After falling to then-No. 7 Notre Dame 18-3 Sunday, Marquette women’s lacrosse saw its offense come to life in its home opener, defeating the Cincinnati Bearcats 17-6 in convincing fashion.
This was the Golden Eagles’ first win of the season, improving to 1-1 overall.
“I was really happy with the win today,” head coach Meredith Black said. “We went to Notre Dame to open up the season and the outcome obviously wasn’t in our favor. The whole week the girls were so eager to get back on the field.”
Marquette dominated in the first half thanks to senior captain Megan Menzuber. She notched four goals in the half, and the Golden Eagles racked up 23 shots while only surrendering seven. MU went into halftime leading the Bearcats 10-2.
Cincinnati put on a better performance in the second half. The Bearcats were led by sophomore midfielder Kylie Nause who scored two goals in the half to secure a hat trick.
Cincinnati finished the half being outshot just 13-10 but were unable to make things interesting, scoring only four goals and ultimately falling 17-6.
“We love home games,” Menzuber said. “It was super exciting to play the home opener, and we’re really happy to come out with the W.”
Overall, MU outshot the Bearcats 36-17.
Eight different Marquette players found the back of the net. Shea Garcia scored three goals earning her first hattrick of the season, Madison Kane and Caroline Steller both had a pair of goals. Caroline Peterson and Emma Soccodato both score a goal each. For Soccodato, the first-year attack, it is her first collegiate goal.
“We lost a bunch of offensive threats to graduation last year,” Black said. “Our number one attacking option right now is to have multiple players scoring because not one player is going to be able to do it.”
Menzuber finished the match with career-high six goals, one assist and 11 shots. The senior captain’s six goals ties the program’s record for most goals in a game.
“She is very much (the) glue to our team,” Black said. “For her to get those six (goals) is great and is well deserved. But even if she didn’t have six, she would be just as important in every other shot.”
“We worked on a lot in practice these few days,” Menzuber said. “All of us worked well together and that was the difference for use today.”
Senior goalie Jules Horning made four saves while giving up three goals in 40 minutes of play on the afternoon.
Defensively, MU turned over the ball 15 times while Cincinnati racked up 18.
Additionally, for the Golden Eagles, Emily Cooper and Ellie Henry collected eight and six draw controls, respectively.
For Cincinnati, they were led by Nause who had three goals on the afternoon. Sophomore goalie Kate Brocato made eight saves while giving up 15 goals in the match.
Marquette (1-1) will head back on the road to take on the Louisville Cardinals in Kentucky on Monday at noon.
“They’re a tough team,” Black said. “We have to get right back at it.”
This article was written by Tyler Peters. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @_tylerpeters_.
