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Waaaaay back on Friday afternoon, Marquette dropped a 17-12 lacrosse contest to Georgetown. The key to the game is really simple: You can't go into a 4-0 hole to start a game, and even if you do, then you really can't go into a 9-2 hole and expect to win lacrosse games.
I mentioned it in my preview of this game, but Marquette is not doing a good job at getting off to quality starts in their games. While they were hanging with the Hoyas in the shot department at the end of the first quarter, Georgetown had found the back of the net on their first three shots and four of their first five. By the time they hit nine goals on just 13 shots, Marquette coach Joe Amplo had seen enough and pulled goalie J.J. Sagl in favor of Matt Barone. Some combination of their lead and the netminder switch slowed the GU offense, and they only got in two more shots before halftime.
And then Conor Gately and Tyler Melnyk went nuts.
The duo teamed up for five goals and two assists in the third quarter as Marquette turned a 9-2 deficit into a 10-9 Hoyas lead with just the final 15 minutes left to play. The highlight is clearly when Melnyk scored twice as only seven seconds rolled off the game clock AND Georgetown had called time out in between the two because the first one had made the score 9-7. Oh, and Melnyk snagged the ground ball to win the faceoff in the middle of all that, too. SHEESH.
MU headed to the fourth with a legit chance to grab a lead and yank their third win of the season from the jaws of defeat. That's when the penalties started. After just two penalties for a total of 90 seconds of man advantage time in the first 45 minutes, Georgetown and Marquette combined for seven penalties and 8 minutes of time in the final period. This bit MU right in the behind, as GU capitalized on a Zach Barr pushing penalty and a Liam Barnes unnecessary roughness penalty to get the two middle goals in a 4-0 run while looking like they were going to run away with the game.
But Kyle Whitlow scored to make it 14-10 and GU's William Flatley lost his damn mind and got flagged for a three minute unreleasable unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the goal. Marquette got three straight minutes of man advantage time, but they only managed one Henry Nelson goal, and that one came while MU had a two man advantage because of a Brennan Bicknese pushing penalty. By the time the Flatley penalty was over, there were only four minutes left on the clock and GU still had a 14-11 lead and were able to outscore MU 3-1 to lock up the win.
Up Next: I'm gonna see Marquette lacrosse live and in person! MU hooks it up with Notre Dame tomorrow at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, IL! Game time is 4pm Central!