Michigan
6-5, 1-2
Rutgers
7-4, 1-2
Wolverines Rally Late but Unable to Overcome Scarlet Knights
4/7/2024 9:46:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
» Michigan trailed 8-5 with 9:43 remaining before scoring two straight to pull within one, 8-7, but Rutgers added a score at 7:38 to hold on to a 9-7 win.
» The Wolverines were held scoreless for nearly 26 minutes in the contest, trailing by as many as five goals in the third quarter and by a trio in the fourth.
» John Morgan notched his first career hat trick and paced Michigan with three points.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 15-ranked University of Michigan men's lacrosse team came up short against Rutgers, falling 9-7 on Sunday night (April 7) at U-M Lacrosse Stadium in U-M's regular season home finale.
Junior John Morgan tallied his first career hat trick with all three scores coming in the second half and paced the team with three points. Ryan Cohen and Kyle Stephenson registered two points each. U-M held a 46-40 shot advantage and claimed 11 of 20 faceoffs. On defense, the Wolverines caused 14 of the Scarlet Knights' 16 turnovers. Goalie Hunter Taylor stopped 12 shots to mark his seventh start of the season with double-digit saves.
Rutgers (7-4, 1-2 Big Ten) opened the scoring at 13:37 in the first quarter before Michigan (6-5, 1-2 Big Ten) took advantage of the extra-man opportunity to tie the game at one as Isaac Aronson found the top-right corner on a turnaround. The Scarlet Knights grabbed the lead back, but Justin Tiernan whistled one past the keeper to knot the game at two at 1:50 in the first.
The visitors went on a 5-0 run that extended into the third quarter and raced out to a 7-2 lead. Aidan Mulholland scored to give the Wolverine attack some life and put a stop to the run and make the score 7-3. Morgan followed up with two scores of his own to inch U-M closer, 7-5, but Rutgers answered to close the third and make it 8-5 with 15 minutes remaining in the conference tilt.
The comeback appeared to be in full effect for the Maize and Blue as Morgan completed his hat trick before Stephenson scored quickly off the ensuing faceoff to pull Michigan within one, 8-7, with 9:32 to go. The decisive goal for the Scarlet Knights came at the 7:38 mark in the frame, and the Rutgers defense stood its ground to secure the 9-7 win.
Senior faceoff man Justin Wietfeldt went 10-of-17 at the dot with five ground balls to give him 100 on the season, tying the single-season program record in the category. Graduate longpole Cathal Roberts had a trio of caused turnovers as U-M totaled 14 on the night, the second most on the year.
Next up, Michigan travels to State College, Pa., to take on No. 8-ranked Penn State on Saturday (April 13) at noon from Panzer Stadium.
