When you play against junior attacker CJ Kirst, leading scorer in Division I men’s lacrosse, there’s not much one can do.
That was the case for Marquette men’s lacrosse Tuesday afternoon when it took on No. 6 Cornell in Ithaca, New York.
Kirst’s six goals and two assists were too much for the Golden Eagles to overcome as they fell to the Big Red 21-11.
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Marquette scored first off the stick of senior attacker Devon Cowan at the 12:26 mark in the first quarter.
Fast forward to the 12:56 mark in the second quarter and Marquette found itself trailing 10-1 as Cornel scored 10 unanswered goals, five of which were scored or assisted by Kirst.
If that sounds at all familiar that’s because Marquette did a similar thing to its opponents this past weekend when it trailed by two to St. John’s and then scored nine straight. This time the Golden Eagles are on the other end of the scoreline.
The rest of the second quarter was an even four goals to four goals by both sides. Sophomore attacker Bobby O’Grady scored two in that timespan en route to a hat trick while senior defender Mason Woodward scored his fifth goal of the season.
Marquette won the third quarter by scoring three goals to Cornell’s two. Senior attacker Jake Stegman assisted two of the goals, completing his hat trick of assists while O’Grady got his third goal of the game in the final minutes of the quarter.
In the first minute of the fourth quarter, Cowan once again got the scoring going for the Golden Eagles. Cowan’s goal brought the Golden Eagles deficit down to seven and provided Marquette with an opportunity to mount a comeback.
However, Cornell didn’t allow Marquette to get any closer as the Big Red scored four straight goals over the next 10 minutes to seal off their commanding lead.
Statistical Leaders
O’Grady led the Golden Eagles with three goals while Stegman led the way in assists with three. Woodward scooped up six ground balls for the highest mark of the game.
Junior goalkeeper Michael Allieri posted 10 saves in the game despite giving up 21 goals.
Marquette was outshot by Cornell 50-41, while the shots on goal margin was 31-24 also in Cornell’s favor.
Up Next:
Marquette (6-5, 1-1 Big East) returns to conference play at home in Valley Fields against no. 8/10 Georgetown (6-3, 2-0 Big East) at 2:30 p.m. CST on Saturday, April 15 with the game being broadcast by FloSports.
This article was written by John Gunville. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GunvilleJohn.
