Shea Garcia 6, Kent State 5

Ever watched someone end a game in less than nine minutes? That’s what Shea Garcia did for Marquette women’s lacrosse against Kent State on Saturday.

The senior from New York recorded a natural hat trick on her first three shots of the game, all in the first six minutes, and then ran out her scoring streak to six consecutive unanswered goals. 6:29 left on the clock in the first quarter, Shea Garcia 6, Kent State 0.

By the time the remaining 51-plus minutes ran off the clock, Garcia had single-handedly beaten the Golden Flashes, 6-5, and her teammates had provided MU with another 14 goals for the 20-5 victory. Marquette is now 4-4 on the year, while KSU drops to 2-7.

Let’s see the goals, shall we?

It’s not just that Shea Garcia scored six goals in a quarter. It’s not just that she scored six consecutive unanswered goals. It’s not just that she scored them on her first six shots of the game. It’s not just that it was 6-0 when she was done. It was all of it put together that makes it absolutely freaking bananas that it happened. I mean, even after that — and she would miss on three shots on the day eventually, making her 6-for-9 — Garcia is “only” shooting 57% on the season. Math says she was supposed to miss at least one of those shots along the way, whether by save or just because it went wide or high.

Nope, all six went in.

Officially, Marquette’s lead rolled out to 7-0 before Kent State snapped the scoring streak, as Kyra LaMotte pitched one in with 3:11 left in the first quarter. Abby Jones put the Golden Flashes on the board with 2:08 to go, and then 70 seconds later, Mary Schumar pushed the lead back to seven goals, which is where it stood after 15 minutes.

Schumar’s goal, as it turns out, was the start of a 9-0 Marquette run that went all the way through the second quarter and into the third, where LaMotte scored with 10:01 on the clock. 15-1 at the half, 16-1 after LaMotte’s goal. Kent State didn’t score again until there was 5:57 left in the third, which means that MU held their opponent without a goal for 26 minutes and 11 seconds. Yeah, that’s a good way to win a lacrosse game.

The running clock kicked in at the 9:49 mark of the second quarter by the way, after Hanna Bodner scored her second goal of the year to put Marquette up 11-1, and it stayed running for the rest of the game. Think about this: Even with the clock not stopping for any reason whatsoever, Marquette still scored four more goals in the half. In less than 10 real time minutes. With roughly 90 seconds burning off the clock every time they scored just by accident.

In other news, Lydia Foust and Emma Soccodato returned to the field for Marquette in this game. Neither woman started after missing both of last weekend’s games in New York, so perhaps they’re not 100% yet. Still, Foust was in the game early in the first quarter, recording a pair of shots while Marquette was up only 2-0, and Soccodato was in the game at the latest by the start of the second quarter, as she scored to put MU up 9-1. Soccodato finished with two goals on two shots along with two ground balls, a caused turnover, and a draw control. Foust recorded an assist on a goal by Schumar in the second quarter and added a caused turnover to the proceedings.

The big news of the day is, clearly, Shea Garcia’s six goals, which fell just one short of the team record for goals in a game. She added an assist on Bodner’s goal that got the clock moving for good to give her seven points total on the day..... but she did not lead the team in points. Garcia had to share the team lead with Mary Schumar, as the junior from Michigan added two goals and five assists to the proceedings. The most impressive part of what she accomplished on the day is that not a single one of her five assists came on Garcia’s goals. Not that MU had a shortage of goals to work with here, but Schumar got to five helpers, tying for the fifth most in a game in program history, without riding an absolutely silly goals performance from Garcia.

Overlooked in all of this is the four goal, two assist day from Kyra LaMotte, as her six points is just third best of the afternoon. Hardly a ho-hum outing, but not the best thing we saw, either. That’s a rough day at the office, that’s for sure.

Amanda Rumsey and Brynna Nixon split the netminding right down the middle. Not sure if that was the play all along, but when you’re up 15-1 at intermission, it’s fine to give your freshman who’s going to have to be your starter next year some minutes even if it wasn’t the plan. Rumsey allowed just one goal while making four saves on 10 total shots faced. Nixon had a rougher go of it, as four of KSU’s goals went past her. She faced 11 total shots in the second half and made three saves.

No full highlight package available for this one, but the entire game is available on YouTube, since that’s where MU streamed it in the first place. It’s a breezy 93 minute watch and nearly no pregame on the video, either.

Up Next: Marquette’s out west! By the time you read this, they’re probably already out in California, as they have a Tuesday afternoon contest with San Diego State. Start time out in California is 5pm Central or 3pm local if you’re in the area. The Aztecs are 2-4 on the year and coming off a 27-18 loss to then-#10 Princeton on Saturday. I presume Marquette will be staying out west after that, as they have a Sunday afternoon game at Oregon as well, and it seems silly to bounce back and forth like that.