The streak continues.
Marquette men’s lacrosse (4-9, 0-4 Big East) came into Saturday’s game looking for it’s first win in conference play this season, but fell short at the hands of Villanova, 12-6.
“Our guys never quit,” Stimmel said. “They fight to the last second, and I’m just proud of the effort they had today.”
Despite the 13 mph winds, the Valley Fields stands were lined in blue & gold as friends and family gathered to honor the Golden Eagles’ 19 departing seniors and graduate students, alongside their two team managers.
“They’re a coach’s dream,” head coach Andrew Stimmel said. “It’s been an honor to coach those guys, they’ve definitely made this place and left their impact on it.”
Marquette came out sluggish, going down 5-0 in the opening frame and giving up a sixth before junior midfielder Nolan Garcia put the Golden Eagles on the scoresheet. He finished with a team-most two goals on the day.
Garcia with the shimmy
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Marquette then scored three straight in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 7-4, but three goals was the fewest the Golden Eagles would trail by after that.
Villanova (8-5, 2-2 Big East) then closed the match with three unanswered goals to put Marquette’s game — and postseason chances — to an end.
The Golden Eagles were outshot 37-30, but they could only put 12 shots on goal compared to the Wildcats, who put 25 of their 37 chances on target.
Turnovers hurt Golden Eagles
Marquette fell sick with the turnover bug.
The Golden Eagles coughed up the ball 20 times, which caught up to them quick.
“That’s kind of been Villanova’s MO a little bit,” Stimmel said. “We kind of knew it was coming, at the end of the day, they were kind of forcing us into making those plays on offense.”
Despite Marquette taking advantage of the extra-man opportunities — scoring twice on advantage — and earning more saves than Villanova (13-6), the controllable things were different.
“They (Villanova) are great in the middle of the field so they pressure you,” Stimmel said. “That margin for error is so tight at any given moment, so just have to give the credit to them.”
Up Next
Marquette will travel to Denver, Colorado next Friday as they take on the Pioneers as they close out the regular season. The game is set to start at 8 p.m. CST.
This story was written by Raquel Ruiz. She can be reached at rasquel.ruiz@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @RaquelRuizMU.