Michigan
4-3
Niagara
2-4
Strong Second Half, Five Goals from Coughlan Lift Wolverines Past Niagara
3/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan Stadium)
Score: Michigan 15, Niagara 8
Records: U-M (4-3), NU (2-4)
Attendance: 206
Next U-M Event: Friday, March 20 -- at Marquette (Milwaukee, Wis.), 5 p.m. CDT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's lacrosse team outscored Niagara, 10-3, in the second half after being tied at halftime to overwhelm the Purple Eagles and earn a 15-8 victory on Saturday (March 14) at Michigan Stadium. Sophomore Kim Coughlan netted a career-high five goals on seven shots, while sophomore Anna Schueler added four goals and matched a career high with six draw control.
Niagara opened all scoring in the contest, as Erin Patenaude scored just 1:15 into the game. Schueler responded, tallying back-to-back goals less than three minutes apart, and then sophomore Madeline Dion converted a free-position goal to put U-M up 3-1 with 14:22 to play in the first half.
Over the next 8:54, the two teams traded goals, with all three Niagara goals coming from Carrie-Jo Farrugia, and the Maize and Blue held on to a one-goal lead with 2:29 to go in the opening half. With 1:44 remaining, Farrugia assisted Cailyn Negus for a NU goal to tie the game, 5-5, before the break.
The Wolverines came out of the gates strong in the second half, going on a 4-0 run, which was capped by two goals from Coughlan, and U-M led 9-5 at the 15:26 mark. After keeping the Eagles off the board for 16:25, Niagara scored its first goal of the second half at 13:35 to make it a 9-6 game.
Sophomores Tess Korten and Lauren Oberlander each scored on drives down the middle to push Michigan's lead back to five goals, 11-6, by the 11:13 mark. Over the next 8:55, U-M outscored Niagara 3-2, with both NU goals coming from Taylor Wolf and two of U-M's three goals being man-up goals as a result of Niagara yellow cards.
A point-blank save from U-M goalie Allison Silber with 44 seconds left in the game allowed the Wolverines to clear the ball successfully one last time, and Coughlan notched the final goal of the game with two seconds remaining to give Michigan the 15-8 win.
Silber finished the game with seven total saves in net for the Maize and Blue en route to her fourth win of the season.
After going 1-1 in their recent homestand, the Wolverines will head to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to face Marquette on Friday (March 20) at 5 p.m. CDT at Valley Fields.
NOTES
• With the win, Michigan improves to 4-3 on the season.
• Michigan won three major statistical categories in today's win -- shot (32-20), ground balls (20-19) and draw controls (13-12).
• Kim Coughlan scored a career-high five goals, on seven shots, to lead Michigan. She now leads U-M with 18 goals this season.
• Anna Schueler matched a career high with six draw controls and also added four goals. Schueler has now had at least five draw controls in each of the last five games and leads Michigan with 29 total this season.
• Seven games into the 2015 season, Michigan has matched its win count (4-3) from its inaugural season in 2014, where the Wolverines went 4-13.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Jennifer Ulehla
On making key adjustments at the half to earn the win ... "At halftime, we addressed that we weren't being aggressive. We were reactive and we needed to completely change our mentality and our approach to the game. We asked them to leave the half behind and come out and change the momentum of the game."
On the team responding well to adjustments during the game ... "The leadership is really starting to spread, we have another year of experience under our belt, our communication is better -- it's all those things. But I think most of all, they are starting to get a taste of how good they really can be and get an understanding that how much work they put in, is worth how it feels when you're starting to come together as a team and come out with some wins."
On the team moving past turnovers and still being successful ... "Overall we were able to overcome our mistakes today and that is something that we've been working on -- having a short memory. We are definitely going to make mistakes and we need to able to move forward from them and move on. I think we did a much better job of that in the second half."
On the importance of draw controls in today's win and Anna Schueler's role in that ... "The draw controls is something that we need to continue to improve upon. I think we did a much better job of that today. Both having Anna Schueler take it, but then in the second half the adjustment we made was to have Jess Angerman take it and she was doing a very good job of getting it in the direction of Anna. Anna is doing a very good job of coming off the circle and winning the draw."
On Kim Coughlan's performance and higher shooting percentage ... "It's something that we've been focusing with her and meeting with her about because she has been struggling with her shot selection and her shooting percentage. Alyssa (Murray) has been working with her a tremendous amount on her shooting technique and where she's placing the ball. I think bringing that to her attention and working on her placement has really helped her. What I really liked is that she really responded to that. Seven shots, five goals is a great performance for Kim. We're looking forward to her continuing to improve in other areas to really become a much more well-rounded player, because she is so dynamic."
U-M Sophomore Kim Coughlan
On rebounding from Wednesday's loss ... "Wednesday was a really good game -- we had played really hard and we came together, but just came up a little short. Even if we didn't come out as strong as we wanted to today, at half time we all came together and really focused to pull through."
On the repeated turnovers from both teams ... "Our coaches always say 'the next five', you have to have a short memory. If you mess up, get over it and move on."
On what allowed their offense to be more successful in the second half ... "In the second half, our communication got a lot stronger, which helped a lot. We really started clicking more and seeing the open girl and hitting her quick."
On making adjustments on the fly ... "We see things really well now and have practiced a lot of different situations. I think we have a good feel of what is coming at us."
