Youngstown, Ohio – The Youngstown State women's lacrosse team dropped a 19-9 contest to Marquette at Farmers National Bank Field on a very sunny Friday afternoon in Youngstown.
Claire Baenziger continued her strong offensive stretch as she netted a career-high five goals for the 'Guins. This marked her second hat trick of the season. Ally Garrett tied a season-high with two goals, while Ava Kreuzter and Mia Yuris also added a goal for YSU.
Mary Gasper notched the first two assists of her collegiate career, while Alexis Kruetzer and Molly Brooks also set up YSU goals.
Mackenzie Flannigan tied a career-high with six ground ball recoveries for the 'Guins while also tying a season-high with three caused turnovers to lead the Penguins defensively. Skylar Pigrom and Kendyll Jerry also caused two turnovers each.
Both Brooke Harper and Alyssa Edwards saw time in the cage, with Edwards playing 52:24 and securing six saves.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a quick advantage, scoring the game's first three goals within the opening four minutes. Ally Garrett got the 'Guins on the board off a feed from Mary Gasper to make the score 3-1 with 10:25 remaining in the first quarter. Marquette would add four more goals to push its lead to 7-1 at the 5:13 mark of the opening quarter before Claire Baenziger would score two goals in a span of 48 seconds to bring the deficit down to 7-3 at the 3:20 mark. The Golden Eagles would add one more goal with a player-up advantage to take an 8-3 lead into the second frame.
After a Marquette goal to begin the second quarter, Ally Garrett netted her second goal of the afternoon, also assisted by Gasper, to cut the lead to 9-4 with 10:55 left in the quarter, marking the closest that the Penguins would be for the remainder of the game.
Marquette would add three goals before halftime and follow up with two more goals to begin the third quarter to push the lead to 14-4 with 12:23 remaining in the third quarter, before Baenziger added her third goal of the day, and Alexis Kreutzer set up her sister Ava for another goal at the 7:29 mark, cutting the lead back down to eight. That goal marked the first goal-assist connection from the Kreutzer sisters, as well as the first case in program history where siblings have connected for a goal in the stat sheet.
Marquette would add two more goals to end the third quarter and another to begin the fourth, before Baenziger scored her fourth goal of the day to make the score 17-7 at the 9:53 mark of the fourth quarter. After two more MU goals, YSU would net a pair of goals in the final 90 seconds, the first coming from Baenziger with 1:15 left, and the final from Mia Yuris with 17 seconds remaining, as the Golden Eagles would win, 19-9.
Marquette outshot the Penguins on the afternoon, 31-16, including a 19-7 advantage in the first half. MU would also control the overall ground ball recoveries, 25-20.
The Penguins will be back in action next Saturday, Mar. 14, when they begin Mid-American Conference play against the UMass Minutewomen at Farmers National Bank Field. The opening draw is scheduled for noon.
For news and updates throughout the 2026 women's lacrosse season, follow @YSUwlax on X.
