Michigan
16-3
Notre Dame
16-4
Smith's Buzzer-Beater Sends U-M Past Notre Dame, to First NCAA Quarterfinal Appearance
5/12/2024 3:26:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
» With a last-second goal from Jill Smith, Michigan earned the 15-14 win over No. 4 Notre Dame.
» U-M will make its first NCAA Quarterfinal appearance in program history.
» Michigan will take on No. 2 Boston in the NCAA Quarterfinal.
» Katherine Merrifield scored a career-best four goals and had five draw control wins.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- With a buzzer-beating goal from junior Jill Smith, the No. 5-ranked University of Michigan women's lacrosse team advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time in program history after defeating No. 4 Notre Dame 15-14 on Sunday afternoon (May 12) at Arlotta Stadium.
Michigan took its first lead of the contest in the fourth quarter and continued to battle it out and set up Smith's game-winning goal. The game saw eight ties with four coming in the fourth quarter.
Notre Dame used a free-position goal with 31 seconds left to tie the game at 14. The Wolverines won the ensuing draw and called timeout with 26 seconds on the clock to set up what would be its final chance at the game-winning goal. Head coach Hannah Nielsen drew up the play for Smith, who drove across the eight-meter and fired a shot just under the crossbar with one second on the clock to send U-M to victory.
Katharine Merrifield was a game-changer for the Maize and Blue, scoring a career-best four goals and had a career-high five draw control wins, while Smith recorded a hat trick and both Jane Fetterolf and Julia Schwabe had two goals. Caroline Davis set up the offense all game as she notched four assists and scored a goal to tie the game at nine in the third quarter.
Michigan held an 18-13 draw control advantage, with Lily Montemarano winning seven, Smith six and Merrifield five.
Defensively, Erin O'Grady made 10 saves in the cage, including three straight saves that proved crucial with under four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Taylor Cullen paced the defense with three caused turnovers and Ava Class added two, while Maddie Burns had two ground balls and one caused turnover.
Notre Dame scored the first three goals of the game before the Michigan offense scored the next three with the game-tying goal coming from Fetterolf with under a minute left in the first quarter, making it 3-3 going into the second 15 minutes of action.
The second quarter started much like the first as UND scored three straight to go up 6-3, but Merrifield added her second of the day minutes later to bring U-M within two. The Fighting Irish scored the next goal to bring their lead back to three, 7-4, but the Wolverines continued to fight back. Merrifield recorded her first career hat trick and Class scored one to pull the Wolverines within one, 7-6, with just under four minutes left in the first half.
The Michigan defense came up with a huge stop following a Notre Dame timeout with less than a minute to play and Smith raced down the field to attempt the game-tying goal before the halftime break, but the shot sailed just wide and U-M went into halftime trailing the Fighting Irish 7-6.
Merrifield notched scored three times in the opening half, while Davis and Schwabe had two assists each. Defensively, Class and Cullen had two caused turnovers and Michigan won the draw control battle 8-7 with three wins each from Merrifield and Smith.
The two teams continued to exchange goals in the third quarter. U-M struck first to tie it up at seven on a Schwabe goal, but Notre Dame took an 11-9 advantage with six minutes remaining in the quarter. Michigan remained relentless as a last-second goal in the third quarter from Fetterolf sent the Wolverines into the final 15 minutes trailing by just one, 11-10.
U-M scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter to take its first lead of the game, 12-11, on a Schwabe free-position goal, but Notre Dame answered to knot the score at 12 with 11 minutes remaining. Following the Michigan defense forcing a UND turnover, Nielsen called a timeout that led to a Smith goal as the Wolverines took their second lead of the contest, 13-12, with 7:40 left on the clock.
Notre Dame tied the game up on two more occasions as a free-position goal from the Irish put the game in a deadlock at 14 with 31 seconds on the clock. Michigan won the draw control and called a timeout with 26 seconds remaining. Smith did the work herself as she worked the ball inside the eight-meter and whipped across to fire a shot into the top half of the cage to send Michigan to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time in program history.
The Wolverines will take on No. 2-ranked Boston College in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Thursday (May 16) in Chestnut Hill, Mass., with the game time to be announced.
