Michigan
6-4 (1-1)
Northwestern
7-1 (1-0)
Michigan Falls in Road Contest to No. 3 Northwestern
3/16/2023 10:41:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
» Jill Smith recorded her ninth hat trick of the season.
» Michigan put 14 of its 18 shots on goal.
» The Wolverines will return home for a three-game home stint starting Sunday.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan women's lacrosse team fell to third-ranked Northwestern, 16-8, in a Big Ten Conference road game Thursday (March 16) at Ryan Fieldhouse.
The Wolverines (6-4, 1-1 B1G) tallied 18 shots with 14 on goal and were led by sophomore Jill Smith, who recorded her ninth hat trick of the 2023 season. Erin Garvey also added two goals for the Maize and Blue and Kaley Thompson had two assists and a goal.
Junior Maddie Burns had two caused turnovers and two ground balls, while Lily Montemarano had a team-best five draw control wins. In goal, Maya Santa-Maria made six saves and Erin O'Grady made three.
NU scored the first goal of the game but Michigan quickly answered as Thompson found Julia Schwabe for the one-timer goal less than a minute later. With Michigan plagued by yellow cards, the Wildcats went on a 5-0 run before Garvey netted a free position goal with one second left on the clock to bring U-M within four, 6-2, to start the second quarter.
Northwestern outscored Michigan, 6-1, in the second quarter as U-M's lone goal came when Smith grabbed the ball out of the air and brought it down to fire it into the back of the cage.
The Wolverines battled in the third quarter as Smith scored two goals but Northwestern kept hold of the running clock heading into the final 15 minutes of play leading, 15-5.
U-M looked to close the gap as it scored on three-straight free position attempts in the fourth quarter but was unable to overcome the large deficit.
The Wolverines will return home for a three-game home stint starting Sunday (March 19) when they play host to Eastern Michigan at 1 p.m. at U-M Lacrosse Stadium.
