2023 Marquette Lacrosse: Offensive Preview
The Golden Eagles return 93% of production from offensive players
Communications
After three seasons of uncertainty, the fourth year of the men’s lacrosse program under head coach Andrew Stimmel begins with optimism thanks to lots of experienced talent. The Golden Eagles returned to the BIG EAST Conference tournament last season for the first time since 2018 and played a full slate of games for the first time in Stimmel’s tenure.
Despite injuries to key starters that overshadowed the roster’s growth, attackman Bobby O’Grady made his career debut, while faceoff specialist Luke Williams and goalie Michael Allieri emerged as all-conference-caliber players at two of the most important positions. Mason Woodward turned in a second All-America season on close defense and injuries across the board forced young players to develop on the fly.
Picked fourth once again in the league’s preseason poll, the will Golden Eagles look to put the false starts and injuries of the last few seasons behind them as they close the gap on the conference elite. For the first time this spring, Marquette will host the BIG EAST tournament on May 4-6 at Valley Fields.
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— Marquette Lacrosse (@MarquetteMLax) January 26, 2023
-@MUCoachStim and MU made it back to the BIG EAST tournament last spring and return most key pieces from that squad.#WeAreMarquette x @NCAALAX pic.twitter.com/NsG8uHyCHn
ATTACK/OFFENSIVE MIDFIELD
| Returning point producers (top 6 from 2022): | |
|---|---|
| 50 points | O’Grady (15 GP, 45g, 5a) |
| 29 | Cowan (11 GP, 21g, 8a) |
| 26 | Foster (14 GP, 10g, 16a) |
| 24 | Stegman (15 GP, 11g, 13a) |
| 20 | Blanc (15 GP, 16g, 4a) |
| 14 | Washburn (14 GP, 9g, 5a) |
Points Returning: 93.4% of point production among offensive players returning (199 of 213 points)
RETURNING STARTERS
| Returning Starters | Pos. | 2022 Stats | |
| 13 | Bobby O'Grady | A | 15 GP/GS, 50 pts (45-5-50), 13 man-up goals, 24 gb |
| 14 | Jake Stegman | A | 15 GP/13 GS, 24 pts (11-13-24), 15 gb |
| 29 | Devon Cowan | A | 11 GP/10 GS, 29 pts (21-8-29), 7 man-up goals |
| 6 | Luke Blanc | M | 15 GP/8 GS, 20 pts (16-4-20), 4 man-up goals |
| 22 | Will Foster | M | 14 GP/12 GS, 26 pts (10-16-26) |
| 54 | Chris Kirschner | M | 15 GP/GS, 9 pts (8-1-9), 6 gb, will play SSDM in '23 |
The offensive unit is expected to take a leap in 2022 with plenty of returning firepower and hopes of good health. Any discussion on offense starts with sophomore Bobby O’Grady, who rewrote the MU record book as a freshman with 45 goals. He joined fellow starting attackman Devon Cowan as the only underclassmen in MU history to reach 30 goals in a single campaign (Cowan had 30 in 2021 in his first full season).
O’Grady averaged a program-record 3.00 goals per game in 2022 on his way to All-BIG EAST First Team and Freshman of the Year recognition. He scored 22 goals in just five league games (4.40 per game), including a BIG EAST-record eight scores at St. John’s on April 9.
Most people would see (O’Grady’s) freshman campaign and say ‘that’s going to be really hard to follow up with how successful he was.’ If you sit down and watch film with Bobby, he’ll tell you 10 things he can get better at in the first 30 seconds of that film clip.-Stimmel on O'Grady
Bobby O'Grady posted a Marquette-record 8?? goals in today's 23-13 win at St. John's. #WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/Rv6FGJiokC
— Marquette Lacrosse (@MarquetteMLax) April 9, 2022
I think the sky is the limit for him and it really starts with his work ethic and mentality in how he approaches every day. He’s one of the most competitive people I’ve ever been around. I think the next step for him is to become a facilitator.-Stimmel on O'Grady, continued
Though playing just 11 games himself last season while missing four contests due to a thumb injury, Cowan scored 21 goals with eight assists. His physical play provided a counterbalance to O’Grady’s slick play and deadly shooting accuracy.
Cowan’s classmates Jake Stegman and Chris Kirschner started 13 and 15 games, respectively, but rotated on attack and in the midfield. Kirschner will switch to the defensive midfield this spring, while Stegman will reprise his role as a key feeder to O’Grady and Cowan.
Devon and Bobby play well together, being a righty and lefty compliment. They’re two very different players but they tend to look and find each other. Especially when Devon has the ball, I think he loves finding Bobby off the ball. I think they have a great rapport.-Stimmel on his top-two offensive players
Sophomore Will Foster joins Stegman as one of MU’s primary facilitators after leading the squad with 16 helpers last season along with 10 goals. Foster’s basketball background became evident as the season progressed and his field vision became invaluable for the Golden Eagles.
Another player who steadily increased his value last year was UMass-transfer Luke Blanc, a top-50 recruit in the high school class of 2020. Blanc played out of the midfield, scoring 16 goals with shot and shot-on-goal percentages that were the highest on the team, ahead of even O’Grady.
With Kirschner’s move to the rope unit, Stimmel will have multiple experienced options at his disposal for the vacant starting spot in the midfield, whether it is his returning reserves or a trio of transfers into the program. Due to the injuries sustained last season on offense, the entire group of returning offensive players garnered valuable playing time in 2022.
