Now in its the third year as a varisty program, the Michigan women’s lacrosse team is comprised of only freshmen, sophomores and juniors — it will lose no seniors to graduation. The Wolverines will be losing an anchor on their team at the end of the 2016 season, though, in junior goalie Allison Silber.
Silber, a three-year starter and stalwart leader, is retiring from the team due to academic opportunities. A movement science major in the School of Kinesiology, Silber plans on graduating a semester early in December of this year. Pursuing a potential career in orthopedics, Silber plans on taking the extra time to prepare for the MCAT exam on her path to medical school.
A highly decorated student-athlete, Silber is a two-time Michigan Women’s Lacrosse Academic Leader and Best Award winner — an award given annually to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average on the team. She also boasts two U-M Athletic Academic Achievement awards and won both Academic All-Big Ten and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar for the 2015 season.
As a freshman on the program’s inaugural team in 2014, Silber started all 17 games. She made a total of 143 saves on the season with a career-high 10 saves against Big Ten foe Penn State.
As a leader of Michigan’s defensive unit, Silber has faced well over 1,000 shots between the pipes, with her save percentage improving tremendously each season. With a minimum of two games remaining, Silber boasts a .429 percentage on 204 total shots in her final season.
“It’s going to be really hard to let this go,” Silber said. “But I’ll be here to support them, to work with the goalies and to watch them succeed.”
After Saturday’s 18-8 loss to No. 1 Maryland, Michigan gathered near the 30-yard line for a team picture to commemorate the final home game of the season. After photographers snapped a few photos, Silber’s teammates chanted her name before a couple players formed a dogpile on top of her.
The Wolverines will travel to Piscataway to play the Scarlet Knights for their final regular-season game of the 2016 season. With Silber directing the defense, Michigan will head into the Big Ten Tournament in Evanston to close out the year as well as Silber’s career.
“I was really happy that my team was able to know about it and that I could go out there with all of the support that they had for me,” Silber said. “It’s just so much fun to play in the Big House one last time.”