Marquette Opens 2019 Season Against Notre Dame, Louisville

Friday, February 8

Milwaukee, Wis.

2:00 p.m.

Marquette University

Notre Dame

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Marquette Opens 2019 Season Against Notre Dame, Louisville

2/6/2019 11:41:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

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Women's lacrosse starts its seventh season of action on Friday

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women's lacrosse team opens its seventh season of action with a double-header at Valley Fields against Notre Dame on Friday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. Central time, followed by Louisville on Sunday, Feb. 10 at Noon CT.

Both games will feature live video at GoMarquette.com/watch, as well as live statistics. Tickets are available online at GoMarquette.com or at the facility for $5 ($3 youth 12-and-under), with capacity limited to 500.

On Friday, children eighth grade and under wearing their youth lacrosse jerseys get free admission while the first 100 Marquette students will receive Jimmy John's gift cards. Sunday's promo includes t-shirts for the first 200 fans while all U.S. Lacrosse members eighth grade and under get free admission with proof of membership.

THE OPPONENTS
NOTRE DAME (0-0, 0-0 ACC): Marquette and the Fighting Irish have met six times previously, with the Irish taking each contest. Most recently, the Golden Eagles fell 15-10 at Notre Dame on Feb. 28, 2018.

Notre Dame finished 2018 with a 10-9 mark, including a runner-up finish in the ACC Championship. The Fighting Irish have also logged NCAA tournament appearances in six of the last seven seasons.

Senior Nikki Ortega is one of the team's top returners after tallying 41 points, 21 goals and 20 assists last season.

LOUISVILLE (0-0, 0-0 ACC): The Golden Eagles finish out the season-opening two-game home stand against Louisville on Sunday with first draw set for Noon CT. The Cardinals open up their season on Friday, Feb. 8 at Northwestern.

Louisville finished 2018 with a 6-11 mark after going winless (0-8) in conference play. Marquette and the Cardinals last met on Feb. 11, 2018 and the Golden Eagles fell 16-8 in Louisville.

Caroline Blalock led Louisville last season after accumulating a team-high 55 points and 43 goals during her freshman campaign.

THE SEASON
Following the opening weekend, Marquette travels to Cincinnati for its first road game of the season on Feb. 15, followed by a home contest against Detroit Mercy on Feb. 17.

Then, the team embarks on a seven-game road swing spanning nearly a month beginning on Feb. 23.

Marquette begins at Kennesaw State before traveling to Ohio State to open up the month of March. The Golden Eagles then travel south to High Point and Stetson before a pair of games in New York against Canisius and Niagara over Marquette's spring break. The team rounds out the road trip back in the Midwest at Central Michigan on March 21.

The Golden Eagles close out nonconference action on March 23 against Northwestern.

"We have a lot of travel and a lot of quick turnarounds and a lot of tough competition," head coach Meredith Black said. "We have more games to play out of conference. … It's going to be a really tough out of conference schedule, but hopefully that can prepare us for conference."

The BIG EAST season begins on March 30 with a home contest against Villanova before welcoming Butler to Milwaukee on April 6. Marquette takes a road trip to Old Dominion and Denver from April 13-19 before one final regular season matchup against Georgetown on April 27 in the program's annual Pancreatic Cancer (Pan Can) Awareness game.

For the first time, Marquette will host the BIG EAST Women's Lacrosse Championship from May 2-4 at Valley Fields.

THE ROSTER
Marquette returns 24 letter winners from last season – 10 sophomores, eight seniors, five juniors and one graduate student – and welcomes in 11 freshmen. The Golden Eagles also return eight starters from 2018, highlighted by senior Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, Grace Gabriel.

Gabriel totaled 67 points, including 56 goals, over Marquette's 18-game slate. She won 107 draw controls and caused 31 turnovers for the Golden Eagles, setting single-season program records in each of those four categories. The Lancaster, New York native is Marquette's all-time leader in goals (116), draw controls (213) and shots (287).

MU's roster includes 18 midfielders, while six are on attack and eight make up the defensive unit. Sophomore Jocelyn Miller collected 34 groundballs for Marquette last season, enough for fourth on the team behind Allison Lane (graduated), Jules Horning and Gabriel.

The Golden Eagles return starting goalkeeper Jules Horning, who set a single-season program record with 153 saves last season. The junior also set a single-game BIG EAST Tournament record with 17 saves in a semifinal loss to then-No. 6/9 Florida last year.

Marquette's captains include Gabriel, Horning, Dolan and graduate student Charlotte McGuire.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Eagles wrapped up the 2018 season with its most wins in a single season and a 10-8 overall record, including an impressive 8-1 home mark. Marquette clinched its first-ever BIG EAST Championship berth after taking down UConn by a single goal, but eventually fell to top-seeded Florida, 19-8, in the league semifinals.