2019 Big East Women’s Lacrosse Tournament Semifinals

#2 Marquette Golden Eagles vs #3 Georgetown Hoyas

Date: Thursday, May 2, 2019
Time: 6pm Central
Location: Valley Fields, Milwaukee, WI
Streaming: Big East Digital Network on Caffeine.tv
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteWLax
All-Time Series: Georgetown leads, 6-1
Regular Season Meeting: Marquette won, 14-12

And here we are again.

Five days after Marquette recorded the biggest win in program history by getting their first ever win against Georgetown in seven tries and their first ever win over a ranked program as the Hoyas were ranked #24 in the country by the IWLCA coaches poll, we’re getting the exact same game all over again.

Same two teams, same location, a little bit more on the line. Instead of the game deciding seedings for this conference tournament like it did last Saturday, this time the Golden Eagles and the Hoyas will square off with a spot in the Big East tournament title game on the line. Georgetown is two wins away from their second straight NCAA tournament appearance and 16th overall. Marquette will be playing in their second ever postseason game and is still looking for their first ever postseason victory. Bit of opposite sides of the spectrum there.

Marquette has to be the team coming in with a more positive mindset. They rallied from down four to beat Georgetown last Saturday and earn their way into the #2 seed in this tournament. Still, even with the knowledge of “we just showed we can beat them,” that doesn’t mean that Georgetown’s going to go away quietly here. Saturday was MU’s first win in seven tries against the Hoyas, and Georgetown had secured one goal wins in four of the previous five encounters before falling in the most recent one. Either side can absolutely win this game, and historical trends tell us that it should be a pretty thrilling game.

It seems that Marquette’s defensive gameplan against the Hoyas worked on Saturday. Francesca Whitehurst, Taylor Gebhardt, and Morgan Ryan are the three most potent attackers on the roster, and Marquette held them to seven goals on 25 shots. The Hoyas only attempted 49 shots in the entire game, so provoking that many misses from the top scorers is definitely the right way to go. However, they aren’t the only three Hoyas capable of putting it in the net. Michaela Bruno tossed in four against Marquette when Jules Horning wasn’t making a season high 18 saves, so Georgetown will be able to get the ball in the net no matter what Marquette does defensively this time around.

Marquette got big games from their big names to beat Georgetown, so that’s going to have to be the order of the day again. Grace Gabriel had five goals, Cate Soccodato had a goal and five assists, and Charlotte McGuire added four goals. That’s 10 of Marquette’s 14 markers in that one, and Soccodato assisted on three of the nine that she didn’t score. All three are seniors, so the scope of the moment for the trio can’t be ignored here. Win, and your collegiate career continues til Saturday. Lose, and it’s all over.

The winner of this game will face the winner of #1 Denver vs #4 Villanova on Saturday afternoon. If you’re so inclined, you can catch that game at Valley Fields on Thursday starting at 3pm Central.