The Golden Eagles have to find a way to reverse the result of a game that went to double overtime in the regular season if they want their campaign to continue…..
2025 Big East Men’s Lacrosse Tournament
Semifinals
#1 Georgetown Hoyas (9-4, 4-1 Big East) vs #4 Marquette Golden Eagles (7-6, 2-3 Big East)
Date: Thursday, May 1, 2025
Time: 5pm Central
Location: Peter Barton Stadium, Denver, Colorado
Television: CBS Sports Network, with Brent Stover and Evan Washburn calling the action
Streaming: CBSSports.com or the Paramount+ app
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteMLax
Bluesky Updates: @AnonymousEagle
Season Series: Georgetown won, 10-9, in double overtime in Milwaukee
All Time Series: Georgetown leads, 10-5
If one of a handful of plays goes slightly differently in favor of Marquette back on April 5th, we’re not watching this game on Thursday. If Lucas Lawas makes one more save in regulation, if one more Marquette shot fires past Anderson Moore on the other end, if there’s one fewer Marquette turnover in the first overtime period….. then that game goes in favor of the Golden Eagles, Georgetown drops to 4-2 in the Big East standings and loses the regular season title and #1 seed to Villanova. Marquette still ends up as the #4 seed because of a tie with Providence and their loss to the Friars, but a slight change in a double overtime game alters this one from happening.
And since that game did go to double overtime, even with both sides taking a two goal lead at different points, all we can say about Marquette/Georgetown this time around is that we can hardly say that either side has a notable advantage. It’s clear from first year head coach Jake Richard’s post game comments that he was positively chuffed about his team’s performance the last time they saw the Hoyas, and it’s clear that he’s been telling them all week that he knows that they can finish the job this time around:
“I thought it was an amazing environment,” first-year MU head coach Jake Richard said. ”We put ourselves in great position early on in the year and what else do you want than Georgetown coming to town with an opportunity to find out what we’re about. We learned a lot about ourselves today in a lot of positive ways, I think.
“I’m really proud of the team’s fight and the pride that they play with. They’re playing for Marquette and they’re playing for each other. You saw that the entire length of the game. I’m just a really proud coach right now and really excited to get back to work for the rest of the season.”
If Marquette wants to win, they’re going to have to find a way to slow down Aidan Carroll. Georgetown’s top scorer and the Big East Offensive Player of the Year went for five goals in the first meeting. He got three of those when the Hoyas needed them the most, pushing them to up 7-6 late in the third, up 9-7 early in the fourth, and then tallying the overtime winner with just 24 seconds left in the second extra session. It took him 14 shots to get those five goals, so you can argue that Marquette did a quality job shadowing him for the majority of the contest…. but not enough to push them across the finish line.
The reverse goes for the Golden Eagles on the other end, by the way. Bobby O’Grady finished with a hat trick in the first meeting with Georgetown this season, but he wrapped that up with 12:17 left in the third quarter. He had a team high 13 shots, nearly twice as many as anyone else in that game, and hey: He’s the program’s all time leading scorer, he’s gotta get shots. But if you want to beat a ranked Georgetown team, you gotta get great shots. Marquette has to get great shots for 60 straight minutes on Thursday if they want to beat a Hoyas team that comes in at #13 in the Inside Lacrosse media poll this week.
We’re talking about fine tuning changes. Marquette’s game plan was clearly one that was capable of beating Georgetown in the first game, there’s no reason to throw that plan out the window completely this time. By the way: If they can figure out the fine tuning changes needed, Marquette will get their first postseason victory since beating Providence in the 2017 Big East championship game. Jake Richard’s already had a pretty good first year in charge, as evidenced by that Coaching Staff of the Year trophy that he just picked up on Wednesday, mixing in MU’s first Big East title game appearance since 2017 would be a nice cherry on top.
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