Happy Friday, friends. 

We’re three weeks into Men’s Lacrosse season, and your Army Black Knights sit 3-0. They beat UMass handily in Week 1, came from two down several times to beat Rutgers on the road, and then rallied from a decidedly underwhelming first half to put Yale firmly in their rearview, 12–6. Those wins have pushed the Black Knights up in the national polls.

Though it remains unclear whether or not this year’s team has the kind of gaudy talent that last year’s team possessed, they’ve received almost as many national accolades, and they have at least as many chances in front of them. Moreover, this team has looked gritty and tough in every contest that they’ve played. They play a physical, fast-paced brand of lacrosse that wears opponents down, and that’s shown up in the second half of every game this season.

‼️ ARMY WINS ‼️

With 10 unanswered goals to end the game, the Black Knights take down the Bulldogs led by six points from Evan Plunkett and three goals from Brayden Fountain.#GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/RuBhL2asoL

— Army Men's Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) February 14, 2026

Game Preview: Army vs. Michigan

The Michigan Wolverines currently stand 3-1, having beaten Mercyhurst, Marquette, and Detroit Mercy to open the season. They then fell to Lehigh last week, 14-13. Lehigh opened that game on a five-goal run in the first quarter, and if Michigan later battled back, it’s still incredibly hard to win a lacrosse game when you come away with just 10/30 faceoffs, especially when the other team gets out to an early lead.

This week’s critical matchup is at the faceoff X. Army FO Robert Simone went 10/20 last week, but he struggled in the first half before rallying in the second to help Army take control and eventually dominate Yale. Head Coach Joe Alberici made several halftime adjustments during last week’s contest, but his decision to bring in the wings, muddy possessions, and then fight for ground balls in traffic perhaps paid the biggest dividends. 

That adjustment let Army control a majority of possessions in the third quarter, and as much as anything, this decided what had been a close, ultra-competitive contest. The Black Knights finished last week’s game on a ten-goal run that started late in the second quarter. Their defense played great after halftime, and their offense seemed to find its rhythm even before that. However, their success at the faceoff X keyed the turnaround overall.

Michigan has played three different FOGOs in a variety of situations this season, but none has consistently won more than 50% of their faceoffs. Simone may therefore have an advantage this week. If he can consistently win possessions, that’s going to make it tough for the Wolverines to maintain offense or keep up in terms of total time of possession, shots, and shots-on-goal.

With that said, the Wolverines have a well-balanced offense with a bunch of different guys who can score. Attackers Luke Shannehan and Nick Roode scored 3 goals apiece last week and each added 1 assist. M Matt Han and A John Morgan both scored twice. A lot of different guys got it done against a Lehigh defense that plays as much like Army as anyone in the Patriot League.

Michigan also looks to have a solid defense. They had to cause a lot of turnovers last week in order to come back from five-down in a game in which they got absolutely smoked on the restarts. D Will Tominovich looks to be the Wolverines’ best defender. Dude caused 3 turnovers and picked up 6 ground balls last week. Meanwhile, Michigan goalie Hunter Taylor finished with 12 saves last week despite getting off to a tough start. Taylor saved just 46.2% of last week’s shots-on-goal, but he sits at an impressive 60% on the season overall.

𝗧𝗘𝗪𝗔𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗢𝗡 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛 𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧 👀

Firsties Sean Byrne and Evan Plunkett earn spots on the 2026 @Tewaaraton Award Watch List ‼️

🔗 https://t.co/eccnPTsljk#GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/UnkUa1Q8fq

— Army Men's Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) February 11, 2026

Why Army Should Win

Inside Lacrosse has Army ranked 11th in the nation, while USA Lacrosse has them 9th. These same sources both put the Wolverines just outside the Top 20 but receiving votes after having started somewhere around 18th nationally. At least on paper, then, this is a game that Army should win. It helps, too, that it’s a neutral site game in Georgia, the state that a bunch of Black Knights call home.

Michigan has good players on offense, defense, and in goal, but Army looks at least as good at every position, and they should be way better at FOGO. Yearling Attackers Hill Plunkett and Brayden Fountain have 12 goals and 5 assists collectively this season and should be able to match any of Michigan’s top attackers. That’s before we consider the impact of All-American M Evan Plunkett (2 goals, 8 assists) and team captain Gunnar Fellows (7 goals). When Army needed a spark last week, they got that spark from their firsties — Plunkett, Fellows and Goalie Sean Byrne (34 saves, 59.6%). Those guys put the team on their backs through the closing minutes of the second quarter, leading into a halftime in which the Black Knights were able to adjust and then come out and take control.

If that kind of play carries over into this week’s contest, the Black Knights should be able to start faster and control the game from the opening whistle.

Final Thoughts

This should be an interesting contest. Both schools have perennially good teams that enter each season looking to take the next step in terms of national recognition. Both teams also started the year with similar outlooks, and if Army has so far paid off its prospects a little better, the season remains young. 

Saturday’s game will be followed by another contest against Mercer on Monday. This two-game set represents the Black Knights’ last chance to get right before they start Patriot League play on Saturday, February 28. We want to see a total team effort that maximizes the Black Knights’ strengths and puts the lacrosse world at large on notice.

Go Army! Beat Michigan!!!