Marquette men’s lacrosse couldn’t claw all the way back.

The game was tied twice, once at 0-0 and again at 8-8, but the Golden Eagles (3-3) never led in their 9-8 loss to Utah (2-3) Saturday afternoon at Valley Fields.

“Didn’t put enough to way to win the game,” Marquette head coach Andrew Stimmel said. “It’s just stuff that we’re going to have to work through.”

The Golden Eagles had 18 shots that were on target compared to the Utes’ 21. Utah was led by the efforts of junior attacker Tyler Bradbury, who had a game-high four points on four assists.

Creasor shines

Graduate student goalie Caleb Creasor was just one save shy of his career-high on Saturday. Creasor tallied 12 saves in Marquette’s opening match of the season against Air Force Feb. 3.

“With Caleb you know, he’s someone who has had limited college experience,” Stimmel said. “He really hadn’t started a college game until this year so I’m really happy with him and how he bounced back from last week.”

Creasor stopped 11 of the 21 shots that he faced on the day.

Defensive effort keeps the game close

Utah was the third consecutive squad that Marquette faced that made the NCAA Tournament last season. Playing three teams with the offensive capability that these teams can take a serious toll on your defense.

Marquette’s defense impressed on Saturday though, as it was able to hold a Utah offense that averaged 16 goals a game last season to just nine.

“I mean I think our defense did a great job,” Stimmel said. “I think ultimately they (Utah) made a couple of big time plays, and that’s why they are who they are.

“They just made one more play than us, we had plenty of opportunities but that’s what it’s going to come down to in playing these types of games against really good teams.”

Marquette found itself down 7-4 with three minutes to play in the first half and then found itself down 8-6 halfway through the third quarter, but the defense stood tall and gave themselves a chance to win it.

The Golden Eagles gave up less than 10 goals for the fourth time this season.

Up Next

Marquette travels to Louisville to take on Bellarmine University (2-3) next Saturday, March 9. The opening face-off is set for 12 p.m. CST.

“There’s still a lot of room for us to improve, and go out there and prove ourselves these next couple of days before we get into conference play,” Stimmel said.

This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.