Michigan’s 13-12 victory Penn this month, its first ever over a nationally ranked opponent, won’t define the Wolverines’ season. But it was definite evidence of progress from a program that has faced some growing pains since elevating its club team to varsity status in 2012.

Now 7-1, the Wolverines are enjoying their best season at the Division I level as they enter their nonconference finale against UMBC on Saturday.

“I think for us, especially because the process has kind of chugged along, it was as much relief and validation as anything,” coach John Paul said. “We’ve been kind of yearning to have a win that we could hang our hats on that validates what we’re doing. We felt that the earlier wins were doing that. Let’s face it, we weren’t consistently getting those wins in the past, either. But getting that one, everybody looked at each other and said, ‘This could really be working let’s keeping doing this.’”

Take a look at Michigan’s statistical profile, and it is clear the Wolverines are doing a lot right. They’re winning 56.3 percent of their faceoffs. Goalie Tommy Heidt, a redshirt sophomore and first-year starter after Gerald Logan transferred to Johns Hopkins, is stopping 60.6 percent of the shots he faces and the Wolverines are shooting 32.8 percent while converting 44.4 percent of their extra-man chances.

It would be easy to point to Brent Noseworthy (25 goals) and Ian King (14 goals, 15 assists) as the main offensive cogs, but Paul credits the improvement to running an offense that involves everyone moreso than running specific plays for his top scorers.

The timing of the start makes sense given the history of the program. Michigan wasn’t a start-up like most other new teams, and Paul, who coached the club team before it was made a varsity sport, wasn’t recruiting for Division I until shortly before the Wolverines made their debut at that level.

“In our first year, that was a club roster,” Paul said. “You’re not only learning what to do, you’re learning how to unlearn things. That’s different from starting from scratch. Maybe that takes a little longer than some other new programs, but that’s the process we had to go through. We’ve started to see the change in culture because we’ve been working so hard.”

It’s tempting to look at what appears to be a loaded Big Ten and wonder if Michigan can make some noise as early as this season. But Paul is much more concentrated on incremental improvement even after his program’s best victory to date.

“We’re in the middle of this process,” Paul said. “If we think we’ve arrived because we got our first ranked win, we’re going to be in trouble.”

St. Bonaventure in the MAAC?

St. Bonaventure announced Wednesday it would add men’s lacrosse, becoming the 72nd Division I program when it begins play in the spring of 2019.

The Bonnies already have a women’s lacrosse program.

“Lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States, and it is already one of the most popular sports in Canada,” athletic director Tim Kenney said in a statement. “We have a successful club team and significant interest in adding the sport at the varsity level as well.”

It is uncertain what league St. Bonaventure will compete in for men’s lacrosse. The Bonnies are a member of the Atlantic 10, and only three other A-10 members (UMass, Richmond and Saint Joseph’s) field Division I men’s lacrosse programs. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, with four of its seven lacrosse schools also located in New York, would be a logical fit.

St. Bonaventure’s decision means Division I will have grown by 33 percent in just 15 years. There were as few as 54 programs as recently as 2004.

PHOTO BY JOHN STROHSACKER

Fournier’s welcome return

Since Loyola’s NCAA championship run in 2012, it’s never been a secret how much the Greyhounds thrive off their rope unit.

When their faceoff men and defensive midfielders can create offense, they’re a handful to deal with. And when they’re not, Loyola is a much more conventional and much less threatening foe.

Little wonder, then, that the return of senior long pole Ryan Fournier from injury on Saturday was especially welcome for the Greyhounds (4-3). Fournier, who scored 15 goals over his first three seasons, rejoins a defensive midfield that accounted for three goals each in Saturday’s 18-7 rout of Navy and Wednesday's 11-10 win over Georgetown.

“He just helps bring a toughness to our team, defensively,” coach Charley Toomey said. “He really plays with a different pizzazz. If the ball’s down on the ground, he has a good chance of getting it. Trail checks, toughness. A lot of our guys take their lead from him.”

Villanova’s road warriors

There isn’t a stranger set of results for any team this season than Villanova, which sputtered to a 1-4 start while absorbing all of its losses at home.

Since then, the Wildcats (4-4) collected back-to-back victories at Brown and Maryland before finally earning their first home triumph of the season Tuesday against Bucknell.

There’s not much of a secret to Villanova’s strengths and weaknesses. With four players already at the 15-goal plateau (including leading scorer Jack Curran’s 23 goals), the Wildcats ranks 11th in the country while averaging 12.63 goals. Conversely, they’re 59th (of 69 eligible teams) in scoring defense, allowing 13.25 goals per outing.

That will provide a fine contrast Saturday at Fairfield (3-5), which averages only eight goals but has kept five of its last six opponents to less than 10 goals.