WLAX Travels to Central Michigan on Sunday

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette women's lacrosse team continues its 2021 season on the road against the Central Michigan Chippewas.

Game time is set for 11 a.m. Central time on Sunday, Feb. 21 and will be played in the CMU Lacrosse-Soccer Complex on campus.

The Golden Eagles (0-1) were originally scheduled to host No. 2/2 Notre Dame on Sunday before the game was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the UND program.

Central Michigan was scheduled to play at Notre Dame on Friday to open its season, but that game was postponed as well. CMU and MU will play a home-and-home this season with the Chippewas scheduled to come to Milwaukee on March 5.

MU leads the all-time series against CMU, 4-1. The Golden Eagles were victorious in last year's game at Valley Fields, earning a 19-9 victory.

Lydia Foust and Hannah Greving both set career-highs with five goals apiece while Madison Kane netted her first hat trick of the season. Caroline Steller had another multi-goal game while senior captain Megan Menzuber had a game-high three assists.

The Golden Eagles got scoring contributions from eight different players and had 12 assists on their 19 goals. CMU won the 2019 meeting in Mount Pleasant, 16-7, for its only victory in the series.

HOW TO FOLLOW:
Live stats and stream for Sunday's game can be found at CMUChippewas.com. Follow along on Twitter @MarquetteWLAX for live in-game updates.

GAME DETAILS
Marquette (0-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) at Central Michigan (0-0, 0-0 MAC)
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
CMU Lacrosse-Soccer Complex
Sunday, Feb. 21
11 a.m. CT
CMU Chippewas.com

MARQUETTE: The Golden Eagles are in their ninth season in program history in 2020 under head coach Meredith Black. MU is 50-82 (19-25 BIG EAST) all-time. So far in 2021, MU has played one game, losing a 20-19 heartbreaker at Cincinnati on Feb. 14.

MU 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.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN: Central Michigan is led by sixth-year head coach Sarah Tisdale, who has been the program's only head coach. She's 33-41 at CMU. The Chippewas get seven starters back from last year's team that went 2-3 in non-conference play before the season was canceled due to COVID-19.

Senior attacker Natalie Karlen is their leading returning points getter from 2020. She tallied a line of 13 goals and 11 assists (24 pts).

CMU defeated Butler and Stetson in 2020 and lost games to MU, Cincinnati and Notre Dame.

The Chippewas moved to the MAC for its inaugural season in 2021. They were unanimously picked to finish first in the six-team league. Robert Morris (32 points), Kent State (24), Akron (16), Detroit Mercy (13) and Youngstown State (11) follow CMU.

KEY STORYLINES:

Because of postponements with Notre Dame, Central Michigan and Marquette will now play a home-and-home this season, starting Sunday in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
MU is looking to bounce back from a 20-19 heartbreaker at Cincinnati.
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 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.
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).
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 (432) 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.

LAST TIME OUT

The Marquette women's lacrosse team opened its 2021 season with a 20-19 defeat against Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon.
Redshirt senior Megan Menzuber scored a team-high six goals to go along with three assists. Emma Soccodato (four goals) and Lydia Foust (three goals, two assists) also tallied hat tricks for MU. Sophomore Hannah Greving and senior Caroline Steller had two goals while Mary Schumar and Leigh Steiner scored once apiece.
Trailing 19-17, the Bearcats scored the final three goals of the game to go up 20-19, getting two from senior attacker Monica Borzillo, including the game-winner with 1:38 to play.

2020 REGULAR SEASON RECAP
• The Golden Eagles played 10 of their eighteen scheduled regular season games in 2020 due to the coronavirus cancelling 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 (23G, 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 in early February 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 49 turnovers, which puts her at No. 9 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
• 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 (120) and No. 2 all-time in save % (.438).

GOLDEN EAGLES MOVING THEIR WAY UP THE RECORD BOOKS
• Megan Menzuber moved up to No. 6 all-time in points (132), No. 6 all-time in goals (93) and No. 5 in assists (39) after her six-goal, three-assist performance at Cincinnati on Sunday. In her last two games, she's scored 13 goals and dished out six assists.
• Madison Kane (22) and Caroline Steller (21) are in eighth and ninth all-time in career assists at Marquette.
• Jocelyn Miller is in 9th all-time in caused turnovers (49) in her career.
• Emily Cooper is No. 4 all-time in draw controls at MU (99).
• Jules Horning (432 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 (132).

MARQUETTE WELCOMES 10-PLAYER FRESHMEN CLASS
• The 2020 class is made up of four defenders, four midfielders and two attackers. Four states are represented, with four girls hailing from Maryland, three from Illinois, two from Minnesota and one from New Jersey.
• "We're very excited to welcome 10 new freshmen into our program," Black said. "As a staff we feel strongly that this class will add to our collection of talent and help bring our program to the next level."

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).