WLAX Set to Host No. 19 Louisville Sunday

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette women's lacrosse team will look to continue its three-game winning streak Sunday against the No. 19 Louisville Cardinals. The two teams met in each of the last seven seasons and the Cardinals hold a 6-1 series advantage.

The game is set Sunday, March 14 at 11 a.m. Central time at Valley Fields. GoMarquette.com will provide live stats and a live stream once again. Dan Avington (play-by-play) and Eric Simon (analyst) will be on the call.

The Golden Eagles (3-2) have taken multiple steps forward since dropping two one-goal games to open the season against Cincinnati and Central Michigan. They've beaten Oregon (16-4), Kent State (19-8) and got revenge against CMU (15-4) and will look to build off that momentum against No. 19 ranked UofL.

Although MU is characterized by a balanced offensive attack, redshirt senior Megan Menzuber is having an all-time start to the season. She leads the team and the BIG EAST with 26 points (18 goals, eight assists) and became the first Golden Eagle in team history to register 25 points in the first five games of a season.

The Golden Eagles have five players who've reached double digits in points (Menzuber, Lydia Foust, Caroline Steller and Leigh Steiner) and 13 who have contributed to the points tally in 2021.

MU has split goaltending duties this year with Sophia Leva (3-1, 7.18 GAA, .566 SV%) and Jules Horning (0-1, 13.34 GAA, .226 SV%) each playing at least 90 minutes of action so far.

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

GAME DETAILS
Marquette (3-2, 0-0 BIG EAST) vs. #19 Louisville (3-2, 0-1 ACC)
Valley Fields
Sunday, March 14
11 a.m. CT
GoMarquette.com

MARQUETTE: The Golden Eagles are in their ninth season in program history in 2020 under head coach Meredith Black. MU is 53-83 (19-25 BIG EAST) all-time.

So far in 2021, MU has started the season 3-2 after two one-goal losses at Cincinnati (20-19) and Central Michigan (11-10) and three decisive wins over Oregon (16-4), Kent State (19-8) and Central Michigan (15-4). The Golden Eagles are once again characterized by a balanced attack with eight different players scoring multiple goals so far this season.

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.

One of the most productive players in school history, Megan Menzuber leads the offensive attack. She ranks No. 3 all-time in goals (105) and No. 4 in points (149). She leads the team in scoring this year (18 goals, eight assists) along with Lydia Foust (12 goals, five assists).

LOUISVILLE: Louisville is led by fourth-year head coach Scott Teeter. He's 163-150 as a head coach and 18-30 in his time at Louisville.

The Cardinals responded to a hard-fought loss at No. 8 Virginia with an 11-8 win against Central Michigan on Friday. UofL is 3-2 overall and 0-1 in ACC action in 2021.

Louisville remains in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Top 25 poll for the third-straight week, coming in at No. 19. The Cardinals are also ranked 17th by IL Women and 18th by US Lacrosse Magazine.

Hannah Morris leads the Cardinals with 10 goals and ranks second on the team with 11 points. She has scored in all four games this season, including hat tricks against Cincinnati and Virginia, and ranks fourth in the ACC with 24 shots.

Named an Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-American Honorable Mention, Caroline Blalock tops the Cardinals' lineup with six assists and 15 points. She also ranks second with nine goals and 12 draw controls after four games.

KEY STORYLINES:

The Golden Eagles have lost six of the seven games against Louisville in the history of the two programs.
MU won the last meeting between the two teams in Milwaukee, taking a 15-12 win in 2019.
MU is 18-5 in its last 23 home games at Valley Fields.
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.
Megan Menzuber (149 points) is up to No. 4 all-time in program history. She also scored her 100^th career goal at Kent State on Sunday, becoming just the fifth player in program history to hit the 100-goal mark.
Senior goalie Sophia Leva is off to a red-hot start to the season. In four games she's tallied 30 saves and holds a .566 save percentage. She was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll last Monday after picking up her first two victories in net last weekend.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Marquette women's lacrosse team defeated Central Michigan 15-4 on Friday afternoon at Valley Fields to earn its third straight victory.
• Megan Menzuber and Lydia Foust led the way for MU with hat tricks while Hannah Greving, Mary Schumar and Caroline Steller scored two goals each. Madison Kane, Caroline Peterson and Leigh Steiner tacked on one goal apiece.
• The Golden Eagles dominated in the first half, scoring four unanswered goals to take a commanding 7-1 lead into halftime. They built their lead to 10-1 in the second half and scored four of the final five goals of the game after CMU cut it to 10-3.
• Senior goalie Sophia Leva (3-1) made her fourth start of the season and saved three shots. She let up just four goals during her time in net.

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).

DOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
• Marquette is 18-5 in its last 23 games at Valley Fields, including a 4-1 record in 2020 and a 2-0 mark in 2021.
• In 2019, MU went 4-3 at home, including a 14-12 win over then No. 24-ranked Georgetown to tally its first top-25 win in program history.
• The Golden Eagles shattered their previous record for home wins with an 8-1 campaign inside the dome in 2018. MU outscored their opponents at home, 151-105, with a scoring average of 16.78/game.

GOLDEN EAGLES MOVING THEIR WAY UP THE RECORD BOOKS
• Megan Menzuber is No. 4 all-time in points (149), No. 3 all-time in goals (105) and No. 5 in assists (44).
• Shea Garcia (57) ranks 10th all-time at MU in goals scored (57) and shots (132) and ninth in shots on goal (102).
• Caroline Steller (26) Madison Kane (22) moved into seventh and eighth place all-time in career assists at Marquette.
• Steller ranks 11th all-time at MU with 50 goals. She's seven behind Garcia in the top-10.
• Jocelyn Miller is in eighth all-time in caused turnovers (53) and 10th in ground balls (78).
• Emily Cooper is No. 3 all-time in draw controls at MU (121).
• Jules Horning (436 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 (136).

REDSHIRT FRESHMAN STEINER STANDING OUT
• One of Marquette's breakout stars in 2021 has been redshirt freshman midfielder Leigh Steiner. The Eden Prairie, Minn., native sat out last year after recovering from an ACL tear during her senior year of high school.
• She's fourth on the team in points with 12 (8G-4A) and has started in all five games. She's one of three players to tally points in every game this season.
• Steiner tallied a career-high five points with a four-goal, one-assist game in a win at Kent State on Feb. 28.

MENZUBER AND LEVA RANKING AMONG NATIONS BEST
• Redshirt senior Megan Menzuber ranks No. 10 nationally in points (26), No. 22 in points per game (5.20), No. 13 in goals (18) and No. 27 in goals per game (3.60).
• Senior goalie Sophia Leva ranks No. 8 nationally in both save percentage (.566) and goals against average (7.18).

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).