The women’s lacrosse team will host its home opener Friday at 3 p.m. against Central Michigan in the first of a three-game homestand at Valley Fields.
Marquette is looking for its first win of the season after falling to Johns Hopkins and Louisville on the road last weekend.
Following the defeat, head coach Meredith Black said the team’s mentality and confidence will be a huge factor for this weekend’s slate of games.
“It’s believing in yourself (and) having confidence in yourself,” Black said. “I think we’re making mistakes on the field that show that we are lacking that confidence, we’re lacking that belief in ourselves, we’re questioning it or were just doubting it a little bit.”
Once the confidence is in check, Black said the team needs to focus on fast-break defense and fouling less.
“We put both teams this weekend on the eight-meter (line) a lot, and that hurt us because they took advantage of those shots,” she said.
Central Michigan | Friday at 3 p.m.
Central Michigan will open its season hoping for a better result than last year. The Golden Eagles beat the Chippewas, 12-9, in 2017, with five of the 12 goals coming from senior attacker Julianna Shearer. With Shearer gone, Marquette is looking for other sources of offense.
“Riley (Hill), Cate (Soccodato), Megan Menzuber and Charlotte McGuire need to kind of step up and replace some of Jules’ goals from last year that were missing this year,” Black said.
Central Michigan is led by junior midfielder Jocelyne LeMay, who paced last year’s offense with a program-record 49 goals. She was the first player in Chippewa history to be selected to the Atlantic Sun conference’s first team.
Kennesaw State | Sunday at 12 p.m.
Kennesaw State, like Marquette, started off on the wrong foot with an 0-2 record. Black is still wary of the Owls even with their lackluster start.
“Kennesaw is a great team; they had a good match against Vanderbilt this past weekend, so they look good,” Black said.
The last time the two teams met, the Golden Eagles won 20-7, which broke a program record for most goals scored in a game. For Marquette to repeat that performance, the team will need to play much more confidently than it did last weekend.
“I think we have really two fights that we’re going to have to put up this weekend, but I do think with confidence, we can come out victorious,” Black said.
