By Joshua Cole
WSL Special Correspondent

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- The University of Michigan men’s lacrosse team’s default attack mode is to stall, yet when the team sped up its transition late in the fourth quarter Saturday night, the Wolverines scored what stood up to be the winning goal of their third straight national title.

No. 1 Michigan put an end to what had been a fairy-tale return to the field for No. 3 Arizona State in a 12-11 victory in the MCLA Division I national championship game at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park outside Denver.

Arizona State, just one year removed from a six-month ban imposed by the school that wiped out its 2009 season, came just one goal short of its first national title.

With the Wolverines clinging to a 10-9 fourth-quarter lead, junior goalie Mark Stone kicked a shot out of the crease, and junior long-stick midfielder Matt Asperheim scored on the ensuring counter-attack with 6:58 remaining. About a minute-and-a-half later, senior attackman Clark McIntyre scored what would be the title-winning goal following a turnover to make it, 12-9.

Arizona State (16-4) nearly came back when fifth-year senior attackman Tyler Westfall scored on a two-man advantage with 2:05 remaining, and he scored his game-high fifth goal with 8.2 seconds left. But Michigan launched the face-off out-of-bounds at midfield to seal its victory.

Junior attackman Trevor Yealy led Michigan with four goals.

Michigan, which finished the season 18-1, is the first team to win three straight national titles since the MCLA formed in 1999.

For most of the game, Michigan possessed the ball and rotated it around the perimeter, as if waiting for a referee to lift his arm to give a stall warning, at which point an attackman might bull-dodge toward the goal. Michigan had more than 85 percent time of possession, and the Wolverines outshot Arizona State, 56-30.

In Michigan’s semifinal Friday, a 12-10 win over No. 4 Chapman, spectators booed the Wolverines’ boring play. But the players didn’t care, Yealy said.

“The strategy was just to eat the clock up,” Yealy said. “We also did it against Chapman, and you could hear the whole stadium booing. But in a close game like that, you’ve got to kill the clock and do what you’ve got to do to hang on.”

Michigan needed all that time, especially because of Westfall and his two younger brothers, senior middie Ryan Westfall and sophomore goalie Dylan Westfall. Ryan scored on a rocket shot in the first quarter that put Arizona State up 5-3, and Dylan stopped about two shots for every one he let get past him.

Despite the loss, the Northern California-raised trio cherished their one year together.

“It’s been a once in a lifetime opportunity to step on the field with my two younger brothers,” Tyler Westfall said. “One’s in goal, one’s in midfield, and I’m on attack, so we have the whole field covered.”

A year ago, the Westfall brothers weren’t allowed to play lacrosse together. The entire Arizona State team was suspended as a result of hazing and alcohol violations, just as the team was starting practice and preparing for a trip. In October 2009, the team was reinstated, with two years of probation and requirements for community service, a risk-management plan and classes.

“We weren't going to let that suspension be an excuse,” Dylan Westfall said. “We’re never going to be satisfied until we win the championship, but I think we played great.”