The ball found itself in the Saint Joseph’s net one last time in the fourth period of overtime with help from junior attackman Peter Kraus.
Kraus’s goal closed the books on the longest Michigan men’s lacrosse game in program history and clinched the 9-8 quadruple-overtime win over the Hawks in Philadelphia.
“It was extremely exciting to get the game winner and add this game to the books,” Kraus said.
The game began with promise for the Wolverines (4-3), as they stacked up on possession time. Michigan’s sophomore faceoff specialist Brad Lott had a great start to the game by winning the majority of the faceoffs, giving the Wolverines constant possession in the first half. In a possession-oriented sport, the team with the most possession, has the best advantage. This was true for Michigan as it was able to take a 3-2 lead over Saint Joseph’s (3-4) in the first half.
However, the first goal of the game came from Hawks attackman Mike Rastivo while they were a man up. But the Wolverines didn’t wait too long to respond. With 6:36 minutes left in the first quarter, redshirt junior attackman David Joseph tied the game up in Michigan’s favor. Senior attackman Mike Francia followed Joseph with another goal for the Wolverines in the first quarter to give them the lead.
By the half, Michigan was up 3-2 against the Hawks. But it was in the third quarter when Michigan gained some separation, scoring four more goals.
Sophomore midfielder Mikie Schlosser was the star for Michigan, as he scored four consecutive unassisted goals. His first goal came in the second quarter of the game and he added three more in the third quarter.
By the fourth quarter the Wolverines showed no mercy for the Hawks. However, the tide changed and Michigan witnessed an unexpected quarter of lacrosse.
Though the Wolverines had a 7-3 lead in the beginning of the third quarter, the Hawks were finally able to break through sophomore goalie Gerald Logan. Saint Joseph’s added two goals to make it 7-5 with 9:36 left in the game.
However, just seconds later, Francia gave Michigan the edge, scoring with 9:12 left in the game. But Saint Joseph’s still kept its offense running and closed down on the Wolverine possession. With just 29 seconds left in the game, Rastivo sent the ball past Logan to take the game into overtime.
“Unfortunate errors (gave) them the ball back,” said Michigan coach John Paul. “It was us allowing them to come back into the game.”
Logan ended the game with 18 saves total and made some crucial saves in overtime to keep the Wolverines in the game. The four periods of overtime were a battle of the goaltenders as both teams found opportunities to score.
The game was perceived to be over in the first period of overtime, when Joseph rattled the Hawks’ net with 2:50 left. Michigan raided the field in celebration, but to their chagrin the officials called off the goal due to crease violation. The game went on for another three periods until Francia found the stick of Kraus, who slipped it past the Hawks’ goalie to give the game to Michigan.
“We had an incredible show of defense.” Schlosser said. “Gerald Logan had a great game in between the pipes. I think it was a great confidence booster and we can move on to reach our full potential.”