WLAX Set for Rematch Against Central Michigan

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette women's lacrosse team will look to continue its two-game winning streak this weekend against the Central Michigan Chippewas. The two teams met back on Feb. 21 in Mount Pleasant, Mich., with CMU coming away with an 11-10 win.

The game is set Friday, March 5 at 1:30 p.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 (2-2) took a couple steps forward last weekend after losing two one-goal games to open the season against Cincinnati and CMU. They defeated Oregon 16-4 in their home opener on Friday night and Kent State 19-8 on the road on Sunday.

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 22 points (15 goals, seven assists) and became the first Golden Eagle in team history to register 22 points in the first four games of a season.

The Golden Eagles have four 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 (2-1, 8.02 GAA, .587 SV%) and Jules Horning (0-1, 14.72 GAA, .200 SV%) each playing at least 90 minutes of action so far.

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

GAME DETAILS
Marquette (2-2, 0-0 BIG EAST) vs. Central Michigan (2-1, 0-0 MAC)
Milwaukee, Wis.
Valley Fields
Friday, March 5
1:30 p.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 52-83 (19-25 BIG EAST) all-time.

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

Prior to this year, MU had been 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 35-42 at CMU. CMU is 2-1 in 2021 with wins over MU and Oregon and a loss to Vanderbilt.

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). Karlen has 10 goals and three assists to lead CMU this year.

In 2020, CMU defeated Butler and Stetson 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:

The Golden Eagles have won four of the six all-time matchups with Central Michigan, including a 19-9 triumph at Valley Fields last year.
MU is 17-5 in its last 22 home games at Valley Fields.
MU is looking to exact revenge on the Chippewas after falling 11-10 on the road to them on Feb. 21.
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 (145 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 27 saves and holds a .587 save percentage. She was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll this past Monday after picking up her first two victories in net last weekend.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Marquette women's lacrosse team defeated Oregon 16-4 and Kent State 19-8 last Friday and Sunday, respectively.
• Redshirt senior Megan Menzuber scored three of her game-high five goals in the first half to lead the Golden Eagles to a decisive victory to open up their home slate at Valley Fields against the Ducks. Shea Garcia, Hannah Greving and Mary Schumar tallied two goals apiece while five other Golden Eagles scored one goal.
• MU defeated Kent State 19-8 on Sunday afternoon to complete its perfect weekend. Redshirt freshman Leigh Steiner scored a career-high four goals to lead the Golden Eagles.
• Hannah Greving, Megan Menzuber and Caroline Steller also tallied hat tricks while Shea Garcia and Lydia Foust netted two goals apiece. Menzuber also led the team with three assists.

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 (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 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.

DOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
• Marquette is 17-5 in its last 22 games at Valley Fields, including a 4-1 record in 2020 and a 1-0 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.

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 (127) and No. 2 all-time in save % (.450).

GOLDEN EAGLES MOVING THEIR WAY UP THE RECORD BOOKS
• Megan Menzuber is No. 4 all-time in points (145), No. 5 all-time in goals (102) and No. 5 in assists (43).
• Shea Garcia ranks 10th all-time at MU in goals scored (57) and shots (132) and ninth in shots on goal (102).
• Caroline Steller (25) Madison Kane (22) moved into seventh and eighth place all-time in career assists at Marquette.
• Jocelyn Miller is in eighth all-time in caused turnovers (52) and 10th in ground balls (78).
• Emily Cooper is No. 3 all-time in draw controls at MU (124).
• Jules Horning (435 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).

MARQUETTE PLAYERS AMONG ACTIVE NCAA STATISTICAL LEADERS
• The Golden Eagles have several players who rank among NCAA statistical active leaders.
• Megan Menzber (102 goals) ranks No. 42 in the nation among active leaders.
• Jules Horning ranks No. 8 in career saves (436) and No. 12 in saves per game (7.10).
• Jules Horning ranks No. 14 in career ground balls (134).

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).