a number of notable non-conference opponents this season, including consecutive contests against Delaware, Harvard and Notre Dame.
• The Wolverines open up their Big Ten schedule in Baltimore, Md., versus Johns Hopkins on March 26. Other Big Ten matchups include hosting Maryland and Rutgers (Senior Day) and road trips to Penn State and Ohio State to close out the regular season. The Big Ten Tournament will be contested in College Park, Md., from April 30-May 7.
• The US Lacrosse Preseason Poll shows U-M taking on five preseason top-20 members in No. 2 Maryland, No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 10 Rutgers, No. 15 Johns Hopkins and No. 16 Delaware. The website also lists U-M as having the 26th-toughest schedule in the land, and the fifth-most difficult in the conference.
Tweet of the Week
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Junior Michael Cosgrove, as well as sophomores Michael Boehm and Jack Whitney have been named Big Ten Players to Watch!
In the preseason poll, we were picked 4??, ahead of Penn State and Ohio State.
READ? https://t.co/m2UqfV0AtI#GoBlue?? pic.twitter.com/uHTmxrZiVu
— Michigan Men’s Lacrosse (@UMichLacrosse) February 1, 2022
Keep Up With the Wolverines
Stay current with everything going on with the Wolverines by following Michigan men’s lacrosse on Twitter (@umichlacrosse) and liking the Wolverines on Facebook. Fans also can follow in-game commentary via the Twitter channel. Additional content will be provided via Instagram (@umichlacrosse).
Up Next
Saturday, Feb. 12 — vs. Detroit Mercy (U-M Lacrosse Stadium), 1 p.m.
