Marquette won its first BIG EAST conference match against Butler on Saturday afternoon 16-3.
Considering the fact it’s only Butler’s third year with a women’s lacrosse program, one would expect Marquette to dominate the entire game. After all, the Bulldogs have three wins this year, which is already a program record.
However, that was not the case right away in the first half at Valley Fields on Saturday afternoon. Marquette led at the end of the half with a score of 7-2, but Butler had several opportunities on free-position shots. The Bulldogs just couldn’t take advantage.
Butler’s physicality resulted in the two teams combining to commit more than 30 fouls.
“Butler made us work for everything we did today,” head coach Meredith Black said. “Like today, being offensively aggressive from the back and front of the field is important for us.”
The Bulldogs’ offense didn’t improve much in the second half, putting the ball into the back of the net only one more time. Meanwhile, Marquette scored nine times in the second half, which included two over-the-shoulder goals from graduate student Charlotte McGuire.
“I think that trusting each other really helped,” senior Grace Gabriel said. “Just buying into what each other was doing is what made all the difference.”
Gabriel’s three second-half goals rounded out a five-goal game. She also achieved her 100th career draw control and set her personal record for seven points in a single game.
“I think my teammates and my coaches push me to be better,” Gabriel said. “I think I have gotten better every year because of my them.”
The rest of goals were very spread out over Marquette’s roster. Shea Garcia, Megan Menzuber, Lindsey Hill and Caroline Blandford all put up goals in the final minutes of the game.
“I always tell my team that if one of them scores that they should all feel like they scored,” Black said. “It should be a team effort, and it felt better today to have a lot of players be able to put the ball in the back of the net.”
Marquette (7-7, 1-1 BIG EAST) heads to Old Dominion Saturday at 12 p.m. Central Standard Time.
