They say the rules are catered to offensive players. “They” sometimes includes me, too.
Defense is so hard to play in women’s lacrosse, especially as offensive players get bigger, stronger and faster — not to mention less risk-averse. Offensive players are more creative than ever before, leaving defenders victims in SportsCenter highlights and the like.
Michigan and Penn, however, would like a word.
Saturday’s sneaky-interesting bout between No. 3 Michigan and No. 10 Penn featured the top two scoring defenses in the country. Michigan entered allowing 5.22 goals per game, and Penn checked in at 6.67 goals per game. And boy, were those averages indicative of what was to come.
Michigan won 6-5 (the numbers literally told us that would happen) in an incredible defensive effort for both teams. Kelly Van Hoesen made four saves for Penn, which kept Michigan’s offense at bay by only allowing 14 shots.
Erin O’Grady made 12 saves to bail out a defense that allowed double the shots (28). O’Grady was a warrior, clearly hobbled and moving slowly during the contest. With the season she’s having (65.7 save percentage), we sure hope she’s OK.
Defense can be fun to watch when it’s tactical. Michigan and Penn don’t foul excessively. Their players use their feet, slide at the right time and funnel easy shots to their goalies. That’s Defense 101.
Denver captivated women’s lacrosse with its defense last year, and now Michigan is on an eerily similar run this spring. Will it also yield a Final Four run?
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS
Notre Dame has beaten the No. 1 and No. 2 teams this season and even spent some time at No. 2 itself. But two-goal losses to both Syracuse and Virginia will hurt the Irish’s ability to reach the No. 1 spot for (most likely) the rest of the year. Christine Halfpenny won’t care too much about that, because a ranking means nothing in terms of postseason viability.
By beating Boston College 15-14, though, Notre Dame proved and/or reaffirmed a couple things. For starters, the Irish are playing with some swagger — a swagger that has at times been lacking in the past. Secondly, the Irish are clutch. A defensive stand and a save with 61 seconds left led to Mary Kelly Doherty’s winner with 15 seconds left.
There isn’t a single team in the nation that wants to play this Notre Dame team.
There’s just no way to tiptoe around it — Army has been one of the season’s biggest disappointments so far. But it’s not as if the talent has gone away. It’s still there, and Michelle Tumolo has proven she can coach the best out of her players at West Point.
The Black Knights nearly clipped Patriot League leader Loyola in West Point, losing 14-13 after the score was tied at 12 late in the third quarter. It’s another loss, of course, but maybe that gets Army rolling midway through March.
Johns Hopkins is a couple quarters and lapses away from possibly being undefeated. Had it not been for a 6-0 Northwestern run to start Saturday’s game, the Jays might have clipped the Wildcats. It was a 14-9 final, and Hopkins outscored the defending national champs 9-8 over the final 46:55.
