The Michigan Lacrosse team overcame a three-goal deficit in a comeback effort Saturday afternoon at Hobart. Here’s how the Wolverines snuck away with the win:
The No. 19 Michigan Wolverines (2-1) used a second-half surge to fight off the upset-minded Hobart Statesmen (1-1) in a 15-9 victory Saturday afternoon.
This one had all the makings of a letdown. After last weekend’s disappointment in Chapel Hill and a visit to Duke on the horizon, Kevin Conry needed his squad back on kilter.
But it was a lackluster start.
The ride was ineffective, the offense could not find easy looks and the faceoff game struggled with Jackie Weller’s absence. It was a groggy effort from Michigan, which looked disinterested in leaving the dome with a win.
Hobart came out determined. It did not shy away from the Wolverines and played with enough confidence and swagger to accumulate a convincing second-half lead.
There were less than five minutes left in the third quarter when Michigan faced a daunting 8-5 deficit. It’s not that they couldn’t overcome three goals in 20 minutes, but the Wolverines had sleepwalked through the first two and a half quarters in upstate New York.
However, everything changed when a turnover caused by Mason Whitney led the other way and ended with Jack Jenkins ripping a shot from the wing to bring Michigan within two.
It was the first of nine unanswered goals for the Wolverines.
Jenkins was a catalyst for the turnaround, recording three of his four goals during the run. He was feeling it with his shot and it didn’t matter if he was low angle, no angle or fighting off multiple poles — he was finding the twine.
Aidan Mulholland was a huge piece, too, as he turned it up a notch as a dodger and was all over the score sheet. The senior midfielder ended with four goals and two assists as the Statesmen had no answer for him.
Ryan Cohen played another large role, and after battling an apparent lower-body injury in the first half, he toughed it out and finished with a one-goal, four-assist outing. The game also saw Will Byrne take some of those high left wing dodges — ones typically reserved for Cohen. The graduate transfer tallied a hat trick and looked smooth on roll dodges.
CJ Reilly had a goal and two assists, and Lukas Stanat chipped in two goals and an assist to round out a solid offensive performance. Reilly was a nuisance off the ball and Stanat had some ferocity behind his dodges.
Aside from Bo Lockwood’s scoreless afternoon, today’s victory felt like a sign of things to come from this group. It was free-flowing movement, constant off-ball cutters, confident shooters (Mulholland, Jenkins and Byrne combined for 24 shot attempts), and most importantly, they never lost faith when trailing.
Defensively, it was a much more refined product. Whitney was an absolute star, causing three turnovers during the 9-0 run while also scooping four ground balls and adding an assist. Pace Billings had another stellar day at the office and Hunter Taylor made seven saves.
Defensive midfielder Jack Welcsh was absent, but Carson Billig looked great, and Justin Ennis, DJ Dixon and Jack Marlow picked up the slack. They battled on ground balls and went a much-improved 23-for-26 on clears.
The slide packages were much crisper than against UNC and while the defense was still imperfect on blitz timings, today was a step in the right direction. The individual defense of Whitney, Billings, Kees Van Wees and the rest of the core was instinctual and aggressive.
Had it not been for some turnovers and penalties, we could have been talking about a defensive masterpiece.
The other notable injury was FOGO Jackie Weller, who did not play today for undisclosed reasons. Nick Lauderack (8-for-19) and Jack Rideout (3-for-8) filled in at the X. Weller was off to a strong start this season and his sudden departure is a brutal loss. Hopefully, he will be available for next week’s contest.
This was not an affordable loss for Michigan. Sandwiched between two ACC bouts, this was a tricky spot in the schedule, and had to deal with an underrated Hobart, which gave the Wolverines everything it had until running out of gas.
Now, it’s on to Durham for a ranked showdown with one of the nation’s best. Michigan will need a much more complete 60 minutes to pull off the upset.