Michigan
14-2, 4-2B1G
Northwestern
13-2, 5-1B1G
Michigan Battles to End but Comes Up Short in Loss to No. 1 Northwestern
4/21/2024 4:14:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
» Maddie Burns broke the Michigan career ground balls record with 101st career ground ball.
» Jill Smith scored three goals and had seven draw control wins.
» The Wolverines wrapped up their 2024 regular season earning the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
» Michigan will host Johns Hopkins Saturday (April 27) in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan women's lacrosse team battled but came up a goal shy in a 13-12 loss to No. 1 Northwestern in the regular-season finale Sunday (April 21) at U-M Lacrosse Stadium.
The Wolverines (14-2, 4-2 Big Ten) led on three different occasions and came back from a four-goal deficit to knot the game up at 12 in the final three minutes against the Wildcats (13-2, 5-1 Big Ten).
Michigan used Jill Smith's third goal of the game to swing the momentum with 12:49 to play in the contest. U-M then won the ensuing draw control and Josie Gooch finished the possession with a free-position goal to pull the Maize and Blue within two, 12-10.
The U-M defense continued to prove why it leads the nation in scoring defense, causing two turnovers over the next three minutes to get the ball back to the offense. Katharine Merrifield drew a foul and scored on the free position to bring the Wolverines within one, 12-11.
Following some big defensive stops, Jane Fetterolf fed a striking Kaylee Dyer to knot the score at 12 with just over five minutes to play. However, the Wolverines were unable to find any further goals and fell 13-12 on a final NU goal with three minutes remaining.
Smith led the Michigan offense with her three goals and a career-best seven draw-control wins, while Dyer and Julia Schwabe had two goals each.
Defensively, U-M held Northwestern to its second-lowest offensive output of the season and Erin O'Grady made nine stops in the cage. Senior Maddie Burns broke the Michigan career ground ball record with her 101st, passing Anna Schueler who had 100 pickups from 2014-17. Burns also caused two turnovers and Ava Class added two caused turnovers to her statline.
The Wolverines struck first in the opening stanza when Smith netted an unassisted goal with 7:26 on the clock. After four minutes, Northwestern scored the equalizer, but U-M won the draw and scored on its next possession to take a 2-1 lead after one quarter.
The Wildcats came out of the quarter break to score two and take the lead before Michigan surged back with four straight goals, including two from Schwabe to take a 6-3 advantage with just over three minutes left to play in the half.
Northwestern won the next draw and cut the lead to two, 6-4, as the two teams headed into the locker room at the halftime break. Michigan outshot NU 20-12 in the first half with Schwabe scoring two goals and Smith winning five draws and picking up two ground balls.
NU netted the first three goals of the third quarter over a five-minute span to take its second lead of the game at 7-6. Smith quickly evened the score at seven with 8:45 left in the quarter, but again the Wildcats responded less than a minute later off the ensuing draw to go up 8-7.
Northwestern put together its second three-goal run of the quarter to take an 11-8 lead going into the final 15 minutes.
Following a fourth straight Wildcat goal, Michigan picked up the ground ball following a save and Smith scored to start a four-goal run to tie the game at 12 with just over five minutes to play.
Northwestern won the draw and attempted two shots that were saved by O'Grady to keep the game tied up. The Wildcats used a timeout with 3:53 remaining in regulation and came out of the break to score and take the 13-12 lead with 2:55 on the game clock.
Michigan won the ensuing draw, but a turnover on the offensive side of the field allowed the Wildcats to run out the clock and lock up the 13-12 victory.
With the loss, U-M earned the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament and will host No. 5 seed Johns Hopkins on Saturday (April 27) at U-M Lacrosse Stadium.
