Vol. 2: Michigan Biggest Winner of Opening Weekend With First-Ever Top-Five Victory
The Wolverines upset then-No. 5 Notre Dame on the road after a blowout season-opening win and, as a result, climbed 12 spots in the Inside Lacrosse Top 25.
Michigan celebrates during its season-opening rout of Detroit Mercy on Feb. 11. The Wolverine won, 23-2. Photo courtesy: Michigan Athletics.
INTRODUCTION: Hi there! We’re back. New here?
Quick on the Draw is a FREE (!) weekly newsletter about Division I college women’s lacrosse. We’ll overview the best storylines, stars and plays from the previous week. Analysis will be included as we track the season’s development, national polls and Tewaaraton candidates. Expect stats, graphics and GIFs. To learn more, click here.
To read our 2022 season preview, click here.
A setback? That would be an understatement.
Michigan’s 2021 season saw the Wolverine limp to a 3-9 record in a conference-only slate, which culminated in an early exit from the Big Ten Tournament.
That was after starting the 2020, COVID-19-shortened season 5-1: a year in which Hannah Nielsen’s program—now in its ninth season—was on the heels of its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
Because of last year’s collapse, preseason expectations were low for the Wolverine. They didn’t crack the Nike/USA Lacrosse Magazine Top 20 and were ranked 23rd in the Inside Lacrosse Poll. Despite the fact that Michigan brought back 28 letterwinners, most notably fifth-year senior Caitlin Muir and graduate students Arielle Weissman and Katherine Galzerano.
Already, they have proven that the perception of the program was merely a reflection of last season—perhaps a blip on the radar—and not an accurate projection of what this Wolverine team can be.
Michigan cruised to a 23-2 win over Detroit Mercy in its season opener and followed that offensive clinic with a stout defensive performance against then-No. 5 Notre Dame.
In fact, the Wolverine held the Fighting Irish to seven goals on 46 possessions, according to Lacrosse Reference. Weissman stood on her head in cage with 13 saves, Kaitlyn Mead stacked a team-high four goals and Erin Garvey recorded a hat trick in an 11-7 victory—Michigan’s first-ever top-five win. And, to make it more impressive, the triumph came on the road.
The polls noticed. The Wolverine climbed 12 spots in the Inside Lacrosse Top 25 and are, by far, the biggest winners of the first weekend.
Other Storylines to Know:
1. Howard’s team was subjected to racist and misogynist comments before its season opener. Last Friday, about one hour before Howard University’s first game at Presbyterian College, a group of PC students yelled “inappropriate and hateful comments, including racist remarks” toward the Bison players and coaches, according to a statement released by Presbyterian. Fans, players and coaches from around the sport condemned the actions and voiced their support for the Howard team. Presbyterian is conducting an investigation into the incident, and both the college and Blue Hose head coach Eric Clakeley issued apologies to Howard, a historically Black university. Howard is one of two HBCUs with a Division I women’s lacrosse team. The other is Delaware State.
2. Mount St. Mary’s and William & Mary kicked off the year with upsets. The Mount notched its first-ever win over Towson, a 14-11 victory that featured a six-goal second quarter. Towson, which has made the NCAA Tournament four of the past five full seasons, staked itself to a 5-2 lead, but a 4-0, Dani Donoghue-sparked Mountaineer run turned the tide. The Mount improved to 2-0 Wednesday with a last-minute win against UMBC. Then there’s William & Mary. The Tribe was a combined 5-14 in 2020 and 2021. But they got off on the right foot this season, taking down Villanova in their season opener, 14-13. The Wildcats dominated practically every statistical category and entered halftime with an 8-3 advantage. But William & Mary battled all the way back, thanks to a pair of freshmen. Serena Jacobs scored all three of her goals in the fourth quarter, including the equalizer and the game-winner. And goalie Elise Palmer finished with 16 saves—the fifth-most in single-game program history—in her collegiate debut.
