In double overtime, freshman attackman Andy DeMichiei received a pass and without pause ripped a shot to the far top corner, lifting the Marquette men’s lacrosse team to an 11-10 win over St. John’s Sunday.
With the win, Marquette (4-7, 2-1) moves up to third in the Big East standings and remains in contention for the Big East Tournament. Both of the team’s conference wins came on the road. With all four remaining games against conference teams, winning is essential.
“For most of the game, it was the best performance of the year for us,” coach Joe Amplo said. “Credit to our kids. It’s just another example of the character of this team and the resiliency of this team to find a way to win.”
Marquette jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals by sophomore midfielder Kyle Whitlow and sophomore attackman Conor Gately. Scoring was scarce in the first half but picked up in the second.
Marquette converted on four of its 11 shots and spent a lot of time on offense, keeping possession away from St. John’s. Sophomore faceoff specialist Paul Riportella contributed to the third quarter success by going six for seven on faceoffs.
The success was short lived as the Red Storm rallied. Both teams traded a pair of goals but St. John’s crawled back into the game scoring three unanswered goals. The game was tied at 10 with 3:10 remaining. St. John’s made 19 shots in the fourth quarter but freshman goalkeeper Jimmy Danaher made five of his 10 saves to keep the Golden Eagles in the game.
When neither team found the back of the net in the closing moments, the game headed to overtime.
The first overtime produced nothing. The Golden Eagles outshot St. John’s 5-1 but failed to score and the game headed to a second overtime period.
Two minutes into double overtime, DeMichiei received a pass from redshirt senior Tyler Melnyk and netted his first collegiate goal. The team stormed the field to celebrate the win.
“It’s a big win for us,” DeMichiei said. “We’ve been working towards the Big East so I think that win will help us get into the tournament. It’s a great feeling to get that first goal off my back.”
For his effort, DeMichiei, who assistant coach Steve Brundage believes has a candy addiction, earned a Nerds Rope. As Amplo said, “Andy got his candy.”
Whitlow and sophomore defender B.J. Grill were named the Big East offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively. Whitlow contributed a five point effort (3G, 2A) while Grill held one of the nation’s top scorers, Kieran McArdle, scoreless for the first time this season.
“We need to win this conference game in order to get the upper hand,” Grill said. “It was an honor to cover (McArdle). It was good that coach trusted me to guard him. He’s a very smooth player but I feel like I did my job and more importantly we got the win.”
Another midweek battle at home awaits Amplo’s squad as they play No. 8 Notre Dame at Uihlein Park Tuesday at 4 p.m.
