JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Jacksonville women's lacrosse team fell to the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines Friday in their first game of the season. The Dolphins were led by junior attacker Brigid Manning, who finished with a goal and two assists. Junior goalie Brookelynn Hodgin made her first start between the pipes and saved 13 shots to anchor the Jacksonville defense.

"I was really proud of what our goalie play looked like today," JU head coach Tara Singleton said. "It was her first start in many years and she had 13 saves. That's awesome, and I'm really proud of Brookelynn," JU head coach Tara Singleton said.

The Dolphins took the lead early in the first quarter. Manning found sophomore attacker Maeve Brennan for the opening goal of the season, then Brennan returned the favor with an assist to Manning soon after. JU took a 2-0 advantage into the first timeout of the game. Michigan found its rhythm offensively after the break, going on a 7-0 run late into the first. JU freshman attacker Shae Hagans scored her first career goal to give life back to the Dolphins at the end of the quarter.

Defense dominated the second quarter, with only one goal scored between the teams. The Wolverines scored less than three minutes into the period, and neither team saw the scoresheet again in the first half. The goalies combined for nine saves in a slug fest second quarter.

JU struck first after halftime. Sophomore attacker Maddie Herman scored off of a restart to bring the Dolphins within four. The Wolverines answered with two goals of their own to end the third period, and Michigan added another early in the fourth. Senior attacker Madison Plitt buried a free-position shot for Jacksonville later in the quarter to add a late spark, but the Wolverines closed out the game in the final minutes.

Game Notes

• Hodgin made her first career start and second career appearance in goal for JU.
• Jacksonville had a different player score each of its five goals (Brennan, Manning, Hagans, Herman, Plitt)
• Junior defender Maggie Cuddy finished with five ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Head Coach Tara Singleton
"I'm really proud of our team. Our big focus was for us to come out starting strong, and we did that. Now it's just a matter of continuing to build off of that. I do want to see the ball fall more in between those pipes, and we've got to clean up some of the turnovers. But there was so much that I was really excited to see."

Up Next
The Dolphins will be back at Rock Stadium to face the Vermont Catamounts on Sunday at noon.