The Golden Eagles try for a fourth straight win and a 2-0 record in the Big East.
Marquette women’s lacrosse is 1-0 in Big East play after dispatching Butler down in Indianapolis last weekend. On Saturday, they get the chance to move to 2-0 in league play, and a win will, at worst, keep them tied with Villanova and Denver for first place in the Big East.
It’s the second part that’s notable here, as Marquette’s next Big East contest is coming up next Wednesday as Denver comes to the Valley for a midweek matinee. It’s not unreasonable to think that the Big East regular season title will be impacted by that game, especially if the Golden Eagles can find a way to knock off the Pioneers.
But that’s the next game, not the current one. Marquette has to get through Saturday’s game to set up that confrontation with the Pios. Without being particularly mean to anyone involved, but if the Golden Eagles approach Saturday’s game with the tenacity that they attacked Arizona State on Tuesday, I feel pretty good about MU’s chances against Xavier.
A lot of things went against Marquette that game, most notably the Sun Devils’ ability win draws over and and over again. But the Golden Eagles kept working and adjusting and making plays on both ends of the field, and it ended up working out. Took longer than normal, mind you, but a win is a win is a win.
I’m particularly impressed by Marquette’s ability manufacture offense in that ASU game, or at least the ability to go in a direction that they knew was working. Arizona State did a pretty strong job in defending Meg Bireley, holding MU’s all time leading scorer without a shot until the second half and limiting her to just one goal on five shots. And yet: Hanna Bodner, Tess Osburn, CJ Meehan, and Lauren Grady all combined for 15 of Marquette’s 18 goals in the game. Yes, Bodner running wild for eight on nine shots on goal did a lot of heavy lifting there, but the combination of other scorers still worked out for Marquette. Whether that’s because those women jumped into the breach to get it done or because they had more space to score because ASU was getting pulled towards Bireley, that I can’t say for certain.
The important part is that it worked, and that means MU is more than just Meg Bireley averaging nearly four goals per game.
PLEASE NOTE: This game is the back half of a doubleheader with the men’s lacrosse team. They are hosting St. John’s starting at 11am Central. Capacity in the Valley seasonal bubble is limited, as is parking in the Valley. Keep that in mind if you’re planning on coming out for only the women’s game.
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.
Big East Game #2: vs Xavier Musketeers (1-8, 0-1 Big East)
Date: Saturday, March 29, 2025
Time: 2pm Central, or approximately 30 minutes or so after the conclusion of the men’s lacrosse game against St. John’s that starts at 11am.
Streaming: FloSports
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteMLax
Bluesky Updates: @AnonymousEagle
Marquette is 2-0 all time against Xavier. That’s more about the Musketeers starting their program in 2023 than it is about anything else. Both games were lopsided romps for the Golden Eagles, as you might expect against a start up program, including 21-4 in Cincinnati a year ago.
Xavier is…. not good. #113 in the RPI out of 131 Division 1 teams, #123 according to Lacrosse Reference, and that’s with the #127 offense and #92 defense, at least in terms of efficiency. They are getting outshot 33.7 to 24.7 on average, and the average score of their nine games has been Opponents 15.2, Xavier 7.9. That’s even with an eight goal win over Gardner-Webb for their only victory of the year.
South Florida started their program this spring. The Bulls beat Xavier 20-4….. after the Musketeers cut the margin to 7-3 on the first goal of the second quarter.
WITH THAT SAID, Marquette is going to have to find a way to defend Lola Mancuso. She’s averaging better than a hat trick per game with 29 goals in nine contests this season. Mancuso is prone to scoring in bursts with three games of at least five goals this season, but that goes the other way, too: If you stop her, you stop Xavier’s offense, mostly speaking. She had one of their two goals in XU’s 18-2 loss to Denver in the Big East opener, and the Pioneers held her to just four shots. USF limited Mancuso to a goal on five shots while clamping down the Musketeers to just four goals as a team. And so on, and so on. It’s not 100% perfect, as Cincinnati kept Mancuso to two goals on five shots, but still surrendered 11 goals to the Musketeers.
Marquette might end up seeing Jada Brandon in net to start things off on Saturday. Head coach Meg Decker pulled the trigger on a change to Brandon for the Big East opener against Denver after Teegan Lannon had started the first eight games of the year. Brandon had appeared in six of those, so it wasn’t a total shock to the system for the junior from Washington State. It also didn’t go great, as she lasted just 35 minutes and exited after allowing 11 goals and making seven saves. Brandon’s played less than half as many minutes as Lannon this season, but she does have a better save percentage and a better goals-against average.
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