Marquette Men’s Lacrosse Can’t Complete The Rally Against Villanova

Marquette men’s lacrosse ripped off five straight goals at one point in the third quarter, but it wasn’t enough to rally against Villanova as MU lost by the final of 15-11. The Golden Eagles drop to 5-4 overall on the season and 1-1 in Big East play, while Villanova is now 6-4 overall and 1-0 in league action.

It was a 20 minute stretch going from late in the first quarter to early in the third quarter that ended up dooming the Golden Eagles on this day. Villanova powered up an 8-1 run starting with 2:58 left in the first. Matt Campbell’s tally evened the game at three each and only a goal from MU’s Holden Patterson broke up the Nova scoring until early in the third quarter. Nova outscored Marquette 4-1 in the second to lead 8-4 at the half, and then tacked on two goals from Corey McManus coming out of the locker room to lead 10-4.

From there, it was Marquette’s turn to go on a run, popping off those five straight markers mentioned at the top. Andrew Romagnoli scored twice in the run, and Connor McClelland’s goal with 5:19 left in the third made it a 10-9 ballgame. Lots of time left, and just a one goal margin. Should be fun, right?

Right?

Marquette would score just twice more, both in the fourth quarter. Villanova had already pushed back with one goal before the fourth had started and added two more before Romagnoli found the back of the net with 10:28 to go. It was 13-10 at that point, and while it wasn’t out of reach, you can make the case that Marquette had spent themselves on the comeback. Marquette would get just five more shots in the game, including Patterson’s goal with 1:58 to go, and when paired with a shot clock violation and a turnover, MU just didn’t have the chances to fight back any more.

Romagnoli finished with a hat trick, but was bested for the game high by seven (!) goals from Villanova’s Corey McManus. That’s honestly very impressive. McClelland and John Wagner both scored twice for Marquette, but Romagnoli added an assist to top the team in points, too. Jared Hershman did his best for Marquette on draws, winning 15 of his 28 faceoffs. John Hulsman made eight saves in the game, including four in the second quarter. That does lead you to wonder how bad things could have gotten if not for the sophomore’s quick hands.

How about some highlights, courtesy of Villanova.com and GoMarquette.com?

Up Next: It’s back to Milwaukee for the first home game of the Big East slate. It’ll be a Saturday noon start against St. John’s, with the Red Storm coming off an overtime loss at home against Providence on Saturday. They’ll host Stony Brook on Tuesday afternoon before making their way westward to face Marquette.