Lacrosse opens 2020 season Saturday at Cleveland State

Saturday, February 1

Cleveland, OH

10 a.m. CT

Marquette University

Cleveland State University

Lacrosse opens 2020 season Saturday at Cleveland State

1/29/2020 10:27:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

Game Notes (PDF)Live Stats @MarquetteMLax on Twitter @MarquetteMLAX on Instagram

Marquette looks to avenge last year's 7-5 loss in Milwaukee

By: Communications

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's lacrosse team kicks off the 2020 season under first-year head coach Andrew Stimmel on Saturday, Feb. 1 at Cleveland State.

Opening face-off is slated for 10 a.m. Central time at Krenzler Field in Cleveland, Ohio. Live statistics will be provided on CSUVikings.com, while live updates will also be available through @MarquetteMLAX on Twitter.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for youth aged under 12.

GAME DETAILS
Marquette (0-0) at Cleveland State (0-0)
Krenzler Field (Cleveland, Ohio)
Saturday, Feb. 1 at 10 a.m. CT
TICKETS

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

MARQUETTE (0-0): The Golden Eagles kick off the Andrew Stimmel era in the second regular season meeting against Cleveland State. Marquette returns four starters from last year's team and must replace three 20-goal scorers, three starting close defensemen and the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year at LSM. MU began the spring with scrimmages against No. 12 Ohio State and No. 11 Johns Hopkins and will face a total of seven teams during the regular season who are either ranked or receiving votes. The Golden Eagles were picked to finish fifth in the BIG EAST Conference's annual preseason coaches' survey and did not have a preseason all-league selection for the first time since 2014. Peter Henkhaus (17 goals) and Connor McClelland (12 goals) are MU's leading returning scorers, while goalie John Hulsman made 11 starts in 14 games as a sophomore in 2019. FULL SEASON PREVIEW

CLEVELAND STATE (0-0): The Vikings also have a first-year head coach in former assistant Andy German, who takes over from Dylan Sheridan, who left for Ohio State in July. Cleveland State posted a winning record in its third season by winning seven of its final 10 games in 2019. After having one Division I win in their first season, the Vikings had four in 2018 before registering eight in 2019. Cleveland State had no true seniors on its roster in 2019 and has an experienced group returning for 2020. The Vikings finished ranked in the NCAA top 25 in eight different statistical categories including opponent clearing percentage (No. 1, .707), face-off win percentage (No. 6, .631), assists per game (No. 17, 7.53), scoring defense (No. 19, 10.27 goals/game) and caused turnovers (No. 22, 8.93 per game). Juniors Michael Wilson (18 goals, 35 assists) and Tristan Hanna (26 goals, 8 assists) were the leading scorers for CSU last season with 53 and 34 points, respectively.

KEY STORYLINES:

Saturday's game marks the 106th contest in the history of Marquette men's lacrosse, which played its first games in the spring of 2013. MU is 52-53 all-time entering Saturday as it begins its eighth season of competition.
Both head coaches, Andrew Stimmel and CSU's Andy German are making their NCAA Division I head coaching debuts.
The two squads last met in Cleveland in January 2018 in exhibition action
MU must replace 57.6 percent of its scoring (87-of-151) from 2019
Marquette is 0-1 all-time against Cleveland State with a 7-5 loss to the Vikings on March 9 of last season in Milwaukee.
Then-junior Luke Anderson scored a pair of goals on six shots last season against CSU and classmate Chris Rolfing posted nine saves in the first half.
MU won just 5-of-16 faceoffs against CSU in 2019 and face-off specialist Danny Tesler returns for the Vikings in 2020. Tesler ranked eighth in the country last season by winning at a 64.4 percent clip.

SERIES HISTORY: Cleveland State leads 1-0 all-time
3/9/19 H L, 7-5

CAREER VERSUS CSU:

Luke Anderson: 2g, 1 gb, 1 ct
Garrett Moya: 1g
Chris Rolfing: 9 saves

ANDERSON SET MU SINGLE-SEASON SSDM SCORING MARKS

Defensive midfielder Luke Anderson stepped up in a big way for the Golden Eagles on both ends of the field last season and should make a run at all-conference honors this year. In addition to being MU's top short stick D-mid, the 6-foot-3 210-pounder scored nine goals and posted three assists in 2019. Those goal (9) and point (12) totals are the highest single-season marks ever for a defensive midfielder at MU. Both marks top the previous high of four goals and seven points recorded by current assistant coach Jacob Richard during the 2015 campaign.

