In the minutes following Marquette men’s lacrosse’s 14-13 win in overtime over Providence on Saturday, lyrics to “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas could be heard bouncing off the inflated walls of the “bubble” at Valley Fields.
The music served as background noise for what was a celebratory scene on the field following junior midfielder Ethan Salvia’s game-winning goal 1:30 into the extra period.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Salvia said. “Getting a home game to start off Big East play was huge for us, and we were super excited for it. Our fans were awesome today, it was a sold-out crowd, so that was pretty cool.”
Salvia’s game-winner was the exclamation point on what was a career day for him. The Gibsonia, Pennslvania native finished with a career-high six points, scoring three goals and dishing out three assists.
“[Salvia] has been dreaming for so long about what it looks like to play in these moments that when it finally became his turn,” head coach Jake Richard said. “He’s seen it in his mind, and then brought it to reality. It’s really special to see.”
The Golden Eagles (5-4, 1-0 Big East) found themselves trailing 12-8 with 13:24 remaining after junior attacker Matt Lazzaro snuck one past senior goalkeeper Lucas Lawas to extend Providence’s lead.
Marquette was without starting attacker Tucker Mullen and starting defenseman Mike Piraino heading into the day. Things got even worse for the Golden Eagles when senior attacker Matt Caputo went down with a lower-body injury just minutes into the game.
Despite being down three key players and trailing by four goals, the blue & gold never wavered. Salvia scored a goal with 11:52 remaining to cut the lead to three, then added another 45 seconds later to cut the deficit to two.
After graduate attacker Nolan Rappis scored his fourth goal of the day to cut the Friars’ lead to one, sophomore attacker Chris Matia made it a two-goal game once again with 3:11 to play.
That was the last time Providence would score, as the Golden Eagles finished the game on a 6-1 run to stun the Friars (4-7, 0-1) in their Big East opener.
“I’m really proud of our team for staying focused on the task at hand and the plays that need to be made while we manage the rest of the game,” Richard said. “Our players not getting sucked into the other stuff shows really good resilience and focus from them.”
Marquette sent the game to overtime after junior midfielder Beau Westphal scored with five seconds remaining. Westphal scooped up a ground ball and rattled the cage after junior attacker Carsen Brandt’s shot went wide.
“The play went a little bit rogue,” Westphal said. “Carsen threw the ball over his shoulder and I was there to have his back.”
Marquette is 1-0 in Big East play for the second straight year. The last time the Golden Eagles won their Big East opener in back-to-back seasons was in 2018 and 2019.
The blue & gold will hit the road to take on St. John’s (2-8, 0-1 Big East) in Queens, New York, next Saturday.
But first, the Golden Eagles will enjoy the taste of beating Providence for the first time since 2022.
“We’ve had to [win close games] a lot this year in particular,” Richard said. “So, this team is uniquely prepared for things like this. And to see it come to fruition on the lacrosse field, where they love to be together, is really special. So, when you put it all together, the whole year, this one means a whole lot.”
They’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a good night in Milwaukee.
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.
