Allendale, MI – Michigan was beaten soundly by Grand Valley today 37-7. Numerous penalties and handling errors prevented any sort of momentum for the men in blue who now take Michigan’s #3 seed into playoffs.
The opening minutes saw Michigan steal a ruck from GVSU and move the ball inside the Lakers’ 22. Michigan forced Grand Valley into committing two penalties. But choosing to run instead of kick, a Michigan ruck offense eventually killed the possession and allowed Grand Valley to get out of their end. The majority of the rest of the half saw GVSU pin Michigan deep using kicks and the wind at their back. A Michigan knock on created a midfield scrum for GVSU 10 meters out which they moved to the right and scored with. 5-0 GVSU, 11 minutes in. More territorial gains by Grand Valley resulted in pressure on the Wolverines who yielded tries at the 23rd and 29th minutes to bring the tally to what would be the halftime score of 17-0.
Michigan looked to change the direction of the game in the second half with the wind at their backs on. However, more penalties led to a James Wilber yellow card at the 46th minute. GVSU utilized the man advantage and put in a penalty and a converted try to extend their lead to 27-0 with 25 minutes remaining.
A slew of injuries also hit Michigan with Chris Vasileff coming off for Nic Bishar due to a broken nose, Brandon Kolk replacing Matt Crabtree after an ankle injury, and CJ Stock replacing Mark Borowski due to a broken collar bone.
The Lakers added two more tries for a 37-0 lead. Spencer Scolnick came on in his first A-side appearance at the 62nd minute along with Steve Davidson who did very well in his 18 minutes.
Too many penalties in front of a stout Grand Valley team resulted in a lopsided scoreline against the maize and blue.
1. Chris Vasileff 2. Danny DiGregorio 3. Chris Hopfner 4. Drew Vecchio 5. Ellis Kolber 6. James Wilber 7. Dave Hiltzik 8. Mike LaCivita 9. Ian Etheart 10. Evan Noon 11. Matt Crabtree 12. Grady Bridges 13. Chris Padmos 14. Mark Borowski 15. Joel Conzelmann 16. Nic Bishar 17. Pete Melgren 18. Sebastian Harrison 19. Spencer Scolnick 20. Steve Davidson 21. Karl Boothman 22. CJ Stock 23. Brandon Kolk Try: Bridges 80′ Con: Bridges 80′ Bishar for Vasileff 43′ Kolk for Crabtree 46′ Stock for Borowski 57′ Scolnick for Wilber 62′ Davidson for Hiltzik 62′ Harrison for Vecchio 62′ Boothman for Etheart 62′ Melgren for Hopfner 64′
Michigan-B 24 – GVSU-B 0
Michigan was able to turn the tables in the B match. The game started evenly as both defenses showed their willingness to meet the attack and prevented any scoring to occur over the first 20 minutes. Eventually, Stu Roche found Kevin Cheng on the right wing to add to his season total. Roche missed the conversion but found himself in the try zone 7 minutes later to bring the lead to 10-0.
The second half saw another break down the right wing by Cheng resulting in yet another try for the freshman. Roche converted this to make it 17-0 midway through the second. Stu was quick to keep up with the try competition and converted his own try only 2 minutes later to make the final score 24-0.
1. Dustin DeMink 2. Spencer Scolnick 3. Paxton Plum 4. Chris Batdorf-Barnes 5. Eli Cahan 6. Marc Biondo 7. Cole Van Harn 8. Alan Goldfarb 9. Colin Ward 10. Stu Roche 11. Brandon Gardner 12. Jared Bosma 13. John Palladino 14. Kevin Cheng 15. Kenny Andutan 16. Ben Clemens 17. Cam Watson 18. Andrew Bituin Try: Chenge 22′, 45′, Roche 29′, 47′ Con: Roche 45′, 47′ All subs were used on a rolling basis.
Big thanks to the supporting families and friends. Thanks for making the trip and providing food after the games.
