MLAX heads to Jacksonville for Friday night game

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's lacrosse team hits the road for its first regular season contest outside Milwaukee when the squad faces Jacksonville on Friday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. Central time.

The matchup against the Dolphins at D.B. Milne Field will air live on ESPN+ following a Jacksonville women's game, which is slated to begin at 2 p.m. CT.

The Golden Eagles will return to Milwaukee after the game to close out the month of February against Detroit Mercy on Feb. 23 at Valley Fields.

GAME DETAILS
rv/rv Marquette (1-0) vs. Jacksonville (0-2)
D.B. Milne Field (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Friday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. CT
ESPN+

LIVE COVERAGE
VIDEO | STATS | GAME NOTES (PDF) | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM

MARQUETTE (1-0): The Golden Eagles kicked off the 2019 campaign with a 15-9 victory over Bellarmine on Saturday, Feb. 9. Eleven different players scored for MU, which tied a program record with 25 points in the victory, and All-BIG EAST Preseason Team selection Noah Richard posted a goal and assist on his way to BIG EAST Midfielder of the Week honors. Head coach Joe Amplo used all four goalies and three face-off specialists at his disposal, while goalie John Hulsman and FOGO Jared Hershman earned starts and saw most of the action.

JACKSONVILLE (0-2): The Dolphins have dropped each of their first two games this season, including a narrow 9-8 decision to Detroit Mercy on Feb. 2 in their season opener. JU also fell to No. 2 Duke, 15-8, on Feb. 9 at home. Bo BowHunter leads Jacksonville with five points on four goals and an assist, while Even Tyler has also scored four times.

KEY STORYLINES:

The Golden Eagles are 3-2 all-time against JU and have won each of the last three meetings.
Jacksonville head coach John Galloway played goalie for the Team USA squad Joe Amplo coached to a gold medal at the FIL World Championships last summer in Israel.
John Wagner's goal with seven seconds remaining lifted MU past Jacksonville in the 2018 season opener at Valley Fields, 11-10, last Feb. 17.
In the previous meeting in Jacksonville in 2017, MU set a program record with 17 goals in a 17-1 triumph.
MU's Connor McClelland scored a career-high four goals in the 2018 season opener against Jacksonville with Wagner adding a hat trick.
New for 2019, the NCAA has instituted the use of an 80-second shot clock upon player possession. That change may lead to a significant rise in offensive production this season. In addition to a program-best 25 points against Bellarmine, MU notched its second-most shots ever (47).
Tanner Thomson returned from a redshirt season to start on attack in the season opener. He scored twice in nine shot attempts.
Nine Golden Eagles made their NCAA debuts against Bellarmine, with Holden Patterson and Logan Kreinz each posting goals.

SERIES HISTORY: Marquette leads 3-2
Tied 2-2 in Jacksonville
3/9/13 A             L, 13-9
3/8/14                  A             L, 9-8
3/6/15                  A             W, 12-10
2/18/17                A             W, 17-1
2/17/18                H             W, 11-10

RICHARD THE BIG EAST'S TOP LSM

Senior Noah Richard was selected unanimously as the BIG EAST's top long-stick midfielder in 2018 and earned unanimous recognition on this year's All-BIG EAST Preseason Team. Richard tied for the team lead with 48 ground balls, marking the highest ground ball total in the BIG EAST for non-faceoff specialists. He averaged 5.7 ground balls per contest in the six games after returning from an early season injury last year, an absence in the lineup that coincided with a three-game losing skid for MU. Richard sits fifth in program history in career ground balls and sixth in caused turnovers.
Richard earned his first career BIG EAST Midfielder of the Week honor on Feb. 11 following MU's season opening win over Bellarmine. He scored and posted an assist against the Knights, while also picking up a ground ball.

