So Close, Yet So Far: #10 Georgetown 15, RV Marquette 14 (OT)

We’ll get into a little bit of the blow by blow, but I want to start this recap of Marquette men’s lacrosse’s 15-14 overtime loss to #10 Georgetown with the win probability chart from Lacrosse Reference.

Marquette’s chances of winning this game drifted into the high 60% area in the third quarter. In the fourth, the chances went from somewhere in the 20s to about 60%, then into the high 70s with eight minutes to play. It was in their hands. They just couldn’t close their hands around it.

That is me attempting to apply math to watching Marquette go at the #10 team in the country hammer and tongs for 60 minutes, for sixty-plus minutes, honestly, and come away with a loss anyway. No one ever led in this game by more than two goals. Both sides led by two goals. Georgetown did that a couple of times: 3-1, 4-2, 7-5, 8-6, and even 14-12 with two minutes to play. Marquette did as well, scoring four straight across halftime and through the first nine minutes of the third quarter to swing the game from 8-6 Hoyas to 10-8 Golden Eagles.

This was a hellacious lacrosse game, that’s the point of the story. Marquette was every bit the team that handed Michigan and Penn State their lunch for 60 minutes earlier this season. Maybe most impressively, they did this with freshman Lucas Lawas in net, as the New York native made 15 saves in his first career start.

Let’s skip ahead to the fourth quarter. You get the picture, close game for 45 minutes. After Marquette held Georgetown without a goal for the final five minutes of the second quarter and the first 10 minutes of the third, the Hoyas tallied the final three goals of the third, including twice in the final minute to take an 11-10 lead with 15 minutes to go. No one could break through in the fourth, though. The two sides took turns for the first six minutes, nothing doing, time whittling away in favor of the Hoyas. Then, Andrew Bowman popped in a goal as Devon Cowan’s shot ricocheted off Danny Hincks essentially right into Bowman’s stick.

Then, 46 seconds later, Mason Woodward scooped a deflected shot up at midfield and flipped it to Cowan for the goal that Hincks had denied him.

A slightly scary moment there, by the way, as Cowan scored and then immediately turned and turtled up, seemingly grabbing at his hand/wrist in pain. He walked off the field under his own power shortly thereafter and would return, but it was troubling at the moment.

Anyway, 12-11 Marquette, eight minutes left. This was where Marquette’s win probability peaked.

MU won the ensuing faceoff, but they didn’t score next. Nicky Solomon beat Lawas for a goal, and then to make matters worse, the Hoyas won the draw, killed off most of a minute, and then got a goal from Graham Bundy. 13-12. That wasn’t the problem. MU not answering was the problem. Tucker Dordevic scoring with 3:19 to go to make it 14-12 was the problem.

And yet, this game went to overtime.

How?

First, Will Foster with a rocket shot with just over a minute to play.

Then, a monster ground ball from Logan Kreinz, then a timeout, then another putback goal as Hincks yet again couldn’t control a Cowan shot, but this time it was Jackson Rose depositing it by flinging himself at the ball and the ball at the net.

Marquette needed one more play to get to overtime, as there was 15 seconds left, and Georgetown won the ensuing draw. Lawas made the save as time expired, as it would turn out, his 15th and final save of the game.

That save forced overtime, Georgetown won the draw, they ran around a bit as Marquette did a great job harassing them for over a minute.... but Tucker Dordevic, the Syracuse grad in a Georgetown uniform, ripped in his fifth goal of the game from the left side, stinging the net high past Lawas.

Devon Cowan led Marquette with four goals in this one — and six shots on goal, which means officially, all six of his SOG turned into goals, which is neat — with three of his strikes coming as MU’s first three goals of the game to make sure the Hoyas knew the Golden Eagles were there for a long time, not a fun time. He also added an assist for a five point day, but he got beat for the team high in points in the game by Jake Stegman. MU’s single season assists leader added four more helpers to his already existing program record here along with two goals for a game high six points. Bobby O’Grady had two goals and an assist to add three points. Luke Williams did a great job on draws, winning 13 of the 25 that he took.

How about some highlights, such as they are, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and FloSports?

Up Next: More problems. Marquette let a wonderful chance at a second Big East win slip away from them here, so they will have to find a way to go at least 1-1 in their final two games if they have designs on playing in the conference tournament that they are hosting in a few weeks. Their next chance at that win comes on Saturday, April 22nd, when they hit the road to visit Villanova. First draw on that one is set for 11am central time, and FloSports will have the streaming broadcast. The #13 ranked Wildcats moved to 9-3 on the season on Saturday by way of a 20-8 road victory over Providence.