NCAA Rewind: A Historic Season for Michigan

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2025 — look out for our NCAA Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings later this summer — our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking a last look at the 2024 college lacrosse season.

To do that, we’re taking a journey through 30 of the top teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse to see what went right, what went wrong and how we should feel about the season.

MICHIGAN

USA Lacrosse preseason/final ranking: No. 17/No. 5
2024 record: 16-4 (Big Ten)

What went right: Quite a bit. Ranked in the bottom half of the Top 20 to start the season, the Wolverines quickly threw down the gauntlet. As many programs seemed to need some time to adjust to the new rules, especially defensively, the Wolverines held their first eight opponents to single-digit goals. 

They also won their first 11 games, including wins over ranked teams in Denver (8-4), USC (9-3), Colorado (13-8) and Penn (6-5). After falling to Johns Hopkins in the Big Ten quarterfinals, the Wolverines came back strong in the NCAA tournament, dispatching of Mercer (17-6) in Round 1 and downing Notre Dame 15-14 on a buzzer-beater from Jill Smith. 

All told, Michigan finished the year with seven wins over ranked opponents and finished atop the NCAA statistical ranking in scoring defense (7.55). Erin O’Grady was a first-team all-American and the IWLCA Goalie of the Year. 

The offense also came through, scoring 248 goals — the second-most in program history, in part because Kaylee Dryer (50 G, 19 A) took the pressure of Smith (57 G, 14 A), who often was a one-woman show in 2023. 

What went wrong: Maryland was still No. 1 after a midweek loss to Penn when the Wolverines and Terps met on March 30, and the Wolverines could’ve taken over that spot with a win. But they lost 8-6. 

A loss to Northwestern on the final day of the regular season not only nixed a chance to win the conference regular-season crown. It also dropped the Wolverines to No. 4 for the conference tournament, where they fell to Johns Hopkins, something that put them out of contention for a national seed in the NCAA tournament. 

They proved resilient in the first two rounds but saw their year end in a 14-9 quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Boston College.

Season highlight: The Notre Dame win in the second round of the NCAA tournament was the game of the weekend. The Irish held the day’s largest lead (6-3 in the second quarter) and tied the score at 14-all on a Kasey Choma goal with 31 ticks left. However, Jill Smith ripped one by the Irish defense in the final second to give Michigan the 15-14 edge — the only lead that mattered.

Verdict: It was a historic season that exceeded expectations. The No. 5 final national ranking is the highest in program history. A more balanced offense, lockdown defense, resiliency and flare for the dramatics saw the Wolverines dance past opening weekend despite some late-season setbacks.