The Marquette women’s lacrosse team will face a major challenge Saturday when the Golden Eagles take on the No. 5 Northwestern Wildcats. Marquette (0-2) will look to break a two-game losing skid, but will have its hands full with the undefeated Wildcats.
The Golden Eagles lost a tough match to Colorado last Saturday 13-5, and were hampered by the ejection of star defender Elizabeth Goslee late in the second quarter. Goslee’s second yellow card was followed by a 7-0 Buffalo run, before a goal from Marquette’s Nicole Gleason ended the streak late in the game. After the loss, Marquette coach Meredith Black quickly set her sights on the next game, saying the whole week was focused on preparing for Northwestern.
When asked about the team’s schedule earlier in the season, Black said she wanted her team to see tough competition early on. That will certainly be the case this weekend.
Northwestern (2-0) won seven national championships in the last decade, including five straight from 2004-2009, and is second in titles only to Maryland (12) all-time. More recently, the Wildcats went to the National Semifinal in 2014, losing to the eventual champion, Maryland. Earlier this season, Northwestern beat No. 7 Virginia 6-5.
Northwestern had both the National Player of the Week and the National Rookie of the Week for the week of Feb. 10 in redshirt senior attack Kara Mupo and freshman midfielder Selena Lasota, respectively. Lasota leads the team in scoring with eight points on six goals and two assists, and Mupo is close behind with five goals, all coming during a Feb. 7 overtime victory against USC.
Marquette will need its best all-around team performance, likely in program history, to come out with a win Saturday. The Wildcats and Golden Eagles met once last season, a game which Marquette dropped 20-5. Marquette’s Hayley Baas scored a hat trick in the game and goaltender Sarah Priem made 12 saves, but it was not enough. The Wildcats’ Mupo also had a hat trick and was one of 15 Northwestern players to score that day.
Also of note, the forecast Saturday calls for a high of 33 and low 11 degrees, with a 40 percent chance of snow.
Marquette is slated to play Northwestern at 12 p.m., at Valley Fields.
