Jillian Howell squares up to the ball. The opposition shoots. Howell jumps and extends her stick to the corner of the net to redirect the attempt past the cage.

“The first save is always a big save,” the first-year goalie Howell said. “After that first one, I know I’m on today.”

She takes a shuffle left. The opponent shoots high right. She swings her stick over to save.

Stay quick on the feet. Foe rifles at the right hip. Deflect down to stop.

All of a sudden, Howell has 11 saves and Marquette women’s lacrosse is up 16-8 against No. 24 Villanova with just under three minutes to play. Those 60 minutes against the Wildcats were almost rhythmic for Howell as she led the team toward its first win against a ranked opponent since April 2023.

The performance was the most saves in a single game for a Marquette first-year since 2017. It was sparked, in part, by the team’s 19-5 loss against No. 19 Denver, the prior game in which Howell was pulled early after allowing 11 first half goals.

“I remember sitting in the locker room just like, ‘Okay, that’s not happening again,'” Howell said. “So, I went out against Villanova and played my game and did what I know how to do.”

A little over a month before, the Cicero, New York native notched the same amount of saves against Arizona State.

Alongside other first-years, such as attackers Dani Serrano and Ella Mautz and draw control specialist Gabby Windesheim, Howell has played a crucial role in propelling the Golden Eagles to fourth place in the Big East. Only the top four teams qualify for the Big East tournament and if Marquette wins its last two games against UConn and Butler, it punches its ticket to the postseason for the first time in three years.

Howell has played at least 30 minutes in every game this season, standing at the cage for nearly 66% of all possible time. Head coach Meredith Black has a hard time remembering, besides the program’s inaugural season, when a first-year played as much as Howell.

“She’s awesome,” Black said. “She is so consistent in her play.”

This talent was recognized early in Howell’s career. In eighth grade, she was called up to the Cicero-North High School Northstars — her eventual high school team and a program that sends multiple players to Division I every year — as a reserve goalie. The team’s top two netminders were out for the season with concussions and, after the third-string was sidelined during a close game, Howell got her chance.

She only played less than eight minutes, but during that time made multiple saves contributing to the win.

“She really didn’t even hesitate,” said Stephanie Prentice, Howell’s high school coach. “It tells you a little bit about who she is, her character and also her confidence.”

Throughout her high school career, Howell showed collegiate ability. She led her team to a state championship in 2024 and a regional title the following season. All while earning three city-wide and three conference honors, including making the first team in each her senior year.

Swimming in accolades, Howell still struggled to always have confidence in herself.

During her team’s sectional championship game her senior year, she was pulled toward the middle of the second half because she was struggling in the cage. Howell told her goalie coach she didn’t want to go back into the game. Prentice took a beat to remind Howell about the team’s belief in her, but Howell, given the chance to go back, would’ve encouraged her younger self the same way she does her current self.

“See the ball and save it. Don’t over-complicate it — because I tend to do that a lot,” Howell said. “It’s really simple. Just like, do your thing and you know what to do.”

Howell went back in the game and the Northstars hoisted the sectional championship trophy that day.

“She’s just a great asset to any team,” Prentice said. “I definitely knew that she would 100% play at the D-I level.”

The summer after graduating high school, Howell worked on her skills with teammates from Cicero North, including one who now plays at Vanderbilt and another who is committed to North Carolina.

The transition from high school to collegiate lacrosse is a step up for any player, but especially for goalies because of the increased pace of play. Even so, as a two-time all-conference honoree in high school basketball, her footwork on the hardwood gives her a leg up in the crease.

When Howell returned home for winter break this past year, she scrimmaged with her old team and her high school coaches immediately noticed some differences.

“She looked even faster,” said Prentice, who will watch Howell’s Marquette games occasionally. “Her stick looked faster and her feet looked faster and we all noticed.”

Howell agrees her confidence in herself has grown since putting on the blue & gold. It’s always been in her — when she was pulled up from eighth grade, when she left the comfort of the sideline to get back in net during that important game her senior year, when she made her collegiate debut against Eastern Michigan and made a save that ended up on Sports Center Top 10 later that evening.

It’s now bubbling up enough that other players are beginning to learn from her.

“She’s just built so much trust within the (goalie) unit,” Black said. “Everyone’s totally all in to whatever she’s gonna say.”

Some things never change. That unity is the same energy she brought to the Northstars.

“Everybody wants to cheer her on,” Prentice said. “Everybody’s proud of her and happy for her.”

Before the final buzzer had finished blaring in Marquette’s win against the Wildcats, every Golden Eagle had sprinted from the sideline and ran cross-field toward Howell, who was already being embraced by a few teammates.

Her No. 27 jersey became lost in the dogpile immediately.

This article was written by Benjamin Hanson. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @benhansonMU.