Despite capturing a must-win game Friday against Cincinnati, the Marquette women’s lacrosse team missed out on the BIG EAST Tournament due to a three-way tiebreaker scenario.
With Temple’s 11-4 win over Georgetown Saturday, the Owls clinched the No. 3 seed in the tournament by virtue of goal differential. That left a head-to-head tiebreak between Georgetown and Marquette, which ultimately went to the Hoyas because they defeated the Golden Eagles last week, 13-12.
Marquette’s win (7-10, 4-3 BIG EAST) set single-season program records for overall victories and conference wins. Head coach Meredith Black said she was proud of the way her team played down the stretch Friday, as it did throughout the season.
“Cincinnati played a great game, we made some mistakes but we finished still,” Black said. “I’m just so proud of the team because I feel like if we played that same game in February we might not have come out with the win.”
The first half of Friday’s game was a defensive battle. Cincinnati slowed the pace down and Marquette looked out of sync. The game saw only one goal for the first 25 minutes. Marquette took a one-goal lead early but the Bearcats tied it late in the half. The team responded quickly with a goal from Julianna Shearer to regain the lead and would end the half up 3-1.
Both teams traded goals early in the second half and it was the Bearcats who looked to have the momentum with 10 minutes remaining. Cincinnati took a 6-5 lead but Marquette eventually buckled down on defense and scored three unanswered goals to take the lead for good. The game ended with an important defensive stop in front of goal from senior captain Biz Goslee to salvage the win. Fellow teammate and Cincinnati native Hayley Baas played a key role as well with five caused turnovers in the game. Black said she was not surprised the Cincinnati natives made the plays needed to win the game.
“Biz was huge. She took care of the ball for us and won us back a lot of balls and made that save at the end,” Black said. “Baas again was so important and without her effort we would not have won that game.”
Emotions were running high before the game as 13 seniors were honored in their final game at Valley Fields. Black said the win meant the world to her and she is glad the seniors were sent off with a win.
“I definitely couldn’t keep it together before the game,” Black said. “I just love this senior class so much, they have done everything for this program, they mean so much to me and I couldn’t be more proud.”
