Season Preview: 2020 Michigan Women's Lacrosse
1/30/2020 5:35:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
» Michigan begins its seventh season as varsity program and its third season under the direction of head coach Hannah Nielsen.
» The Wolverines are coming off their best season in the history of the program, which included its first NCAA Tournament appearance.
» U-M returns 27 letterwinners and eight starters as well as 77 percent of its points from a year ago.
» The Wolverines will open their 2020 season Sunday, Feb. 9 on the road at Jacksonville.
The University of Michigan women's lacrosse team enters its seventh season as a varsity program and its third under head coach Hannah Nielsen coming off a program-best finish in 2019 that included 16 wins, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance as the No. 8 seed and hosting the first two rounds. U-M will start the 2020 season with a trip to Florida to battle Jacksonville on Sunday, Feb. 9.
Wolverine Bites
• Michigan returns 27 letterwinners, including eight starters, from the 2019 season.
• The U-M roster is comprised of 12 seniors, seven juniors, 10 sophomores and nine freshmen.
• Michigan comes into the season picked at No. 9 in the IWLCA Preseason Coaches Poll and are ranked No. 8 by Nike/USL.
• The Wolverines also were picked to finish third in the Big Ten Conference behind Maryland and Northwestern.
• U-M returns 77 percent of its points from last season, including five of six players that notched 30 points or more a year ago.
• The Wolverines have produced back-to-back program-best seasons since head coach Hannah Nielsen took over prior to the 2018 season.
• Michigan earned a program-best 16 wins in 2019, making its first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
• The Wolverines reached the NCAA Tournament second round and earned a No. 11 ranking in the final IWLCA poll following the 2019 season.
• The Wolverines broke the program's single-season goals record (261), tallied the most ground balls in a single game (30), ranked second in fewest turnovers in a single game (nine) and third in goals in a single game (20) during the 2019 season.
• The Michigan defense gave up the fewest goals in program history (182), besting its previous low of 202 in 2017.
Roster Breakdown
• Michigan will return five of its top six point scorers, including two of the three players that collected 40 points or more last season in Caitlin Muir (59) and Lilly Grass (48).
• Muir returns for her third season after she burst onto the scene in her sophomore campaign, setting the Michigan single-season points (59) and assists (21) records. Muir also became the first Michigan player to surpass 50 points in a season.
• Maggie Kane also returns for her junior season after she broke the Michigan record for consecutive games with a goal with 22, a streak that started on April 3, 2018, against Notre Dame and extended through April 23, 2019, vs. Detroit Mercy. The streak ended on May 3, when Northwestern held her without a goal in the Big Ten Tournament -- one of only two games during the 2019 season in which she did not score.
• Heading into her senior season, Molly Garrett has been named to the Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-America third team and also was one of just five collegiate student-athletes to play with Team USA this past fall.
• Garrett led U-M with 65 draw control victories in 2019, which ranks second in Michigan single-season history, and scored three game-winners for the Wolverines. Garrett was the first Michigan player to be added to the Tewaaraton Award watch list.
• Grass returns for a final season after tying for second in points (48) with 29 goals and 19 assists.
• Also returning to the lineup for a final season is Nadine Stewart, who was fifth on the team with 35 points, scoring 27 goals and adding eight assists.
• Offensively, Michigan will also look for more production from sophomores Kaitlyn Mead and Erin Garvey, who both saw action in all 20 games a season ago. Mead and Garvey each scored six goals, while Mead added one assist.
• Michigan also will look to transfer Kaley Thompson to make an impact on offense after she was named the Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year in 2019 at Elon. Thompson notched 40 points (33 goals, seven assists) and started 16 of the 17 matches she played in. She also matched a program-best eight points against Winthrop with four goals and four assists, while adding a team-best 61 draw control wins.
• Defensively, Maggie Handlan will make her return to the backline after suffering a season-ending injury in 2019. Handlan started 16 games in 2018 and had a team-best 30 ground balls while ranking second with 20 caused turnovers.
• Also coming back on defense is Quinn Melidona, who had 26 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers in 20 starts in 2019.
• In goal, Alli Kothari will look to earn the starting role in her final season. Kothari appeared in seven games (one start) and made 23 saves. In 2018, Kothari split starts in net with Mira Shane, making a team-best 80 saves for a .494 save percentage.
• Finally, Michigan also will seek minutes from its nine-member freshman class, which includes five midfielders, two attackers, one defender and one goalkeeper.
2020 Schedule
• Michigan's 2020 slate features eight games at U-M Lacrosse Stadium, and the Wolverines will take on eight opponents that reached the 2019 NCAA Tournament -- including Big Ten foe and defending national champion Maryland at home.
• U-M will start the 2020 regular season at Jacksonville on Feb. 9 for an NCAA Tournament rematch before closing out its season-opening coast-to-coast road trip with a game against USC on Feb. 15.
• U-M will open its home schedule with three straight games at U-M Lacrosse Stadium against Louisville (Feb. 21), Colorado (Feb. 23) and Albany (Feb. 29).
• Michigan next hits the road for two contests to kick off the month of March before returning to Ann Arbor to take on Denver on March 15. The Wolverines open Big Ten play on the road against Rutgers on Thursday, March 20 and return home for a non-conference contest against San Diego State on Sunday, March 22.
• Nielsen's squad will play four straight Big Ten contests, hosting Ohio State (March 27) and Northwestern (April 9), while traveling to Penn State (April 2) and Johns Hopkins (April 18).
• The Wolverines will play one final non-conference game Monday, April 20 at Central Michigan before concluding the regular-season schedule Sunday, April 25 with a 1 p.m. contest against Maryland at U-M Lacrosse Stadium.
• The Big Ten Tournament is scheduled for Friday through Sunday, May 1-3 in Columbus, Ohio, while the NCAA Tournament begins on May 8.
Ticket Information
• Individual and group tickets are on sale for all Michigan women's lacrosse home games this season. For group experiences, call (734) 647-1268 or email gobluegroupsales@umich.edu.
• Visit the women's lacrosse tickets page for more information and to purchase tickets.
