Junior Charlie O’Halloran found the back of the net twice Saturday afternoon at Griffith, but the Panthers assembled a second-half rally to edge Marquette, 5-4.
Senior Vinny Pacheco converted a PK in the 11th minute to begin a cloudburst of scoring in the first half. O’Halloran recorded both his goals less than two minutes apart – beating the Panther keeper in the 15th minute on a feed from sophomore Kieran Larkin, then scoring in the 16th minute thanks to an assist from Augustus Smith.
Larkin tallied his 11th goal of the season via a 35th-minute penalty kick to give Marquette a 4-1 lead heading into the intermission.
Griffith came alive in the second half, however, to erase the three-goal deficit and collect a 5-4 win on its Senior Day.
Marquette (6-9-1) will open sectional play Wednesday evening versus Oregon-Davis in Lakeville. The two sides met this past Monday at the MAC with the Blazers posting a 6-0 shutout. The Blazers and Bobcats are slated to get underway from Newton Park at 8 pm ET/7 pm CT.
Tickets for next week’s LaVille Sectional must be purchased digitally at lavilleathletics.com prior to the match. Fans will not be able to buy tickets at the gate.