Michigan
1-1
Florida
2-0
Wolverines Edged in Final Seconds by No. 7 Florida
2/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
» U-M tallied six straight second-half goals to take an 11-8 lead, but Florida scored four unanswered goals, including the game-winner with 10 seconds remaining, to steal the win.
» Eight different Wolverines scored goals, led by Kim Coughlan, Tess Korten and Lauren Oberlander with two each.
» Last week's Big Ten Freshman and Defensive Player of the Week, Mira Shane, made eight saves to help keep U-M in the game.
» U-M's 12-11 loss to Florida is the closest the Wolverines have played the Gators, as U-M lost 20-4 (2014) and 21-0 (2015) in the first two meetings.
Site: Gainesville, Fla. (Donald R. Dizney Stadium)
Score: #7 Florida 12, Michigan 11
Records: U-M (1-1), UF (2-0)
Attendance: 818
Next U-M Event: Friday, Feb. 19 -- vs. Oregon (Oosterbaan Field House), 5 p.m.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The University of Michigan women's lacrosse team was unable to hold onto a three-goal second-half lead, eventually being edged by No. 7 Florida, 12-11, on a last-second goal from the Gators on Saturday (Feb. 13) at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
Freshman goalie Mira Shane made eight saves, topping the seven saves she made in the season opener that earned her Big Ten Freshman and Defensive Player of the Week. On the offensive end, eight different Wolverines tallied goals, led by juniors Kim Coughlan, Tess Korten and Lauren Oberlander with two goals each.
With the Wolverines trailing just 7-5 at the half, Florida (2-0) came out of the break and took its largest lead of the game, 8-5, just 10 seconds into the second half. But the Wolverines (1-1) responded with six unanswered goals over a 13-minute span to regain the lead for the first time since the 21-minute mark of the first half.
Three of those goals came in under a minute, as Coughlan notched an unassisted goal to start the run (24:25), Oberlander scored a free-position goal (23:55), and Korten put home a point-blank goal in transition on the feed from junior Natalie Carti to tie the game, 8-8, at the 23:39 mark. After an eight minute scoring drought for both teams, junior Allie Breitfeller received a feed from Coughlan at the top of the crease and found the back of the net as she fell to the turf. Then Coughlan and Oberlander each scored unassisted goals to give Michigan its largest lead of the game, 11-8, with 10:03 remaining.
After some back-and-forth play, Florida's Shayna Pirreca netted three, nearly identical left-handed goals, in 1:15 to tie the game with 4:34 remaining in the game and force a Maize and Blue timeout.
Florida's Mollie Stevens won the ensuing draw and the Gators held the ball for nearly four minutes before going to goal and taking a shot that went wide and out of bounds. The Gators restarted play with 30 seconds left and Sammi Burgess netted her third goal of the day to give UF the 12-11 lead with 10 seconds remaining.
Michigan won the draw control and quickly attacked the goal, but Jess Angerman's last-second shot was saved and Florida escaped with the win.
In the first half, neither team scored for the first seven minutes of play until U-M juniors Madeline Dion and Anna Schueler scored their first goals of the season to give the Wolverines an early 2-0 lead at 21:31. After being held scoreless for nearly nine minutes, Florida responded with three unanswered goals to take a 3-2. In the first half alone, the game was tied three times and there were three lead changes. With Florida leading 7-4, Angerman scored the final goal of the half on a free-position attempt with 1:01 remaining to make it 7-5 Florida at intermission.
The Wolverines held a 16-9 advantage in draw controls, with Coughlan (6) and Schueler (5) combining for 11 draw controls, and were nearly perfect on clear attempts, going 12-for-13.
Michigan will now return home for a pair of games next weekend, hosting Oregon on Friday, Feb. 19, at 5 p.m. and Marquette on Sunday, Feb. 21, at 1 p.m. at Oosterbaan Field House.
