Lacrosse faces Detroit Mercy Saturday in Pontiac

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's lacrosse team plays the first of a two-game non-conference road swing on Saturday, Feb. 22 against Detroit Mercy in Pontiac, Michigan at Ultimate Soccer Arenas.

Opening face-off is set for 11 a.m. Central time (noon local) and live statistics will be provided courtesy of DetroitTitans.com. Live updates will be provided via @MarquetteMLAX on Twitter.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online or at the gate on Saturday morning.

GAME DETAILS
Marquette (2-1) at Detroit Mercy (2-1)
Ultimate Soccer Arenas (Pontiac, Mich.)
Saturday, Feb. 22 at 11 a.m. CT
TICKETS

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

MARQUETTE (2-1): The Golden Eagles dropped their first game of the season on Feb. 15 against Jacksonville, 11-9, after beginning the year with a pair of 11-10 victories over Cleveland State and Bellarmine. Freshman Chris Kirschner scored his first career hat trick against the Dolphins, but MU committed 24 turnovers and had eight failed clears in the loss. Kirschner and senior Connor McClelland lead the squad with seven goals apiece.

DETROIT MERCY (2-1): The Titans set a program record for goals in a 20-13 victory over Bellarmine on Tuesday afternoon, paced by a career-high five goals from junior Ryan Figueiras. Senior Alex Jarzembowski claimed 24-of-31 face-offs in the victory and posted his first career hat trick. The Titans used a 7-0 run in the second half to pull away for the victory in Pontiac. UDM opened its season with a 15-14 win over Jacksonville before a 23-9 loss to Ohio State. Brett Erskine leads the team with 13 points on seven goals and six assists, while Kyle Waters has a team-best eight scores. UDM, which is led by sixth-year head coach Chris Kolon, is 8-4 all-time in games played at Ultimate Soccer Arenas

KEY STORYLINES:

Saturday's game marks the 109th contest in the history of Marquette men's lacrosse, which played its first games in the spring of 2013. MU is 54-54 all-time in its eighth season of competition.
Detroit Mercy head coach Chris Kolon coached MU assistant coach/defensive coordinator Jacob Richard in 2019 with Atlas LC of the PLL. Recent MU grad Noah Richard was also on the team.
The two teams meet in Pontiac for the second time, though the 2018 meeting did not take place at Ultimate Soccer Arenas.
The two teams have met in all seven seasons of MU's program existence, with MU coming out on top in the first six years.
UDM won 15-12 at Valley Fields in 2019. Then-junior Peter Henkhaus scored a career-high five goals against the Titans but MU trailed by as many as nine goals in the third quarter.
Marquette's 14-9 win over UDM at Hart Park on April 20, 2013 was the first home game in program history.
Antony Orsini set the MU freshman single-game record with four goals against UDM in 2018.
MU has three native Michiganders on its roster in Patrick English (Grand Rapids), Sean Richard (Northville) and Noah Verlinde (Spring Lake).
Marquette has been reliant on a large contingent of freshman early this season. Devon Cowan and Mason Woodward have started all three games, Chris Kirschner leads the team in scoring, while Jake Stegman, Max Kruszeski and Jack Cleary have impressed in extended time.
MU must replace 57.6 percent of its scoring (87-of-151) from 2019.
Marquette returns just 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 6-1
MU is 2-0 in Michigan (Detroit/Pontiac)
(H) 4/20/13 (W, 14-9)
(A) 3/15/14 (W, 15-10)
(N) 2/27/15 (W, 12-6)
(N) 3/6/16 (W, 10-8)
(H) 3/5/17 (W, 8-6)
(A) 2/24/18 (W, 13-6)
(H) 2/23/19 (L, 15-12)

CAREER VERSUS UDM NOTABLES:

Luke Anderson: 2 GP, 2 gb
Peter Henkhaus: 3 GP, 7g, 1a
Jared Hershman: 1 GP, 7-of-17 FO (.412), 1 gb
John Hulsman: 1 GS, 2 saves, 10 ga, 33:34
Connor McClelland: 3 GP, 2g, 1a, 1 gb, 1 ct
Anthony Orsini: 2 GP, 5g, 1a, 2 gb

KIRSCHNER SCORES GAME WINNERS

Midfielder Chris Kirschner joined classmate Devan Cowan as a multiple goal scorer in his NCAA debut at Cleveland State, posted two against Bellarmine on Feb. 8 and his first career hat trick against Jacksonville 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 – just eight players in program history have scored three in a career). He did it in each of his first two college games.
He and Orsini are also the only MU players to score at least two goals in their first three collegiate games. Orsini had two against Jacksonville to open his career in 2018 and then scored an MU freshman-record four at Detroit Mercy.
He was honored as the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Feb. 17 for the first time in his career thanks to his hat trick against JU.

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.

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.

GOLDEN EAGLES EXCEL IN THE CLASSROOM IN FALL OF 2019

The men's lacrosse team posted its highest cumulative semester grade-point average (3.24) in program history during the fall of 2019 and 46 individuals were named to the Athletics Director Honor Roll for GPAs at-or-above 3.0. Three student-athletes, Dylan Dobrosky, Devon Cowan and Mason Woodward each recorded perfect 4.0s.