Michigan women’s lacrosse had an up and down 2021 season.

The Wolverines finished 3-9 (or last in a competitive Big Ten), securing two wins over a Rutgers team that won an NCAA tournament game before losing out in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.

Now, just one week into the 2022 season, the Wolverines have won two matchups, upset a team in the top 10 and cemented their place in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20 at No. 11.

“It’s exciting,” coach Hannah Nielsen said. “Coming off last year, it feels really good. That’s the simplest way to describe it. To start off with a [top-7] win really solidifies in our players’ minds that we can compete, and we should be confident.”

The Wolverines completed a weekend sweep of Detroit-Mercy on Friday and then-No. 7 Notre Dame on Sunday, kicking off the season 2-0 for the first time since 2019. Senior midfielder Kaitlyn Mead led the maize-and-blue on offense, notching six goals and four draw controls over the two wins.

“I think all of our work we’ve been putting in these past couple weeks really showed and really paid off in these past two games,” Mead said. “It was awesome seeing different types of competition and being able to adapt to how they play and gel together.”

Mead scored four goals against Notre Dame, playing a central role in the program’s rankings-shaking victory. Defense was also key to the Wolverines’ win, as graduate student goalkeeper Arielle Weissman notched 13 saves — including eight in the first half alone.

Nielsen said milestone wins like Sunday’s are especially important for players, boosting their confidence and proving Michigan’s abilities.

Defeating the Irish was an “awesome feeling,” Mead said, crediting the defense with anchoring the team throughout Sunday’s game.

“It’s definitely exciting,” Mead said. “[We had] a big celebration in the locker room after the game; we sang the fight song — always a good time. It just goes to show how much work and effort both the coaching staff and players have put into this program.”

Earlier in the weekend, the Wolverines delivered a dominant 23-2 victory against Detroit-Mercy, during which all of Michigan’s players saw field time and 15 players scored. Nielsen said she was especially excited to get the entire team playing time because she wasn’t able to do so last year in any of the team’s matchups, calling the opportunity “incredible.”

The weekend’s games also marked the first time in two years that Michigan faced non-conference competition in the regular season. Mead said while playing only Big Ten programs last year provided “great competition,” she and her teammates appreciated the opportunity to face new opponents and work on their game in the process.

During the Wolverines’ 2021 conference-only season, every game was “cut throat and tight,” Nielsen said. She said it has been nice to allow more team members to gain experience, overall improving the program ahead of conference play this year.

“Just being able to play — not that [there’s] any game you can overlook — with a little less pressure is really nice for the mental side of things,” Nielsen said. “Even if we had not won that game [against Notre Dame], you can still say, ‘Alright, it’s early season. It may not be a deal breaker in the grand scheme of things.’”