Michigan
1-0
Jacksonville
0-1
Smith's Five Goals Push Wolverines Past No. 19 Jacksonville in Season Opener
2/10/2023 9:51:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
» Jill Smith recorded a career-best five goals.
» Kaley Thompson had three assists and one goal in the win.
» Maya Santa-Maria made a career-best nine saves.
» Three freshmen made their collegiate debuts.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan women's lacrosse team recorded a season-opening 14-10 victory over No. 19 Jacksonville University on Saturday night (Feb. 10) at Rock Stadium.
Sophomore Jill Smith recorded a career-high five goals to pace the Wolverines, while sophomores Jane Fetterolf and Kaylee Dyer also netted two goals apiece, and graduate student Kaley Thompson had a four-point outing with a career-high three assists and one goal.
Three U-M freshmen made their collegiate debuts as Rylee Tinney scored her first collegiate goal, Grace Callahan earned the start on defense and Ceci Stein came in off the bench for the Wolverines.
Defensively, junior Maya Santa-Maria recorded a career-high nine saves in her first collegiate start. In front of Santa-Maria, the defense picked up 23 ground balls and caused nine turnovers, led by junior Lily Montemarano with three, while Maya Rutherford and Smith caused two turnovers each.
Jacksonville struck first, but following a quick goal out of the gate from the Dolphins it was all Wolverines until the final whistle. Michigan responded with three straight goals in the first quarter to take a 3-1 lead with 7:12 left in the opening stanza. Both teams found the back of the net one final time in the first 15 minutes as U-M took a 4-2 advantage into the second quarter.
Smith dominated the second quarter as she outscored the Dolphins 3-1 and allowed U-M to take a 7-3 lead into the halftime break.
JU opened scoring in the second half with a goal just 30 seconds in, but again Smith had an answer with her fourth of the contest with 11:43 left in the third quarter. The Wolverines closed out the third quarter on a 4-2 run, including a fifth goal from Smith and Tinney's first career goal to go into the final 15 minutes of play with a 12-6 advantage.
The Dolphins closed the gap to four with back-to-back goals to start the fourth quarter, but Julia Schwabe scored off an assist from Fetterolf to bring the lead back to five with 6:30 left to play. JU added two final goals and Fetterolf netted her second of the game as U-M went on to win its season opener.
Michigan returns to road action Sunday (Feb. 12) when it takes on No. 7 Florida at noon. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