FORMER WISCONSIN HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS NOW DOT THE ROSTER

Four Golden Eagles played at least part of their high school careers in the state of Wisconsin and three of those are expected to see significant action in 2019. Moey Lardy became the first Wisconsin high school player to play for MU when he made his NCAA debut last season at Detroit. Lardy, whose parents now live in California, spent his first two years of high school at Cedarburg.
Logan Kreinz became the first former Wisconsin high school player to score a goal for the Golden Eagles in the third quarter of the season opener against Bellarmine. Lardy, Schmid and Arnett also played with the latter two making their NCAA debuts.
Former Wisconsin High School Players on MU:
- Quintin Arnett (Waukesha, Wis./Arrowhead H.S.)
- Logan Kreinz (Delafield, Wis./Kettle Moraine H.S./Portsmouth Abbey (R.I.)
- Moey Lardy (Cedarburg, Wis./Cedarburg H.S./Trinity-Pawling (N.Y.))
- Jordan Schmid (Waukesha, Wis./Kettle Moraine H.S.)

FOGO AND GOAL QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Marquette entered the 2019 season with a couple of glaring holes due to graduation losses of three-year starters and All-BIG EAST performers in goalie Cole Blazer and face-off specialists Zachary Melillo. The Golden Eagles appear to have found a workable solution judging by the season opener against Bellarmine:
- All four MU goalies played in the season opener, but sophomore John Hulsman started and played 37 minutes in net. Hulsman, who finished 2018 fourth in NCAA Division I in save percentage at Bellarmine, made six saves and allowed five goals.
- Jared Hershman started at the face-off dot against Bellarmine for MU and won 11-of-16 draws. Freshman Thomas Washington made his NCAA debut against BU and won all but one faceoff he took (8-of-9). Both players also had six ground balls.

DEL DUCA, RICHARD AND WAGNER ARE CAPTAINS FOR 2019

Seniors Matt Del Duca, Noah Richard and John Wagner were selected as team captains for the 2019 campaign. Richard and Wagner also served as team captains last season, while Del Duca is a first-time captain.
Past Team Captains
2019: Matt Del Duca, Noah Richard, John Wagner
2018: Cole Blazer, Colin Riehl, Noah Richard, John Wagner
2017: Andy DeMichiei, Joe Dunn, Nicholas Eufrasio
2016: Matt Barone, Liam Byrnes Conor Gately, B.J. Grill, Henry Nelson, Jacob Richard, Kyle Whitlow
2015: Liam Byrnes, B.J. Grill, K.C. Kennedy, Jacob Richard, Travis Schelhorn, Kyle Whitlow
2014: Andrew Smistad
2013: Ben Dvorak, Matt Melnyk, Andrew Smistad

GOLDEN EAGLES PICKED SECOND IN BIG EAST PRESEASON POLL

The projected finish of second is the highest preseason mark for the two-time conference tournament champions since they joined the league for the 2014 campaign. Marquette earned 18 points in the poll, ahead of Georgetown (17) and Villanova (15). Denver was selected as the unanimous preseason favorite.
Marquette's BIG EAST Preseason Projections (actual finish)
2019: Second
2018: Fourth (T-Second)
2017: Third (Fourth)
2016: Third (Second)
2015: Fourth (Third)
2014: Seventh (Second)

WAGNER, RICHARD AND GRILL ON ALL-BIG EAST PRESEASON TEAM

John Wagner, Noah Richard and Nick Grill each earned mention on the league's all-preseason team, marking the fourth time MU has had at least three preseason individual honorees. Both Wagner and Richard are unanimous selections as an attackman and long-stick midfielder, respectively.
Marquette's BIG EAST All-Preseason Team Selections
2019 (3): Nick Grill, Noah Richard, John Wagner
2018 (3): Cole Blazer, Nick Grill, Zachary Melillo
2017 (1): Ryan McNamara
2016 (4): Liam Byrnes, B.J. Grill, Conor Gately, Kyle Whitlow
2015 (3): B.J. Grill, Liam Byrnes, Kyle Whitlow
2014 (0): None

APRIL 26 DENVER SENIOR NIGHT GAME FEATURED ON FS1

The Friday, April 26 showdown with league favorite Denver at Valley Fields is scheduled for an 8 p.m. Central time faceoff on FS1. Marquette's BIG EAST opener at Georgetown will also air live on the BIG EAST Digital Network through FOX Sports Go. The remainder of MU's home contests this season can be viewed at GoMarquette.com/watch.

