WLAX Set to Host Butler, #18 Notre Dame at Valley Fields

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MILWAUKEE — The Marquette women's lacrosse team (6-7, 1-1 BIG EAST) will play games two and three of a four-game homestand this weekend as it hosts Butler and #18 Notre Dame. The Golden Eagles will face the Bulldogs (6-6, 0-2 BIG EAST) on Saturday, April 16, at Valley Fields at 12 p.m. (CT), before hosting the Fighting Irish on Monday, April 18, at 1 p.m. (CT). Both games will be streamed on YouTube, with links for live video and stats available at GoMarquette.com.

Marquette enters the weekend with a 6-7 record on the year, splitting its first two games of BIG EAST play. Most recently, the Golden Eagles posted an important 19-14 win over Villanova on Saturday. MU looks to remain unbeaten at home, holding a perfect 4-0 record at Valley Fields this year.

Butler enters the weekend in search of its first BIG EAST victory, after falling to Denver and Georgetown in its first two league contests. The Bulldogs hold an even 6-6 record on the year, including a 3-3 mark on the road. They have been led in scoring by junior attack/midfielder Campbell Connors, who has 31 goals on the year. Junior attack/midfielder Greer Bireley, sister of MU's Meg Bireley, leads the BIG EAST with 2.25 assists per game. They are led by Cecil Pilson, in his sixth season at the head of the program

The Fighting Irish enter the weekend ranked 18th nationally with a 5-8 record on the year. They will face conference-foe Pittsburgh at home on Saturday before traveling to Milwaukee. Notre Dame has yet to win a game on the road, holding an 0-4 record away from home this year. The team has been led by junior attacker Madison Ahern, who has a team-best 50 points on 39 goals and 11 assists this season. They are coached by Christine Halfpenny, in her 11th year at the head of the program.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

• Butler sits at 6-6 on the season with a 0-2 mark in conference play.

• The Bulldogs are coming off a 17-7 loss to Georgetown on April 9 after scoring the second-most goals in a single game in program history in a 21-2 victory over Saint Ambrose on April 5.

• BU is .500 on the road this season, going 3-3 in contests away from home.

• Butler finished 2021 with a 1-11 record, going 0-10 in league play. It was picked sixth in this year's BIG EAST preseason poll.

• Campbell Connors has paced the Bulldogs' offense with 38 points this season on 31 goals and seven assists. Senior Lindsey Schreiber has added 22 goals, and Gabryelle Bodine trails close behind with 21.

• Sophomore Aleigh Monroe has seen action in goal in 11 games for the Bulldogs and has a made a team-high 57 saves on 211 shots faced. She has allowed 96 goals for a goals allowed average of 12.66.

SERIES HISTORY VS BUTLER

• Saturday's matchup will be the fifth all-time between MU and Butler.

• The Golden Eagles have dominated the all-time series, winning all five prior meetings and out-scoring Butler 88-23.

• Marquette and the Bulldogs met twice last season in Indianapolis. MU came away with an 18-5 win on April 23 before earning a 16-10 win on April 25.

Last 5 Meetings

DATE LOCATION RESULT SCORE

4/25/21 A W 16-10

4/23/21 A W 18-5

4/6/19 H W 16-3

4/4/18 A W 19-3

4/22/17 H W 19-2

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH

• Notre Dame is ranked #18 in the nation, owning a 5-8 overall record entering the weekend, including a 1-5 mark in ACC play.

• The Fighting Irish will host Pittsburgh on Saturday before traveling to Milwaukee.

• Notre Dame has dropped three of its past four games. All three losses were conference matchups, the most recent of which was a 16-10 loss to Boston College on April 9.

• ND has yet to win on the road this season, sitting at 0-4 away from home.

• Junior Madison Ahern headlines the Notre Dame offense with 50 points on 39 goals and 11 assists. She currently ranks 10th in the ACC in points per game (3.85) and fourth in shots per game (6.69).

• Kasey Choma has also been an offensive centerpiece, finding the back of the net 37 times in 13 games.

• Graduate student Bridget Deehan ranks among the top goalkeepers in the ACC, ranking second in the league in both saves per game (8.38) and save percentage (.460). She also ranks fourth in goals against average (10.55).

