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After losing their grip on a game against #17 Johns Hopkins a week ago, Marquette women's lacrosse repeated the problem against Michigan on Sunday afternoon, taking an 11-8 loss in the process.
After trailing 3-1 after the first 10 minutes, the Golden Eagles never let the Wolverines get away from them, keeping the game within two goals until the halftime horn sounded with Michigan leading 6-4. Marquette knotted the game at six coming out of the locker room on goals from Allison Lane and Amanda Bochniak, and Grace Gabriel cashed in a yellow card on UM's Kim Coughlan to tie the game again at seven with 18:57 to play.
The Wolverines tightened up their defense at that point, allowing Marquette just four more shots for the rest of the game, with two of those coming on free position attempts. While MU did send one of those four shots past goalie Allison Silber (on in relief of starter Mira Shane), it was too little, too late for the Golden Eagles. That marker from Bochniak came with 4:59 remaining, and Michigan had already scored three more goals, making the score 10-8 at that point. Marquette won the ensuing draw control, but Michigan's Lauren Oberlander forced a turnover almost immediately, thus ending whatever small chance the Golden Eagles still had at that point.
The game really only favored Michigan on the scoreboard. The Golden Eagles finished ahead on draws, 11-10, and even on ground balls and shots (17 of each for both teams), so the effort was there in this game. It didn't quite turn into enough goals for a win, which means we have to start wondering how much this team is missing Claire Costanza, MU's all time points leader who is out for the year with an injury.
Bochniak and Julianna Shearer both scored two goals to lead the Marquette offense in Ann Arbor, and they both added two assists to the scoresheet as well. Michigan was led by five goals from Kim Coughlan, who also contributed an assist to the winning effort.
Up Next: Home opener time! Marquette plays in the Valley for the first time this season on Friday afternoon when they host California. It'll be the first ever meeting with the Golden Bears, who are 0-1 after getting clipped in overtime by #16 Ohio State, 16-15. Cal trailed 13-7 with 18:44 remaining and forced the game to overtime on a goal from Meredith Haggerty with just 1:44 left in regulation.