WLAX Opens Season Sunday at Cincinnati

Sunday, February 14

Cincinnati, OH

11 A.M.

Marquette University

University of Cincinnati

2/12/2021 10:26:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

LIVE STATS Prospectus (PDF)2021 Schedule (PDF)

MU defeated UC 17-6 at Valley Fields in 2020

By: Communications

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette women's lacrosse team opens its 2021 season on the road against the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Game time is set for 11 a.m. Central time on Sunday, Feb. 14 and will be played in Sheakley Athletics Center on campus. As of now, no live stream will be available but live stats will be on GoBearcats.com.

MU leads the all-time series against the Bearcats, 6-2. The Golden Eagles were victorious on last year's Valentine's Day matchup at Valley Fields, earning a 17-6 victory.

Senior captain Megan Menzuber led the way with a then career-high six goals. Shea Garcia had a hat trick while Madison Kane and Caroline Steller had two goals each in an explosive offensive performance.

The last time the two teams played in Cincinnati resulted in a 22-18 victory for the Bearcats on Feb. 15, 2019.

Sunday's matchup will be the first game of the season for both teams.

HOW TO FOLLOW:
Live stats for Sunday's game can be found at GoBearcats.com. No live stream will be available. Follow along on Twitter @MarquetteWLAX for live in-game updates.

GAME DETAILS
Marquette (0-0, 0-0 BIG EAST) at Cincinnati (0-0, 0-0 AAC)
Cincinnati, Ohio
Sheakley Athletics Center
Sunday, Feb. 14
11 a.m. CT
GoBearcats.com

LIVE COVERAGE
LIVE STATS | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM

MARQUETTE: The Golden Eagles are in their ninth season in program history in 2020 under head coach Meredith Black. MU is 50-81 (19-25 BIG EAST) all-time but is coming off the best three-year run in program history from 2018-20. MU went 6-4 in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the season before BIG EAST play began.

The Golden Eagles had perhaps their best season in school history in 2019. The Golden Eagles (9-9, 3-2 BIG EAST) finished second in the conference standings and hosted a BIG EAST tournament game at Valley Fields for the first time in program history. In 2018 MU went 10-8 (6-3 BIG EAST), going above .500 for the first time in coach Black's tenure.

11 of MU's top 12 scorers from last year are back this year, including 2020 leading point-getter Caroline Steller, who finished with 23 goals and a team-best 17 assists. Leading goal-scorer Lydia Foust, who broke out with 25 goals last season, returns for her junior year to anchor the midfield group.

CINCINNATI: Head coach Gina Thomas returns for her eighth season at the helm of the Bearcats program. In its last complete season in 2019, UC made the postseason for the first time in school history, playing in the American Athletic Conference Championship game at the Sheakley Athletics Center.

The Bearcats saw their 2020 season ended after seven games (3-4 record) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UC was in the middle of a three-game winning streak in early March when the campaign came to a close.

For 2021, UC defender Morgan Dukes was named the American Athletic Conference Preseason Co-Defensive Player of the Year and three other Bearcats earned preseason All-AAC honors. Alyssa Adams, Monica Borzillo and Peyton Mottice joined Dukes on the preseason all-conference team. The Bearcats were pegged to finish fourth in a vote of the league's coaches, behind Florida, Vanderbilt and Temple.

KEY STORYLINES:

Marquette returns 10 starters and 35 players overall from last year's team.
The Golden Eagles brought in 10 incoming freshmen to make up the 45-person roster.
MU's win against Detroit Mercy to end the 2020 season was its 50^th all-time as a program.
The Golden Eagles are characterized by a balanced attack. Caroline Steller led the team in points with 40 (23 goals, 17 assists) in 2020.
Lydia Foust (25), Megan Menzuber (22), Shea Garcia (22), Caroline Peterson (16), Hannah Greving (14) and Madison Kane (11) all scored over 10 goals last season.
All-time saves leader Jules Horning (429) and the single-season program record holder for save percentage in a season (.509) Sophia Leva are back in goal to anchor the Golden Eagles.
MU was picked to finish fifth in the Preseason BIG EAST Coaches Poll. Senior defender Jocelyn Miller and junior midfielder Lydia Foust were the team's two preseason all-conference picks.

