Marquette University Athletics
Lacrosse hosts No. 8 Villanova on Holy Saturday
3/28/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
March 28, 2018
| 2018 Marquette Men's Lacrosse - Game 8 | |
| Marquette (4-3, 1-0) vs. #8 Villanova (7-2) | |
| Date | Saturday, March 31 | 11 a.m. CT |
| Location | Valley Fields | Milwaukee |
| Live Links | Watch Live | |
| Social Media | Twitter  (in-game updates) | Facebook  | Instagram  |
| Materials | Game Notes  | Record Book |
MILWAUKEE - The Marquette University men's lacrosse team welcomes No. 8 Villanova to Valley Fields on Saturday, March 31 at 11 a.m. Central time in search of its second BIG EAST Conference win and third over a ranked opponent in 2018.
The game, originally scheduled on Spectrum Sports Wisconsin, will now be played inside the seasonal dome at Valley Fields and feature a live stream on GoMarquette.com and through the CBS SportsLive application.
MU is teaming up with the Lace Up with LAX organization, in an effort to collect new shoes for homeless youth in the Milwaukee to be donated to the SAFE Haven of Racine Inc. For every pair of shoes donated on Saturday a pair of socks will also be given to the shelter courtesy of Bombas.
Fans are encouraged to bring new pairs of shoes for children, sizes 6-10 for them to be donated to the local area youth shelter - SAFE Haven of Racine Inc. The mission of the national nonprofit organization is to define the legacy of our players off the field by helping end homelessness one step at a time. Since Lace Up With LAX's inception in 2013, over 2000 pairs of NEW shoes have been donated to homeless shelters throughout the United States.
The original project began in 2013 with a single school, Pope High School. Since inception, the Lace Up With LAX model has spread to over 100 teams in high schools, colleges, universities and independent lacrosse programs in the United States, Canada and England mostly by word of mouth or through their website: www.laceupwithlax.org.
The Golden Eagles (4-3, 1-0 BIG EAST) defeated then-No. 16/18 Georgetown, 9-8, in overtime of their league opener on March 24 as junior John Wagner scored four times and senior goalie Cole Blazer made a season-high 15 saves in net. Wagner potted his third game winner of the season just 35 seconds into extra time as MU claimed its fourth one-goal victory in the seven-game history of the series.
Wagner earned BIG EAST Attack Player of the Week and was named to the USILA Team of the Week, while Blazer is the league's top weekly defensive player.
Villanova (7-2) has defeated three of the four ranked teams it has faced this season, including a pair of season opening overtime victories over then-No. 12 Penn State on Feb. 3 and then-No. 5 Yale on Feb. 17. The Wildcats also knocked off then-No. 17 Penn, 8-6, on March 10 before falling to then-No. 2 Maryland, 13-11, on March 17. Most recently, VU defeated Fairfield, 13-12, in overtime on senior Danny Seibel's sixth goal on Saturday afternoon.
BIG EAST Conference Freshman of the Week Keegan Khan also scored six times as Seibel and Khan netted 12 of the 13 goals for the Wildcats. Christian Cuccinello leads VU with 22 goals and 33 total points, while Seibel has scored 22 times this season and Kahn checks in with 15. Despite their 7-2 record and No. 8 ranking, the Wildcats have been in a lot of close games this season, outscoring their opponents by just one goal per contest (11.11 to 10.11), but have won all three overtime contests.
Marquette, which is 14-8 all-time in BIG EAST regular season action, is an even 3-3 against Villanova after losing last year's meeting at Villanova in overtime, 10-9. MU led 7-5 at the half and 9-8 at the end of the third quarter, but was held scoreless over the final 19:57 in the loss. It was the first loss in program history when Marquette entered the fourth quarter with a lead (29-1 at the time; MU is currently 33-2).
Cuccinello scored five times for the Wildcats, who had just six turnovers, in 2017 and Nick Testa made 11 saves. MU won 12-of-21 at the face-off dot and was successful on all but one clear.
