Lacrosse coach says team ‘peaking at right time’

CMU club lacrosse coach Brad Thomas said his team is peaking at the right time with just two regular season games remaining.

The team comes into its game against Western Michigan with momentum after two wins last weekend, including against No. 19 Indiana. CMU plays WMU at 8 p.m. today in Kalamazoo.

In club lacrosse, the top three teams in each division make the playoffs — CMU sits in fourth place, but can still get in if it wins out.

For senior defenseman Andrew Tillman, Friday is more than a rivalry game.

“I know a bunch of guys on the team,” he said. “I’m looking forward to going against them, shutting them down and winning a game for playoffs on Western’s home field.”
In the past five years, the CMU-WMU rivalry has been a one-goal game with the home team winning.

Last year, CMU was winning 8-7 when Western, a man up with 30 seconds remaining in the game, had a scoring opportunity in final seconds, but a CMU save sealed the victory.

Despite Western coming into the game in last place in its division and losers of four consecutive, senior attackers Mitch French (21 goals) and Evan Pavlick (23 goals) are two offensive threats CMU will have to stop.

“Pavlick is a crease guy, so we have to make sure we lock down in the crease and our slides are right,” Thomas said.

“French is probably one of the most intelligent players in the league, so we have to force him into situations where he is uncomfortable.”

Junior attacker Justin Schaufler looks to continue his recent scoring streak, as he has 11 goals in the past two games.

“I’m going to keep trying to get open in the crease, try a little bit from behind,” he said. “But if that doesn’t work, then I’ll stay in the crease and, hopefully, my guys can find me.”

For seniors Joe Krieger, Darren Rivard, Andrew Tillman and Chuck Vierk this is their last game against Western. CMU can win by playing a physical, tough, fast-paced game, and by not having turnovers that lead to transition goals for the other team, Tillman said.