Escaping the Milwaukee snowstorm and arriving at the sunny Rock Stadium, the Marquette women’s lacrosse team was looking for its first win on the road Saturday morning.

But the Golden Eagles (1-3) were not able to secure the win, falling short, 18-14, in their first-ever match against the Jacksonville Dolphins (1-3).

Lackluster first period, performative second

Marquette struggled to find its footing at the beginning of the first period, giving up two goals.

After its first timeout, a combination of saves from junior goalie Brynna Nixon and goals from sophomore Tess Osburn and junior Meg Bireley gave the Golden Eagles a glimmer of hope.

However, the Dolphins would score three more goals throughout the first period bringing the score to 5-2. The two teams were even in draw controls (4-4), ground balls (5-5) and saves (3-3), giving Marquette something to fight for in the next period.

In the second, Marquette outscored Jacksonville 5-1, while shooting on goal at a 90% rate (9-for-10) compared to Jacksonville, which was at 60% (3-for-5).

Going into halftime, the Golden Eagles had clawed back to take a 7-6 lead.

Back-and-forth scoring snowballs into Dolphin domination

Not even a minute into the third period, Jacksonville equalized, and after another two minutes, it took the lead.

What followed was a sequence of equalizing and lead changes between the two teams. After being tied 10-10 with 6:24 left to play, the Dolphins would score two more goals to end the period in the lead 12-10.

The fourth period was one-after-another as the Dolphins scored five goals in the final five minutes. Three goals from Bireley and Campbell Brown were not enough for the Golden Eagles to secure a win.

Up next

Marquette will travel back to the Midwest for its fourth-straight road game against Detroit Mercy Wednesday, Feb. 28. The game is scheduled to start at 12 p.m. CST.

This article was written by Sofie Hanrahan. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @SofieHanrahanMU.