Prior to that meeting, Marquette had won three straight meetings in the series, including an 11-3 victory over the then fifth-ranked Wildcats on April 2, 2015 at Valley Fields. That game was the first career start for Blazer, who made 13 saves and was honored as the USILA Defensive Player of the Week for his play in the win.
Following Saturday's game, Marquette hits the road to face St. John's on April 7 in New York before returning to Milwaukee for its final homestand against No. 6/7 Notre Dame and Providence on April 11 and 14, respectively.
WAGNER IS LONE RETURNING STARTER ON OFFENSE
- John Wagner has stepped into a more prominent role as the lone returning starter on offense and is leading the way for the Golden Eagles with 13 goals and five assists in 2018. The St. Davids, Ontario native has three game winners through MU's first seven games, including overtime clinchers against then-No. 4/6 Ohio State on March 2 and then-No. 16/18 Georgetown on March 24. He also scored the winner against Jacksonville in the season opener on Feb. 17 with under 10 seconds remaining.
- Wagner tied for second on the team with 22 goals as a sophomore and posted a combined six goals against Denver last season, including a career-high four in the BIG EAST semis. He also scored a total of five goals at Notre Dame with a hat trick in the 2017 NCAA First Round.
- Wagner experienced an up-and-down freshman season in 2016, playing in all 16 games, but scoring in just two of them. The Canadian carved out a more prominent role on the first line as a sophomore and had an eight-game scoring streak that was snapped against Duke on April 22.
BLAZER SECURES THE CREASE
- Goalie Cole Blazer continued his stellar play in net during his first full campaign as MU's starter in 2017, culminating in BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player honors. The junior made a total of 23 saves in the wins over No. 2 Denver and Providence and contributed to his own cause with a goal as time expired against the Pioneers in the semifinals. He posted a .521 save percentage as a junior with a 9.17 goals against average.
- Blazer earned his first BIG EAST weekly accolade of 2018 on March 26 when he was named the league's defensive player of the week after posting a season-high 15 saves in Marquette's league opening OT win over Georgetown on March 24.
- He was named to the 2018 All-BIG EAST Preseason Team, is a two-time All-BIG EAST Second Team selection and has also been selected to the All-BIG EAST Championship team as MU won titles in 2016 and 2017.
NEW FACES PRODUCE ON OFFENSE
- Entering 2018, the Marquette offense returned just one of its top seven and two of its top 11 scorers from last season and has had to adjust without the services of Tanner Thomson, who is redshirting this season. Junior John Wagner and Jack Zerrillo were the only to players returning with more than two goals to their credit last season and MU has had to try different combinations early this year with varying results.
Eleven players have scored their first career points this season for MU:
Anthony Orsini, Ryan Fazio, Connor McClelland, Griffin Fleming, Keaton Thomson, Luke Vassos, Colin Riehl, Josh Williamson, Ted Goltzman, Tommy von den Benken, Bob Pelton (assist), Colin O'Donnell (assist)
HERSHMAN ON PUERTO RICO NATIONAL TEAM
- Sophomore faceoff specialist Jared Hershman was announced as a member of Puerto Rico's Men's National Team for the 2018 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championships in Netanya, Israel on July 12-21. He is one of 23 members of the active roster, along with nine alternates, and joins University of Tampa's Alex Patton as the lone face-off specialists. Puerto Rico gained membership to the FIL a little over a year ago and whittled its first-ever team from 80 eligible players following player assessment camps, tournament play and a two-day tryout.
- Hershman appeared in five games for the Golden Eagles during his freshman season at the face-off position, going 3-for-11 including two faceoff wins against No. 20 Ohio State. In the absence of Zachary Melillo due to injury this season, Hershman has done a respectable job in his place, including an 11-of-20 performance in the 2018 BIG?EAST?opener against Georgetown on March 24.
