Marquette Women’s Lacrosse Can’t Rally Against Cincinnati

Seven bad minutes. That’s pretty much it. That was the difference between Marquette and Cincinnati on Friday afternoon in Ohio. With the score knotted up at three goals each in the first half, the Bearcats ripped off seven straight goals in a little bit longer than seven minutes to open up a commanding lead before fending off a Golden Eagles rally in the second half. Marquette ends up with a 22-18 loss to the Bearcats to drop their record on the season to 1-2.

Marquette shook out of that funk with two goals from Charlotte McGuire before halftime, but UC answered each one, and it was 12-5 at the break. It turned into 14-5 in the first four minutes of the second half, and generally speaking, that spells doom for a women’s lacrosse team. They’re being overpowered first of all, and with 26 minutes left to go, the odds of slamming the door on the other team’s offense while suddenly kicking yours into gear are, well, let’s just call it low.

And yet....

A pair of woman-up goals, one from Grace Gabriel and one from Megan Menzuber helped power a 4-1 run from the Golden Eagles, making it a 15-9 game with 17:46 to go. After a 3-1 burst from the Bearcats (where UC scored their 18th goal of the game, and since that’s where MU ended up, this can not be ignored), the Golden Eagles rattled off five straight goals of their own. Two came from McGuire, and Gabriel’s goal to cap the streak made it an 18-15 game with a shade under 11 minutes left. Marquette’s 5-0 run was wrapped up in less than three minutes, which is a pretty important deal when you’re trying to dig out of a hole.

Three goal game, 11 minutes to go, Marquette offense firing on all cylinders. Things are looking up, right?

Wrong.

Over the next five minutes, Marquette would manage just one shot in the run of play before Caroline Steller tossed in a free position shot for a goal. In the meantime, Cincinnati scored two goals of their own. After Steller’s marker, it was 20-16, and just six minutes were left to go. It’s not impossible, of course, but with a 90 second shot clock, the Golden Eagles had to start playing make it/take it lacrosse..... and they didn’t. Well, not entirely. Gabriel won the ensuing draw, but nearly a minute burned off the clock for Marquette before McGuire ended up getting it poked away by UC’s Amanda Donovan. The Bearcats then took 79 seconds off the clock before goal #21 of the game from Alyssa Adams, her fifth of the day.

Five goal game, 3:51 to go.

At this point, Marquette was essentially out of time. Yes, yes, Madison Kane scored on the free position less than 40 seconds later, but it was still a four goal game. McGuire’s quick fired shot on the ensuing possession was saved by Guiliana Durso, and the Bearcats stuck a fork in the Golden Eagles with a goal off of a turnover by MU goalie Jules Horning with less than 90 seconds left.

On one hand, the opening half was something of an disaster on both ends of the field for the Golden Eagles. On the other hand, the second half where they ended up outscoring Cincinnati 13-10 was pretty impressive largely speaking. It wasn’t 60 solid minutes of good lacrosse, and that’s how you lose a game.

Marquette didn’t have a good day in net, with Sophia Leva coming off the bench for nearly 20 minutes of action and ended up recording two saves, while Horning managed just one in the other 40 minutes. Horning also didn’t do herself any favors, committing four turnovers while Marquette as a team let 22 possessions end with the ball going to Cincinnati instead of with a shot.

As you’d expect with 18 goals in a losing effort, there were still some true offensive stars. Cate Soccodato finished with a team high six points, with all six coming on assists. Three Golden Eagles recorded hat tricks, including McGuire throwing five into the net. Freshman Shea Garcia had four goals for her first collegiate hat trick.

Up Next: Marquette has a quick turnaround, both in terms of rest before their next game as well as their travel plans. The Golden Eagles played this game down in Cincinnati, but their next game will be back in Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon. Detroit Mercy comes to town with an 0-1 record following a season opening 15-9 loss to Ohio State.