The past 10 days were anything but a break for Marquette women’s lacrosse. The team went 1-2 in the stretch, highlighted by a victory against Coastal Carolina at Valley Fields.
The stretch of games began Friday March 7, as the Golden Eagles hosted Duquesne for their home opener. Coach Meredith Black’s side gave up the first three goals of the game and trailed 8-3 at the break. With time winding down in the first half, sophomore Kenzie Brown added a pair of goals that cut the deficit to five.
The second half began with the two teams trading goals and the Dukes extended their lead to seven. Later in the half, the never-say-die attitude that has become a cornerstone for Marquette re-emerged, as Brown found the back of the net for her third of the day. Brown’s completed hat-trick sparked a Golden Eagle rally that cut Duquesne’s lead to 13-10.
“We are able to comeback from large deficits and were able to put together a great finish,” Black said. “We learned that we need to come out harder in the first half, and we can’t come out slow because then we’ll get behind.”
However, a victory was not in the cards as the Dukes’ defense held the Golden Eagles scoreless for the last nine minutes of the game. The Dukes spoiled Marquette’s home opener with a 14-10 victory.
Five days later, Marquette was back in action in the second game of the home stand versus Coastal Carolina. A season ago, Marquette got its first victory against the Chanticleers in double overtime.
Redshirt freshman Taylor Smith opened her scoring account, as she and freshman Julianna Shearer scored the first two goals for Marquette. The Golden Eagles took a 5-4 advantage into the break.
Early in the second half, Coastal Carolina tied it up at five. From there, sophomores Kenzie Brown and Hayley Baas put the Golden Eagles up 7-5. The Chanticleers tied the game at seven near the 15-minute mark in the second half. Marquette would find the back of the net three more times on the afternoon to earn the 10-7 victory.
“This year we felt a little bit more in control throughout the entire game,” Black said. “We were able to pressure Coastal (Carolina) and they weren’t able to go on a run.”
The afternoon exhibited the attack of Marquette led by Baas, who beat the keeper four times, bringing her season total to 12 goals. In addition, Shearer added two, bringing her season tally to 12 as well. The Golden Eagles outshot Coastal Carolina 25-15 that afternoon and held a 17-9 advantage on ground balls.
“We haven’t had the ground ball advantage, I don’t think, in any other game,” Black said. “That (advantage) was really important to the win.”
Coming off the victory against Coastal Carolina, Marquette shipped up to Boston to take on Harvard at Soldiers Field Lacrosse Stadium. Just 36 seconds after the opening whistle, Harvard’s Marisa Romero beat sophomore Sarah Priem to give the Crimson a 1-0 advantage. The home team added two more before sophomore Claire Costanza and redshirt sophomore Emily Donovan stopped the bleeding by scoring two for the Golden Eagles. Harvard would take a 5-2 advantage into halftime while outshooting Marquette 19-8.
The second half would be a completely different story as Harvard held a 10-4 scoring advantage. The difference was in the 20 fouls called on the Golden Eagles, resulting in five free position shot goals by the Crimson. The Crimson handed Marquette its fourth loss of the season, by a 15-6 score line.
“Things didn’t go our way at Harvard,” Black said. “We hit a lot of posts. Their goalie made some great saves; she should be commended for that, but we had trouble getting the ball in the back of the net.”
Brown has now scored in five consecutive matches for the Golden Eagles, adding one against the Crimson. Freshman playmaker Amanda Bochniak earned two points with a goal and an assist.
“(Kenzie) is really important: she’s a great player, can finish, is very determined in terms of helping the team,” Black said. “Not only is she a goal scorer, but she is an absolutely amazing teammate.”
Marquette’s road trip continues as the team heads to Black’s alma mater. The Golden Eagles will visit Notre Dame Wednesday at 5 p.m.
