The Golden Eagles head to Kentucky for the first of five straight games away from Milwaukee.
And now, it is time for Marquette men’s lacrosse to bring ASUN action to an end for the year.
On Saturday, Marquette will play their seventh game of the season as well as their fifth and final game of the year against an opponent from the ASUN Conference. No joke! The first three went well, but last weekend, the Golden Eagles couldn’t get out of their own way against Utah, the favorite in the ASUN, and took a 9-8 loss to drop to 3-3 on the year after opening up 3-0.
The particulars of not getting out of their own way was notable, as Marquette committed 19 turnovers. Utah only got credit for causing eight of those, and that matches what I was watching pretty well: Marquette throwing just slightly off passes on their offensive end over and over again.
That’s kind of been a thing for MU all season if we’re being honest. They have 101 turnovers through six games, but only 44 of them, less than half, have been credited as caused by their opponents. Only 16 of the 101 turnovers have come by way of a failed clearance for Marquette, so that’s an awful lot of slightly to seriously shaggy offense by the Golden Eagles. Five of Marquette’s 15 best point scorers in program history are currently on this roster, including three of the five best to ever pick up a stick in blue and gold. It’s not like they’re without scoring talent and ability here.
It’s not a revolutionary concept, but Crisp & Clean Lacrosse will go a long way for Marquette. Lacrosse Reference has MU at #38 in the country in turnover rate, and there’s only 76 Division 1 men’s teams. I don’t have a number on how MU’s opponents fare immediately after the Golden Eagles cough it up, but I’m willing to bet that a big part of the reason why LaxRef says MU is #49 in the country in defensive efficiency is because they keep giving up transition and unsettled goals after turnovers. Even with all those turnovers, Marquette is still #22 in the country in offensive efficiency.
Winning on the road against Bellarmine is not going to be a picnic, beating the Knights at all in program history has not been a fun time as we’ll get to in a second. But 60 straight minutes of focused, determined, and smart lacrosse on the offensive end should be enough to get it done. Marquette just has to go and do that, which is a different thing than just saying that’s what they need to do.
Game #7: at Bellarmine Knights (3-3)
Date: Saturday, March 9, 2024
Time: 11am Central
Location: Owsley B. Frazier Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky
Streaming: ESPN+ with Joey Lindstrom calling the action
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Line: Marquette -3 from our friends at Draft Kings.
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteMLax
Marquette is 5-4 all time against Bellarmine. The series has tilted towards Marquette with wins in 2019, 2020, and 2022, but the Knights won last year’s contest in Milwaukee by a score of 11-10. That was the third straight game decided by just one goal and the fifth time the matchup has been settled by that margin.
Well, it’s already been a historic season for Bellarmine lacrosse. 2023 ASUN Player of the Year and 2024 ASUN Preseason Player of the Year Kyle Playsted entered this season needing three goals to become the leading scorer in Knights history, and he got that third goal in the third quarter of their season opener against Duke. The downside of that game was Duke coming in as the #2 team in the preseason Inside Lacrosse poll and so the Knights took a 20-12 loss in Durham. In fact, they started out the year 1-3, falling 10-6 at Ohio State and then 8-7 at home to Canisius. That one probably stings the most as the Golden Griffins scored three unanswered goals to start the fourth quarter and the Knights couldn’t wipe out that two goal advantage in the final eight minutes.
They have bounced back from that with two straight wins. Bellarmine went on the road and shelled Hampton, 23-7, and then back last Saturday, they picked up an 11-10 win at home against Marist. Almost didn’t, as you can obviously see from the score, but it was a 10-8 Marist lead with eight minutes to go after the Red Foxes went on a 7-1 run over 25 minutes from the second quarter into the fourth. BU got goals from Justin Wescoat, Benny O’Rourk, and John Alie in just under two minutes to jump out in front and they held on over the final five five minutes to move to .500 on the year.
While Kyle Playsted may be the program’s all-time leading scorer now, he’s not leading the team this year. That honor goes to John Alie, who has 16 goals and 22 points to lead the Knights in both columns. The sophomore from Colorado has at least one goal in every game this season and at least two points in every contest as well. Benny O’Rourk is tied with Playsted for the second most goals with 11, but he’s #2 in points thanks to a team high nine assists. O’Rourk has put in a goal in every game this year, and he’s notched six of his assists in the last two games.
Fifth year senior JC Higginbotham does the netminding for Bellarmine, and he’s off to a good start by his standards. His 10.61 goals-against average is just barely off his career best set in 2021, and his .573 save percentage to this point of the year would be the best number he’s posted in the previous four campaigns. Marquette’s going to have to get creative to beat him, and smooth creative offense was something that was clearly lacking last weekend against Utah.