The Golden Eagles got in trouble early, called timeout, and fixed what was wrong.
After 5 minutes and 19 seconds had been played in a drizzly game at Valley Fields on Friday evening, it looked like Marquette Golden Eagles men’s lacrosse was in a bit of trouble. In what was a must win regular season finale for both the Golden Eagles and the visiting Denver Pioneers, MU had committed two turnovers and then lost the third draw of the game to fall behind 3-0. Head coach Jake Richard called timeout, because duh, that was the most obvious thing to do in the known universe, but the question remained whether or not Marquette was actually in trouble here. It certainly seemed like it.
And then 16 seconds later, Bobby O’Grady got the Golden Eagles on the board.
And then 8 seconds later, Nolan Rappis took a pass from faceoff man Adam Slager and slashed the margin to one goal, 3-2, with 9:17 left in the period.
Marquette was no longer in trouble.
In fact, as the full 60 minutes played out, Denver was the one in trouble.
A pair of man-up goals before the quarter was over allowed Marquette to pull even at four each, and Noah Snyder sent the Golden Eagles onwards to the second quarter up 5-4.
Down 3-0. Up 5-4. 5-1 run……… that turned into a 10-2 run through the 11:38 mark of the third quarter…… that stretched into a 12-3 run when Will Foster put Marquette up 12-6 with 6:36 left in the third…… and the clock wound under the three minute mark with that margin on the board.
I believe this is where my son, knowing that Marquette came in 2-13 all time against Denver with two Big East tournament victories, asked if Marquette had ever even had this big of a lead on Denver before. I’m not going to go read every box score to check, but the two wins ended 10-9 and 11-8, so I feel pretty comfortable saying that this six goal margin was in fact MU’s largest ever lead against Denver in series history.
And then Denver set about turning this thing back into a game. It was 12-8 heading to the fourth quarter — that’s fine, that’s extending the halftime lead by one goal, okay — and Noah Manning tallied at the 13:44 mark to make it a 12-9 contest. Margin slashed in half, lots of time to go. Matt Caputo scored with a man advantage — the Golden Eagles went 3-for-4 after Denver penalties in this game, weirdly only coming up empty on the two minute long penalty in the third quarter — for Marquette with just under eight minutes left, Denver answered back, Manning again, about 90 seconds later.
13-10, 6:31 to go.
This is where the game unhinged. Marquette has control of the game with a three goal lead, and 6:31 is a long time in lacrosse if you’re trailing….. but you need the ball.
Chandler Caster won a draw for Marquette, and after it got loose on the floor, Hayden Hiltz scooped it up and threw it in. MU by 4.
Caster won another draw, Marquette ended up burning out the entire shot clock, and then Denver threw the ball away just seven seconds after a timeout…… and MU immediately lost it right back to them. Lucas Lawas made one of his 12 saves in the ball game here, and with Denver going into a ride to attempt to make it hard for Marquette to pass the ball in their offensive end, that left things unsettled and Nolan Rappis scored fairly easily. Marquette by 5, 3:19 to go.
Caster won a draw and scored, again, kind of easily given that Denver was thrashing around trying to get the ball. 3:12 left. Denver is desperately running out of time, but Marquette’s defense holds and the Pioneers can’t do squat with a possession in a hurry. The clock winds under the two minute mark, Lawas saves, Peter Detwiler charges the net with Denver trying furiously to get the ball, Marquette by 7, 1:24 left.
Marquette wins the draw on a Denver violation, Pioneers send the goalie out to ride to double guys up, Rappis drifts to the net, Hiltz throws it at him, literally alleyoop goal, Rappis shot it in the air at the wide open unattended net. Marquette by 8, 45 seconds left.
Ballgame. Denver’s ride to try to create possessions just allowed the Golden Eagles to find an open guy — even with DU getting to play defense 7 on 6 with the goalie out running around — and they just kept putting it in the net over and over and over to ice the game.
Rappis finished with a game high five goals and an assist to lead MU in points with six, while Carsen Brandt and Will Foster both got to fives points on three goals and two assists.
The win leaves the two teams in a tie in the Big East standings at 2-3, but since the Golden Eagles have the head-to-head victory, they get the #4 seed in the conference tournament and Denver is eliminated. Not only is this Marquette’s first ever regular season win over Denver in postseason history, it is the first time that the Pioneers have missed the Big East tourney since joining the league as an affiliate member.
How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and FloSports?
Up Next: A trip to Denver — yes, the Pioneers are hosting a tournament that they are not playing in — for the Big East semifinals. Marquette will face top seeded Georgetown — a team that they went to double overtime with in Milwaukee this season — for a 5pm Central time start next Friday night. CBS Sports Network will have the broadcast.