3. Meaghan Tyrrell piloted a strong start for No. 3 Syracuse. Welcome to the party, Meaghan Tyrrell. The senior attacker opened her season by scoring half of Syracuse’s goals in a 12-9 victory over No. 13 Stanford. To follow that up, Tyrrell then dropped five goals and three assists in a 23-6 mauling of Binghamton. Through two games, Tyrrell has a silly .786 shot percentage, having scored on 11 of her 14 shots. The offensive explosion earned Tyrrell the first USA Lacrosse Magazine Women’s Player of the Week honor in 2022. Last season, Tyrrell led the Orange with 112 points (68 goals, 44 assists).
4. No. 1 BC is in “attack mode.” A hangover was never in the cards for the Eagles, who returned 89% of their scoring output from their national championship team. They won their first three draws against then-No. 4 Northwestern Saturday, scored the first three goals and never looked back. BC’s heavyweight bout with the Wildcats was closer than the 18-9 score suggested. An 8-2 fourth quarter run did the trick. Charlotte North led the way with seven goals and poured in seven more in the Eagles’ 22-5 drubbing of No. 24 UMass Wednesday afternoon. BC outshot the Minutewomen, 41-18, and caused 10 turnovers in the lopsided affair. The Eagles aren’t defending their title. They’re in attack mode, head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said.
5. Pitt entered the scene in style. Who says you need time to build a program? Last Friday, the Pitt Panthers won their first-ever game over Duquesne, 9-8 in overtime. And while the Panthers loaded up with 14 transfers, it was senior attacker Kierin Ratliff-Kailbourne who headlined with four goals on six shots. Ratliff-Kailbourne competed with Pitt’s club team before the transition to varsity, winning the club lacrosse national championship in 2018-19. Oregon transfer Carlie Leach added a pair of goals, including the game-winner less than two minutes into overtime. Next up, the Panthers take on Siena on Friday at 5 p.m.
6. There’s trouble in Harrisonburg. After a week of play, preseason No. 12 James Madison is 0-2, following a 15-8 loss to No. 2 North Carolina and a 10-9 loss to Virginia Tech. Sure, losing to the Tar Heels is nothing to be ashamed of, but what is concerning is how lopsided the final box score was. UNC outshot JMU, 36-18, and 30-12 in shots on goal. UNC was plus-seven in ground balls and won 8-of-11 first-half draw controls. The Dukes had a great chance to bounce back against a decent Virginia Tech squad but fell short there, too. JMU led, 9-7, in the fourth quarter, only to allow three straight unassisted goals, two of which came in the final 3:30. The Dukes still have plenty of talent to put together a strong 2022, but they can’t afford to mess around in their upcoming games against UConn and High Point.
7. No. 15 Denver and No. 18 Jacksonville asserted their dominance against ACC foes. These were two of the more under-appreciated programs of the 2021 season. Denver rattled off 16 straight wins, claiming a Big East title along the way, before being knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by Final Four-bound Northwestern. Jacksonville, meanwhile, rode an 11-1 record—which included the program’s first-ever win over Florida—to its seventh NCAA Tourney. Both built off those successful campaigns with season-opening victories against ACC teams this past weekend. Behind a 10-goal first quarter, Denver trounced Louisville, 19-9. And Jacksonville beat Virginia Tech for the second year in a row. This time, overtime wasn’t necessary. The Dolphins were up 9-1 at halftime and never faltered, with Sarah Elms and Molly Brock both logging hat tricks.
Denver attacker Julia Gilbert dodges amid the Pioneers’ 19-9 win on Feb. 13. Gilbert finished with six goals and two ground balls. Photo courtesy: Isaiah Vazquez/Clarkson Creative.
Weekly Focus:
THE SWITCH TO QUARTERS…
This offseason, the sport changed up the game format from two 30-minute halves to four 15-minute quarters. Following BC’s 18-9, season-opening victory over then-No. 4 Northwestern, we caught up with Eagles head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein and some of BC’s best playmakers to hear about their thoughts on the change.
BC goalie Rachel Hall prepares to make a save against then-No. 4 Northwestern on Feb. 12. Hall made eight saves in the 18-9 win. Photo courtesy: BC Athletics.
Walker-Weinstein: “With the quarters now and the additional eight-minute timeout, there's a lot of stopped play. And we're just focusing on trying to execute out of those moments. Unfortunately, I think the quarters disrupt a lot of the momentum.”
