Marquette (4-2) welcomed No. 3 Northwestern (6-1), the reigning national runner-up, to the Valley Field dome Friday night. The Golden Eagles got off to a hot start, but ultimately, the Wildcats’ star power was too much for Marquette to handle in a 19-9 loss.

Northwestern shows their colors

It all started with Madison Taylor, who led the country in goals per game with 5.17 coming into Friday. The junior attacker also came in, leading the country in points per game with seven. She scored eight goals on nine shots and filled the stat sheet with five ground balls grabbed, four draw controls, and caused three turnovers. 

Northwestern outshot the Golden Eagles 36-25 and 30-17 in shots on goal. The Wildcats grabbed 23 ground balls to Marquette’s 17 and turned the Golden Eagles over 12 times while only coughing it up 7 times.

Northwestern’s Sam Smith dominated the draw control, winning more draw controls (14) herself than the entire Marquette team (nine). Northwestern won 22 draw controls and dominated possession because of the dominance on faceoffs.

Game sequences

The game started with the teams trading shots back and forth. Marquette took a 1-0 lead on a Tess Osburn goal, and then Osburn gave the Golden Eagles a 3-2 with 7:23 in the first period.

After Marquette’s hot start, Taylor and company showed up to finish the period on a 4-1 scoring run to take a 6-4 lead at the end of one.

Northwestern continued their momentum to start the second period. In the first five minutes, the Wildcats won every draw control and went on a crucial 4-0 run to take a 10-4 lead with 10:28 left before half.

Sophomore midfielder Lauren Grady briefly calmed the storm by scoring her ninth goal of the year off a senior attacker Meg Bireley assist to cut it to 10-5.

The Wildcats put away any ideas Marquette had of a comeback by ending the half scoring three straight goals, two of which were by Taylor. Northwestern led 13-5 at the intermission.

Northwestern continued their momentum into the third quarter, effectively knocking out the Golden Eagles with a 3-1 period and a 16-6 lead at the end of three.

To Marquette’s credit, the Golden Eagles showed no signs of giving up. Marquette scored the first three goals of the period and cut the lead to seven before the Wildcats got a few junk time goals to increase their winning margin to 10.

I liked everything about the team’s fight the entire game,” head coach Meredith Black said after the game. “We came out fearless the whole game and when we got down a lot, we ended up being able to close that gap and be threatening again.”

Bright spots

Osburn continued a hot start to the year with three goals on four shots and caused two Wildcat giveaways. She was instrumental in transitioning Wildcat misses into offensive scoring opportunities. The Castle Rock, Ohio native also hit a 100 career-points Friday.

💯 point club!!#WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/5BwWv6R16w

— Marquette Women’s Lacrosse (@MarquetteWLax) March 8, 2025

Senior midfielder Hannah Bodner scored two goals on four shots, grabbed two draw controls, and forced one turnover. Bireley did not have her best game but led Marquette in points with two goals and assists. Grady also continued to step up, scoring two goals and grabbing two draw controls. Senior goalkeeper Brynna Nixon made her 300th career save Friday as well.

Up Next

The Golden Eagles (4-2) will travel to Boulder to face the Colorado Buffaloes (1-3), who have played all-ranked opponents this season. The game is at 2 p.m. CST on ESPN+.

This story was written by Max Mullin. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MullinMax.