2020 REGULAR SEASON RECAP
• The Golden Eagles played 10 of their eighteen scheduled regular season games in 2020 due to the coronavirus canceling the season on March 11.
• MU went 4-1 at Valley Fields, 1-3 in true road games and 1-0 in neutral site games.
• A balanced offensive attack has characterized the team last season. Caroline Steller led the team with 40 points (23 goals, 17 assists), but six other players tallied between 15 and 37 points.
• Sophomore Lydia Foust burst onto the scene in 2020, leading the team with 25 goals. In the last seven games of the year, she never scored less than two goals in a game. She also netted four hat tricks with one four-goal game and another five-goal game.
• The Golden Eagles tallied 221 points as a team last season and were on pace for nearly 400 points, which would have been No. 1 all-time in program history (364 is the school record).

MU PICKED FIFTH, FOUST AND MILLER NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAM
• The BIG EAST Women's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll was announced on Thursday with 2019 regular-season champion Denver the unanimous favorite to win the crown in 2021. DU was followed by Georgetown (21), Villanova (15), UConn (13), Marquette (11) and Butler (5).
• The Golden Eagles had two players named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, the third year in a row MU has had multiple players selected. This year's selections were junior midfielder Lydia Foust and senior defender Jocelyn Miller. Foust, a Redwood City, Calif., native, appeared in all 10 games and started in six during her sophomore season in 2020, scoring a team-best 25 goals.
• A senior from Manorville, N.Y., Miller has been one of Marquette's top defenders since her freshman year in 2018. She's started in all 44 games of her career and was named First Team All-BIG EAST after the 2019 season.
• In her career, she's picked up 75 ground balls and caused 48 turnovers, which puts her at No. 10 all-time in school history in CT's. Miller was also named to the 2020 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, one of three team selections along with Shea Garcia and Madison Kane.

HENRY AND LEVA NAMED TEAM CAPTAINS FOR 2021
• Redshirt sophomore Ellie Henry and senior Sophia Leva have been named captains for the 2021 season.
• Ellie Henry burst onto the scene to become one of the team's top defenders in 2020, her first season as a full-time starter. She started all 10 games, earning 44 draw controls, picking up 12 GB's and causing seven turnovers.
• Goalie Sophia Leva rotated in net with MU all-time wins and saves leader Jules Horning. Leva ranks No. 3 all-time at MU in career saves (111) and No. 2 all-time in save % (.438).

GOLDEN EAGLES MOVING THEIR WAY UP THE RECORD BOOKS
• Megan Menzuber is No. 8 all-time in points (123), No. 6 all-time in goals (85) and No. 5 in assists (36) in assists.
• Madison Kane (22) and Caroline Steller (21) moved into eighth and ninth all-time in career assists at Marquette.
• Jocelyn Miller is in 9th all-time in caused turnovers (48) in her career.
• Emily Cooper is No. 5 all-time in draw controls at MU (91).
• Jules Horning (429 career saves) overtook Sarah Priem '16 (426) for the school record.
• Jules Horning is in second place all-time at MU for career ground balls (130).

MARQUETTE HAS A 'JULE' IN NET
• Jules Horning, a four-year starter and Berwyn, Pa., native ranks first all-time in MU history in wins (24), saves per game (7.27) and saves (429).
• In 2018, Horning set the single-season program record with 153 saves. She tallied a career-high 19 saves at Georgetown (April 21), facing 37 shots on the evening. She posted seven double-digit save performances in 18 games.
• In 2019, her best game came against then No. 24-ranked Georgetown again. She faced a career-high 49 shots and saved 18 of them in a 14-12 victory at Valley Fields.
• Horning went 4-3 in 2020 with a .411 save percentage and 53 saves. She became the school's all-time career saves leader after saving five shots against Ohio State on March 7.

CAROLINE COMING OFF STELLER 2020 SEASON
• Senior Caroline Steller enjoyed a solid sophomore season in 2019 in which she scored 15 goals and dished out two assists. She played in all 18 games and started three.
• She had a sensational 2020, breaking out to lead the team in points (40) and assists (17) while putting in 23 goals, starting all 10 games.
• Steller won BIG EAST Attacker of the Week on March 2 after scoring six goals, dishing out three assists and picking up four ground balls in two games in Arizona. She'll look to pick up where she left off and have a huge 2021 season.

Keep up with the Marquette women's lacrosse program all season long through social media by following on Twitter (@MarquetteWLax) and Instagram (@MarquetteWLax) and `liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteWLax).