The Marquette women’s lacrosse team is still searching for its first win of the season after taking a tough loss at the hands of then-No. 5 Northwestern Saturday 13-5.
The Golden Eagles (0-3) will next have an opportunity to get its first win this Saturday as they take on the Duquesne Dukes in Pittsburgh.
Marquette boasts the Big East Rookie of the Week in freshman attack Riley Hill, thanks to her two goal performance against Northwestern. Hill scored on her only two shots of the game, one with 11:03 to go in the match and the second with just 17 seconds left. Thus far, the Golden Eagles have relied on the team’s leading point getter in 2013 and 2014, Claire Costanza. The junior attack has seven points through her first three games on four goals and three assists, and Marquette will need her to continue producing to get a win Saturday.
The Dukes (1-1), on the other hand, are led by senior midfielder Clare Hurley, who scored five goals in Duquesne’s thrilling 17-16 overtime win against Robert Morris Feb. 18. Duquesne was then shut out by No. 9 Penn State Feb. 24 16-0.
Against Robert Morris, the Dukes managed to get off 32 shots, 29 of which were on net, for an absurd .902 SOG percentage. Though Marquette’s performance against a top-10 team was more impressive than Duquesne, the Dukes’ offense is clearly capable of getting shots on net and not missing opportunities to do so.
The Golden Eagles’ defense will be crucial in Saturday’s matchup and they will need strong performances from captains and junior defenders Kayce Haverstick, Jenaye Coleman and Preseason Big East Player of the Year Elizabeth Goslee. In net, Marquette has junior goaltender Sarah Priem, who will also need a good game for the Golden Eagles to be successful. Priem has allowed 28 goals on 60 shots and gives up 10.73 goals per game and has a save percentage of .333.
Marquette coach Meredith Black said her squad has to play a complete game against the Dukes, otherwise they’ll suffer the same fate they did against Northwestern.
Marquette takes on Duquesne in Pittsburgh at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
