Michigan Class of 09 recruits

[the lax]

To date on laxpower:

McGowan, Wes Lake Forest IL Lake Forest IL Attack
Serafin, Brett Williston VT Champlain Valley Union VT Defense
Wohl, Allan Coral Gables FL Palmetto FL Midfield
Blechman, Jared Setauket NY Ward Melville NY Attack

Coach Paul lands another New Yorker from a dominant program. Last year, it was an attackman from Suffern.

Watch out for freshman midfielder Morales. I played against him in high school at camps and in the MSLA. He is a big time player, should be an AA this year and a reason Michigan finally wins a quarterfinal game.

[laxfan25]

I think another freshman standout for Michigan will be Peter Krauss, who played at Forest Hills Central in West Michigan. He had a HS teammate, Mike Gast, who pumped in a lot of goals, but many came from Krauss's effort and feeds.
I was particularly impressed in their playoff game against Troy Athens. TA was killing on faceoffs, winning almost all of them. The coach then moved Krauss up to take faceofs and he dominated, scoring several fast-break goals off his wins. Suffered from leg cramps most of the game but gutted out an impressive effort. Unfortunately the rest of the team didn't play as well and they lost a close one.
Peter should contribute as a freshman and I forecast an outstanding career as a Wolverine...

[the lax]

I promise you Morales will have a bigger impact than some kid from Forest Hills. Brother Rice is a whole different world.

[laxfan25]

I promise you Morales will have a bigger impact than some kid from Forest Hills. Brother Rice is a whole different world.

Well that is why they play the games after all! If Krauss had been on the Rice team who's to to say who would have been better. the overall depth of BR certainly makes life easier.
You could be right, and it will b e interesting to see. Either way, John Paul has some great new recruits.

[laxfan25]

I promise you Morales will have a bigger impact than some kid from Forest Hills. Brother Rice is a whole different world.

The first press release from the U of M:"A number of freshman and first-time players were also able to see the field with freshmen attacker Peter Krauss (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) and freshman midfielder Paul Kang (St. Louis, MO/Parkway Central) earning early praise from the head coach. “It seems like Krauss gets hit every time he carries the ball to the cage but he just pops right back up. I was impressed,” Paul remarked. “We recently moved Kang over to midfield but once he learns the position he’ll be fine. He made some excellent dodges tonight,” he added.

Krauss takes the early PR lead....

[the lax]

Ah shucks. He is listed at 5'11 180 which isn't tiny. How does he put himself in a position to get knocked down alot only to get right back up?

[the lax]

Morales 1 and 1 against Mizzou. No mention of Krauss' stats in the release.

[laxfan25]

Ah shucks. He is listed at 5'11 180 which isn't tiny. How does he put himself in a position to get knocked down alot only to get right back up?

You drive to the crease to take a shot, good chance there's going to be a D-man steamin' out to lay you down for having the temerity to invade their turf.
Morales' numbers looked good. Round two to him.
Should be an interesting season!

[the lax]

Good attack men aren't knocked down on a regular basis. Ryan Boyle Mike Powell Kyle Barrie, all Krauss size or 10 pounds heavier, see Barrie. How many times have you seen them on the ground? Only after a late hit flag. Talented players don't put themselves in positions to get blasted time and again. They may hold out long enough to draw a slide man, unless they are playing A&M, but they don't get hit every play only to earn courage points because they got back up. Come on, all americans do not spend time on the ground. Right Will Patton??

[UNH2001]

I think it depends on what type of attackman you are. If you're playing mostly as a crease attackman you will get knocked down at least a few times if you're catching the ball in close. That doesn't mean you won't get a shot off, just that you you'll get hit if you do it often enough (think Doug Knight at Virginia a while back).
If you're mostly a feeder than that might be a different story.

[laxfan25]

I promise you Morales will have a bigger impact than some kid from Forest Hills. Brother Rice is a whole different world.

For the season to date I show Mr. Krauss with 4G/4A for 8 pts., and Mr. Morales at 3G/2A for 5 points. I'm glad Peter K has been able to overcome the fact that he didn't play for Brother Rice. As I said before, the strength of a team is not always reflective of the skills of an individual member. I'm glad to see Peter getting off to a terrific start, and I'm not surprised.

[jgratson]

I saw both of these guys play. Morales still seems like raw talent. Doesn't have the best stick skills, but is VERY athletic, and probably the most athletic middie they got. In the St. Vincent game, he impressed me more than any other freshman, but there were an awful lot of freshman on the offensive side of the field, so I'm sure I may not have recognized Kraus from all the other attackmen. But from the sounds of it, I'm glad we got both of these guys.

[laxfan25]

I promise you Morales will have a bigger impact than some kid from Forest Hills. Brother Rice is a whole different world.

Well, it's been about two months since that quote was published. Let's look at the year-to-date results:

Michigan scoring leaders through 13 games:

Evan Fox 35 G/19 A = 54 pts
Ryan Clark 15 G/19 A = 34 pts
Peter Krauss 20 G/12 A = 32 pts
Bobby Morales 12 G/7 A = 19 pts

I guess Mr. Krauss' humble roots at Forest Hills haven't impeded him that much! Imagine how good Bro Rice would have been if they had him.
3 out of 4 are freshmen - not a bad recruiting class...

[jgratson]

I've seen quite a few michigan games this year, and I think Morales is the best midfielder they have. He makes plays all over the field, and while Krauss is a great player himself, I would be hard pressed to say he's better than Morales (at least in the games I've seen).

[the lax]

Let's be honest, an all american from Brother Rice (45th in the country last year) is going to have a larger impact than someone from Forest Hills, 11th in the state of Michigan. Also, Morales is getting the pole. Krauss is being covered by the less talented close defenders.

Morales is the rookie of the year for Michigan.