Michigan
8-4, 2-1B1G
Rutgers
4-5, 0-3B1G
Smith Sets Single-Season Goals Record in Michigan's B1G Win Over No. 23 Rutgers
3/24/2023 9:01:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Sophomore Jill Smith paced the No. 15-ranked University of Michigan women's lacrosse team to a 14-4 Big Ten Conference win over No. 23 Rutgers as she broke the U-M single season goals record Friday night (March 24) at U-M Lacrosse Stadium.
Smith had four goals on the night, with the fourth being her 42nd of the season to break Adriana Pendino's single-season goals record of 41 set in 2019. The sophomore accomplished the feat in just 11 appearances this season in which she has 10 hat tricks -- including Friday.
Along with Smith, Jane Fetterolf and Lily Montemarano had multi-goal games with two each, while six other Wolverines (8-4, 2-1 Big Ten) scored one goal in the win. Fetterolf led the U-M offense with five points as she added three assists, and Kaley Thompson had a pair of assists in the win.
Michigan dominated the draw control 15-7 with Montemarano winning a career-best 10 to become the first Wolverine to grab double-digit wins since 2018. Junior Maddie Burns and Smith also had productive days in the draw circle with three and two wins, respectively.
On the defensive end, U-M kept the Scarlet Knights (4-5, 0-3 Big Ten) to just 10 shots and four goals on the evening as Morgan Whitaker and Thompson had two caused turnovers each and Annabelle Burke picked up three ground balls. In the cage, Maya Santa-Maria made five saves and earned her eighth win of the season.
Michigan led wire-to-wire as it scored two goals in three minutes to take an early 2-0 advantage over Rutgers in the first quarter. The Scarlet Knights found their first goal of the game, but the Wolverines quickly answered a minute later to take a 3-1 advantage after one quarter of action.
U-M shut down any Rutgers offensive production in the second quarter as it outscored the Scarlet Knights 5-0 with two goals from Smith to take an 8-1 lead into the halftime break.
Coming out of halftime, Rutgers scored within the first three minutes of play, but again Michigan put together a short 3-0 run and extended its lead to 11-2 with one quarter left.
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Thompson made her own play toward the cage and scored to extend the lead to 13-2 before Julia Schwabe got the clock running with her unassisted goal with 12:22 left in the contest.
Both teams added one final goal in the final 10 minutes of play but the Wolverines went on to a decisive victory over Rutgers.
Michigan closes out the weekend when it hosts Xavier on Sunday (March 26) at 1 p.m. at U-M Lacrosse Stadium for its final non-conference contest of the regular season. The game will be streamed live on B1G+.
