Men’s lacrosse begins four-game road swing at Utah

Game Notes (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's lacrosse team begins its season-long four game road swing with a Saturday, Feb. 11 game at Utah in Salt Lake City.

Opening faceoff at Rice-Eccles Stadium is slated for 1:05 p.m. Mountain time and the game will air on a Utah live stream through Pac-12 Plus and Pac-12.com. Live statistics are available through StatBroadcast on GoMarquette.com.

MARQUETTE (1-0, 0-0 BIG EAST)

The Golden Eagles began the season with a 17-2 victory over Lindenwood on Feb. 4 at Valley Fields in Milwaukee, led by six goals and one assist from Bobby O'Grady.
O'Grady stretched his career-long scoring streak to 51 goals over his first 16 games and was named the BIG EAST Conference Attack Player of the Week on Monday.
Freshman midfielder Andrew Bowman also scored twice to earn BIG EAST Freshman of the Week accolades, while Mason Woodward earned honor roll recognition after helping the MU defense limit LU to just one goal in each half.
The Golden Eagles won 17-of-23 faceoffs, led by Cole Emmanuel's 10 faceoff wins on 12 tries. Luke Williams was also 5-of-9 at the dot, while graduate student Grant Evans was 2-for-2 in his first NCAA Division I appearance.
In addition to O'Grady, eight other MU players scored goals and Jake Stegman added three assists along with his two scores.
Mike Allieri posted nine saves in net for the Golden Eagles and allowed just two goals in nearly 53 minutes of action.

UTAH (0-1, 0-0 ASUN)

The Utes kicked off their campaign with a 12-4 loss at then-No. 18 Denver on Feb. 4 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
The Pios scored the first three goals of the day and built their lead throughout, culminating in a 6-0 run to close the game. Jordan Hyde scored a hat trick, while Ryan Stines added the only other Utah score.
Goalie Colin Lenskold made eight saves for Utah, which faced a 20-14 disadvantage in shots on goal. Denver also won 13-of-20 faceoffs and picked up 29 ground balls to 18 for the Utes.
The Utah men's lacrosse program is in its fifth year of existence and second under head coach Andrew McMinn, who earned 2022 ASUN Coach of the Year honors after leading the Utes to a 10-4 record and a regular season conference title.
Utah is picked to win the ASUN this spring and has three players on the preseason all-conference team in Tyler Bradbury, preseason league midfielder of the year Josh Rose and defensive player of the year Samuel Cambere.

SERIES WITH UTAH

The Golden Eagles dropped a 12-11 decision to the Utes last season in Milwaukee in the first regular season meeting between the two squads.
MU won 15-of-25 faceoffs and outshot Utah, 41-37, but could not rebound from a 9-7 halftime deficit. Devan Cowan led MU with five points on three assists and a pair of goals while Jordan Hyde, Tyler Bradbury and MJ McMahon each scored twice for the Utes.
MU also played at Utah in a 2019 preseason scrimmage.

WOODWARD IS ELITE

Close defenseman Mason Woodward led the Golden Eagles in caused turnovers in each of his first three seasons and is the program's all-time leader in ground balls per game (4.59 per contest entering 2023).
He returns as the league's leader in ground balls among non-faceoff specialists and is the program's second two-time USILA All-American (Ryan McNamara earned honors in both 2016 and 2017).
Woodward earned BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll recognition for his play in the opener against Lindenwood, during which he scored his third career goal, picked up five ground balls and caused a turnover.

O'GRADY VAULTS INTO MU RECORD BOOK

Bobby O'Grady turned in a record-setting season as a true freshman in 2022, setting new program records for goals (45) and man-up scores (13). He also recorded just the fourth 50-point season at Marquette and tied a BIG EAST record with eight goals at St. John's on April 9, 2022.
His 3.00 goals per game was a MU single-season record and currently through just 16 games of his NCAA career, he's eighth in program history in career goals (51) and is tied for second in man-up scores (15).
O'Grady is just one of eight active players in the country to have at least a 15-game scoring streak and is one of only three on that list to have scored in every career game.
O'Grady was named the BIG EAST Attack Player of the Week for his play in MU's opener against Lindenwood after posting his third career game with at least six goals and seven points.

FRESHMEN ARE GAME ONE MIDFIELD STARTERS

Freshmen Andrew Bowman and Jake Bair each started their NCAA debuts in the midfield alongside sophomore Will Foster. Bowman chipped in two goals in his first appearance, marking just the fifth time that a MU freshman has scored multiple goals in his first NCAA game (others are O'Grady, Devon Cowan, Chris Kirschner and Anthony Orsini).
For his play against Lindenwood, Bowman was honored as the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Feb. 6.

