The Michigan men’s lacrosse team burned out against Bellarmine on Saturday in the team’s first game in Michigan Stadium. The Wolverines started out the game with a 3-0 lead, but they lost the momentum and the game to the Knights, 13-9.

Michigan scored the first goal for the seventh time in the eight games that it has played this season. Its record, though, sits at 1-7.

“We have started fast in all of our games,” Vassileff said. “It is something we emphasize.”

Yet as consistently as the Wolverines score first, they are just as consistently unable to answer scoring streaks from their opponents. On Saturday, Bellarmine answered the initial three-goal burst with five goals of their own, but the Wolverines were unable to muster a counterattack. During this time, Michigan lost multiple faceoffs or couldn’t put the ball in the net on capital opportunities. The combination of bad breaks and missed opportunities left the Wolverines with another blank spot in the win column.

Senior attackman Trevor Yealy, junior attackman Thomas Paras and freshman attackman Will Meter each contributed two goals for Michigan. Paras also had an assist. Senior midfielder Alex Vasileff had a goal and an assist for the Wolverines. Junior attackmen Zachary Dauch and Ryan Dutton-O’Hara both contributed goals.

Michigan started the game off well, by winning the first three faceoffs and converting them all into goals from Paras, Dutton-O’Hara and Dauch. But this initial attack was stopped when the Knights added two goals of their own before the end of the first quarter and three quick goals to start the second.

Michigan answered with Meter’s first goal, but the Knights won the ensuing faceoff and quickly scored another goal. Yealy scored the next goal on an assist from Paras to end the second quarter. The score at the half was 6-5 in Bellarmine’s favor.

“I felt, going into halftime, if we cleaned a couple things up and moved the ball a little better offensively, we were going to be in pretty good shape in the second half,” said Michigan coach John Paul. “I think we rode well, we won a couple faceoffs, and we just had possession of the ball.”

In the third period, Bellarmine goalie Dillon Ward scored a rare goal on a long shot from deep within his own defensive zone.

“That’s going to happen once or twice a season,” Paul said. “If a team is going to try and beat you by shooting full-field shots over and over again, that’s what we want. If they hit one every once in a while, they hit one every once in a while.”

Bellarmine scored another goal with two minutes left in the third quarter, but Meter scored his second goal with just 14.3 seconds left to finish out the quarter, leaving Michigan with a two-goal deficit, 9-7.

Wolverine freshman goalie Emil Weiss injured his hand during the third period and was replaced by sophomore goalie Dylan Westerhold. Weiss missed the first four games of the season with a broken thumb he sustained preseason.

“He re-broke (his thumb),” Paul said. “We’ll evaluate how long we will lose him again. Asking Dylan to come in cold like that … obviously, (he) wasn’t ready to come in.”

The fourth quarter spelled the end of the Wolverines’ hopes of earning their second win of the season after Bellarmine scored four consecutive goals. Paras tried to lead a comeback with a goal with 2:49 left, but Bellarmine came back with another goal. Yealy scored a goal with 52.6 seconds remaining, but the final push came too late.

“There has not been a time this year where we have given up, and that was not going to happen this game,” Yealy said. “We were going to fight to the end. We were making sure we were sticking through it until that final whistle blew.”

Despite the quick start, the Wolverines had rough stretches of the game, where the back of the net couldn’t be found. Michigan had a poor day shooting, with numerous shots ringing off the posts, making only 9-of-29 shots.

“We went through a lull there where we weren't burying shots,” Paul said. “We were hitting pipes, and they were making saves. If that stuff isn't happening, then this is a different game.”

The Wolverines have not had much success this season, but the attitude of the team is resistant to throwing in the towel at any point, Yealy said.

“There is definitely a resilient attitude,” Yealy said. “We have been broken down a lot this year. Everybody comes back Monday focused, ready to go, and tries to put it behind them. I’m not sure a lot of other teams would keep fighting the way our guys have.”

Next Saturday, the Wolverines will be playing their second game in Michigan Stadium when they take on Mount Saint Mary’s.

“Everything we are doing is just about improving day to day,” Paul said. “Keeping the guys confident, keeping the guys believing in what we are trying to do. We’ll get back to work on Monday, I expect we will have a great week of practice, and they will be focused on trying to win a game on Saturday.”