She continued: “Not wild about it. … And it could be 6:30 p.m. to me right now (game started at noon). Like, what time is it? I have no idea.”
Attacker Charlotte North: “It's a big momentum changer. I mean, it's good to get a break in between each quarter. And to kind of reset, you know, maybe if the momentum is not going our way. But we talked about as a team really wanting to be able to come out of timeouts and come out of those quarter breaks taking over and sending that first punch, right from the get-go. We get four chances to do that, which is awesome. But we like to reset and remind each other that just that next play is what's important.”
Goalie Rachel Hall: “After the first quarter, I thought the first half was over honestly. It felt really long. I think there's some kinks that need to be rolled out. But it's good for the game I think.”
Numbers to Know:
.565 – Syracuse’s team shot percentage. Meaghan Tyrrell has a .786 percentage (11 goals on 14 shots), Megan Carney is at .714 (5 goals on 7 shots) and Sierra Cockerille sits at .517 (4 goals on 7 shots). True, this number is inflated due to just two games played. Also true, one of those games was against a top-15 team in Stanford.
3 – the ACC owns the top-three scoring offenses in the country through the first week of play. Duke leads the way at 23.5 goals per game, followed by BC at 20.0. Third is Virginia, which averages 19 goals per contest after scoring 20 at Elon and 18 against Cal.
16 – number of points Stanford redshirt freshman attacker Ashley Humphrey tallied in her first two games. She currently leads the nation in points, edging out BC’s Charlotte North (15). Humphrey is one of just two freshmen in the top 10 nationally in points. The other is Youngstown State’s Natalie Calandra-Ryan (11 points, tied sixth in the country).
Stanford’s Ashley Humphrey and Annabel Frist look to embrace after a goal during the Cardinal’s 15-14 win over Albany on Feb. 13. Photo courtesy: Stanford Athletics.
Tewaaraton Watch:
WATCH LIST HONOREES
The first Tewaaraton Award watch list of the season came out last week, and UNC leads the way with six nominees. Next is Syracuse with five. Then comes BC and Maryland with four apiece. Notre Dame and Northwestern both have three players listed.
You don’t have to be named to this initial list to earn a spot on the subsequent watch lists or contend for the award. Watch list additions will be announced on March 11 and April 1. After that, the field will shrink to 25 nominees on April 21. Five finalists will be announced in early May before the winner will ultimately be chosen at the end of the collegiate lacrosse season.
POINTS LEADERS
GOALS LEADERS
NOTE: Stats are correct through Feb. 16.
Latest Inside Lacrosse Poll
NOTE: screenshots pulled from insidelacrosse.com.
We’re very, very early in the season, which means a minimal shakeup in the Top 25. As we mentioned earlier, Michigan was the big winner this week, jumping 12 spots in the poll. Preseason No. 5 Notre Dame took the biggest tumble, dropping seven places to No. 12. Northwestern fell from No. 4 to No. 6 following a nine-goal loss to BC and a bounce-back win at home against Marquette. Stony Brook has already cracked the top five, setting up an awesome No. 3 vs. No. 4 matchup on Sunday (see below). Maryland, Loyola and Virginia each moved one peg up, while JMU, Stanford, Denver, Princeton, Penn and Johns Hopkins shifted down one spot each. Drexel got the short end of the stick, sliding down three spots from No. 16 to No. 19, despite going 2-0 in week one. The Dragons beat Wagner, 18-7, and Penn State, 12-8.
What’s Ahead?
William & Mary @ No. 6 Duke, Feb. 18, 4 p.m.
No. 10 Virginia @ No. 8 Maryland, Feb. 18, 5 p.m.
No. 14 Stanford @ No. 15 Denver, Feb. 18, 9 p.m.
No. 7 Florida @ No. 2 UNC, Feb. 19, 12 p.m.
No. 3 Syracuse @ No. 4 Stony Brook, Feb. 20, 4 p.m.
Hope you enjoyed this edition of the Quick on the Draw newsletter. If you liked it or know someone who will, please share! We’ll be back Monday for more coverage.