It all starts with the draw-control.
Possessions, offensive position and scoring opportunities can all originate with a single one. Thursday night, senior attacker Lily Montemarano’s performance at the draw position catalyzed all of that for the No. 6 Michigan women’s lacrosse team against Ohio State.
“To have the ball in your stick is just a huge advantage and something that I think even in previous years, it’s something that we’ve always wanted or maybe never had,” Michigan coach Hannah Nielsen said.
Montemarano secured that advantage for the Wolverines numerous times against the Buckeyes. Her performance should come as no surprise though. In their game against Colorado last Saturday, Montemarano ended the game with 10 draw-control wins and tied a Michigan single-game record. Against Ohio State, Montemarano set a new single-game record with 12 wins.
Montemarano and the Wolverines got off to a hot start, with Montemarano quickly getting a 2-0 lead in draw controls in the first three minutes of the game. But after Michigan junior attacker Jill Smith scored a goal, Michigan lost the next draw-control. The Buckeyes soon scored their second goal of the game — highlighting the advantage winning the draw can yield.
“With the draw, just taking every new draw as a new possession,” Montemarano said. “It’s just a reset since there’s so many throughout the game. You can’t really pull back on the last one, you just need to walk and reset and do your thing.”
After that hiccup, Montemarano won the next four draw-controls. Winning them propelled the Wolverines’ offense to scoring three goals, including one by Montemarano to end the first quarter.
There wasn’t as much draw-control action in the second quarter, as turnovers were a prominent theme. But Montemarano won each of the three draw-controls, helping Michigan add one more goal and giving it a 5-3 score advantage going into halftime.
“That rivalry definitely let us know that we cannot put our foot off the pedal because we’ve seen it happen in the past and (in) several different sports,” Montemarano said. “It’s just that deep competition is really driving and just keeping our foot on the gas and staying focused. Specifically, that draw position is really important for me personally, and just going into the second half knowing that I had to continue that.”
And while the Wolverines did not do quite as well in the fourth quarter winning just three of its draw-controls, it had already clinched the game thanks to that aspect.
Michigan ended the night with a 17-3 win in draw-controls, leading to a dominant win 11-5.
Montemarano’s draw-control led the way for the Wolverines against Ohio State. And if Michigan continue winning draw-controls, its dominance could continue throughout the season.