Golden Eagles can’t break past Pioneers’ defense in 20-6 loss

45 mph wind gusts in Denver, Colorado wouldn’t be the only thing troubling the Marquette women’s lacrosse team (5-9) Saturday.

The Denver Pioneers’ appropriately named “hot pink defense” also caused some problems for the Golden Eagles, stopping seemingly every one of their tries at a goal.

Marquette would only end up scoring twice outside of the 2nd period, ending the day with three unique scorers and a 20-6 loss.

A one-side shoot out

For the first 14 minutes and 46 seconds of the game, the only players showing up in the scoring column were repping white and red.

Before Marquette could say score, it was 5-0, Denver had five caused turnovers and Golden Eagles goalie Brynna Nixon hadn’t made a save yet.

Senior midfielder Leigh Steiner took the game into her own hands with 14 seconds left in the first when she broke left of the net and completed a signature high shot over two defenders.

Leigh with the left!#WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/jCsu4WgSYQ

— Marquette Women’s Lacrosse (@MarquetteWLax) April 6, 2024

Even though it was cloudy in the mile-high city, Steiner’s goal shone a ray of hope on Marquette.

Marquette makes noise but can’t sustain it

With 11:48 left in the half and the score sitting at 7-1 Denver, Steiner connected on a similar shot to her first, but further out.

Leigh with her second!#WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/dKcgYMgqam

— Marquette Women’s Lacrosse (@MarquetteWLax) April 6, 2024

Marquette would shoot extremely efficiently for the second quarter. The Pioneers would only shoot 6-for-14, with the help of three Nixon saves, while the Golden Eagles made it 4-for-6 with two goals from both junior attacker Meg Bireley and Steiner.

With Bireley’s two goals, she’s now only six away from breaking a program single-season scoring record.

With 2:39 left to play in the half, Denver’s Olivia Penoyer would whip a free position shot into the top-right-corner of the net. It would go directly over Nixon’s shoulder making it 10-5 in favor of the Pioneers.

That noise of the ball stinging the back of the net would silence Marquette for 10 minutes in which Denver’s lead would go up to 13 goals.

First-year attacker CJ Meehan would break that silence, but she would be the final scorer for the Golden Eagles.

Hometown kid scores! 💥

CJ off the free position. pic.twitter.com/lIkBnkLmRC

— Marquette Women’s Lacrosse (@MarquetteWLax) April 6, 2024

In the entirety of the second half, Marquette would only put up three shots while Denver tallied 16.

Audrey Brett gets injured

With about five minutes left in the first, senior defender Audrey Brett went down from a hit near the goal. She took a while to get up and was helped off the field by Nixon and one of Marquette’s coaches.

Brett would come back to the bench when the game was almost over, but she was aided by crutches and a giant sleave over her left leg.

Her availability is unknown at this time.

Up next

Marquette will travel back home to Valley Fields to play Georgetown on Saturday, April 13 at 11 a.m. CST.

This article was written by Ben Hanson. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @benhansonMU.