MLAX welcomes Cleveland State to Valley Fields on Saturday

Game Notes (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's lacrosse team faces Cleveland State at Valley Fields on Saturday, March 27 in lieu of the previously scheduled BIG EAST Conference matchup with St. John's.

Saturday's 11 a.m. Central time game will air live on GoMarquette.com/watch in a broadcast produced by the Marquette Wire, Marquette's student-run media organization. Live statistics will also be available.

The Golden Eagles were previously scheduled to open the 2021 campaign against Cleveland State on Saturday, February 13 at Valley Fields, but that game was postponed due to COVID issues at CSU.

Marquette had games against St. John's set for March 20 and 27 but had to find a different opponent with SJU on pause due to COVID-19.

The Golden Eagles are in search of their first victory after losses in their first four BIG EAST Conference matches and last Wednesday's 10-3 defeat at No. 8 Notre Dame. The Irish scored seven straight goals in the first and second quarters to pull away for the win. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter and the two squads managed a combined two goals in the second half.

Redshirt junior attackman Griffin Fleming posted an assist in the loss to the Irish and leads the Golden Eagles with 10 goals and seven assists on the year. Redshirt freshman Devon Cowan is right behind him with 11 goals and four assists this season. Cowan has posted a point in all 12 games of his collegiate career and scored in 10-straight games.

Redshirt freshman Mason Woodward paces the Golden Eagles defense with 30 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers, while classmate Sean Richard has solidified his spot in net for the Golden Eagles with a .565 save percentage. Richard has started three of MU's five matches and posted 39 saves and a 11.36 goals against average.

Cleveland State is 1-3 on the year with a lone victory over Bellarmine, 8-1, on Saturday, March 13 in Louisville. The Vikings opened the season on Feb. 28 with a one-goal loss, 10-9, at Mercer, and fell at Bucknell and Notre Dame during the month of March. Sophomore Brendan Sigurdson leads the Vikings with 10 points on five goals and five assists, while Dylan Warner and Michael Wilson each have six points. Kevin Sobey has started all four games in net and has made 61 saves with a .581 save percentage.

Like Marquette head coach Andrew Stimmel, Cleveland State head man Andy German is in second season in top spot on the CSU sideline after four seasons as a CSU assistant coach. German played and coached at Villanova and spent the 2015 season as head coach at St. Joseph's Prep in Philadelphia where he tutored MU's Griffin Fleming.

Marquette is 1-1 all-time against the Vikings and claimed an 11-10 overtime win on Feb. 1, 2020 in Stimmel's first game as MU head coach. Then-freshman Chris Kirschner scored the OT winner in that game in Cleveland and the Golden Eagles fell, 7-5, to CSU on March 9, 2019 in the first meeting between the two programs at Valley Fields.

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