WLAX Faces Detroit Mercy Friday at Noon

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PONTIAC, Mich. — The Marquette women's lacrosse team (1-3, 0-0 BIG EAST) hits the road this weekend as it travels to Pontiac, Michigan, to take on Detroit Mercy. The Golden Eagles will face the Titans (0-2, 0-1 MAC) on Friday, Feb. 25 at UWM Sports Complex. First draw is set for 12 p.m. (CT). The game will not be streamed or televised, but a link for live stats is available at GoMarquette.com.

Friday's contest will be part four of a six-game road trip for the Golden Eagles, who are in search of their first road win of the 2022 campaign. Last week, Marquette lost a pair of contests, first dropping a 18-9 decision at Louisville on Friday before suffering an 18-11 loss at Ohio State on Sunday. Marquette was picked fifth in this year's BIG EAST preseason coaches' poll after going 7-9 overall and 4-6 in conference play a season ago.

Marquette welcomed in 10 newcomers to this year's squad, including eight true freshmen and a pair of graduate transfers. They joined 12 returning letterwinners and six returning starters from a season ago.

Detroit Mercy has opened its 2022 campaign with a pair of losses, starting the year with a 23-2 result against No. 23 Michigan on Feb. 11, followed by a 17-9 loss on Wednesday in its conference opener at Robert Morris.

The Titans finished the 2021 campaign with a 2-8 overall mark, all 10 of their contests coming against MAC opponents as it placed last in the six-team conference. The Golden Eagles have swept the all-time series against Detroit Mercy 6-0, including a 3-0 record on the road. The two squads didn't face off last year, but met in Detroit on March 11, 2020, a 23-12 win for MU.

SCOUTING THE TITANS

• Detroit Mercy is off to an 0-2 start to the 2022 season after opening the year with a pair of losses to No. 23 Michigan and Robert Morris.

• The Titans opened their season on Feb. 11 when they hosted the Wolverines, losing 23-2. On Wednesday, they opened conference play with their road opener at Robert Morris, a 17-9 loss.

• Detroit Mercy went 2-8 during a shortened conference-only 2021 campaign to finish last in the six-team MAC.

• Senior midfielder Elise Harder is the Titans' top returning goal scorer after finding the back of the net 27 times and totaling 31 points last season.

• In 2021, Detroit Mercy ranked 28th nationally with 9.1 caused turnovers per game.

SERIES HISTORY VS DETROIT MERCY

• Marquette and Detroit Mercy have faced off six times in a series which began in 2013.

• The Golden Eagles have swept the all-time series 6-0, three of those wins coming in Detroit and three in Milwaukee.

• Most recently, the teams met up on March 11, 2020, a 23-12 win for Marquette in Detroit.

• Each of the past four meetings have been decided by eight or more points.

Last 5 Meetings

DATE LOCATION RESULT SCORE

3/11/21 A W 23-12

2/17/19 H W 22-9

3/6/16 A W 14-5

3/22/15 H W 13-5

3/2/14 A W 15-9

RECAPPING THE WEEK

• The Golden Eagles dropped a pair of road contests last week, falling to Louisville on Friday and Ohio State on Sunday.

• In an 18-9 loss to Louisville, Marquette got off to a rough start as the Cardinals started the contest on a 6-1 run. MU responded with four-straight goals to cut into the lead, but Louisville maintained control the rest of the way.

• Emma Soccodato went for her second hat trick of the season with three goals, while Kyra LaMotte dished out a game-high four assists while also netting one goal.

• Seven of Louisville's 18 goals came on free position shots.

• In an 18-11 loss at Ohio State, Marquette led for the majority of the first three quarters before allowing a 9-0 Buckeye run to fall behind late in the contest.

• The Golden Eagles scored six first-quarter goals, led by Shea Garcia's first quarter hat trick. She finished with a game-high four.

• Soccodato also filled the stat sheet, recording two goals on six shots, as well as a caused turnover and a game-high seven draw controls.

SCHUMAR'S STELLAR START

• Taking on a much larger workload this season, junior attacker Mary Schumar has stepped into a starting role and excelled early in the season.

• After totaling three assists in 15 appearances in 2021, Schumar already has eight assists through just four contests this season.

• She is also has seven goals, just three shy of tying last year's total.

• Schumar currently leads the league and ranks 23rd nationally with 2.0 assists per game, and is fifth in the BIG EAST in total goals (7) and third in points per game (3.75).

ON THE DRAW

• Marquette has been one of the top draw control teams in not just the BIG EAST, but in the nation this season.

• Averaging 18.5 draw controls per game, the Golden Eagles currently rank eighth nationally.

• MU also ranks 37th in the NCAA with a .540 draw control percentage.

• Three different Marquette players rank in the league's top eight in individual draw controls, led by Emma Soccodato's 5.5 per contest.