SERIES HISTORY VS NOTRE DAME

• Monday marks the ninth all-time meeting between the Golden Eagles and Fighting Irish.

• Notre Dame has won every matchup to date, holding an 8-0 record in the all-time series. The Fighting Irish have been ranked during every meeting.

• The teams did not meet last season, but ND came away with an 18-3 win in their most recent contest on Feb. 9, 2020.

Last 5 Meetings

DATE LOCATION RESULT SCORE

2/9/20 A L 3-18

2/8/19 H L 4-19

2/28/18 A L 10-15

2/14/17 A L 9-21

3/28/16 H L 9-17

LAST TIME OUT

• Marquette played its BIG EAST home opener on Saturday, hosting and defeating the Villanova Wildcats 19-14.

• The Golden Eagles came out firing and never looked back. They scored the first five goals of the game to open up a lead early, then continued to take a 12-6 lead into the halftime break.

• Following the half, MU held Villanova to just one third quarter goal while scoring three of its own. The Wildcats made a late push, but were unable to get back within five.

• Freshman attack/midfielder Meg Bireley had a strong five-point performance, scoring a career-high four goals in the contest. She was one of four Golden Eagles with a hat trick, joined by Kyra LaMotte, Shea Garcia and Emma Soccodato.

• Amanda Rumsey played all 60 minutes in the net, recording six saves while facing 20 shots.

IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY

• Saturday's game will feature a sibling rivalry as the Bireley sisters, Meg and Greer, will face off for the first time of their college careers.

• The sisters from Glenview, Illinois, are separated by two class years but played together at Glenbrook South High School.

• Greer, a junior this season, plays attack/midfield and has made 21 appearances over the past two years while making 10 starts. This season she ranks second on the team in points (35) while leading the squad and ranking second in the BIG EAST in assists (27).

• Meg, a freshman who has appeared and played significant minutes in all 13 games this year for MU, is having a strong rookie campaign. She has 24 points on 20 goals and four assists, leading all Marquette freshman in each of those categories.

A PAIR OF WEEKLY HONORS

• Following Marquette's 19-14 win over Villanova last week, a pair of Golden Eagles were honored by the BIG EAST.

• Meg Bireley was named the league's Freshman of the Week after totaling five points on a career-high four goals to go along with an assist off the bench. She became the first MU player to earn FOTW honors since Hannah Greving on Feb. 24, 2020.

• Shea Garcia was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the third time this season after also having a five-point outing. She scored three goals while dishing two assists, to go along with a ground ball and a turnover.

NOTRE DAME CONNECTION

• Marquette head coach Meredith Black is very familiar with Notre Dame, having formerly spent time both as a player and as a coach for the Fighting Irish.

• As a player from 2001-04, she helped the team to its first two NCAA Championship appearances in school history in 2002 and 2004. She was the school's first ever women's lacrosse First Team All-American in 2004 and was a nominee for the Tewaarton Award, honoring the nation's top player.

• Black concluded her ND career ranking first in school history in games played (64), third in goals (109), fourth in assists (49), third in points (158), tied for fourth in ground balls (123) and third in draw controls (91).

• After taking her first coaching job as an assistant at Towson, Black returned to Notre Dame as an assistant coach under Coach Tracy Coyne from 2008-10.

HOME DOME ADVANTAGE

• There has been no place quite like home this season for the Golden Eagles, who have yet to lose a game at Valley Fields this season while posting a perfect 4-0 record in home contests.

• With three of its remaining four regular season contests being played at home, Marquette has out-scored opponents by a combined 74-45 in the dome this season, averaging an incredible 18.5 goals per game.

• MU has secured a winning home record this season, doing so for the fifth time in the past seven seasons.

WELCOME TO THE 100 CLUB

• With an early first quarter goal against Villanova last week, Lydia Foust reached the 100-career point plateau.

• The senior midfielder is having one of the best statistical seasons of her MU career, totaling 33 points on 23 goals and 10 assists.

• With 103 career points to her name, Foust now sits just 19 points from moving into the program's all-time top-10. She is currently ninth all-time with 80 career goals.