One minute. That’s all it took for the No. 6 Michigan women’s lacrosse team to take the lead. Yet it only took Rutgers a couple more minutes to push right back.
The Wolverines (9-0 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) returned home from New Brunswick with a 13-10 victory over the Scarlet Knights (5-3, 0-2), furthering their perfect record this season. But a perfect record does not equal a perfect team and the Wolverines didn’t win easily.
“It’s just about playing Michigan lacrosse and being hard-nose,” Michigan coach Hannah Nielsen said. “Fighting for every ground ball and keeping our competence in check and our nerves in check. And I think you know, there was elements of it during the game, but we did it.”
It took only 57 seconds from the opening draw for junior attacker Kaylee Dyer to send a ball into the back of Rutgers’ net, and vigorous offensive attacks from both teams ensued. Quickly, players darted across the field sending shot after shot on their opponents, only to lose possession because of a dropped ball. After 10 minutes of relentless play, the Scarlet Knights managed to not only equalize but gain a 2-1 lead over the Wolverines, with only a few minutes left in the first quarter.
Unfortunately for Rutgers, Dyer had other ideas for the rest of the quarter.
With two minutes left in the frame, Dyer cut through Rutgers’ defense, sending a powerful and tactical shot into the bottom of the net, and once more equalizing the game. And she wasn’t done yet. After junior attacker Jill Smith won the draw control with just a minute to go, Dyer again went on the attack. After her next shot was saved, Dyer chased the ball, shot and scored – earning a hat trick and giving Michigan a 3-2 lead as the quarter drew to an end.
In the second quarter, Michigan continued to display its offensive prowess, but the inconsistencies of the first quarter remained. Assisted by Dyer, freshman midfielder Lucy Davis scored the Wolverines’ fourth goal, but soon Rutgers brought a vicious attack on Michigan. After continuous offensive pressure by the Scarlet Knights, Michigan junior goalie Erin O’Grady couldn’t hold off the attacks forever, and Rutgers brought the score to 4-3. The Wolverines followed this up with a pair of goals by Dyer and Smith, the latter scoring an impressive shot behind her own back.
But it was still abundantly clear that the Scarlet Knights were still in the game. Capitalizing on all of Michigan’s mistaken dropped balls and defensive sloppiness, eventually culminated in Rutgers’ fourth goal. The score may have been 6-4 at halftime, but the Scarlet Knights led the way when it came to shots on goal.
Within the first three minutes of the third quarter, the score was equalized to 6-6. But then something changed for the Wolverines. Eight minutes into the quarter, Dyer raced down the field faked out the defense, and scored her fifth goal of the night. Not even a minute later, senior midfielder Ava Class snuck around the goal and scored another. And then Michigan proceeded to score three more goals. This gave the Wolverines their greatest lead of the night, 11-6.
And it wasn’t just the onslaught of goals that signified the team’s improved play. The Wolverines were much more careful and more precise, with fewer turnovers, six straight draw controls and a much more coordinated offense and defense.
“I think when we’re hustling, we’re playing on our best,” Dyer said. “So just those little hustle plays, they were all over the field.”
Going into the fourth quarter, everything was up for Michigan. Dyer scored her sixth goal of the night, increasing the Wolverines’ lead even further, and crushing victory was in their grasp. But instead of carrying on the hustle and energy of the third quarter, they slowed down, reverting to the style of play they carried within the first half of the game. Rutgers once more dominated in shots, nearly doubling those of Michigan, and managed to raise the score to 13-10 by the end of the game, leading to a much narrower victory for the Wolverines.
Michigan’s skill is top tier and players like Smith, Dyer and O’Grady make it clear as to why it has achieved its No. 6 ranking. But raw skill doesn’t matter if your opponents can capitalize on your mistakes. And the Wolverines made a lot of them.
Michigan’s 30 shots were nearly matched by the Scarlet Knights’ 29, and the picture looks even worse for the Wolverines when you see that Rutgers led in shots on goal. In the third quarter, it was clear that the Michigan can be a formidable opponent, but much of Thursday’s game was a question of its consistency. So even though the Wolverines brought home a win, they have work to do ahead.