You want as many good players as you can have on the field that all play well together. It’s going to be really competitive to be on the top two lines and there are going to be guys on the third line who are just as good or close to guys on those first or second lines. We are trying to create environments to provide that competition.-Stimmel on MU's offensive depth
RETURNING RESERVES
| Returning Reserves | 2022 Stats | |
| 12 | Pierce Washburn | 14 GP/4 GS, 14 pts (9-5-14), 2 man-up goals |
| 15 | Griffin Fries | 7 GP/GS, 5 pts (4-1-5) |
| 16 | Nolan Rappis | 3 GP/2 GS, 5 pts (4-1-5) |
| 18 | Conor McCabe | Redshirt |
| 27 | Nolan Garcia | 9 GP, 4 pts (2-2-4) |
| 28 | Holden Patterson | 12 GP, 4 pts (2-2-4) |
| 35 | Hayden Miller | 9 GP/1 GS, 6 pts (5-1-6) |
| 71 | Justin Mintzer | 6 GS, 3 pts (1-2-3) |
The Golden Eagles might return the deepest offensive midfield unit they’ve had during the past decade thanks to returners gaining valuable experience due to last season’s injury woes. MU should be able to roll a solid two midfield units and all but Conor McCabe – who redshirted as a freshman – played important roles last year.
Patterson decided over the summer to return for a fifth season after posting four points on a pair of goals and two assists in 13 games. He has 11 man-up goals in his career provides a veteran presence to the offensive unit.
Washburn made four starts last season, contributing nine goals with five assists and providing a more size to the MU midfield, while Fries started all seven of the games in which he played.
Rappis was thrust into the starting lineup early in his freshman campaign on attack due to an injury to Russell Melendez and acclimated himself well, recording four points, including a hat trick against then-No. 16 Michigan on March 1. The native of Delafield, Wisconsin then suffered a knee injury on March 5 against Detroit Mercy to end his rookie season.
Mintzer – like Washburn – provides a bigger body to the offensive unit, while the shifty Miller scored five goals in nine games in the midfield.
Nolan Garcia started to see more action as the season progressed and proved himself, along with Cowan, to be one of the more aggressive offensive players on the Golden Eagles roster.
Nolan Rappis is a guy who we are really excited about. I think he had two really good games before he unfortunately got injured last year. We had really high hopes for him. He’s done a good job in his recovery and is slowly getting back to doing some stuff with us. We’re really excited about him.-Stimmel on Nolan Rappis
TRANSFERS
| Transfers | Pos. | Prev. School | 2022 Stats/Honors | |
| 3 | Matthew Winegardner | M | Mercer | All-SoCon Second Team, 15 GP, 27 pts (17-10-27) |
| 6 | Nate Surd | M | Colorado Mesa/Harford CC | NJCAA All-American, 12 GP, 49 pts (29-20-49) |
| 66 | Jackson Rose | A | St. Bonaventure | All-MAAC Second Team, 15 GP, 43 pts (40-3-43) |
Jackson Rose is a great shooter and off-ball player. He’s a very efficient player who doesn’t need to touch the ball much to be effective or impactful. Playing with Devon and Bobby on attack, we’ll see what he can bring to the table. He’s got a quiet way about him. He’s very calm in his role and I think he understands what he’s good at.-Stimmel on the addition of attackman Jackson Rose
Winegardner and Rose both arrive as all-conference performers and high-level point producers at their previous institutions. Rose was a second team All-MAAC attackman last season at St. Bonaventure, where he led the league in shooting percentage, and scored a career-high 40 goals on attack. Winegardner played in the midfield at Mercer, where he posted 27 points on 17 goals and 10 assists.
Surd played one season at Colorado Mesa with MU faceoff specialist Cole Emmanuel before spending two seasons at Harford Community College in Maryland. The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder posted 75 points in 22 career games at Harford, including 49 points (29 goals and 20 assists) in 12 games last season.
Winegardner has an ability with the ball in his stick to create separation and has a unique style to his game. He’s slowly starting to figure out what it’s like to play with these guys. He’s just a worker who comes in every day and has the same routine. He does the same thing whether we play or not and I think that shows on the field.-Stimmel on Winegardner
FRESHMEN
| Freshmen | Pos. | Hometown/High School | |
| 9 | Andrew Bowman | A | Nanaimo, British Columbia/Nanaimo District Secondary |
| 17 | Connor Gorman | A | Ramsey, N.J./Don Bosco Prep |
| 37 | Charlie Reynolds | M | Fairfax, Va./Robinson Secondary |
| 39 | Jacob Nottoli | A | Columbia, Pa./St. Paul's School |
| 99 | Jake Bair | M | Reisterstown, Md./St. Paul's School |
Stimmel is optimistic regarding his incoming group, which faces a fight for playing time with many more experienced players. The lone Canadian in the group, Bowman has seen action during the preseason on attack, while Bair provides a physical presence in the midfield not seen at MU since John Wagner played through the box early in his career. The St. Paul’s School product joins Mason Woodward, Jamie Grant and classmate Jacob Nottoli as former Saints on the MU roster.
(Andrew Bowman) played with older guys indoors in juniors and I think that’s showing daily that he’s not intimidated by a senior that’s covering him. The thing I love about Andrew is that he’s even-keeled. He shows up and he’s the same guy every day, whether he makes a good play or one that he wants back – he’s to the next rep. And that’s just his personality – very steady.-Stimmel on the addition of Andrew Bowman
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