Lacrosse opens BIG EAST play at No. 14 Georgetown on Saturday

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's lacrosse team begins its sixth season of BIG EAST Conference action on Saturday, March 23 in Washington, D.C. at 11 a.m. Central time against No. 14 Georgetown at Cooper Field.

The game will air live on the BIG EAST Digital Network through FOX Sports Go with Jeremy Huber on the call.

Following Saturday's conference opener, MU will head to Villanova on March 30 before playing its lone home game over the next month against St. John's on April 6 at Valley Fields.

GAME DETAILS
Marquette (4-3) at No. 14 Georgetown (7-1)
Cooper Field (Washington, D.C.)
Saturday, March 23 at 11 a.m. CT
BIG EAST Digital Network

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

MARQUETTE (4-3): The Golden Eagles won a pair of games last week against Robert Morris and Michigan as redshirt senior Tanner Thomson led the way with 11 points. In the two victories over squads it had fallen to last season, MU posted its two highest scoring performances of the season, claiming a 17-15 win at RMU and a 16-13 triumph at home against the Wolverines. MU had lost three straight games after beginning the season 2-0 with wins over Bellarmine and Jacksonville. Thomson leads Marquette with 21 points on 16 goals and five assists, while John Wagner is not far behind with 20 points.

No. 14 GEORGETOWN (7-1): The Hoyas have won five straight since a 14-8 loss to then-No. 9 Towson on Feb. 23 and are 4-1 this season at Cooper Field in Washington, D.C. Georgetown claimed a 13-10 victory over Drexel on Saturday afternoon in its last game, led by five goals from Daniel Bucaro and four from Jake Carraway. Bucaro leads the squad with 29 goals and 45 points, while Carraway has 26 and 43 total points. Bucaro is a member of the Tewaaraton Award Watch List and was recently selected in the first round of the Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft by the Denver Outlaws. The Hoyas are averaging a BIG EAST-best 14.00 goals per game this season despite sitting third in the league in shots (41.62).

KEY STORYLINES:

Marquette is 3-2 in BIG EAST lid-lifters since joining the conference in 2014. Each of the last four BIG EAST openers have come against Georgetown and MU has won three-straight against the Hoyas.
Five of the seven meetings between MU and GU have been decided by one goal and two of those have been home OT victories for MU (2014 and 2018).
Every MU win over GU has come by one goal (2014, 2016-18).
John Wagner scored the OT winner 35 seconds into extra time last season at Valley Fields. He had four goals on the day and the game was tied after the second, third and fourth quarters. MU had led 5-1 early in the second.
GU and MU have each entered two previous meetings ranked in both the USILA and media polls. The Hoyas are ranked this season.
MU head coach Joe Amplo and Georgetown coach Kevin Warne were former teammates and roommates at Hofstra, where both were all-conference performers.
MU has won both of its true road games so far this season: at Jacksonville and Robert Morris.
Tanner Thomson became the sixth player in Marquette history to reach 50 career goals with his fourth of the day at RMU on March 12. He joined Ryan McNamara (102), Conor Gately (77), Kyle Whitlow (70), John Wagner (63) and Tyler Melnyk (59) on the prestigious list. He currently has 55 after scoring a season-high five goals against Michigan on March 16.
John Wagner's 11 assists are a career-high and more than any Golden Eagle totaled during the entirety of the 2018 season. The single-season program record of 20 was set by Conor Gately as a freshman in 2013.
Junior Jared Hershman set new Marquette single-game program records for face-off wins (22) and ground balls (21) in Saturday's 16-13 victory over Michigan. The junior went 22-of-27 against the Wolverines, while also adding his first career point on an assist.
Eighteen players have scored a goal for Marquette and nine have at least six points.
The Marquette program and head coach Joe Amplo captured their 50th victory all-time on Saturday against Michigan. The Golden Eagles are 50-48 in their seventh season of existence.

