After falling 18-14 to Arizona State on Thursday, Marquette women’s lacrosse found better fortune Saturday afternoon, defeating the Fresno State Bulldogs 18-17 and earning its first road win of the season.
The teams traded goals for the first eight minutes of the first half. Down 4-3 at the 23:57 mark of the half, first-year midfielder Hannah Greving found the back of the net to tie the game at 4-4. Greving’s goal was the boost Marquette needed as the Golden Eagles would finish the half on a 9-0 run putting themselves up 12-7 at halftime.
Building off its first-half success, Marquette opened the second half hot, scoring four goals in the first four minutes of the half to extend its lead to 16-7. With under 16 minutes left in the half, Jami Pollack got one past Marquette junior goalie Sophia Leva giving FSU some life. The Bulldogs would go on to score five straight goals to cut the MU lead to three.
Despite giving up three straight goals in the final 4:11 of the half, Marquette was able to hold its ground, leading to an 18-17 victory.
Junior midfielder Caroline Steller and sophomore midfielder Lydia Foust led the way for the Golden Eagles with each putting up a career-high four goals. Junior midfielder Caroline Peterson continued her strong start to her season picking up her second hat trick in the past three games. Senior defender Erin Dowdle picked up a career-high six draw controls on the afternoon.
Julianna Horning and Sophia Leva split time in the cage once again. Horning made 11 saves while giving up seven goals and Leva made nine saves while giving up 11 goals.
Sydney Skalstad led the way for the Bulldogs on the afternoon scoring four goals, tallying up two assists and six draw controls wins. Marina Mayo added four goals and an assist on the day as well.
For FSU, Lauren Maunder and Courtney Walburger split time in the cage. Maunder made three saves while giving up 14 goals and Walburger made two saves while giving up four goals.
Marquette (4-3) will return to Valley Fields for a two-game homestand that begins Wednesday at noon against Central Michigan.
This article was written by John Leuzzi. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JohnLeuzziMU.
