ELLA FREAKING MAUTZ WINS IT FOR MARQUETTE

yeah, when you score the winner with less than three minutes left, you get the picture, Ella Mautz | Credit: Marquette University For the first time all season — there have only been four previous home games, part of this is not my fault — I was actually available to make my way down to Valley Fields to see Marquette women’s lacrosse in action on Monday afternoon. Out of the gate, this seemed like a great choice as Marquette scored four goals in the first seven minutes to jump out to a 4-0 lead. After that, the two teams traded goals for the rest of the first half, and as someone cheering for the team that was up 4-0 to start with, I was pretty okay with seeing the Golden Eagles up 8-4 at intermission.

It’s important to note two things here. The first is that Marquette should have been up 5-1 at the end of the first quarter because Ella Mautz scored a goal but had it waved off on a post-goal stick check and she was determined to have an illegal stick string situation. Just repeating it for you: Ella Mautz had a goal taken away.

The second is that MU goalie Jillian Howell had not one but two goals in the second quarter hit her stick as she made a save on them, then backspin up into the air over her shoulder and into the net. Thus: You could make an argument that physics was responsible for the 8-4 margin at the break instead of Marquette leading 8-2 if the spin didn’t happen. Just noting it.

The third quarter started off a lot like the first quarter as Dani Serrano scored what was essentially a second consecutive goal as she had the last goal of the second quarter and the first goal of the third. That triggered a 4-1 Marquette run in the period that was technically 5-1 going back to Serrano’s goal with less than 30 seconds to go before the half. When Serrano — yes, again — scored with 7:35 to go, Marquette was up 12-5 and seemingly in full control of this game.