Sophomore goalie Matt Trowbridge stayed locked in from the moment he stepped into the net Tuesday. In his second start of the year, he has taken over for redshirt junior Tommy Heidt, who got injured during the preseason. It was only Trowbridge’s second career start, but he flourished under pressure, as Michigan (2-0 overall) defeated Bellarmine (0-2), 9-7.
“I was always told to practice like you play, so I try to do that everyday,” Trowbridge said. “And when Tommy did get hurt, I was ready to step in and try to do the best I could.”
On Tuesday afternoon, the Michigan men’s lacrosse team faced the Knights. The Wolverines entered the matchup 1-0, after defeating Cleveland State on Saturday.
The Wolverines held a 7-2 lead entering the fourth quarter, but they let up a few fast breaks to Bellarmine, allowing the Knights to narrow Michigan’s lead to just two goals. But Trowbridge never let this phase him. Additionally, he got support from the offense, especially from junior midfielder Brent Noseworthy.
Noseworthy had his tenth career hat trick against the Knights and built off of his star performance against Cleveland State, when he recorded five goals. Noseworthy is only the third junior to be named a captain for Michigan in the program’s short history. His leadership and skill on the field are recognized by all of his teammates.
“We’ve just kind of come to expect that of him and he expects that of himself too obviously,” Trowbridge said. “And he’s just such a great leader and such a great teammate that you know he’s just gonna do whatever he can to put the ball in the back of the net for the rest of his team, and you know he’s got a good chance of doing that almost every game.”
At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Noseworthy has a large build and is also quick for his size. He works effectively as a dodger against any defenders and can easily body up on bigger players. But he had some help on the offensive end Tuesday from junior attackman Rocco Sutherland, who added a goal and an assist.
The Wolverines entered halftime with a 4-2 lead, as the team’s stellar defense limited Bellarmine to only seven shots on goal in the first half. Junior defenseman Nick DeCaprio contributed to this, adding a fastbreak goal in the second quarter. Michigan coach Kevin Conry noted that the physical defense was a large contributor to the victory
“It was a hard-fought, physical game,” Conry said, “and our guys came to play and overcame some obstacles and ended up with the ‘W’ at the end.”
While he commemorated the defense, Conry identified the offense as an aspect of the team that needs improvement.
“We need to learn to finish,” Conry said. “We’re still not taking that 7-2 lead and running with it, so that’s certainly disappointing.”
While Noseworthy provides leadership and consistent scoring for the offense, the team will need other options to succeed against ranked opponents later on in the season. But on Tuesday, Michigan had enough to emerge victorious.