Marquette Lacrosse

As the season progressed, one of the highlights throughout the first part of the season was looking forward to Marquette’s home weekend, playing in state rivals UW-Milwaukee and UW- Stevens Point. After a number of close and disappointing loses, Marquette looked to build on the success of a well-fought game against Iowa State, coming away with a big victory of 22-3. Hoping to carry that momentum, Marquette used that game as an example of how they could play together and really come out strong and play their game.

After the first conference win Marquette was hungry for more, and took that attitude to the game across town at Shorewood High School against the UW-Milwaukee Panthers on Friday night. The game started out slow, with UWM’s defense making it tough for Marquette to get any real offense going. At the end of the first quarter, the score was tied at 1-1, and neither side seemed like they were going to let up. Marquette owned the second quarter, with tough defense and patient offense that took the score to 7-2. After the halftime, UMW seemed revitalized and held Marquette to no goals, while scoring one, pulling within four with a score of 7-3. But in the end the UWM defense could not hold and Marquette buckled down on defense, not allowing another goal, with a final score of 12-3. Marquette was lead by TJ Gallus, 4g and 2a, and Pat Van Dusen and Brian Hof with three goals each. Also, on his birthday, Jon “Squints” Matthews recorded 1g and 1a.

The next day, Marquette traveled down to their home field at Valley, to take on UW- Stevens Point. Games in the past have been close, but this year Marquette jumped out early, 5-1 in the first quarter, and never looked back posting a score of 11-1 at halftime. The second half was still hard fought, and UWSP did not give up. A highlight of the game was when seniors Peter Hoffman (defense) and Brian Cassidy (Goalie) got a chance to hone their offensive skills and play some attack. Final score was 20-5 and Marquette enjoyed their fans and alumni witnessing their third conference win, putting them over .500 in conference play. Marquette was lead by TJ Gallus with 5g and 4a, and Pat Van Dusen and Brian Hof tallying 6 a piece, with junior Derek Hein contributing 2g. 

Assistant Coach Andy Hunt commented after the Steven’s Point game, “I am extremely proud of how our guys played this weekend. To win three games in a row now is a big testament to their hard work and determination to get better. The upperclassmen, especially our captains, are really setting the tone for our younger guys, and everyone is responding with better performances.

It was also wonderful seeing the number of alumni that came out to support the team this weekend. Their encouragement and support go a long way with our players and coaching staff, and we truly appreciate their presence in our program.”

Head Coach Panch Ojeda added his comments on the weekend. “This past weekend was a tremendous stride forward for the program and the team.  Not only did we put together a three game winning streak, the team is beginning to gel and learning to work together to win games.  The box score shows the goals and assists, but it was the hustle plays, grit, and determination that propelled Marquette to victory.  It should also be noted the team was able to get contributions from numerous different individuals which is a good sign of our team coming together and peaking at the right time.

With that said, the team definitely needs a good week of practice as we prepare for games against Saint Cloud State and University of Minnesota-Duluth.  These games will have playoff seeding implications and Marquette can clinch a playoff spot with a win over Saint Cloud State on Saturday.

Lastly, thank you to our alumni, parents, and fans for attending our games.  We had a large number out at both games and their support is essential for the continued success of our program.”

Marquette travels to Minnesota this weekend to take on Saint Cloud and Minnesota-Duluth in its last conference games of the season.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 at 8:18 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.