You’re going to see that Youngstown State is winless in five tries this season in a moment, so keep in mind that this is a big test contest for Marquette women’s lacrosse.
The last two times out, the Golden Eagles had what could be easily considered to be winnable lacrosse games in front of them. In the first, they fell behind 4-0 out of the gate and 9-3 midway through the second quarter against Arizona State. They won the rest of the game 13-10, which proves the theorem that it was a winnable game,
but because of the early deficit, Marquette never got closer than two goals. They got that close with 1:15 left in the third, so even with the deficit, they had a chance to finish the rally.
Last time out, Marquette fell behind 4-1 in the first seven minutes and change against Jacksonville. It had the tinge of the same problems as the ASU game, but in this case, MU had the counter punch right away. They scored the next six goals of the game to take a 7-4 lead, and after JU powered up to a 10-8 lead, the Golden Eagles evened the game at 10 goals each with 20 minutes left to play. Again: Early deficit, but had a chance to win it down the stretch, but didn’t.
And so Marquette is 3-3 on the year after starting out 3-0 — no fault to anyone for the loss to Northwestern — instead of going into this one at 5-1 which was a distinct possibility back on February 23rd. This probably isn’t going to be a test of Marquette’s ability to win a close lacrosse game, quite honestly, it needs to not be that if the Golden Eagles think of themselves as a team that get into the Big East tournament. However, this does need to be a test of MU’s ability to not fall into a hole out of the starting blocks. Whether that’s winning draws or making saves or causing turnovers or finishing with aplomb on the offensive end, whatever the moment calls for to make it happen, that’s what Marquette needs to accomplish in this game.
And then we’ll talk about doing it again next time out. And again. And again.
But let’s see what happens in this 60 minute segment of the season first.
Game #7: at Youngstown State Penguins (0-5)
Date: Friday, March 6, 2026
Time: 11am Central
Location: Farmers National Bank Field, Youngstown, Ohio
Streaming: Youngstown State Penguins on YouTube. It’s free!
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Marquette is 1-0 all time against Youngstown State. The Golden Eagles picked up an 18-11 win in Ohio back in February 2023 in the only previous meeting.
Youngstown State has passed the 7 goal barrier just once this season. That one time was in their second game of the season as they lost 14-12 to Old Dominion at home. Saying that game was their most competitive contest of the season is misleading, as ODU was up 3-0 in the first eight minutes and up 8-3 with a minute left before halftime. With that said, the Penguins did rally to get the game within a goal heading into the fourth quarter before giving up three straight in the first four minutes of the final period and even a pair of power play goals the rest of the way wasn’t enough to push the Monarchs.
Other than that one, it’s been a 14 goal loss to Bucknell, an 11 goal loss to George Mason, a 10 goal loss at Monmouth, and a nine goal loss at UMBC in YSU’s most recent game. The Penguins didn’t score for the final 22 minutes in that game, so it was kind of competitive for a while, but also they were down six going into the fourth quarter. Youngstown State was picked to finish seventh in the eight team MAC this season, so these results shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to you. Please remember: This means they were picked behind the Eastern Michigan team that Marquette beat 20-9, and the Central Michigan team Marquette beat 19-6.
No one on the YSU roster is averaging two goals a game this season, but Claire Baenziger is coming the closest. She has nine goals in five games, and she was doing just fine on that two-per average until UMBC held her without a goal on two shots. Baenziger is the team leader in points with 11 and the only Penguin in double digits through five games. Ava Kreutzer and Maya Griffin are second in goals with six and second/third in points with nine and six. MU may have to keep an eye on Ally Garrett, who is third on the team in shots this season with 14 behind Baenziger and Kreutzer, but only has three goals so far.
Brooke Harper started in net for Youngstown State’s first two games of the season, but Alyssa Edwards went in Games #3 and #4. Harper went the distance in her two games, and Edwards did the same against George Mason. Edwards got pulled after one quarter against Monmouth, and then Harper started against UMBC….. and got pulled down 6-2 with 10 minutes left in the second quarter… and then Edwards was pulled with 2:49 left in the third….. and then Harper was pulled with 7:53 left in the fourth. Go read the play by play! This happened! Both women have a goals-against average over 16.00 per 60 minutes this season, and both have a save percentage under .400. In theory, YSU has two other goalies that they could use, but if head coach Liza Oakley didn’t pull that trigger against the Retrievers, I doubt she’s doing it for a brand new game.
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