ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Niagara University women's lacrosse team dropped a 15-8 decision to the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday afternoon at Michigan Stadium.

The Purple Eagles got things going less than a minute and a half into the game when Erin Patenaude scored off an assist from Jill Ford. After that, Michigan responded with three straight goals before Carrie-Jo Farrugia added Niagara's second goal of the contest.

The rest of the period was a back and forth affair as both teams traded tallies until NU closed out the half with two goals to tie the game 5-5.

The Wolverines came out strong in the second half, scoring four unanswered goals before Brittany Delano found the back of the net at the 13:35 mark to make it a 9-6 game. However, Michigan pushed its lead back to five goals, 11-6, by the 11:13 mark.

Over the next nine minutes, the Wolverines outscored Niagara 3-2, with both NU goals coming from Taylor Wolf and two of Michigan's three goals being man-up goals as a result of Niagara yellow cards.

Farrugia finished with three goals and one assist for the Purple and White. Andrea Francisco made nine saves in the contest while her counterpart turned away seven shots for UM.    

"We played a great first half today and fought hard for 60 minutes," head coach Wendy Stone said. "We will continue to work to finish plays on both ends of the field. As always, we will make sure we are better as a team next time out."

The Purple Eagles open up a four-game home stand with a 4 p.m. matchup against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies on Tuesday, March 17 at Niagara Field.

Stay connected with the Purple Eagles through social media. Follow Niagara Athletics on Twitter @NUPurpleEagles and for in-game updates @NiagaraWLAX. Check in with the Purple Eagles on Facebook/PurpleEagles and on Instagram @NUPurpleEagles.