The magic ran out on Saturday.
After two overtime victories across the last three weeks, Marquette men’s lacrosse (6-6, 2-2 Big East) came up just short in an another extra period thriller against Villanova (6-6, 3-1 Big East), falling 16-15 at Valley Fields.
“Overall, I’m proud of our group for the resilience they showed,” Golden Eagles head coach Jake Richard said. “I think a lot of things that game were working against us, and they stayed the course, stayed focused and controlled as much as they could.”
While 60 minutes weren’t enough to decide a winner, Wildcat junior midfielder Nick Lucchesi made sure 65 would be. After senior faceoff specialist Adam Slager was called for a faceoff violation on the opening draw of OT, Villanova was awarded possession.
Lucchesi made a move that sophomore defender Colin Maloney stumbled just enough to open up the shooting lane. Lucchesi’s shot found its way past senior netminder Lucas Lawas, and the celebration was on for Villanova.
The goal was Lucchesi’s first point of the day. Senior attacker Colin Michener led the way for Villanova with a career-high seven goals while first-year attack/midfielder Kessy Cox contributed two goals and an assist and first-year attack/midfielder Lachlan Moffatt added a pair of scores.
A bounceback second quarter was what allowed the Golden Eagles to take control of the game initially. After a sluggish first quarter featuring three penalties, seven turnovers and only four shots on goal, Marquette was lucky to find itself only down a pair of goals.
But in the second 15 minutes, the blue & gold shook off the cobwebs. In the opening seconds of the period, Slager won the faceoff clean and strutted right down broadway before finding Rappis for a score eight seconds in.
The Golden Eagles would dominate the rest of the quarter, outscoring the Wildcats 7-3, outshooting them 12-7 and winning the turnover battle, forcing six and only giving away four.
Rappis scored four of his team-high five goals in the first half. The only other MU player to have more than one goal was junior midfielder Beau Westphal.
Villanova made things interesting with a 4-0 run that temporarily gave it an 11-10 lead with 3:15 to play in the third quarter. But Maquette responded a 5-1 run of its own to give itself a three-goal cushion midway through the fourth.
A pair of Marquette penalties on the same play that gave Villanova a two-man up advantage kickstarted the 3-0 run that sent the game to overtime.
“I think it’s really important to play fundamental and disciplined, and I thought our guys did a really good job of that over the course of the game,” Richard said. “I’m not sure there should have been as many calls as there were.”
First-year attack/midfielder Kessy Cox fired home the goal that tied the game with 1:14 to play in regulation as the shot clock winded down. Had Marquette found a way to retain possession, it could’ve ran out the clock. Instead, the game went to a fifth period.
“I think some of our inexperience showed down the stretch, and they made just one more play than us,” Richard said.
With Providence’s win over Denver, Marquette is now in a tie for third place in the Big East standings. If the Golden Eagles win Friday at Denver, they will clinch a spot in the Big East tournament.
However, if they lose, they’ll be in danger of missing the tournament. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST.
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.
