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
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