Lacrosse welcomes Jacksonville to Milwaukee on Saturday

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's lacrosse team looks to continue its season opening win streak against Jacksonville at Valley Fields on Saturday, Feb. 15 at noon Central time.

The game will air live on GoMarquette.com, courtesy of the Marquette Wire, MU's student-run media organization. Dan Avington and John Steppe will call the game along with sideline reporter Aimee Galaszewski, while live statistics will be available as will updates through @MarquetteMLAX on Twitter.

Tickets can be ordered in advance of game day in person at the Al McGuire Center ticket office, by phone at 414-288-4668 or on GoMarquette.com/tickets. Capacity inside the seasonal dome at Valley Fields is limited to just 500 spectators.

All students in attendance who check in through the MU Rewards application will be entered in a drawing with win a pair of air pods. Two winners will be chosen at halftime.

GAME DETAILS
Marquette (2-0) vs. Jacksonville (0-1)
Valley Fields (Milwaukee)
Saturday, Feb. 15 at noon CT
TICKETS

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

MARQUETTE (2-0): The Golden Eagles picked up their second 11-10 victory in as many games on Feb. 8 against Bellarmine in the first home game for Andrew Stimmel as head coach. MU led by as many as eight goals and held on for its second one-goal victory of the year. Senior midfielder Connor McClelland led Marquette with a career-high six points in the victory (four goals, two assists), while Holden Patterson and Chris Kirschner each scored twice. McClelland earned BIG EAST Midfielder of the Week recognition and was also named to the USILA's Team of the Week.

JACKSONVILLE (0-1): The Dolphins dropped their season opener to Detroit Mercy, 15-14, on Feb. 1 in Jacksonville. JU jumped out to a 5-0 lead in less than 10 minutes but couldn't hold off the Titans, who posted four goals each in the second, third and fourth quarters. Midfielder Jeremy Winston scored four goals for the Dolphins, while Evan Tyler scored twice and added four assists. JU is led by fourth-year head coach John Galloway, a former Tewaaraton Award finalist goalie at Syracuse who backstopped Team USA to the FIL World Championship in 2018. The scheduled Feb. 8 game against Vermont was canceled due to altered travel plans for the visiting Catamounts.

KEY STORYLINES:

Saturday's game marks the 108th contest in the history of Marquette men's lacrosse, which played its first games in the spring of 2013. MU is 54-53 all-time in its eighth season of competition.
MU is 2-0 for the fifth time in its eighth season of existence. MU has started the year 2-0 for the third year in a row and the fifth time in the last six years. Marquette went 7-0 to start the 2015 season and was 3-0 in 2018.
Marquette has won its last four meetings against JU following losses in the first two seasons of the program's existence. Outside of MU's 17-1 win in 2017, four of the other contests have been decided by two goals or fewer.
MU led the 2019 meeting 6-1 after the first quarter and held on for a 14-12 win behind the first career hat trick for then-senior Bob Pelton.
The Golden Eagles held a 42-36 edge in shots against JU last year and picked up an all-time program-record 42 ground balls.
MU must replace 57.6 percent of its scoring (87-of-151) from 2019.
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

SERIES HISTORY: Marquette leads 4-2
MU is 1-0 at Valley Fields
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
2/15/19                A             W, 14-12

CAREER VERSUS JU NOTABLES:

Luke Anderson: 3 GP, 1g, 1a, 6 gb, 2 ct
Peter Henkhaus: 3 GP, 4g, 5 gb
Jared Hershman: 2 GP, 13-of-31 FO (.419), 6 gb
John Hulsman: 1 GS, 9 saves, 12 ga, 60:00
Connor McClelland: 2 GP, 5g, 1a, 1 gb
Anthony Orsini: 2 GP, 3g, 2a, 1 gb
Holden Patterson: 1 GP, 1g

MU WINS ANOTHER ONE-GOAL GAME

Marquette led by as many as eight goals in the Feb. 15 victory over Bellarmine but had to hold on for a one-goal triumph as the Knights scored their final tally with under 50 seconds to play. The win was MU's second by one score this season and pushes Marquette's record in such games to a remarkable 24-10 in its eighth season.

KIRSCHNER SCORES GAME WINNERS

Midfielder Chris Kirschner joined classmate Devan Cowan as a multiple goal scorer in his NCAA debut at Cleveland State and added another pair in the home opener against Bellarmine on Feb. 15. At CSU, the freshman scored the overtime winner just 25 seconds into extra time on an empty net against a 10-man ride.
He and Cowan are just the third and fourth freshmen to ever score twice in their Marquette freshman debuts (Anthony Orsini (2018) and Connor Bernal (2013)).
He's tied with Orsini for MU's active career lead in game winners (2) and just eight players in program history have scored three in a career. He's done it twice in his first two college games.
He and Orsini are also the only MU players to score at least two goals in their first two collegiate games. Orsini had two against Jacksonville to open his career in 2018 and then scored an MU freshman-record four at Detroit Mercy.

STIMMEL WINS NCAA HEAD COACHING DEBUT

The Golden Eagles gave first-year head coach Andrew Stimmel his first NCAA Division I head coaching victory with a 11-10 overtime triumph at Cleveland State on Feb. 1. Stimmel was an assistant coach on Marquette's first BIG EAST Championship and NCAA tournament team in 2016. He returned to Milwaukee in June 2019 following three very successful seasons as offensive coordinator at Yale, which included the 2018 NCAA National Championship and a national runner-up finish in 2019.

COWAN SETS MARQUETTE FRESHMAN DEBUT RECORD

Freshman Devon Cowan kicked off his NCAA career in impressive fashion at Cleveland State on Feb. 1 while posting a game-high five points with three goals and two assists. Cowan's point total is the most ever at Marquette for a freshman in a NCAA debut and tied graduate transfer Jordan Greenfield for the most points in a MU debut (3g, 2a at Lehigh in 2015). His hat trick is also the first ever for a MU player in a NCAA debut.

WOODWARD IMPRESSIVE ON CLOSE DEFENSE

Freshman Mason Woodward has big shoes to fill as the Golden Eagles look to replace three starting close defensemen and the 2019 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year in LSM Noah Richard. The Towson, Maryland native was especially impressive in his NCAA debut, posting eight ground balls while causing three turnovers at Cleveland State on Feb. 1. His eight ground balls tie the freshman single-game record, with 2019 MLL Defensive Player of the Year Liam Byrnes, and is the most ever for a player in a Marquette debut. It is also the highest mark for a true freshman in program history.