Marquette University Athletics
Marquette University
6-4, 2-0BIG EAST
Villanova
5-4, 0-2BIG EAST
Second-Half Surge Propels Marquette Past Villanova
3/24/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
Box Score (html) | Box Score (PDF) 
VILLANOVA, Pa. - A monster second-half and career day by junior Cate Soccodato propelled the Marquette University women's lacrosse team to a 16-12 BIG EAST Conference road victory over Villanova on Saturday.
Trailing 8-7 at the half, the Golden Eagles (6-4, 2-0 BIG EAST) went on a 7-0 scoring run to take a 14-9 advantage and never looked back. During the run, Soccodato notched three of her career-high five goals, while adding one assist.
🔥What a 2nd half for #MUWLax! Check out the highlights below👇.
*Warning* Lots of @catesoc😺 goals and a couple highlight reel defense plays! pic.twitter.com/3Nho0dJSX8- Marquette Lacrosse (@MarquetteWLax) March 24, 2018
Riley Hill led all point-getters with eight, scoring twice and adding six assists in the win. Allison Lane turned in another all-around performance with three goals, an assist, two groundballs, four draw controls and a caused turnover. Her lone assist came on an impressive play in transition.
🚨GOOOOOOOAL! Defense turns into offense as @allisonlane40 creates the turnover and feeds Riley Hill on the breakaway to restore a 4-goal lead!
MU 15, VU 11 (12:12 2nd) pic.twitter.com/pR9FE4jorm- Marquette Lacrosse (@MarquetteWLax) March 24, 2018
Grace Gabriel notched three more goals to get to 39 scores on the season, while also adding a season-high nine draws, a groundball and two caused turnovers. Lindsey Willcocks collected a career-high seven draws as Marquette overtook the top spot in the BIG EAST after out-drawing the previous leader Villanova, 20-10, on the day.
Marquette beat Villanova for the third-straight time in the series despite a season-high 26 turnovers. It marked the team's fourth-straight BIG EAST win dating back to the final two games of the 2017 season and it was their sixth win in the previous eight games overall. The six wins also matches their entire win total from a season ago.
Sophomore goalie Julianna Horning had an impressive homecoming as the Berwyn, Pennsylvania, native made 10 saves, including six stops in the second half.
Gotta give some love to our netminder @jules_horning, who makes a HUGE SAVE on a FP try for Villanova and it leads to @catesoc's FIFTH GOAL of the day! #WOW pic.twitter.com/5QPKtspAfN
- Marquette Lacrosse (@MarquetteWLax) March 24, 2018
Villanova was led by four goals and six points from Ashley Lynch. Katie Comerford added two goals and five points, while Liz Trojan tallied a hat trick as well.
Marquette now sits atop the BIG EAST standings and in a tie with Temple and Florida as the only teams with 2-0 league records. The Golden Eagles return home to face Temple on Saturday, March 31 (2 p.m. CT).
Keep up with the Marquette women's lacrosse program all season long through social media by following on Twitter (@MarquetteWLax) and Instagram (@MarquetteWLax) and `liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteWLax).
