The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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against No. 15 Cornell, King netted a late goal to put the contest into overtime. The Wolverines eventu- ally dropped that one, but the clutch moment helped boost the rookie's confidence. "We had a minute or so left in the game, and I took the shot and scored," he said. "Seeing everybody celebrating was pretty cool." King played in all 16 Michigan games, scoring in 15 of them. He net- ted at least one goal in 11 straight contests, while posting a dozen games with two or more goals. He made the ECAC All-Rookie team after posting the sixth-best goals-per-game average (2.00) in the conference. King set a program best with four goals in a Feb. 19 game against Detroit and notched four hat tricks overall. Becoming Michigan's leading scorer as a freshman isn't something King could have anticipated, espe- cially in the lean months that led up to the season. Looking back on it, he talks about the achievement more in terms of gratefulness than brag- gadocio. "It's a huge honor," he said. "It's a huge honor the coaches thought I had the ability to do that, and they put me in positions to do that. Ob- viously, there is a lot that goes into earning a record. I've got to give some thanks out to the scout team, for preparing me and setting me up to do well." King certainly didn't lack college options, coming out of Cincinnati's St. Xavier High School. He admitted facing a tough choice, after getting recruited by lacrosse powerhouses such as Johns Hopkins and Mary- land, along with a host of others. "My dad and I discussed that we wanted more for me than just la- crosse," King explained. "We thought it was a cool opportunity to help de- velop a program. "If I can help do that, it's almost the same to me as winning a national championship. I can say I was there with the first teams that eventually made Michigan a national champion- ship team." The lacrosse squad has a ways to go in that regard, making the tough transition to high-level success on the varsity level after moving from club sport status three years ago. Michigan won five contests this past season, the Wolverines' best effort so far, following 1-13 campaigns in their first two varsity years. King and the Wolverines concede nothing regarding the future. They took a step up this year and plan on continuing. He exudes confidence about the future, even though he un- derstands the climb might in some ways resemble a march back from mono. "We're shooting for the stars, and I think we'll hit them," he said. "As of right now, it's a tough transition, obviously, to Division I. We're aiming high, though, and we're going to hit it. We'll get there." His own progress will come from hard work in conditioning over the warmer months, playing in a sum- mer lacrosse league with friends, participating in tournaments on the East Coast, etc. He's doing every-