HULSMAN SECURES THE CREASE

The Golden Eagles head into the 2020 season with good options in net, led by junior John Hulsman, who started 11 of 14 games during his first season with the program.
Hulsman posted a season-best 15 saves last season against St. John's and was named the league's defensive player of the week after helping MU to a win in its BIG EAST opener at Georgetown with 12 saves. Hulsman also finished the 2018 season fourth in NCAA Division I in save percentage at Bellarmine.
Chris Rolfing and Gabe Stein each also made their first career starts in Blue & Gold last season and freshman Sean Richard was added to the group in the offseason.

FORMER GOLDEN EAGLES FLOURISH IN PRO LACROSSE

The player development of the Marquette program was on full display in the professional lacrosse ranks during 2019.
Liam Byrnes ('16) of the Atlanta Blaze was named the Major League Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Year, while John Wagner ('19) earned an MLL title playing with the Chesapeake Bayhawks, squaring off against Zachary Melillo ('18) and the Denver Outlaws in the championship game. Tanner Thomson ('19) and Cole Blazer ('18) each also made their pro debuts in the MLL during the summer of 2019 and Ryan McNamara ('17) continued his high-scoring ways with the Dallas Rattlers.
In the PLL, Noah Richard ('19) was selected 14th overall by Atlas LC in the third round of the inaugural PLL Collegiate Draft and had a successful rookie campaign alongside his brother and Marquette assistant coach, Jacob Richard ('16).
Wagner (New York Riptide) and Thomson (Saskatchewan Rush) were each also selected in the 2019 National League Lacrosse draft.

MU FACES ANOTHER CHALLENGING SLATE IN 2020

The Golden Eagles will face five teams ranked in the USILA's preseason top-20 poll, including their annual non-conference matchups against No. 5 Duke and No. 7 Notre Dame. Two others were also receiving votes.
MU also opened the year with scrimmages at No. 11 Johns Hopkins, No. 12 Ohio State and against Richmond, a team receiving votes.

NEW LACROSSE BUILDING OPENED IN 2019

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, 2019. The $24 million, 46,000-square-foot AHPRC will be built in phases under a long-term master plan. The first phase included:
- 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.

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 2020. Moey Lardy became the first Wisconsin high school player to play for MU when he made his NCAA debut in 2018 at Detroit. Lardy, whose parents now live in California, spent his first two years of high school at Cedarburg and played for Ozaukee.
Logan Kreinz became the first former Wisconsin high school player to score a goal for the Golden Eagles in the third quarter of the 2019 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. (Ozaukee)/Trinity-Pawling (N.Y.))
- Jordan Schmid (Waukesha, Wis./Kettle Moraine H.S.)

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.
Current connections include, Keaton Thomson (Tanner, '19), Aaron Joseph (Noah, '17), Griffin Fleming (Blaine '16), Zach Granger (Ryan, '20) and Cole Froemming's sister, C.J., is a freshman on the MU women's squad.
Keaton Thomson's young brother, Hudson, also signed with the Golden Eagles in the fall and will be a freshman during the 2020-21 academic year.

MARQUETTE AND INTERNATIONAL LACROSSE

Head coach Andrew Stimmel serves as an assistant coach on the U.S. Under-19 National Team, which will compete this summer at the 2020 FIL World Championships in Limerick, Ireland.
Senior face-off specialist Jared Hershman competed in the 2020 Federation of International Lacrosse World Championship in Netanya, Israel with Team Puerto Rico, winning 67 percent of his draws (89-of-132).
Former MU All-American and current assistant coach/defensive coordinator Jacob Richard played with Team USA at its annual spring showcase and has been a regular at the national camp. Former MU teammates Liam Byrnes and B.J. Grill were also on the training team roster heading into the 2018 World Championships.

GOLDEN EAGLES PICKED FIFTH IN BIG EAST PRESEASON POLL

The projected finish of fifth is the second-lowest preseason mark for the two-time conference tournament champions since they joined the league for the 2014 campaign. Marquette earned nine points in the poll and Denver was selected as the preseason favorite once again.
Marquette's BIG EAST Preseason Projections (actual finish)
2020: Fifth
2019: Second (Fifth)
2018: Fourth (T-Second)
2017: Third (Fourth)
2016: Third (Second)
2015: Fourth (Third)
2014: Seventh (Second)