To say the Michigan women’s lacrosse team had an eventful game against High Point on Friday would be a colossal understatement.
With just over three minutes to go, as the Wolverines trailed the Panthers 12-10, a fire alarm went off in Michigan Stadium, causing a 45 minute delay. The game resumed, and Michigan could not overcome the deficit, losing 13-12 to High Point.
Though Sunday’s contest against Canisius lacked similar alarm malfunctions, it still had a disapointing end for the Wolverines, as they fell to the Griffins, 18-10. Still, despite the defeat, Michigan managed 17 clearances to Canisius’s 14.
“We needed to come up with a couple of more saves,” said Michigan coach Jennifer Ulehla about Sunday’s game. “We also had 12 more fouls, which right there is something that is glaring to me. Just need a little more control on defense.”
Friday’s contest appeared even more taxing for the Wolverines as they nearly pulled out a come-from-behind victory.
Once play resumed, senior midfielder Anna Scheler scored on a free-position attempt to pull Michigan within one goal. With 1:54 remaining, High Point midfielder Erica Perrota netted a goal to give the Panthers a 13-11 lead.
But, just 22 seconds later, Michigan senior attacker Jess Angerman found fellow senior attacker Natalie Carti, who gave the Wolverines new life with a goal. Michigan, though, was unable to find the net before time expired and failed to earn the come-from-behind victory against High Point.
“We worked out (during the break) specifically what we wanted to do on the draw,” Ulehla said. “It worked. We got the draw and scored exactly like we planned. The goal was then to get the next draw, which we didn’t get. One of their best players then ended up scoring.”
Despite Sunday’s final score, the Wolverines’ fortunes looked promising in the early parts of the contest.
At the 20:22 mark of the first half, senior midfielder Madeline Dion scored a goal to give Michigan a 2-1 advantage. Exactly one minute later, she found the net again and doubled the Wolverines’ edge on the Griffins. Dion would finish Sunday’s game with her first hat-trick of the season.
But Canisius put an end to any chance Michigan had of nabbing its second victory of the season, as the Griffins outscored the Wolverines, 8-1, over the next 12:17. For the remainder of the game, Michigan never came closer than three goals of Canisius.
“That was sort of a wave that we didn’t handle well,” Ulehla said. “That’s a step back for us. We’ll take a look at the film and learn from it. We need to be on the other end of those scoring runs.”
Life was not all bad for Michigan in Sunday’s contest, though. Senior attacker Kim Coughlin netted three goals, bringing her career total to 101, the first first Wolverine to reach the 100 goal milestone.
“It’s an exciting day,” Coughlin said about reaching 100 goals. “Obviously I wish it turned out as a win. But working with my teammates and having them set me up, and setting up my other teammates, is always great.”
With Sunday’s loss, Michigan fell to 1-7 on the season, certainly not the start the Wolverines had hoped at the beginning of their campaign. But Michigan has plenty of games left — including all of conference play — to turn its season around, a point Ulehla was quick to make.
“We’re going to study this film and we’re going to regroup,” Ulehla said. “We’re right there when it comes to stats. We still have a lot of season left and the most important part of it coming up.”