Michigan v. BYU scoring updates 3/5/05

[CATLAX MAN]

It's been a long 1:19, hasn't it, fellas?

[laxdad03]

It's been a long 1:19, hasn't it, fellas?

I'd say...

[onpoint]

. . . . . . . . . and the winner is . . . . . . . . .

[CATLAX MAN]

It's a final!

BYU - 7

Michigan - 6

BYU stopped 2 Michigan rushes in the last 1:19 to hang on to the victory. MacKechnie was in goal in the 2nd half and had to make a save with 1 second left to preserve the victory for BYU. Report is that a totally different BYU team showed up today that was not like the team that played against A & M yesterday. Might have also have something to do with the opponent.

With Michigan losing to BYU but beating Arizona, and Arizona beating BYU but losing to Michigan, good luck to the voters to sort his mess out in the poll this week. The only thing that would make it even more complicated would be a FSU victory over Sonoma today.


P.S. Thanks goes out to DG for keeping us all updated today. Good job, DG!

[onpoint]

Sounds like a good one. Thanks, Catlax to you and your "source." Good win for BYU and the top of the polls certainly is in a little bit of turmoil. My thought is that BYU and Michigan will likely be ahead of Arizona, despite Arizona's win over the Cougars. 12-1 against UM is pretty damaging.

[byualum]

Thanks DG...how did you play this morning?

Good win for the Cougars. I don't know where Sonoma fits in, but UM, BYU and Arizona are obviously pretty evenly matched. CSU and UCSB a step ahead of the pack.

[TrainerDan]

Congrats to both teams for putting on a great game for fans to watch! BYU looked night and day better than yesterday. That's a great win for BYU and Michigan has nothing to be ashamed of, they are a very good team. BYU next meets RMLC rival CSU a week from this Tuesday. Should be another great game in that series.

[DG]

Thanks DG...how did you play this morning?
Good win for the Cougars. I don't know where Sonoma fits in, but UM, BYU and Arizona are obviously pretty evenly matched. CSU and UCSB a step ahead of the pack.

Sorry to say that I missed the alumni game on Saturday morning. My brother was moving, so I had my hands full of furniture rather than a long stick.

For what they are worth, there are my observations:

-Michigan is a very well-coached, and very disciplined team. Their team, coaching staff and fans were all

-Michigan was missing a couple of starters on the offensive side of the ball, but didn't look to be too out of synch. Most of the Michigan goals were assisted.

-The Wolverine long poles were very good. In contrast to what Alex saw in the A&M game, the ball didn't die in the hands of Davis. He created a number of opportunities, but didn't try to do too much.

-BYU didn't go into its typical first half funk, and both teams played hard for the full 60 minutes. BYU played more players than I have ever seen...2 goalies, 6-7 defensemen, 2 LSMs, 4 defensive mids, 5 attackmen, and 3 lines of middies. I believe that Davis was the only player to have more than 1 goal.

-It looked as though BYU's strategy was to let the middies create most of the offensive pressure.

-Powers played the first half, and Makechnie played the second half in goal. Both looked very sharp. If coming in at halftime bothered Makechnie, it didn't show at all.

-BYU's defense played well. Unlike in past games, they didn't give up any easy looks in the crease. On at least one occasion, BYU subbed for all 6 players at once. That was early in the 4th quarter. The second unit played well, limiting Michigan to one goal during the 6-7 minutes they were on the field.

From a fan's perspective, this was a great game to watch. It was hotly contested, and the BYU lead never got larger than 2 goals. There was a good-sized crowd (over 400 people...maybe a lot more), the weather was beautiful, and both teams played with heart and class. Plus, the fans got a LOT of opportunities to yell at the refs when they missed a call.

JP should be proud of his guys. They were down a couple of guys, playing at altitude in a hostile environment, and came very close to pulling out a victory. I was going to say upset, but I don't think that would be a correct categorization of Michigan's position relative to other teams in the country. They are definitely for real, and will be a force to be reckoned with in Blaine.

DG