JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --- The Jacksonville Dolphins completed a clean sweep of the weekend, downing the Marquette Golden Eagles 15-13 Sunday afternoon at Rock Stadium. This weekend the Dolphins celebrated Lucy Strong, remembering the life and legacy of Lucy Donmoyer and everything she meant to the Dolphins program.

"Our Lucy Strong weekend is an amazing opportunity to remind our players about playing for something bigger than yourself," head coach Tara Singleton said.

The Dolphins were led once again by sophomore Shae Hagans, who led the team with four goals and five total points. 

Hagans got the party started, spinning past a defender in traffic and beating the goalie for her first goal of the day. Marquette would tie the game, and then the Dolphins would rattle off three-straight to take the first real lead of the game.

Senior Olivia Johnson snuck by her defender by the goal line and slipped the ball inside the near post for JU's second of the day. Immediately off the ensuing draw control, senior Ainsley Scruggs found senior Maddi Santini cutting to the goal for her first goal of the season.

Junior Maeve Brennan capped off the run as she slipped off her defender and finished with a twister to put JU up 4-1. 

The tides would shift rapidly from there as the Golden Eagles would take the final five goals of the first quarter and the first tally of the second. In all, the Dolphins went from an early three goal lead to three goal deficit.

Hagans got Jacksonville off the schneid with back-to-back goals. Marquette answered with a goal of its own to keep a two-goal lead, then the momentum swung hard back in favor of the Dolphins.

Junior Jessica Giller cashed in on a free-position shot, then junior Maddie Herman took it herself from the low lefty wing to tie the game at eight. 

Scruggs attacked right down the middle and fired a goal from long range. On a late woman-up opportunity, she patiently passed a defender then shot low and away to put JU up 10-8 heading into the halftime break.

Marquette struck back in the second half, scoring twice to tie the game at 11. Freshman Paige Garguillo put Jacksonville back in front with a goal, then Johnson got her second of the day to give JU breathing room.

Marquette scored again to cut the lead to one, before Hagan turned playmaker, finding Garguillo for a goal with under a minute to play in the third quarter. Hagans scored to open the fourth, deking past a defender by the crease before placing a shot in the top right corner to beat the goalie. Herman followed with her second of the day to put JU up 15-11 late and all but clinch the game. 

The Golden Eagles wouldn't go down without a fight, scoring two goals in the final three minutes to cut the score to two. It wouldn't be enough, though, as the Dolphins clinched their fourth win on the trot.

Game Notes

• This is JU's second 4-0 start to a season. The Dolphins won a program-record six-straight games to open the 2021 season.
• Hagans tallied nine goals and 11 total points across both games this weekend.
• Senior goalie Brookelynn Hodgin has saved at least 53% of shots faced in every appearance this season.
• Senior defender Maggie Cuddy set season highs for caused turnovers (five) and ground balls (three). Five caused turnovers ties a career best.

Head Coach Tara Singleton
On earning the back-to-back wins
"I'm so proud of the battle. It's new for us this year to have to play these games back to back, and much of our schedule is going to look like that. Getting the feel for this right now, understanding how to take care of ourselves in between games, then plan for one team and then quickly plan for another. It was a test, and I'm happy that we passed and came out with a win."

On Hagans
"I'm so proud of her. She has a cannon of a shot, we all know that, and I think she's starting to see that she can still navigate and test the waters a little bit in her dodging presence. It's also pretty special that she wears Number Zero, and that's the number Lucy wore for us. So it's pretty cool to have that connection." 

On Lucy Strong Weekend
"The joy that Lucy brought to us, even through all of her struggles and her battle, never once did she flinch at anything coming her way. Her approach, showing up and giving her all, we talked a lot about that with the team. We knew this was going to be a challenging weekend, and we wanted to approach it with almost a childlike joy and you saw that a lot, especially on our celebrations after goals and things like that. 

We were trying to play a little bit more with that fun spirit. You know, it's a game and at the end of the day it should be fun and I think that we fond a lot of joy in it, and a great way to celebrate somebody who's in the fabric of Jacksonville lacrosse."

Up Next
The Dolphins will hit the road for the first time this season next weekend, making the trip up to Maryland for a pair of marquee games. Jacksonville will battle Towson Saturday at 11 AM before traveling to face No. 10 Navy Tuesday at 2 PM.