WAGNER'S GOAL SCORING MATCHED BY ACADEMIC PROWESS

All-America candidate John Wagner has proven to be one of the most accomplished goal scorers in Marquette history, becoming just the fourth player to reach 30 goals in a single season last year. But his work in the classroom may be more impressive. The St. Davids, Ontario native is the reigning BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award winner for men's lacrosse and the first junior to win the award since 2010. He carries a 3.87 grade-point average in finance and private equity banking and is a member of Marquette's prestigious Applied Investment Management (AIM) Program. To participate in the program, Wagner was chosen by a panel of professionals to collectively manage over $2 million o MU's endowment across equity and fixed income securities.
He is a three-time member of the BIG EAST's All-Academic Team as well as a College of Business Dean's List and Athletic Director's Honor Roll designee. John has had the top GPA on the MU men's lacrosse roster for three semesters and is a national member of the Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society.

SIBLINGS AND LEGACIES LINE THE MARQUETTE ROSTER

A constant with the Marquette roster since the first season in 2013 has been the presence of siblings and MU legacies. This season is no different, although the Thomson brothers (Keaton and Tanner) are the lone siblings currently on the roster. Several other individuals have brothers who played for the Golden Eagles in past seasons.
They Include: Keaton and Tanner Thomson, Aaron Joseph (Noah, '17), Nick Grill (B.J., '15), Griffin Fleming (Blaine '16), Noah Richard (Jacob '16), Zach Granger (Ryan, '20).

TANNER THOMSON RETURNS FROM REDSHIRT

Fifth-year senior Tanner Thomson sat out the 2018 campaign and will see the field on attack for the first time since an All-BIG EAST Second Team year in 2017. Thomson was MU's returning scoring leader entering last season with 39 goals and 55 points in 38 career games. He tallied 20 goals and added 14 assists as a junior in 2017 and was an All-BIG EAST Championship Team selection in 2016. Thomson is also a top prospect for the National Lacrosse League.

NEW LACROSSE BUILDING SET TO OPEN

The new home of Marquette lacrosse, the Athletic and Human Performance Research Center on N. 12th and W. Wells streets is set to open in February. 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.

'ROMO' RETURNS TO MARQUETTE

After redshirting his freshman season at MU in 2015 before spending the last three years at Delaware, midfielder Andrew Romagnoli rejoined the Golden Eagles this past summer as a graduate transfer. Romagnoli posted 91 points on 60 goals and 31 assists in 34 career games with the Blue Hens in just over two seasons of competition. He scored 21 goals as a redshirt freshman in 2016 and set a single-game career-high with six goals against VMI while earning CAA All-Freshman Team honors. Romagnoli followed that up with a 34-goal, 53-point campaign in 2017 and posted seven points in five games as a redshirt junior last season. The 5-foot-11 attackman finished the 2017 season second in the CAA with 3.53 points per game and recorded seven hat tricks that year.
Four and a half years after first stepping foot on the MU campus, Romagnoli scored his first goal in a Marquette uniform in the season opener against Bellarmine. His goal was the first of the game for the Golden Eagles, who went on to a 15-9 victory.

AMPLO WINS GOLD AT FIL WORLDS; HERSHMAN PLAYED FOR PUERTO RICO

Head coach Joe Amplo, serving as an assistant coach for Team USA, helped the Americans capture a gold medal at the 2018 FIL World Championships in Israel. Junior face-off specialist Jared Hershman also competed in the tournament with Puerto Rico, winning 67 percent of his draws (89-of-132).
Amplo was also selected to return to the U.S. coaching staff for the 2022 championship in Coquitlam, British Columbia.