{"id":1069,"date":"2025-04-29T16:53:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T16:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/04\/29\/michigan-falls-to-rutgers-11-8-in-big-ten-quarterfinal\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T16:53:21","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T16:53:21","slug":"michigan-falls-to-rutgers-11-8-in-big-ten-quarterfinal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/04\/29\/michigan-falls-to-rutgers-11-8-in-big-ten-quarterfinal\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan falls to Rutgers 11-8 in Big Ten Quarterfinal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In the Big Ten quarterfinals with NCAA postseason implications on the line, No. 4 seed Michigan men\u2019s lacrosse team took the field on Saturday hoping to get a second win against No. 5 seed Rutgers following their recent regular-season <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/lacrosse\/no-13-michigan-does-the-little-things-to-beat-no-18-rutgers-8-6\/&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1745877574074548&amp;usg=AOvVaw3NG5KjMHwVzyppAkM7HA3-\">matchup<\/a>. However, the Wolverines entered the game with a thinned-out roster and an uphill battle in front of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Despite a dominant first quarter and a resilient defensive effort, Michigan (7-7 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) couldn\u2019t overcome their second-half struggles and injury-depleted roster, falling to the Scarlet Knights (7-8, 2-3), 11-8.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Wolverines exploded in the first quarter, firing in four goals in the first ten minutes and outrunning Rutgers early on. Senior midfielder Aidan Mulholland scored the opening goal just a minute in off a pass from senior attacker Ryan Cohen. Cohen followed with a goal of his own, with another from Mulholland and one more from junior attacker Bo Lockwood to finish the scoring rush. However, due to Rutgers\u2019 response by scoring three goals in the span of 4 minutes and a final one with just one second left, by the end of the quarter, the score was even at 4-4.<\/p>\n<p>In the second quarter, Michigan kept up its offensive production, still allowing for a competitive game. The Scarlet Knights never let up through the entire game, starting with a goal in the first minute of the quarter and ending with another only 19 seconds left on the clock. Meanwhile, Cohen scored unassisted with just three minutes left in the half, putting the Wolverines behind by one goal with a score of 6-5.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cWe switched to a zone for a little bit,\u201d Michigan coach Kevin Conry said. \u201cWe were able to get some strong minutes for some guys that we had to dip into the bench a little bit just due to some injuries. So we should have just played a little bit better, and we cleared a little bit more effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That minor defensive tweak helped Michigan slow Rutgers momentarily, but the Scarlet Knights persevered in the third quarter, scoring four goals compared to the Wolverines\u2019 one. Mulholland completed his hat trick with just over three minutes to go in the third, but Rutgers still took a 10-7 lead heading into the final quarter.<\/p>\n<p>Despite a roster battered by injuries, Michigan leaned on its banged-up players who still battled it out on the field. One of which was graduate attacker Lukas Stanat who often provided an offensive spark but was limited on Saturday by his hamstring injury. Yet, with its depth tested and not enough healthy players, the Wolverines still managed to claw for possession and make critical plays which served as a testament to their resilience all season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think you reflect on the seniors, and you look at them and you say, \u2018Hey, I know we\u2019re depleted, I know we\u2019re banged up,\u2019 but these young men have put so much into this for all of us on the roster,\u201d Conry said. \u201cWhether you played a second, or if you haven\u2019t, we were going to give everything we can give for our senior class.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Michigan\u2019s depth could only be tested for so long, and its cracks started to show later in the game. Injuries to junior midfielder Carson Billig and a limited Stanat left the Wolverines without its usual key contributors in a game that needed more offensive plays to get more goal production. Overall, the Scarlet Knights looked sharper and more cohesive on offense, capitalizing on its possessions and consistently generating scoring chances, allowing them to take advantage and define their lead in the final two quarters.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Walking away with the 11-8 defeat against Rutgers and now with a record sitting at .500, Michigan faces a long shot at making the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re probably on the outside looking in,\u201d Conry said. \u201cWe played the second-hardest schedule in Division I\u00a0 lacrosse, so that puts us in position to be in the conversation. But unfortunately, today, I think we needed at least maybe two more [goals]. We\u2019ll watch the selection show next Sunday. But we\u2019ll eat some pizza, hang out together and then see where the chips fall.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Though the Wolverines showed sparks in the beginning of the game, it became clear that its shorthanded roster couldn\u2019t overcome the Scarlet Knights\u2019 relentless offense. For Michigan, the Big Ten Tournament outcome didn\u2019t go their way, but they\u2019ll wait and hope its strength of schedule and regular-season results earn it one more shot at an NCAA Tournament bid.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the Big Ten quarterfinals with NCAA postseason implications on the line, No. 4 seed Michigan men\u2019s lacrosse team took the field on Saturday hoping to get a second win against No. 5 seed Rutgers following their recent regular-season matchup. However, the Wolverines entered the game with a thinned-out roster and an uphill battle in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[515,593,222,1188,924,259],"class_list":{"0":"post-1069","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-big","9":"tag-falls","10":"tag-michigan","11":"tag-quarterfinal","12":"tag-rutgers","13":"tag-ten"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1071,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069\/revisions\/1071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}