Lacrosse hosts Robert Morris on Saturday at 11 a.m.

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's lacrosse team welcomes Robert Morris to Valley Fields on Saturday, March 7 as the first game in a doubleheader with the MU women's team.

Opening face-off is set for 11 a.m. Central time and the contest will air live on GoMarquette.com's All-Access Player with Patrick Reed and former All-BIG EAST goalie Cole Blazer on the call. Live statistics will also be available through GoMarquette.com and updates will be provided via @MarquetteMLAX on Twitter.

GAME DETAILS
Marquette (3-2) vs. Robert Morris (3-2)
Valley Fields (Milwaukee)
Saturday, March 7 at 11 a.m. CT
TICKETS

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

MARQUETTE (3-2): The Golden Eagles led early in the fourth quarter, but fell by two goals at Drexel, 13-11, on Feb. 29 in Philadelphia. Freshmen Jake Stegman and Chris Kirschner led MU with six and four points, respectively, while sophomore face-off specialist Thomas Washington had a career day with 17 face-off wins, 12 ground balls and a pair of goals. Stegman was one point shy of the MU freshman single game point record and had four assists, one off the MU program record. MU held an advantage in shots (40-36), ground balls (38-24), face-off wins (17-of-27) and saves but was outscored a combined 8-2 in the second and fourth quarters. All but one of MU's 11 goals in the game were scored by freshmen and sophomores. Freshmen Kirschner (15), Stegman (12) and Devon Cowan (11) lead MU in points on the year.

ROBERT MORRIS (3-2): The Colonials broke free from a 10-10 tie in the third quarter for a 16-13 win at Detroit Mercy on Wednesday evening. Austin Popovich posted seven points on four goals and three assists to lead RMU, while Elliot Holden scored five times. Ryan Smith, who had a hat trick at UDM, leads the squad with 25 points (15 goals, 10 assists) and Popovich has a team-best 16 goals. The Colonials are averaging 14.60 goals per game and own wins this season against Canisius and High Point in addition to the win over the Titans. RMU also suffered defeats to the same two squads who have topped Marquette in Jacksonville and Drexel. Two-time NEC Coach of the Year Andrew McMinn is in his ninth season leading Robert Morris.

KEY STORYLINES:

Saturday's game marks the 111th contest in the history of Marquette men's lacrosse, which played its first games in the spring of 2013. MU is 55-55 all-time in its eighth season of competition.
MU tied a then-program record with 17 goals in the last meeting with RMU on March 12, 2019 in Pennsylvania. Tanner Thomson and Andrew Romagnoli each scored four goals for MU.
In the last meeting at Valley Fields on March 10, 2018, MU scored a program-low two goals and lost by 10, the second-biggest margin of defeat in a home game in program history.
MU posted a program-record 18 goals at Detroit Mercy on Feb. 22.
Freshmen and sophomores combined for 10 of MU's 11 goals at Drexel on Feb. 29.
MU is starting four freshmen, including its entire attack unit, and eight are playing significant minutes.
MU is replacing 57.6 percent of its scoring (87-of-151) from 2019.
Marquette returns just four starters from last year's team and lost three 20-goal scorers, three starting close defensemen and the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year at LSM

SERIES HISTORY: Marquette leads 3-1
Tied 1-1 in Milwaukee
3/12/16 (H) W, 13-5
3/11/17 (A) W, 14-7
3/10/18 (H) L, 12-2
3/12/19 (A) W, 17-15

CAREER VERSUS RMU NOTABLES:

Luke Anderson: 3 GP, 1g, 1a, 4 gb
Peter Henkhaus: 3 GP, 1g, 3a, 3 gb
Jared Hershman: 3 GP, 8-of-20 FO (.400), 2 gb
John Hulsman: 1 GS, 10 saves, 8 ga,, 3 gb 45:00
Connor McClelland: 3 GP, 2g, 2 gb, 1 ct
Anthony Orsini: 2 GP, 1g, 2 gb

ALL-FRESHMAN ATTACK UNIT LIFTS MU OFFENSE

Marquette is the only team in the country starting three freshmen on attack and its starting unit of Chris Kirschner (3 goals, 1 assist), Jake Stegman (2 goals, 4 assists) and Devon Cowan (1 goal, 1 assist) combined for six of MU's 11 goals and 12 of its 17 points at Drexel on Feb. 29. In total, MU's freshman and sophomore classes combined for 10 goals and 16 points in the defeat.
Marquette rolled out a starting attack unit of three freshmen at Detroit Mercy on Feb. 22 and proceeded to set a new program record with 18 goals. Kirschner, who played as a reserve midfielder the first three games, posted his second-straight hat trick and added his first goal of the year. Kirschner was joined up front by Jake Stegman, who scored the first two goals of his collegiate career, and Devon Cowan, who scored once.
Marquette has been reliant on a large contingent of freshman early this season. Cowan and Mason Woodward have started all five games, while Kirschner, Stegman, Max Kruszeski and Jack Cleary have impressed in extended time. Noah Verlinde made his NCAA debut on defense in the fourth quarter at UDM, as did Aidan O'Donnell at LSM.

STEGMAN NAMED BIG EAST FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

Jake Stegman earned the first BIG EAST weekly accolades of his career for his play at Drexel on Feb. 29 with the league's freshman of the week honors. The Naperville, Illinois native scored twice and added four assists, just one shy of the MU single-game program record. He came up one point short of the MU freshman single-game point record with six (Conor Gately had seven against Mercer on March 12, 2013).
Stegman leads MU with eight assists and is second on the squad through five games with 12 points.

KIRSCHNER LEADS MU IN SCORING

Freshman Chris Kirschner became the first player in program history to open his career with at least two goals in his first five collegiate games. He's one of seven MU players to ever score at least twice in five-straight games.
Kirschner joins Tyler Melnyk (2014), Ryan McNamara (2016) and John Wagner (2018) as the only MU players with hat tricks in three consecutive games.
He joined classmate Devan Cowan as a multiple goal scorer in his NCAA debut at Cleveland State and 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 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.

MARQUETTE TO APPEAR TWICE ON NATIONAL TV IN APRIL

Marquette will appear twice on national TV in the month of April, beginning with the Tuesday, April 7 home game against Notre Dame at 3:30 p.m. Central time. That contest will air live on CBS Sports Network, while the Friday, April 24 BIG EAST finale at Denver will appear on FS1 at 8:30 p.m. CT.
MU will also make an appearance on the BIG EAST Digital Network against St. John's on April 4 in Queens, New York.

MU WINS MORE ONE-GOAL GAMES

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.

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.

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) was named the Major League Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Year, while John Wagner ('19) earned an MLL title playing with the Chesapeake Bayhawks. Wagner squared 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). Noah Richard was picked by Waterdogs LC in the PLL Expansion Draft in early February.
Wagner (New York Riptide) and Thomson (Saskatchewan Rush) were each also selected in the 2019 National League Lacrosse draft and Liam Byrnes plays for the Philadelphia Wings.
Brendon Connolly (Chesapeake Bayhawks) and Tanner Thomson (Philadelphia Barrage) were each selected in the MLL Supplemental Draft on March 4.