The Golden Eagles look to bounce back from two straight defeats when they host the Titans.
Marquette women’s lacrosse hasn’t had the best two outings in their last two games. Frustrating #3 Northwestern for most of the game was a pretty decent day, but giving up a 12-1 run to Colorado last timeout, just four days after the Northwestern game, was not so much fun. Then again, Colorado’s probably better than their record after starting the season 1-4 against five ranked opponents, so it’s not the worst thing that MU played them mostly even, 8-5, in three of the four quarters.
So now Marquette’s back at home with one final game to go before Big East play starts. This isn’t the non-conference finale, MU still has two more — Arizona State on March 25, Eastern Michigan on April 25 — left to go after Sunday, but the next game after Sunday is the league opener. I don’t quite think of this one as a Get Right game for Marquette, it’s really not a situation where they played poorly in the last two, they just got beat by two NCAA tournament caliber teams.
It is, however, a chance for a palate cleanser before heading in to Big East competition. Only four teams in the league make it into the conference tournament, so each game is pretty critical to figuring which four get in. Put on a good showing against Detroit Mercy, get some positive vibes flowing, and head off into conference action like that.
We also can’t ignore the possibility of history happening at Valley Fields on Sunday. Meg Bireley currently sits on 213 career points, seven behind Shea Garcia’s career record. She’s also tied with Garcia for the second most goals in a career with 170, and that’s five behind Grace Gabriel’s record of 175. A six goal day for Bireley isn’t out of the question, and thus neither is an eight point day. Bireley had six goals against Niagara earlier this season, and she had three assists in that game for nine points in total. The best way to win is the way that gets you the win….. but if that best way is Meg Bireley stacking up the goals, then records might fall.
REMINDER: Marquette’s home contests are streamed nearly exclusively on FloSports, and the same goes for almost all Big East home games and almost all league schedule contests. If you are paying full price for FloSports at $30 a month, you are doing it wrong. Please use this link to pay $20 via the new-ish FloCollege offering.
Game #8: vs Detroit Mercy Titans (3-4)
Date: Sunday, March 16, 2025
Time: 11am Central
Location: Andy Glockner Memorial Bubble, Valley Fields, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Streaming: FloSports, with Matt Menzel and Eric Simon calling the action
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteWLax
Bluesky Updates: @AnonymousEagle
Marquette is 9-0 all time against Detroit Mercy. The Titans were on the business end of the first home win in Marquette program history, an 11-10 victory at Valley Fields back in 2013. That’s the closest margin for any game in the series, and MU picked up a 19-7 victory last year in Detroit.
Detroit Mercy was picked to finish fifth in the seven team MAC this season. That’s technically second-to-last, as Akron and Youngstown State ended up tied for last with 11 points. You can argue that’s a little bit mean for the Titans, as they went 3-3 a year ago and they return eight starters. As for what all of this means for Marquette heading into a game against UDM? Well, Central Michigan earned two first place votes in that preseason poll and the Golden Eagles went on the road and beat CMU 17-5 in the season opener.
As for how 2025 is actually going, it definitely could have started better for Detroit Mercy. After they played two games, they were getting outscored 38-6, including a 21-1 loss on the road against Arizona State. That one was 2-1 Sun Devils after UDM scored at the 10:46 mark of the first quarter, so you can see how it unraveled.
I think it’s safe to say that all of Detroit Mercy’s games since then have been challenges one way or another. Beat Canisius by 5, beat Kennesaw State by 5, lose to Furman by 6, beat Presbyterian by four. Nothing in there was simple for the Titans, and they’re coming off a 15-13 loss to Lindenwood back on Wednesday at home. UDM was up 12-11 with 8:46 to play, and a goal from Jaeda Jensen put them back out in front 13-12 with six minutes to go. Lindenwood put in three goals in just under two minutes after that and held on to win. Given that Detroit Mercy was up 6-2 in the second quarter, I’m guessing that they’d like to take another crack at solving that riddle.
Maddy Camm is the top point scorer on a Detroit Mercy offense that ranks #68 in the country in efficiency according to Lacrosse Reference. She’s getting there on a team high 12 assists, twice as many as anyone else on the roster, along with eight goals for a total of 20 points. Alyssa Jarvis is the top goal scorer with 13, but she’s just one in front of both Leah Bodnar and Libby Cuckler. Jaeda Jensen’s late goal against Lindenwood gave her nine on the year, and that makes her UDM’s fifth double digit point producer through seven games.
Meredith Leavell is the netminder of record for UDM, playing all but 10 minutes against Arizona State. You’d think that the season opening onslaught would have really tilted her numbers, but thanks to Detroit Mercy winning every time they hold an opponent to single digit goals, Leavell’s numbers aren’t too bad. 13.16 goals per 60 minutes is pretty good after that 38 goal opening, and her save percentage of .467 is currently #33 in the country. Leavell’s biggest problem is that Detroit Mercy is getting outshot 33.3 to 21.4 on average after seven games, so while she’s stopping a lot, there’s still a lot of shots flying at her.
Follow Anonymous Eagle on social media
Facebook: AnonymousEagle
Instagram: AnonymousEagleSBN
Bluesky: AnonymousEagle