Marquette’s opening month — right through a tumultuous week leading up to a 7-5 loss to Cleveland State — was far rockier than the Eagles would have expected in the preseason.

And since then? Marquette has ripped off a three-game winning streak, including a dominant stretch in a 9-8 victory at Georgetown. The Eagles (5-3) scored all six goals in the second quarter and opened a 9-2 lead before holding on for a triumph in their Big East opener.

“We had high expectations internally for our group, and what we’ve seen the past two weeks is we’ve seen glimpses of what we could be,” coach Joe Amplo said. “Especially at Georgetown, there was a good glimpse in the second quarter.”

Amplo is the first to acknowledge Marquette didn’t play to its potential early on. And he remains concerned about a defense giving up 11.5 goals a game while allowing foes to shoot 31.2 percent.

Then there was the matter of suspending 19 players for the March 9 Cleveland State game. Since then, it appears the Eagles have turned the corner.

“I think time will tell,” Amplo said. “We’ve taken some steps in the right direction. When we were forced to make the decision, we did it based on the standards we have in place in here.”

There are some key pieces playing well. Senior midfielder Tanner Thomson has 19 goals and five assists, while senior attackman John Wagner (9 goals, 13 assists) has proved instrumental as both the Eagles’ top feeder and as a leader. Amplo is also pleased with the progress of sophomore goalie John Hulsman, who stopped a season-high 12 shots against Georgetown.

Still, from a faceoff group checking in at 48.8 percent entering Saturday’s game at Villanova to a defense that’s allowed at least 12 goals in five games this season, there’s improvement to be made in the next month.

“They go hand in hand,” Amplo said. “If we can do that, I think we’re going to be playing our best lacrosse at the end.”

Towson’s turnover trouble

Looking for one difference between Towson’s 5-0 start and its three-game slide since? It’s as simple as pointing to giveaways.

The Tigers, who open Colonial Athletic Association play Saturday against Hofstra, have averaged 22.7 turnovers in losses to Cornell, Duke and Denver. And while the level of competition has something to do with Towson’s problems, this is merely an amplification of a problem that was already present. The Tigers averaged 18.2 turnovers during their five-game winning streak.

“We’re pretty sick of the turnovers and those leading to our downfall, especially in the fourth quarter,” coach Shawn Nadelen said. “It’s something we have to continue to focus on and work at, which we’ve done, especially this past week. But we have to figure out a better way to communicate it to our players so we don’t continue to put ourselves in this position.”

Perhaps most vexing to Towson is how close its last two losses were. While it’s hard to imagine how making two or three extra plays would dramatically alter an 18-11 loss to Cornell, the Tigers fell by two to Duke and dropped a 7-6 decision to Denver on Saturday.

“It’s just us not executing,” long stick midfielder Koby Smith said. “We’re making our own mistakes. We’re beating ourselves. That’s just what’s going on.”

Cavaliers’ defensive progress

Virginia is yielding 12.4 goals per game, not exactly the sort of number that will result in the program receiving a plaque at year’s end from the NCAA for leading the country in scoring defense.

Yet as he sized up Saturday’s 16-11 defeat of Johns Hopkins, coach Lars Tiffany couldn’t help but to beam about the Cavaliers’ improvement at an end of the field that’s caused them fits for more than half a decade.

“The real key here, and it doesn’t seem like it statistically, is our team defense,” Tiffany said. “We’ve taken some big steps forward this year. That’s an offense across the way that’s tortured us the last couple seasons and they still scored 11 goals. … But there’s a growing comprehension of the schemes we’re doing and growing comfortability and trusting that the slide will happen when we need to.”

While Virginia yielded five goals to Hopkins freshman Joey Epstein, the Cavaliers limited Kyle Marr to two goals and Cole Williams to two assists. With a seasoned close defense group led by senior Logan Greco --- a starter for nearly his entire career — and sophomore Kyle Kology (a second-year starter), Virginia appears to be more cohesive at that end of the field than it was in early February.

“The body language of our defense when we’re playing defense is very different than it had been in the years past,” Tiffany said. “We talk a lot about our men wanting to be excited to play defense and saying ‘I hope we get to play the next possession on defense,’ and just have that mindset.”

NUMBERS OF NOTE

9

Army has the scored the first goal in each of its nine games this season. The Black Knights (7-2, 3-1 Patriot) will try to run that streak to 10 when they visit Bucknell on Saturday.

9

Consecutive games with double-digit save totals for Loyola goalie Jacob Stover, a streak that stretches back to last year’s NCAA tournament quarterfinals against Yale. Stover has averaged 15 saves in that span, compiling a .608 save percentage in the process.

399

Career coaching victories for Denver’s Bill Tierney, who will go for No. 400 for the second time Saturday when Georgetown visits the Mile High City. The Pioneers (5-3) dropped a 14-13 decision at Princeton on Tuesday.