Losing nearly the entire game, the Marquette women’s lacrosse team fought from behind twice Sunday to defeat Detroit 11-10.
For the second consecutive game, the Golden Eagles came out of the gate slowly, and Detroit jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. Freshman midfielder Kenzie Brown halted the Detroit run to put Marquette on the board, but Detroit added two more to take a 6-1 lead midway through the first half.
Following the Titans’ fifth goal, coach Meredith Black pulled freshman goalkeeper Sarah Priem, and freshman goalkeeper Emma Salter took the field for the first time this season. Salter played out the half, making four saves and allowing only one goal, but Priem returned to the cage for the second half. Nevertheless, the switch definitely caught Marquette’s attention.
The Golden Eagles sparked late in the half when freshman midfielder Hayley Baas scored back-to-back goals and freshman attacker Claire Costanza fed sophomore attacker Nicole Gleason for a quick-stick goal, cutting the lead to two entering the half.
“We all have a lot of heart and fight in our team,” redshirt freshman attacker and captain Emily Donovan said of the first half. “We just need to come out ready to play from the start. We just need to know that we are good and we just need to keep working together as a team.”
Marquette began the second half sharply, tying the game 6-6. The tie did not last long, as the Titans went on a 4-1 run to regain the lead 10-7 with 13:09 left to play.
Again the Golden Eagles appeared to be out of the game, but again they rallied. Baas stopped the Detroit run with her fourth goal of the game, and her teammates followed her lead.
Brown ripped one past the Detroit keeper, and Gleason scored on a free position shot to knot the game at 10. The fired-up Marquette team was rolling, but a lot of time remained.
With two minutes left, Marquette foiled a Detroit clear attempt. The ball eventually found its way to redshirt freshman midfielder Anna Muzika, who scooped up her own rebound after her initial shot was saved and scored with 1:11 remaining.
Muzika’s goal proved to be the game-winner, as Marquette won its first home game in program history and improved to 2-2 on the season.
Baas led all scorers with four goals and an assist in the contest. She had predicted the success before the game.
“It’s kind of ironic,” Baas said. “At the beginning of the game, I told one of our injured girls that I was going to get four goals, so then I had to match that.”
Overcoming two significant deficits was no easy task, and Black said she is proud of her team’s unwillingness to give up.
“I think in the locker room at halftime, we just said, you know we got to work, we got to work harder, we got to want it more and we got to be ready for a tough game,” Black said. “(The players) wanted it, really wanted it, and they were willing to do whatever it took to get (the win). I’m proud of them for that.”
The team next travels to California for a spring break road trip starting at Saint Mary’s on Sunday and followed by San Diego State March 14 and USC March 16.
