Marquette women’s lacrosse entered Saturday afternoon’s matchup with No. 10 Denver with a chance to share the BIG EAST regular season title.
However, the Pioneers had other plans defeating the Golden Eagles 18-9 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium for the out-right BIG EAST regular season title.
The Golden Eagles came out strong in the opening frame, ending the quarter on a 3-0 run to take a 4-2 lead into the second quarter. Senior midfielder Lydia Foust found the back of the net twice in the quarter. In addition, first-year attacker/midfielder Meg Bireley and senior attacker Shea Garcia scored in the frame.
Denver opened the second quarter with a 4-0 run, two of which came from junior attacker Julia Gilbert, to take a 7-4 lead with 6:30 remaining in the first half. Marquette ended the home side’s run with back-to-back goals from Bireley and Garcia to bring the deficit within one.
A man-up goal from Millie Estepp, free-position goal from Bea Behrins and a goal from Lauren Black provided the Pioneers with a 10-6 lead at halftime.
For the Denver, its eight goals in the second quarter were the most goals scored in a quarter by the Pioneers since Feb. 13 against Louisville.
The Pioneers continues their momentum in the third quarter, Denver tacked one three more goals to increase its lead to 13-6. Garcia’s third goal of the game and 43rd of the season was Marquette’s lone goal in the frame.
Foust and junior attacker Mary Schumar tacked on a goal each in the fourth quarter but it was not enough as Denver ended the game on a 3-1 run to pull out the come from behind 18-9 win.
Gilbert and Black led the way on the afternoon with four goals a piece. In addition to their goals, Gilbert finished with two assists while Black finished with three assists.
Marquette was led the afternoon by Garcia and Foust who each finished with three goals, while Foust added two assists.
For Garcia, she tied the program record for free position goals in a season with 11 following her goal with 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
No. 2 seed Marquette (8-9, 3-2 BIG EAST) will face No. 3 seed Georgetown in the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals Thursday at 5 pm CST.
This article was written by Kelly Reilly. She can be reached at [email protected], or found on Twitter @kellyreillyyy.