The last time Marquette men’s lacrosse had scored less than six goals in a game was two years ago against then No. 2 Georgetown.
Until Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles (3-4) were not able to snap their three game losing streak Saturday afternoon, falling to Bellarmine 11-5 (4-3) at Frazier Stadium.
Offense can’t get going
After graduate student attacker Devon Cowan scored a goal to put Marquette up 1-0 with 10:24 to play in the first quarter, the Golden Eagles wouldn’t score for the rest of the half.
In fact, they were held to just four goals for the remaining 3 1/2 quarters of play.
Marquette even led Bellarmine in shots on goal, winning the battle 22-16. The difference was that the Knights capitalized on their opportunities, and the Golden Eagles did not.
Bellarmine graduate student goalkeeper JC Higginbotham was great in net all game, finishing with 17 saves, two shy of his season-high.
Marquette has now been held to single digits for the second game in a row.
Second quarter collapse
After holding Bellarmine to just one shot on goal through 15 minutes of play, Marquette’s defense collapsed in the second frame.
Just 54 seconds in, senior midfielder Tayo Oladunmoye put one home to knot things up 1-1. Then, just 34 second later, senior attacker Kyle Playsted scored to put Bellarmine up 2-1.
Playsted then scored his second goal of the match 36 seconds after his first, and it was off to the races from there for the Knights.
Back-to-back goals for KP
pic.twitter.com/qIrVhqfRJV
— Bellarmine Lacrosse (@BellarmineLax) March 9, 2024
Bellarmine would go on to outscore Marquette 7-0 in the frame, holding a 9-4 edge in shots on goal in that time. Three different Knights — Oladunmoye, Playsted and Nick Ferge — each scored two goals in the quarter with senior midfielder Wilson Murphree tacking on a goal as well.
Next up
Marquette travles to No. 10 Penn State Saturday, March 16. The opening face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. CST.
And things are not going to get any easier for the Golden Eagles either, as the Nittany Lions rank inside the top 20 nationally in goals allowed per game, giving up only 10 goals per contest.
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at matthew.baltz@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.