Wolverines continue historic run with win over Johns Hopkins

Amid a season of firsts for the 

Wolverines, they added another.

When the No. 8 Michigan 

women’s lacrosse team (13-0 
overall, 3-0 Big Ten) took the field 
on Saturday afternoon, not only 
was it putting its perfect record 
on the line –– it was seeking 
its first win in program history 
against No. 18 Johns Hopkins 
(8-3, 1-1). And led by an offensive 
outburst from sophomore attacker 
Caitlin Muir and sophomore 
midfielder Maggie Kane, the 
Wolverines powered their way to 
a 16-11 victory at U-M Lacrosse 
Stadium.

“It’s a team we haven’t beaten 

before,” said Michigan coach 
Hannah Nielsen. “It’s a team 
that came in and beat us at 
home last year, so you know, the 
girls were playing a little bit of 
revenge there. And they did great. 
They’re showing up every game 
and there’s things to tweak each 

game, but we’ve been doing that 
and today is a big one for the 
program.”

As the final seconds of the 

possession clock were winding 
down at the end of the first half, 
the Wolverines found themselves 
in position to take their first lead 
of the afternoon. Michigan, which 
dug itself into an early 5-2 deficit, 
now had Johns Hopkins on the 
ropes after rattling off three 
straight goals to tie the game.

When the possession clock 

reached single digits, sophomore 
attacker Caitlin Muir found 
daylight inside the 8-meter arc. 
Muir curled around the back of 
the net and emerged on the left 
side of Blue Jays’ goalkeeper 
Haley Crosson. She drifted 
toward the center of the arc, fired 
and found the back of the net to 
give the Wolverines their first 
lead of the afternoon, 6-5, with 
14.8 seconds remaining in the 
half.

“Well we got the ball,” Nielsen 

said. “I think that was a big thing 
(that led to the four-goal stretch). 

Our defense had an awesome 
first 10 minutes of the game and 
only held them to a few goals. 
And really whenever we got the 
ball we were throwing it away. 
We couldn’t win a draw control 
and once we started doing that, 
we had the ball and we knew we 
could score goals and that’s what 
happened.”

The early stages of Saturday 

afternoon’s contest were 
controlled by the Blue Jays. 
They retained possession, 
easily worked their way into 
their offensive sets and limited 
Michigan to just two goals 
through the first 20 minutes of 
the game. But as its grasp on 
possession loosened, so did Johns 
Hopkins’ control of the game.

With under eight minutes 

remaining in the half, Muir 
ignited the Wolverines’ four-goal 
streak that ended the first half. 
She weaved her way into the arc 
and rifled a shot past Crosson 
for her first of six goals on the 
afternoon. The sophomore, who 
recorded seven points in total, 

increased her season goal total 
to 22 and also recorded her 17th 
assist of the season.

“I definitely couldn’t have done 

it without my team, obviously,” 
Muir said. “But my team kept 
opening up alleys and giving me 
the ball, so it was really nice. They 
opened it all up for me.”

Added Nielsen: “She’s not big 

in size but she’s big in presence … 
her composure, her athleticism, 
her dodging ability, she works on 
a lot outside of practice and it’s 
great to see her get rewarded. Six 
goals in a huge game is a really 
good effort by her.”

Both sides exchanged goals 

during the opening stages of the 
second half, keeping the score 
tight at 9-8 before Michigan 
finally put the game away. A 
five-goal stretch later in the half 
propelled the Wolverines to a 
16-9 lead with under four minutes 
remaining.

Kane was a contributing factor 

in the second half, pouring in all 
four of her goals in the second 
frame to go along with two assists 

on the afternoon. She tied her 
career high with six points on 
Saturday.

Michigan is continuing to 

improve upon its previous season-
best record of 7-10, remaining 
undefeated ahead of next 
weekend’s matchup against No. 2 
Maryland.

“It’s just all excitement right 

now,” said junior midfielder 
Molly Garrett. “This year 
has been a big year of 
just redemption 
from the years 
past of losing 
all these 
games. And 
coming out 
here where 
this is a big 
opportunity 
to get 
redemption 
as well as go 
to the Big Ten 
and being able 
to get that done 
is just very exciting 
for us.”

Jorge Cazares
Daily Sports Writer

Kartik Sundaram / Daily 
Design by Jack Silberman

The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | April 1, 2019

13-0

What to do now that Michigan’s season is over

INSIDE SPORTSMONDAY

See Page 2B