SERIES HISTORY: Marquette leads 4-3
GU leads 2-1 in Washington, D.C.
3/27/13                A             L, 17-12
4/19/14                H             W, 11-10 (OT)
3/21/15                A             L, 9-8
4/30/15                N             L, 12-8 (BIG EAST Tournament)
3/26/16                H             W, 9-8
3/25/17                A             W, 11-10
3/24/18                H             W, 9-8 (OT)

CAREER VERSUS GEORGETOWN:

John Wagner: 3 GP/2 GS, 5g, 4 gb, 2 ct
Noah Richard: 2 GP, 1a, 7 gb
Griffin Fleming: 1 GP/1 GS, 2g, 1 gb
Brendon Connolly: 3 GP/1 GS, 5 gb
Nick Grill: 2 GP/2 GS, 3 gb
Tanner Thomson: 2 GP/2 GS, 2g, 2 gb
Connor McClelland: 2 GP/1GS, 2g, 3 gb
Anthony Orsini: 1 GP/1 GS, 2a, 1 gb

GOLDEN EAGLES SET FOR TOUGH FINAL MONTH

A difficult schedule awaits the Golden Eagles over the final month of the season, beginning with the March 23 game at No. 14 Georgetown. After this weekend, Marquette heads to Villanova, a team receiving votes, on March 30. MU's annual midweek contest at No. 11 Notre Dame on April 10 sandwiches games against St. John's and Providence before Marquette closes the year with No. 2 Duke and No. 13 Denver.

FOGO AND GOAL QUESTIONS

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 are working their way to a solution at both spots as the season progresses:
- Every MU goalie 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.
- Junior Chris Rolfing made his first career start against Cleveland State and recorded nine first half saves. He also started at Robert Morris.
- 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).
- Hershman set new Marquette single-game program records for face-off wins (22) and ground balls (21) in Saturday's 16-13 victory over Michigan. The junior went 22-of-27 against the Wolverines and 6-of-11 at Robert Morris, while also adding his first career point on an assist against Michigan. Overall, he won 28-of 38 (73.7 percent) of the draws he took in a 2-0 week.
- Freshman Jack Devine took 22 face-offs at Robert Morris on March 12 and won 10 of them. The offensive midfielder starting practicing with MU's face-off unit in early March.

RICHARD AND WAGNER ARE SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATES

Noah Richard and John Wagner are among thirty of the top NCAA Division I men's lacrosse student-athletes selected as candidates for the 2019 Senior CLASS Award^®, highlighting excellence both on and off the field. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
The pair joins B.J. Grill (2016) and Andy DeMichiei (2017) as Marquette men's lacrosse players to earn the recognition. Grill went on to earn Senior CLASS Award Senior All-American First Team honors in 2016 as one of five players named to the squad.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.

NEW LACROSSE BUILDING OPENED MARCH 5

The new home of Marquette lacrosse, the Athletic and Human Performance Research Center on N. 12th and W. Wells streets officially opened on March 5. 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.

NOAH RICHARD DRAFTED IN MLL; JACOB RICHARD AND B.J. GRILL LEARN PLL TEAMS

Noah Richard became the second-highest drafted MU player in program history when the Chesapeake Bayhawks selected him in the MLL Draft on March 9 at 25th overall (third round). Richard is one of six MU players who has heard his name called in the MLL Collegiate Draft, joining his brother Jacob, who went 35th overall to the New York Lizards in 2016. Currently, Liam Byrnes (Atlanta Blaze), Ryan McNamara (Dallas Rattlers), Conor Gately (Dallas Rattlers), Zachary Melillo (Denver Outlaws) and Cole Blazer (Chesapeake Bayhawks) enter the 2019 season on MLL rosters.
On Monday, March 4 the Premier Lacrosse League officially unveiled its rosters for the 2019 season and the Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft is slated for Saturday, March 9 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Marquette's Jacob Richard (Atlas LC) and B.J. Grill (Chrome LC) learned their PLL team assignments on Monday, as did volunteer assistant coach Tim Rotanz (Whipsnakes LC).

MU OFFENSE SHARING THE LOAD

Marquette has displayed depth on the offensive end as 18 players have found the back of the net, and three others recording assists. Tanner Thomson and John Wagner have 21 and 20 points, respectively, to lead Marqu, but it has been the production of Marquette's defensive midfield that has been impressive early on. LSM Noah Richard (4g, 3a) along with defensive midfielders Luke Anderson (4g, 3a), Logan Kreinz (2g) and Nick Singleton (1a) have provided offensive contributions. Senior defensemen Jackson Ehlert (1g, 1a) also recorded the first points of his career in the season opener against Bellarmine.

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.

TANNER THOMSON RETURNS FROM REDSHIRT

Fifth-year senior Tanner Thomson sat out the 2018 campaign after turning in an All-BIG EAST Second Team year in 2017 as a true junior. 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.
Thomson became the sixth Marquette player to reach 50 career goals with four markers at Robert Morris on March 12, while tying a career best with six points. He joined Ryan McNamara (102), Conor Gately (77), Kyle Whitlow (70), John Wagner (61) and Tyler Melnyk (59) among MU's 50-goal scorers.