LAMARCA AND KREINZ SHINE IN MIDFIELD

While David Lamarca earned All-BIG EAST Preseason Team recognition at LSM, his counterpart at the position, Logan Kreinz, has been just as valuable to the MU defense. Lamarca, a junior, picked up six ground balls in the season opener against Lindenwood on Feb. 4, while Logan Kreinz, a graduate student, notched an assist and five ground balls.
The tandem, which entered 2023 with 58 combined career appearances, provides valuable experience to a defensive midfield unit that lost three contributors at short stick to graduation.

DEEP AT THE DOT

The Golden Eagles boast a deep group of faceoff specialists led by All-BIG EAST Second Teamer Luke Williams, who posted a .568 percentage last season, grabbed a team-leading 69 ground balls, and contributed to MU's early offense with a career-high seven points on four goals and three assists. He was even more efficient in BIG EAST play, winning at a .617 clip with 35 ground balls and a pair of goals in five games.
Fellow senior Cole Emmanuel had the highest face-off percentage on the team (.594) in 2022 by winning 38 of his 56 draws. The transfer from Colorado Mesa had his best game to end the year in MU's BIG EAST semifinal loss to No. 2 Georgetown and USILA All-American James Reilly. Emmanuel won 14-of-21 (.667) faceoffs, while picking up nine ground balls and scoring one of MU's five goals.
In the 2023 season opener against Lindenwood, Emmanuel went 10-of-12, picked up three ground balls and added an assist.
Graduate student Grant Evans also joins the squad from Division III Grove City College, where Stimmel was the MCLA Division II Coach of the Year in 2013. Evans was a two-time USILA Third Team All-American and the NCAA statistical champion in faceoff percentage in 2019. He ended his career at Grove City with a .762 winning percentage and 70 points but will face stiff competition for playing time with Williams, Emmanuel, Luke Rios, and freshman Adam Slager.

TRANSFERS ADD SCORING PUNCH

Matthew Winegardner and Jackson 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.
Rose scored twice in his MU debut against Lindenwood on Feb. 4, while Winegardner scored once as a reserve midfielder.
Nate 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.

TEAM USA TIES TO MU LACROSSE

Head coach Andrew Stimmel captured a gold medal last summer as an assistant coach with the Team USA Men's Under-21 Team at the World Lacrosse Men's U-21 Championship in Limerick, Ireland.
Former MU players Liam Byrnes and Jake Richard (current MU assistant) were also selected this fall to the 23-man Team USA roster for the 2023 World Lacrosse Men's Championship.
The event will take place from June 21 to July 1, with 30 teams competing at San Diego State University and the University of San Diego. Team USA is in search of its record 11th world title and has finished first or second at every world championship since the event began in 1967.
Byrnes is all All-Premier Lacrosse League close defenseman and led Waterdogs LC to a league title in 2022, while Richard plays SSDM for Atlas LC. Byrnes also plays box lacrosse in the NLL.

HOME GAMES ON FLOSPORTS

All home games for both MU men's and women's programs will be broadcast live on FloSports, the BIG EAST Conference's digital rights holder. Discounted rates for FloSports accounts are available by signing up through the Marquette portal for either men's or women's (signing up with either link will work for both sports).
Most BIG EAST games, home- and road-contests, will be available through FloSports. Scott Sudikoff will handle play-by-play duties on most broadcasts from the Valley, while local announcer Matt Menzl will also assist.

MU TO HOST 2023 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP

For the first time this season, the Golden Eagles will host the 2023 BIG EAST Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship presented by JEEP on Thursday, May 4 and Saturday, May 6 at Valley Fields. Tickets for the tournament will go on sale at a later date.

IRON DISTRICT MKE, THE FUTURE HOME OF MU LAX

Iron District MKE, the new home stadium for men's and women's soccer and lacrosse sits on an 11-acre parcel of land that Marquette University sold in spring 2022 to Bear Development who, together with Kacmarcik Enterprises, is developing the area into a vibrant sports and entertainment district.
The development, bordered by N. 6th Street to the east, N. 10th Street to the west, and W. Michigan Street to the north, is centered around an 8,000-seat stadium, includes a 3,500-capacity indoor concert venue operated by the Pabst Theater Group, will have a 140-unit residential component, boutique hotel, in addition to dining, nightlife and retail operations.
Construction has begun on the development and the Golden Eagles expect to begin competing at the venue by the 2025 campaign.

Keep up with the Marquette men's lacrosse program through social media by following on Twitter (@MarquetteMLax) and Instagram (@MarquetteMLax) and 'liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteMLax).