Marquette’s 7-6 quadruple-overtime victory at Providence didn’t take forever. It just felt that way.
The Golden Eagles won it on redshirt-freshman Devon Cowan’s goal with three seconds left in the fourth extra session. At 75 minutes, 57 seconds, it was the longest Division I game since Princeton edged Yale 10-9 in five overtimes on March 24, 2012.
“I’m young, but I think it took years off my life,” Marquette coach Andrew Stimmel said. “I thought our staff did a great job of staying calm on the outside, but I looked down at my watch and my heart rate was in the 140s and 150s. There were some nerves there, for sure. It almost felt like we like we played another game. I know it wasn’t that in minutes, but we were honestly lucky to make our flight after the game.”
It was the second overtime victory in four days for Marquette (3-7, 2-6 Big East), which remains in contention for a conference tournament bid with two games to go. It was also a payoff for a team that has played well in spurts against good teams but struggled to break through until this past week.
Stimmel is in his second season in charge in Milwaukee, but with 2020’s pandemic halt coupled with a youthful roster, there have been times it’s seemed like a program still in its first year under a new coach.
The season started in somewhat promising fashion — a 10-9 loss to Denver — but that was also the start of a five-game skid. The Golden Eagles were tied at halftime at Georgetown on March 6, but the Hoyas scored nine times in the third quarter to roll 20-13.
Marquette can also say it limited Notre Dame’s potent offense to just a goal in the second half last month. The problem? The Irish only let up three goals all day and had things in hand by halftime on the way to a 10-3 rout.
“It was like we were piece-mealing games against these really, really good teams, and it’s just a great learning lesson that you can’t do that,” Stimmel said. “You have to play a full 60 minutes against elite programs. As much as it didn’t look like we were playing our best, we still were taking a lot of good stuff from those games and teaching these young guys that it’s got to be an ability to stop runs and keep yourself in those contests against those great teams.”
Cowan, who has a team-high 25 goals to go with eight assists, has emerged as a long-term centerpiece. But the defense has improved considerably since the early stages of the season. Redshirt-freshman Sean Richard tied a program with 18 saves Saturday, and redshirt-freshman Mason Woodward is an emerging talent at close defense who has collected 47 ground balls, the most of any non-faceoff man in the Big East.
“Our defense played a heck of a game,” Stimmel said. “They’re a group that’s really come along nicely these last handful of games. They deserve a ton of credit. … They were the reason we were in that position.”
Marquette closes the regular season at Villanova on Saturday and at St. John’s in another makeup game April 30. The Golden Eagles needed just one overtime to beat St. John’s 9-8 last week, and played Villanova tight earlier this season in Milwaukee.
Those close games have been typical throughout Marquette’s history as a program, and Stimmel joked this week he might need to rethink leaning on one of his favorite scrimmage plans in practice: Starting with a faceoff and declaring the team that scores first the winner. It’s something the Golden Eagles now have some experience with in games, too.
“I had to remind the guys after the game that it’s OK to win by more than one goal,” Stimmel said. “Maybe it’s my fault doing that pretty consistently in practice. I feel like I’ve been apologizing to everybody for the heart attacks we’ve provided people over the last couple games, but a win’s a win and we will absolutely take it.”
NUMBERS OF NOTE
3
Manhattan defeated Siena 13-12 on Saturday in its third double-overtime game in four weeks. The Jaspers, who earlier edged Monmouth in two overtimes and fell at Quinnipiac in two extra periods, are the first Division I team to play three double-overtime games in a season since 2012. Bryant, Hofstra and Yale each played three games that went at least two overtimes that year.
36
Maryland goalie Logan McNaney’s goal in Sunday’s 18-8 rout of Ohio State is believed to be the first by a Terrapin netminder in 36 years. Jim Beardmore charged downfield and scored on May 4, 1985, against UMBC, which the school believes was the last goal by a goalie prior to McNaney’s 60-yard bouncer to beat the Buckeyes’ 10-man ride.
72
Both midfielder Dox Aitken and long pole Jared Connors have played in 72 career games, a Virginia record. Both Aitken and Connors passed Bray Malphrus (2008-11) for the most in Cavalier history during Saturday’s 18-11 defeat of Utah.
116
Lehigh coach Kevin Cassese earned his 116th victory on Sunday, setting the program record. The 14-11 defeat of Lafayette sent Cassese past John McCloskey for sole possession of first place on the Mountain Hawks’ all-time wins list.