Northwestern lacrosse crushes Marquette 20-9

Northwestern lacrosse (5-2) trounced Marquette (4-4) 20-9 in a stellar display of offensive firepower and defensive organization on Saturday afternoon. Playing at home from the fifth game in a row, Northwestern did not trail in the game and completely overwhelmed Marquette.

The game got off to a good start with two quick Northwestern goals before the six-minute mark. Marquette managed to claw back two more goals after a few sloppy possessions from Northwestern, but that was just about the last time Northwestern failed to execute offensively in the first half. Northwestern scored seven unanswered goals from five different players, all within a tidy 5:30 span.

That barrage put Northwestern up 9-2 and left Marquette playing catch-up for the remainder of the contest. Although Marquette managed to score three goals to make it 9-5, Northwestern still went into halftime up 13-6. The second half was a total rout. Northwestern went deep into its bench as the game fell out of reach for Marquette and the Wildcats eventually hit the 20-goal mark for the second time this season.

First-year Taylor Pinzone led Northwestern with 3 goals, putting her at an impressive 7 goals on the season. Senior Shelby Fredericks stuffed the stat sheet with 11 draw control wins, 4 assists and 2 goals. Northwestern had just four turnovers in the second half and played a clean game overall. Northwestern ended last week at No. 12 in the nation, but the win over Marquette probably won’t move the Wildcats up in the polls just yet.

However, the resounding win will be a big confidence boost heading into Northwestern’s next game against No. 6 North Carolina at Martin Stadium on March 17 at 12 p.m. If you can’t make it, it will also be on BTN2GO.