Michigan
11-7
Northwestern
16-1
Michigan Falls to Top-Ranked Northwestern in Big Ten Tournament Semifinal
5/4/2023 8:50:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
» Michigan tallied 26 shots with 19 on goal.
» Maddie Burns had a team-best four draw control wins.
» Jill Smith had five points with four goals.
» Kaley Thompson had three goals, three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
» U-M will wait to learn its fate in the NCAA Tournament with the selection show on ESPNU on Sunday at 9 p.m.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The No. 16-ranked University of Michigan women's lacrosse team fell to No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Northwestern 18-11 in its Big Ten Tournament semifinal game on Thursday (May 4) at Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium.
Michigan (11-7) tallied 26 shots with 19 on goal. The Wolverines won 13 draw controls with a team-high four wins from Maddie Burns, while Jill Smith won three draws.
Smith paced the U-M offense with four goals and one assist and Kaley Thompson also recorded a hat trick with three goals. Caroline Davis added one goal and two assists, while Kaylee Dyer had one goal and one assist.
Thompson and Morgan Whitaker caused two turnovers each and Thompson also picked up a team-high three ground balls. In the cage, Maya Santa-Maria made six saves.
Northwestern opened the game on a 3-0 run before Thompson capitalized on a free-position opportunity to bring the Wolverines within two with four minutes remaining in the first quarter. The Wildcats scored on their next possession, but Thompson kept U-M within two as she picked up the ground ball off a rebound and fired it into the back of the cage less than a minute later.
NU strung together a second three-goal run that extended into the second quarter for a 7-2 lead and looked to make it four-straight but Erin Garvey caused a turnover and finished the play on the opposite end of the field with 12:10 remaining in the half.
The Wolverines closed out the first half strong with a goal from Julia Schwabe on a second-chance opportunity and two free position goals as Michigan went into the halftime break trailing 10-6.
U-M capped off its own three-goal run to open the third quarter when Smith found Davis for a goal but NU outscored the Wolverines 3-1 in the final 12 minutes of the quarter to take a 13-8 advantage with 15 minutes to play.
The Wolverines opened the final quarter with two-straight goals to close the NU gap to just three, but could not hold off a five-goal answer from Northwestern as the Wildcats earned the 18-11 victory over the Maize and Blue.
Michigan will now wait to find out its fate in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday (May 7) during the selection show at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.
