No. 25 Michigan Travels to Colorado to Take On Two Ranked Opponents

» Michigan is out to the best start in the six-year history of the program after sweeping its first two weeks of the season for a 4-0 overall record and the No. 25 spot in the IWLCA Coaches Poll.
» The Wolverines will take on their second and third ranked opponents of the 2019 season when they head to Colorado for contests against No. 14 Colorado and No. 13 Denver.
» Michigan is in search of its first win against Colorado as the two teams have met three previous times. U-M and Denver will meet for the first time on Tuesday.
» Senior Mira Shane recorded a career-best 18 saves against Dartmouth, helping her to B1G Defensive Player of the Week honors.

THIS WEEK
Sunday, Feb. 24 -- at No. 14 Colorado (Boulder, Colo.), Noon MST
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Tuesday, Feb. 26 -- at No. 13 Denver (Denver Colo.), Noon MST
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• Complete Game Notes (PDF)
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The No. 25-ranked University of Michigan women's lacrosse team will travel to Colorado for a two-game trip. The Wolverines will face No. 14 Colorado in a Sunday (Feb. 24) contest at Kittredge Field in Boulder and finish the trip at No. 13 Denver Tuesday (Feb. 26) at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Both games are set to start at noon MST.

Fast Start for the Wolverines

• For the first time in program history, Michigan is 4-0 to start the season and needs just three more wins in the final 13 games to tie a program-best seven victories, which was set in the 2018 campaign.
• With the 4-0 start to the 2019 campaign, the Wolverines came in at No. 25 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll in week two and are receiving votes in the Inside Lacrosse Poll.
• In her second season at the helm, head coach Hannah Nielsen has already led seven Wolverines to career-best performances just four games in as Adriana Pendino (6), Chandler Kirby (4), Lilly Grass (4), Nadine Stewart (4) and Erin Daly (3) have all notched career highs in goals, while Caitlin Muir has tied a career best in assists (3) and Mira Shane has notched a career best in saves (18).
• As a team, Michigan tied a program best with 20 goals against Central Michigan.
• The Wolverines also took a season-best 52 shots against the Chippewas in their home opener at U-M Lacrosse Stadium.

Shane Earns B1G Defensive Player of the Week Award

• Senior goalie Mira Shane was named B1G Defensive Player of the Week after earning two wins in Michigan's 2019 home-opening weekend.
• She started in goal against Central Michigan and Dartmouth, leading U-M to its first 4-0 season start.
• Shane played just the first 30 minutes in the win against Central Michigan, making two saves en route to a 20-4 victory.
• She followed it up with a career-best 18 saves against Dartmouth, forcing it to go 5-for-14 on free-position attempts.
• The honor is the fourth of her career and first since her sophomore season.

New Faces Emerging in the Michigan Offense

• In its home-opening weekend, Michigan had some new faces contributing to the offense. Juniors Lilly Grass and Nadine Stewart had breakout games against Central Michigan in the home opener as both buried four goals for the Wolverines in the victory.
• Grass has scored at least two goals in every game this season. She has netted 10 goals in four games and needs just seven more goals to tie her total from a year ago.
• Stewart has already tied her goal total from 2018, scoring six goals in the first four games of the 2019 campaign.
• Also improving from a season ago is sophomore Erin Daly, who has already surpassed her 2018 total with six goals this year, including two multi-goal performances.
• Caitlin Muir has been the go-to for assists as she has tallied seven on the season with back-to-back three-assist outings for the Maize and Blue.

Series History with Colorado

• The Buffaloes are 3-0 all-time against Michigan, winning the last meeting in the 2018 season, 20-10.
• Michigan and Colorado will meet for the first time at Kittredge Field. The previous meetings have been in Ann Arbor and Jacksonville, Florida.
• The Wolverines took Colorado to overtime in the first meeting between the two programs before falling 14-13, March 22, 2015.

Scouting the Buffaloes

• Colorado is 1-1 overall on the season after falling to No. 6 Florida to kick off the 2019 campaign. The Buffaloes bounced back with a 17-6 win over No. 23 Virginia Tech and will play their third straight ranked opponent Friday (Feb. 22) when they take on No. 6 Stony Brook.
• As a team, Colorado has outscored its opponents, 26-22, and has put 49 shots on goal in its first two games of the season.
• The Buffaloes are winning the draw control battle, 29-22, and have picked up 47 ground balls.
• Individually, Miranda Stinson and Samantha Nemirov lead Colorado in goals with six each, while Stinson has two assists on the season for a team-best eight points.
• Charlie Rudy has scored five goals this season, and nine Buffaloes in all have found the back of the cage.
• Eliza Cahill and Stinson have controlled the draw the most with eight and six draw-control wins, respectively.
• In net, Julia Lisella has made 24 saves and let in 22 goals, playing all 120 minutes for Colorado to start the season.

Series History with Denver

• Tuesday's meeting with the Pioneers will be the first in program history.

Scouting the Pioneers

• Denver is 3-0 to start the 2019 season, having played two games on the road.
• The Pioneers and Wolverines have one common opponent in California. Denver defeated Cal, 13-4, in its second game of the season, while Michigan earned a 15-10 win at Cal in its season opener (Feb. 8).
• Denver has outscored its opponents, 39-13, keeping all three under 10 goals. The Pioneer offense is outshooting opponents, 92-47, this season as it averages 30 shots per game.
• Opponents have the 34-24 advantage on Denver in draw controls this season.
• So far, the offense has run through Hannah Liddy, who has a team-best 14 points with six goals and eight assists, while Eliza Radochonski is not far behind with five goals and seven assists of her own.
• In total, Denver has five players with five or more goals and eight who have scored at least one goal for the Pioneers in the first three games.
• Maddie Baum and Molly Little have been key on the draw control for the Pioneers with 11 and 10 wins, respectively.
• Defensively, Elizabeth Behrins has caused a team-best nine turnovers and picked up 11 ground balls, while Katherine Fischer has picked up 12 ground balls and has seven caused turnovers.
• In goal, Carson Gregg has started all three games. She has a .600 save percentage and has given up just 12 goals.

Up Next

• Michigan will play four straight games inside U-M Lacrosse Stadium starting Sunday (March 3) with Cincinnati.
• First draw is set for 1 p.m. with the Bearcats.
• The Wolverines will close out the four-game home stretch with their first Big Ten Conference contest Saturday (March 16) against Penn State at noon.