Last time Marquette women’s lacrosse (8-5, 2-2 Big East) faced Villanova (9-4, 2-2 Big East) in the final regular season game of the 2024 season, the Wildcats closed the postseason door for the Golden Eagles, 17-14.
Despite both teams coming into the game with even records, the result from last year would portend the fate of this year’s matchup. Marquette was dealt a 15-8 loss to Villanova and its second straight Big East loss on Sunday morning.
The Wildcats dominated on offense and caused the Golden Eagles to score the least amount of goals (two) in the first half they have all season. Villanova also out-drew Marquette 21-5.
Even though senior goalkeeper Brynna Nixon notched 10 saves and senior midfielder Hanna Bodner gathered four goals, the two couldn’t get it done alone.
Marquette’s malaise in the air
The Golden Eagles, in signature fashion, grabbed the first goal of the outing with the help of Bodner.
After that, Villanova flipped a switch which caused the biggest goal-scoring run Marquette has faced all season. For the next 22 minutes, a Golden Eagle shot wouldn’t see the back of the cage while the Wildcats punched in nine scores.
Despite both teams having a similar amount of turnovers in the first quarter, Marquette could never get an open look on offense.
It also struggled to get the ball to Villanova’s side of the field. There were multiple times in the second quarter when the Golden Eagles failed a clear unforced because of a bad pass to a midfielder or attacker.
Additionally, in the first half, Marquette was out-draw-controlled 3-10.
The most prolific scorer on the field, senior attacker Meg Bireley, was locked down on offense and the leading shooter in the nation could only muster one shot in the first half.
Two minutes into the third quarter, Bodner would get Marquette’s third goal of the game, but it hardly slowed down the relentless Wildcat offense.
Seventh hat trick of the season for Hanna! pic.twitter.com/K9uM4cdmKS
— Marquette Women’s Lacrosse (@MarquetteWLax) April 6, 2025
In the two minutes after that, Villanova collected three goals to bring the score to 13-3, but the Golden Eagles wouldn’t give up. To stop the running clock, it scored four of the five next goals to bring the game within seven (14-7). Bireley’s name was on two of those goals.
Though the tempo slowed for Marquette. It would only score one more goal during the matchup which handed it the seven-goal loss.
Big East standings update
The loss drops Marquette to 2-2 in Big East play and puts it on the fringe of making the conference tournament with three games left in the season. It has yet to play UConn (1-1) and Georgetown (2-1).
The top four teams in the conference will make the tournament.
Up next
Marquette will play UConn at Valley Fields on Saturday, April 12 at 12 p.m. CST. This matchup’s broadcast will be held by FloCollege.
This article was written by Benjamin Hanson. He can be reached at benjamin.hanson@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @benhansonMU.