At times, it was unclear which of the teams was sat second in the league and in last place. The first quarter was not pretty. But then Marquette flipped the switch.
The Golden Eagles (10-1, 1-0 Big East) used a strong second quarter performance to mount their come from behind 14-12 road victory over the Georgetown Hoyas (5-7, 0-1) Saturday afternoon in their conference opener.
Statistical leaders
Sophomore attacker Meg Bireley led Marquette with a career-high six goals. Senior midfielder Lydia Foust tacked on four goals and one assist while senior defender Ellie Henry grabbed eight of the 17 draw controls for the Golden Eagles.
For Georgetown junior attack Kylie Hazen led with four goals and one assist. Sophomore attacker Emma Gebhardt added three goals and two assists.
Scoring runs
The game started with a goal from Gebhardt and then an answer from Bireley.
But from there, it was all Georgetown in the first quarter. The Hoyas went on a 5-0 run throughout the first period to go up, 6-1.
Trailing five at the start of the second quarter, Foust quickly found the back of the net 40 seconds into the frame to cut it four.
Foust’s goal sparked five unanswered goals for the Golden Eagles throughout the remainder of the period. Though Marquette tied it at 6-6, it went into halftime trailing 7-6 after Hazen scored to put the Hoyas up in the final minute of the half.
Running away with the lead
After another goal from Bireley to open the second half, Marquette went on another extended scoring run to take its first lead of the contest.
The Golden Eagles scored five more unanswered goals through the third to extend the lead to 11-7 before the Hoyas scored their only goal of the quarter at the 4:54 mark from Hazen.
Both teams scored at the start of the fourth before the game went into a 30 minute weather delay.
Back and fourth finish
Following the delay, both sides went head-to-head across the final 12 minutes.
Junior Tatus Geist brought the Hoyas within two at 13-11 at the 4:17 mark with his ninth goal of the season. Foust quickly responded with a goal to put the Golden Eagles back up by three.
But the Hoyas did not go down with a fight. Gebhardt put one Marquette sophomore goalkeeper Brynna Nixon to bring it within two again but the Golden Eagles defense locked in over the final two minutes to hold onto the road victory.
Up Next
The Golden Eagles will be back in action Tuesday when they play host to Ohio State at 12 p.m. CST at Valley Fields.
This article was written by Emma Kroll. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @emma_kroll_.
