Michigan
Mercyhurst
Wolverines Set to Open 2026 Season Against Mercyhurst
1/27/2026 6:35:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's lacrosse team (0-0) opens its 2026 schedule on Saturday (Jan. 31) when it hosts Mercyhurst (0-0) at 7 p.m. inside Sweebe Family Athletic Center on the campus of Adrian College. The game was moved due to inclement weather forecast in Ann Arbor.
Notes
• Michigan enters the 2026 season following tying for second place in the Big Ten in 2025 and finishing with a 7-7 overall record (3-2 in conference action).
• The Wolverines bring in 21 newcomers this season. The group is comprised of 15 freshmen and graduate transfers. The recruiting class consists of seven midfielders, six attackmen, six defenders, one faceoff specialist and one goalie. Michigan's transfer class includes: Eliot Dubick (Maryland), Kade Goldberg (Georgetown), Michael Kelly (Princeton), McKnight Pederson (Princeton), Will Tominovich (Georgetown), and Jake Waldman (Georgetown).
• A trio of Wolverines was named to the Big Ten Players to Watch list. Senior Hunter Taylor earned the honor for the second straight season, while CJ Reilly and Nick Roode earned the honor for the first time.
• Taylor enters the season as the Wolverines' starting goalie and the winningest goalie in program history with his 21 victories. He ranks second all-time in Michigan annals with 400 career saves and logged a personal-best .528 save percentage in 2025. Taylor tallied seven double-digit-save games in the 2025 campaign and stopped a career-best 18 shots against Rutgers. The Rockville, Md., native also earned Lacrosse Network Player of the Week recognition last season and was the Big Ten Specialist of the Week on two occasions.
• Reilly, a junior midfielder, played in 14 games with four starts in his sophomore campaign and tallied seven points. The Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., native scored four goals and had three assists, with his first career goal coming against Marquette. Reilly entered the 2025 season on a three-game scoring streak with five total points.
• Roode heads into his junior season as a member of the Michigan attacking core, playing in nine games with five starts in 2025, while ranking fourth on the team with 14 goals and three assists for 17 total points. The Peterborough, Ontario, native notched four multi-point games, including a career-high five goals and one assist against Cleveland State. Roode also netted the game-winning goal against No. 1 Maryland in triple overtime.
• Junior Kevin Kearns has been named Michigan's male nominee for the Big Ten Jackie Robinson Community and Impact Award. Kearns founded and organized a nationwide College Lacrosse 9/11 Stair Climb, where the men's and women's lacrosse teams ran 110 flights of stairs in the Big House and raised $80,000 for families of FDNY first responders through the Michael J. Cawley Memorial Foundation. He is a 2025-26 Team Impact Fellow, taking charge of welcoming Lukas as a member of the Michigan men's lacrosse family for the upcoming spring season.
• Head coach Kevin Conry enters his ninth season at the helm of the Michigan program and returns both Jim Rogalski as the associate head coach and defensive coordinator while adding Will Corrigan as the offensive coordinator and Liam Entenmann as his third assistant. Conry has elevated the U-M program to new heights, winning back-to-back Big Ten Tournament Championships in 2023 and 2024, as well as making two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and earning the first All-America citations in program history.
• Michigan will host five regular-season games at U-M Lacrosse Stadium, including games against Maryland (March 28) and Rutgers (April 5) on Big Ten Network.
• Following the game against Mercyhurst, the Wolverines hit the road for a non-conference contest against Marquette on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 11 a.m. CT.
