Connecticut’s quarter-by-quarter goal totals from Saturday’s 12-10 win over Marquette women’s lacrosse: 3, 2, 5, 2
Connecticut’s quarter-by-quarter turnover totals from the game: 4, 4, 4, 5
I watched this game and I do not understand how Marquette lost.
Time after time after time, UConn was putting the ball on the turf and Marquette was picking it up, and that doesn’t even count all the times that the Huskies lost track of the ball for a moment but managed to resecure it before the Golden Eagles got
to it. All 17 of UConn’s turnovers came after they had already taken a 1-0 lead. Marquette was being handed this game on a silver platter, and they just could not assemble enough offense to do anything about it.
The turnovers are one thing. On top of that problem, Marquette went 2-for-11 on free-position attempts in this game. 5-for-11, which is right about MU’s season average of .425, and they win. Anything better than that on the nearly three attempts per quarter that the Golden Eagles were averaging in this game, and they start running away with the thing.
Marquette was in trouble nearly from the get go, even before they started to fail to cash in all the turnovers and free position attempts. MU didn’t score their first goal of the game until there was 2:16 left in the first quarter, and they didn’t get their second goal until there was 7:06 left before halftime. One goal in over 22 minutes of lacrosse is a bad time, especially when your opponent is stacking up a 5-1 lead on you, all while turning the ball over to you five times in that stretch.
The game officially fell apart on Marquette right after halftime. The Golden Eagles went into the locker room down 5-4, and they had gotten back to that point by scoring not one, but two shorthanded goals in the second quarter. Not just two shorties, but two on the same yellow card penalty on Taylor Kotschevar. No matter what had happened in the first 30 minutes, MU was down just one at the break.
And then the Huskies scored the first three goals of the third quarter, all in less than three minutes, all before Marquette even touched the ball one time. That was pretty much it for Marquette. Yes, the scored four times in the fourth quarter, and Dani Serrano’s goal with 3:21 pulled them within two goals to crack the door evvvver so slightly to a chance to win if they could win two draws. Instead, UConn won the draw, and then after a Huskies turnover, their final one of the game, Marquette handed the ball right back and the home team was able to burn off the final 90-ish seconds.
At least a spot in the Big East tournament wasn’t on the line for Marquette here. The Golden Eagles were already clinched and in the four team field, but their inability to strike when the iron was hot here did lead to UConn getting into the field and Villanova being eliminated.
Highlights, such as they are, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and ESPN+:
Up Next: The Big East tournament bracket isn’t officially out yet, but Marquette’s official recap for the game has the details. The Golden Eagles are the #4 seed in the Big East tournament, and that gives them a semifinal contest against top seeded Denver. That game will be on Thursday, April 30, starting at 5pm Central time, and Denver is the host for the tournament as well. The Pioneers beat Georgetown 11-5 on Saturday in Washington to run the table at 6-0 and win the Big East regular season title. The Golden Eagles lost 15-9 to the Pioneers out in the Rocky Mountains in the regular season matchup between the two teams.
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