U-M's Season Ends as Comeback Falls Short vs. Northwestern in NCAA Second Round - MGoBlue

What You Need to Know
» Jill Smith recorded a career-best four goals to lead seven goal scorers for Michigan.
» Michigan concludes its 2022 season with an 11-7 overall record
» The Wolverines played in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The No. 21-ranked University of Michigan women's lacrosse team (11-7) saw its 2022 season come to a close Sunday afternoon (May 15) as its comeback against No. 6-ranked Northwestern (15-4) fell short 15-12 at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Wolverines reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history, with the first coming in the 2019 campaign.

After trailing by five at the end of the first quarter, U-M came within one with 7:10 left in the third quarter. However, the Wolverines were unable to even the score as the Wildcats scored three straight and went on to a 15-12 victory.

Freshman Jill Smith paced the Michigan offense with a career-best four goals, while Kaitlyn Mead and Caroline Bean each netted a pair of goals. Fifth-year Caitlin Muir had two assists as seven different Wolverines found the back of the cage.

Mead and Josie Gooch each had two draw control wins in the circle, while Mead also added two ground balls and one caused turnover. Sophomore Maddie Burns and senior Morgan Whitaker paced the defense with three ground balls and one caused turnover each, and graduate student Arielle Weissman made nine saves and kept Northwestern 2-for-9 on free-position opportunities.

Northwestern scored right off the opening draw and added four more goals in the first quarter to take a 5-0 lead after 15 minutes of action. Smith got the Wolverines on the board as she ripped a free-position goal with 10:10 left in the half, but the Wildcats responded with a pair of goals to extend the lead to six.

Minutes later, Smith picked up her own rebound off a free-position attempt in front of the cage before taking one step to her right and firing a shot into the back of the cage, and Mead followed it up two minutes later with a tally of her own to cut the Northwestern lead to four.

The Wolverines continued to push as Kaylee Dyer scored a goal with just over a minute left in the half and Smith locked up her second straight hat trick with a free-position goal as U-M went into the halftime break trailing 8-5.

The Michigan offense continued to surge in the third quarter, scoring three straight to cut the Northwestern lead to just one at 9-8 with 7:10 remaining in the third stanza. The Wildcats again responded with three straight of their own, but Bean ended the third quarter with a free-position goal and Michigan headed into the final quarter trailing 12-9.

Following a Northwestern goal to start the fourth quarter, Erin Garvey and Julia Schwabe netted back-to-back goals to pull U-M within 13-11 with 8:39 left to play. The Wildcats went up by three before the Wolverines used a crafty goal from Smith to come within two with six minutes remaining.

Michigan's defense forced a shot-clock violation, but a Wolverines turnover allowed Northwestern to score an empty-net goal to end Michigan's season.

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