At 3-1 after the first four games, Michigan lacrosse looked to be gaining some serious momentum in year four of the program. Add two consecutive losses to Jacksonville (14-8) on the road and at home to No. 20 Brown (22-12), and you'd have been right to be a little worried going into today's match-up.
Saint Joe's scored the first goal of the game on a man-up opportunity with 12:32 to go in the first period, but Michigan held the slim 3-2 margin going into the half. Mikie Schlosser was a man possessed after the break, scoring three times in less than four minutes, while Kyle Jackson's goal with 3:14 to go in the third period gave Michigan a dominating 7-2 lead...but St. Joe's had other things in mind.
With just 16 seconds to go in the third period, the Hawks' Kevin Reidinger brought St. Joe's within four goals, at 7-3 in favor of the Wolverines. The Hawks would go on to score five of the next six goals, the last one with just 29 seconds to go in regulation, ending the fourth period tied at eight. The final frame would not be the final frame.
After three overtime sessions and a potential David Joseph game-winning score waved off due to a crease violation in the first overtime, the Hawks and Wolverines entered the fourth overtime. Although the live video from Philly left something to be desired, and the audio was more like the old speakers one would hang on the car window at a drive-in movie, the one thing that came through loud and clear was the intensity of the crowd. Although a smattering of "Go Blue!" could be heard, the vast majority of the 954 people were trying to scream Saint Joseph's to the win.
Mikie Schlosser may have scored a total of four goals on the day, but it was the one goal for Peter Kraus that sealed the deal. It was looking like we were headed to a Period 9, until Kraus hit the clincher with just 1:10 to go in the fourth OT.
Although Michigan had a solid day at the face-off X, going 14-24, they won only one of four chances in the bonus rounds. Gerald Logan had 18 saves on the day, just one shy of his 2015 high of 19 saves. Both teams were very solid on clears, with Michigan going 19-20 and Saint Joseph's going 22-23. The Wolverines couldn't match the Hawks in ground balls, however, picking up 28 to the Hawks' 40 GBs.
Michigan is now 4-3 on the season (3-1 in OT games) and will next face the Drexel Dragons at 1 p.m. ET in Michigan Stadium. After that? Bring on the Big Ten.
Go Blue!