A very nice first quarter was all the Golden Eagles had going for them on Wednesday afternoon, and Olivia Ripple had a career day for the Pioneers.
There was a lot to like about the first 15 minutes of Marquette women’s lacrosse’s game against Denver on Wednesday afternoon. Jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scored another three straight after Denver tied the game at 3, took a 7-4 lead into the second quarter.
Good times against the favorite to win the Big East, a good start against one of the other two teams joining Marquette at 2-0 in league play so far this season.
And that was about it for Marquette on this day.
Three fouls on Marquette in the first three minutes of the second quarter — two for penalties, one for a free position attempt — allowed Olivia Ripple to score her third, fourth, and fifth goals of the game. That wiped out Marquette’s lead, and it just kept getting worse. By the end of the half, Ripple had scored twice more to get to seven goals and the Pioneers had outscored the Golden Eagles 10-0 in the second period.
14-7 at the half.
18-10 after three.
23-10 is your final. All told: 10 goals for Olivia Ripple, firing right on past the three-way tie for the most goals in a game in Pioneers history. Julia Feiss last accomplished the mark of 8 goals in a game back in 2018, so it’s the best scoring day for a Pioneer in seven years. Ripple has to settle for a tie for the third most points in a DU game, as that record stands at 13 and she didn’t record an assist here.
By the way, yes: Marquette didn’t score a goal in the fourth quarter, either. They got outshot 12-2 in the second, which was effectively their downfall, and then 7-1 in the fourth with whatever dim hopes of a comeback slowly fading away as the clock wound down on them.
Blech.
Up Next: Marquette has to get that one out of their system immediately, as they have a road game in just four days. They’ll face Villanova on Sunday, with first draw on FloSports set for 11am Central. The Wildcats are 8-3 on the year and went into Wednesday as part of a three-way tie with Marquette and Denver atop the Big East standings at 2-0. They visit Georgetown later in the day.