MARQUETTE CLAIMS FOURTH TOP-FIVE WIN OVER OHIO STATE
- The Golden Eagles picked up their first win over a ranked opponent this season against then-No. 4/6 Ohio State on March 2 in the Midwest Lacrosse Classic in Pontiac, Michigan. The 8-7 overtime victory pushed MU's record to 4-9 all-time against top-five teams in the USILA Coaches' Poll, 18-6 in one-goal games and 33-1 when entering the fourth quarter with the lead (Marquette has since lost to Bellarmine in OT after entering the fourth with the advantage). In addition to the win over the Buckeyes, MU owns top-five wins over Villanova (No. 5) and Denver (No. 1) in 2016, as well as Denver (No. 2) in last year's BIG EAST tournament.
ORSINI TIES MU FRESHMAN RECORD
- Freshman attackman Anthony Orsini tied a Marquette freshman record with four goals in MU's 13-6 win at Detroit Mercy on Feb. 24 and was named the BIG EAST Conference Freshman of the Week on Monday afternoon. His mark tied him with Conor Gately, who posted four on April 13, 2013 against High Point.
- Orsini also added an assist for five points, the second highest point total for an MU freshman. That mark is second only to Gately's seven points at Mercer on March 12, 2013.
MU CLAIMED SECOND STRAIGHT BIG EAST TITLE IN 2017
- Marquette won its second BIG EAST Conference tournament crown in 2017 with a 10-9 victory over Providence, following an 11-8 semifinal win over No. 2 Denver. Goalie Cole Blazer was named the championship's most outstanding player after making 23 saves in the two games, while then seniors Grant Preisler, Nick Eufrasio and Joe Dunn joined Blazer on the all-tournament squad. The Golden Eagles entered the weekend as the league's No. 4 seed and picked off the top-ranked Pioneers and third-seeded Friars to claim the league's automatic NCAA bid for the second consecutive year. Preisler posted a team-best seven points over the course of the tournament, while then-sophomore John Wagner played a big part in the semifinal win over Denver with a game-best four goals. It was the first time the four seed had claimed the tournament title.
TWO FORMER WISCONSIN HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS ON MU ROSTER
- For the first time Marquette has a pair of players on its roster who played lacrosse in the state of Wisconsin in Jordan Schmid (Waukesha, Wis./Kettle Moraine H.S.) and Moey Lardy (Cedarburg, Wis./Cedarburg). Schmid, who will redshirt the 2018 season after suffering a knee injury in the fall, helped Kettle Moraine to a pair of state titles as junior and senior, and posted 120 goals and 232 points in 71 games over his final three seasons. Lardy, whose parents now live in California, spent his first two years of high school in Cedarburg, Wisconsin and played with the Amplify Lacrosse Club. Lardy became the first Wisconsin high school player to play for Marquette when he made his NCAA debut on Feb. 24 against Detroit - the only other player from the state to ever appear on the MU roster was Ryan Condon (Wausau, Wis.) in 2013, who never played for the Golden Eagles.
NEW SEASONAL DOME AT VALLEY FIELDS; AHPRC BROKE GROUND ON MARCH 6
- Marquette's seasonal dome over the FieldTurf Revolution 360 surface at Valley Fields provides a climate-controlled practice and game facility for the Golden Eagles during the winter months. The Golden Eagles played all their home games at Valley Fields for the first time in 2016, after making the move in towards campus from Hart Park in Wauwatosa, where they had played during their first three seasons.
- MU officially broke ground for its new Athletic and Human Performance Research Center at a ceremony Tuesday, March 6. The $24 million, 46,000-square-foot AHPRC will be built in phases under a long-term master plan. The first phase will include:
- Space for faculty researchers who work in a wide variety of academic fields.
- Locker rooms and support space for the lacrosse programs and golf team.
- Additional strength and conditioning spaces for the athletic department and a centralized core of laboratories for conducting human performance research.
