Marquette came into its matchup with Michigan looking to turn the tables on its 1-2 start of the season.
“This one would be huge for us,” junior defender Ryan Kilcoyne told the Marquette Wire earlier this week. “To go down to the nice weather in Florida and to get a big win would be a big momentum swing for this team.”
The Golden Eagles did just that as they took down the Wolverines 14-9 Saturday afternoon down at the Southwest Florida Shootout in Naples, Florida.
Fries thrives in Florida
Senior attacker Griffin Fries scored his first goal of the season in the first quarter before ending with his single-game scoring record.
By the end of the first quarter he had two goals, already tying his career-high for goals in a game. In the third quarter, he netted another before scoring his fourth in the final frame.
Statistical leaders
Fries added an assist to his four goals to take him to five total points for the game. Four other Marquette players ended up with an assist, but no one had more than one.
Sophomore attacker Bobby O’Grady shot the ball seven times, most on the team, but sees his 18 game goal streak end as he couldn’t find the back of the net. It’s O’Grady’s first collegiate game without a goal.
On the defensive side of the ball, senior defender Mason Woodward scooped up seven ground balls and caused two turnovers. Two other Golden Eagles also recorded two caused turnovers.
Hot Start
Marquette leapt out to a quick 5-0 lead with Fries and junior attacker Luke Blanc each having a pair of goals during the run. Graduate student defender Zach Granger netted his first of the season.
The first quarter saw the Golden Eagles out-shoot Michigan 15-4 while ending with a six to two lead.
The second quarter took awhile to get going, the first goal was a man-up goal by senior attacker Jake Stegman with 6:15 left in the period. Stegman ended the game with a pair of goals.
With 2:20 left in the half, Marquette was up eight to two but let Michigan score three goals in 1:17 to bring the game closer at halftime.
The third quarter began with back-to-back Marquette goals from Fries and Stegman. Michigan responded minutes later, but Marquette wouldn’t let the Wolverines leave the quarter without getting one back.
Leading by a score of 11 to six, senior face-off specialist Luke Williams scored his first goal of the season after scooping up his face-off win and taking it straight to the net.
Michigan threatened a comeback by scoring two goals at the 6:19 and 6:12 marks, but Marquette’s defense didn’t let them score again.
Cowan comeback
Senior attacker Devon Cowan made his season debut after missing the first three games of the season due to injury. It took almost the entire game, but Cowan scored a season debut goal with just 40 seconds remaining to ensure a Marquette win.
Cowan has 60 goals and 24 assists in his career for Marquette and will be a starter when he’s fully back from injury.
Up Next:
Marquette (2-2) continues its road trip traveling to Michigan for a matchup against Detroit Mercy (0-2) March 5 at 11 a.m. CST.
This article was written by John Gunville. He can be reached at j[email protected] or on Twitter @GunvilleJohn.
