After seven days from earning its first BIG EAST win of the season, the Marquette women’s lacrosse team was back in action Saturday afternoon looking for its second straight conference win against Butler.
Behind a record setting offensive performance, the Golden Eagles defeated the Bulldogs by a score of 24-17 at Valley Fields.
“We loved being able to put up 24 goals, that was great and we needed it,” Marquette head coach Meredith Black said in a statement. “Butler’s a great team and they kept that gap narrower then we maybe wanted, so we just had to keep finding the back of the net and we did. We have a lot of takeaways and a lot of ways we can get better from this one, which is great.”
Marquette’s offense started out hot in the first frame, scoring the first three goals of the game to take a 3-0 lead with 9:10 left in the first quarter.
Defensively, the Golden Eagles held the Bulldogs’ offense in check as Butler was held to just four shots on goal and two goals in the frame. Foust’s hat trick in the opening frame sent Marquette into the second quarter leading 6-2.
As was the case in the first quarter, the Golden Eagles sparked some fire offensively in the second using a 4-0 run to take a 10-2 lead.
After Butler junior attacker/midfielder Campbell Connors scored her second goal of the day, Marquette found the back of the net three more times before halftime. The Golden Eagles entered halftime leading 13-4.
Foust tied a career-high points in the first half with five goals and two assists, while junior attacker Mary Schumar tacked on three assists.
Butler’s offense got going in the second half as it outscored Marquette 7-5 in the third quarter alone. Foust found the back of the net at the buzzer, on a free-position, to give the Golden Eagles a 18-11 going into the final frame.
Both sides traded runs throughout the fourth quarter. Butler brought the game to within six at 11:27 left in the quarter following a goal from senior midfielder Gabryelle Bodine. That is as close as the Bulldogs would get, the Golden Eagles ended the game on a 5-2 run to pick up its second straight BIG EAST win of the season.
Behind Foust’s team-high six goals, Marquette scored a program-high 24 goals on the afternoon. The previous program high was 23 against Detroit Mercy March 11, 2020.
Schumar set a program record for assists in game with seven and had eight total points on the day. Graduate student attacker Kyra LaMotte followed with five goals on the day.
Marquette graduate student goalkeeper Amanda Rumsey made eight saves on the afternoon against her former squad.
Marquette (7-7, 2-1 BIG EAST) will remain home to host Notre Dame Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. CST at Valley Fields.
This story was written by Jackson Gross. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JacksonGrossMU
