MILWAUKEE, Wis.- UConn women's lacrosse (9-5, 2-2 BIG EAST) saw their three-game winning streak snapped on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Marquette Golden Eagles 16-15 (9-5, 2-2 BIG EAST) at Valley Fields in Milwaukee.
Marquette got on the board first, as Hanna Bodner fired one past the UConn defense four minutes into the contest. The hosts rapidly added to their early lead, as Sarah Beth Burns and Tess Osburn forced UConn into a timeout, with the Golden Eagles going up 3-0. Bodner and Osburn tacked on their second goals, extending the Marquette advantage to 5-0 with two minutes left in the first.
Jenna Giardina (South Salem, N.Y.) got the Huskies on the board with her 17th goal of the season, but Burns responded to give the Golden Eagles a 6-1 lead at the end of the first. Ava Plata (Orchard Park, N.Y.) converted on the free position shot to cut the Husky deficit to 6-2. Meg Bireley scored her team leading 54th goal, and Bodner capped off the hat trick to re-up the Golden Eagle lead to 8-2. Eliza Bowman (Greenwich, Conn.) and Kelsey Neary (Arlington Heights, Ill.) scored in rapid succession to cut into the Golden Eagle lead, as the Huskies cut the deficit to 8-4. After Burns completed the hat trick for the Golden Eagles, Eve McGrogan (Nyack, N.Y.) and Emma Dacey (Hopkinton, Mass.) got on the board to keep the Huskies within striking distance. Rayea Davis (Henrietta, N.Y.) scored her 40th of the season, putting pressure on the hosts and forcing them into a timeout in the second. Burns and Bireley each tallied another goal, with Marquette taking an 11-7 lead into the break.
Dacey scored her second of the afternoon in the third quarter, answering Bireley's third goal of the day as the UConn deficit remained at 4. Megan O'Brien (Morris Plains, N.J.) scored with under three minutes left in the third quarter with the Huskies still behind 13-9. Davis fired one past Marquette in the closing moments of the third to bring the visitors to the fourth only down 13-10.
Giardina and McGrogan scored their second goals of the afternoon, as UConn closed the once large Marquette lead to just one goal at 13-12. The host Golden Eagles answered back, with Bodner's fourth of the day, but O'Brien's second goal of the afternoon kept the deficit at one. Despite the comeback effort, Marquette continued to stave off the Husky comeback, scoring two consecutive goals to get the lead back up to 16-13. UConn would not go quietly, as Dacey and O'Brien completed the hat tricks to again bring the visitors within one with under two minutes to go. However, the Huskies could not find the equalizer, falling to the Golden Eagles, as Marquette snapped UConn's three-game winning streak.
Up Next: UConn returns home next Saturday to face Xavier at 12:00pm at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium.
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