Trailing by four midway through the second half, the No. 9 Navy women’s lacrosse team rallied to score eight of the final 11 goals to gut out an 11-10 victory over Michigan on Sunday afternoon at Rip Miller Field. The win improves the No. 9 Midshipmen to 3-0, while the loss drops the Wolverines to 2-3. “I am very proud of this Navy women’s lacrosse team,” head coach Cindy Timchal said after the game. “Give credit to Michigan. They came in and played tough. I thought we were playing great defense the whole way. We went down 4-2 at halftime. We struggled a bit offensively. We knew at halftime that we were going to have to keep grinding and fighting because Michigan was giving us everything they’ve got. Credit the team for pulling it together. I am proud of them. Michigan was tough a few years ago when we played them here at home, and they were tough again today.” Trailing 7-3 in the second half, the Midshipmen used a 5-1 run to knot the score at 8-8. Kelly Larkin (Alexandria, Va.) began the run with an unassisted goal and 30 second later, Jenna Collins (Clarksville, Md.) followed with an unassisted goal of her own to trim the margin to 7-5. Michigan responded with a goal from Maggie Kane, but Navy answered with three straight goals. Julia Collins (Clarksville, Md.) began the 3-0 stretch with a goal at 13:47. Andie O’Sullivan (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) took a pass from Larkin and buried it in the net to cut the margin to just one, 8-7. With 8:05 on the clock, Larkin converted a free-position attempt to knot the game at eight. The Wolverines countered with a free-position goal by Adria Pendino to regain the lead with 7:18 to play. Kayla Harris (Annapolis, Md.) tied the game for the fourth time with a free-position goal with 6:59 on the clock. Navy did not lead until the 4:16 mark of the second half, as Harris found the back of the net to put the Midshipmen up 10-9. However, the lead was short lived as Michigan’s Erin Daly converted a pass from Caitlin Muir to knot the game 10-10 with 2:57 remaining. With under two minutes to play, Jenna Collins was fouled and given a free-position attempt. The senior snuck the ball past the Wolverine’s goalie to give the Mids an 11-10 lead with 1:52 on the clock. Navy won the ensuing draw control, but a turnover gave Michigan the ball. The Mids’ defense limited the Wolverines to just one shot in the final minute of play, forcing Lilly Glass’ shot to go high. Navy controlled the ball the final 45 seconds to secure the victory. As a team, the Midshipmen’s offense tallied 11 goals on 30 shots, while the Wolverines scored 10 goals on 26 attempts. Navy had a slight 27-23 edge in ground balls, but grabbed 18 of the game’s 24 ground balls. Defensively, the Mids caused 13 of the Wolverines’ 19 turnovers. Ingrid Boyum (Herndon, Va.) tallied eight saves, including five in the second half. The Midshipmen backline of Caitlin McGlaughlin (State College, Pa.), Blake Smith (Sykesville, Md.) and Marie Valenti (Bechtelsville, Pa.) combined for six caused turnovers. Boyum and Valenti tied for the team lead with six ground balls apiece, while McGlaughlin and Smith combined for seven additional ground balls. Larkin led the team offensively, tallying a team-best five points. The sophomore netted a team-best four goals, while adding an assist. Jenna Collins also finished with a hat trick – her third in as many games – recording three point on three goals. Harris netted two goals, while Julia Collins and A. O’Sullivan each chipped in a goal. Molly O’Sullivan (Centreville, Va.), Larkin and Julia Collins combined to register the team’s three assists. The first half was a defensive struggle for both teams. Michigan was the first to score, as Muir netted a goal with just over 25 minutes to play in the half. Jenna Collins tied the game at 1-1 at the 11-minute mark, converting a free-position goal. Michigan answered, but with 4:32 to play in the half, Lark tied the game at 2-2. The Wolverines closed the half with a pair of goals to go into intermission up 4-2. In the second half, M. O’Sullivan found an open Larkin for a quick-strike goal to pull Navy to within one at 4-3, but three straight goals by Michigan gave the visitors a 7-3 lead, setting up the Mids comeback. Navy returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 27, as the Midshipmen travel to Chestnut Hill, Mass. to take on Boston College in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Semifinal game. The Mids and Eagles are set to take the field at 1:00 p.m. The game will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra and live stats will be available.