Michigan
4-4, 0-1
Johns Hopkins
8-3, 1-0
Wolverines Fall to Eighth-Ranked Blue Jays in Big Ten Opener
3/25/2023 10:17:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
» Michigan led on three separate occasions, including by a 9-8 margin with 6:50 to go in the third quarter, but a 7-2 extended Blue Jay run put the game out of reach for the Wolverines.
» Senior Josh Zawada paced the U-M offense with four points, totaling three goals and one assist.
» Junior Justin Wietfeldt won 13-of-18 draws (72 percent) with eight ground balls.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's lacrosse team fell to the No. 8-ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays by a final score of 15-11 at U-M Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday (March 25) in the Wolverines' Big Ten opener.
Senior attackman Josh Zawada led the Wolverines (4-4, 0-1 B1G) in scoring behind his 16th career hat trick, while graduate student Peter Thompson and sophomore Ryan Cohen offered three points each in the back-and-forth affair. Junior goaltender Shane Carr connected with two scorers on the night, giving the netminder his first two assists on the season.
Johns Hopkins (8-3, 1-0 B1G) found the back of the net first, scoring twice within the opening eight minutes to take the 2-0 edge. Graduate student Andrew Darby put U-M on the board with his first career goal, after Carr connected with the defensemen to beat the Blue Jay defense with 5:56 remaining in the quarter. Cohen followed with a marker of his own, evening the score at 2-2 with 4:45 left in the quarter.
After a Blue Jay tally left the Wolverines trailing at the end of the opening frame, Michigan strung together three unanswered goals to take control of the second quarter. Junior midfielder Isaac Aronson was the first to strike, burying the shot at the 12:25 mark off an assist from Cohen. Junior Michael Boehm then tallied his second helper of the night, connecting with Zawada, who gave Michigan the 4-3 lead. Thompson capped off the Michigan run with an unassisted shot with 7:55 remaining before the half, making it a 5-3 game.
Johns Hopkins responded with a three-goal spurt of its own, eventually retaking a one-score lead with 1:45 left in the half. Michigan evened things up with three seconds left before halftime, as Zawada found his second goal of the night. The first half saw six Michigan goals from five different scorers, and the Wolverines headed into the locker room tied 6-6 with Johns Hopkins.
Zawada kept up the momentum to start the third quarter, securing a hat trick after burying a shot just over a minute into the second half to put the Wolverines up 7-6. Two unanswered Blue Jay markers gave them an 8-7 lead with 9:58 remaining in the quarter, but back-to-back Wolverine goals allowed U-M to briefly retake the lead. Graduate student Bryce Clay scored his first of the game at the 7:27 mark before senior midfielder Jake Bonomi buried another tally 37 seconds later to give Michigan the 9-8 lead.
Johns Hopkins exploded for four straight goals before Clay's second goal of the night briefly quieted the Blue Jay squad, bringing the score to 12-10 with 10:25 left in the game. After three more Johns Hopkins tallies, Carr found his second assist of the night after connecting with Thompson in transition. Thompson's second score of the night was the Wolverine's last of the game and cut the Michigan deficit to 15-11 with 2:02 left in the contest.
Junior Justin Wietfeldt won 13-of-18 faceoffs (72 percent) and had eight ground balls, while U-M won 19-of-30 faceoffs as a whole. In addition to Zawada's trio, Thompson and Clay each marked pairs of goals. Darby's first career goal was accompanied by four ground balls.
Michigan will kick off a two-game Big Ten road swing as the Wolverines travel to No. 2 Maryland on Saturday (April 1). The contest will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU, and will commence at 1 p.m.
