Marquette Men’s Lacrosse Falls To Robert Morris

Marquette men’s lacrosse couldn’t hold onto a lead or build on one either on Saturday, as they took an 11-10 loss to Robert Morris. The Golden Eagles are now 3-3 on the year.

Let’s take a neutral position for a second, and point out that this was a pretty good lacrosse game. The largest lead in the 60 minutes of action was just two goals, and that lead lasted for less than three and a half minutes. Both teams scored at least once in every quarter, and there was only one quarter where a team only scored one goal. There was a lot going on and it was back and forth, and you can’t really ask for more from an entertainment product.

However, it was a loss for the Golden Eagles. They got out to an early lead, responding to RMU scoring first with goals from Chris Kirschner and Holden Patterson. The two sides traded goals for a bit, with Bobby Mo tying the game and MU regaining the lead. Robert Morris closed out the half with two straight goals just 36 seconds apart, and the first goal of the second half came from Robert Morris’ Elliot Holden. That’s where we saw that two goal margin pop up, as the Colonials were leading 6-4 with 11:48 showing on the clock.

That was three straight goals from Robert Morris, and MU answered with three straight of their own. It took less than three minutes for the Golden Eagles to put the goals on the board: Jake Stegman at 8:27, Luke Anderson at 7:05, and Peter Henkhaus at 5:36. That had Marquette back out in front, 7-6.

Robert Morris got two more to end the third, including one with seven seconds left, and thus led 8-7 with 15 minutes to play. One goal for each side made it 9-8 RMU with 12:17 to go, and things quieted down for a bit. MU’s Zach Granger ate a slashing penalty, but the Golden Eagles killed it off.

Then, with 5:17 to go, Ryan Fazio got free for a transition goal, bolting down the right sideline and dodging to the cage to knot the game at nine each. 77 seconds later, it was Peter Henkhaus scoring, and Marquette had a 10-9 lead with exactly four minutes left.

Marquette won the ensuing faceoff, but Thomas Washington had his stick checked right out of his hands. That left it to Robert Morris, and Austin Popovich scored his second goal of the game to even it at 10. The Colonials won the faceoff, but Devon Cowan forced a turnover. Marquette couldn’t quite get it together on their offensive end, and let the ball roll free for Robert Morris as the shot clock was about to expire. That left RMU 32 seconds after a timeout to find a game winner, and after killing a whoooooole bunch of time, Brad McCulley got free to beat MU goalie Gabe Stein with four seconds left to play.

Patterson and Henkhaus both had two goals for Marquette. Fazio and Chris Kirschner both had a goal and two assists to lead MU in helpers and points. Granger led the team with four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Stein got the start in net, which was a surprise, as it was his first appearance of the season. He made 13 saves, including one exchange in the second half where he made three saves in about a minute to keep the Golden Eagles within shouting distance.

How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com?

Up Next: One final tuneup before Big East play starts. It’ll be a mid-week road trip for the Golden Eagles before 10 days off, as they’ll visit Michigan on Wednesday afternoon. The Wolverines are 3-3 this season including wins over Cleveland State and St. John’s.