WLAX Travels to Face UC Davis on Sunday

DAVIS, Cailf. — The Marquette women's lacrosse team (4-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) heads on the road this weekend as it travels to the Golden State to take on UC Davis (3-1) on Sunday, March 12. First draw between the Golden Eagles and the Aggies is set for 3 p.m. (CT) at UC Davis Health Stadium in Davis, California. The game will be broadcast on Facebook Live with links to live stats and video available at GoMarquette.com.

Marquette is off to its best start in program history, sitting at 4-1 through five games, and is 2-0 on the road this year. The Golden Eagles are coming off of an all-around dominant performance against Detroit Mercy on Sunday, scoring a program-record 26 goals. 14 different MU players scored in the contest en route to a 22-point win, the largest margin of victory in program history.

UC Davis is also off to a strong start to the year, currently sitting at 3-1. After dropping their season opener to No. 13 Virginia, the Aggies have rattled off three-straight wins and most recently earned a 19-1 home win over Howard on Tuesday. They will face American on Friday prior to Sunday's contest.

The Aggies are led this season by Alannah Scott, a sophomore attacker who has a team-best 14 points on eight goals and six assists. Senior midfielder Alex Agnew has chipped in seven goals and six assists as well. In net, senior Ashley Laing has posted a 10.33 GAA with 39 saves.

Sunday's game will be the second all-time meeting between Marquette and UC Davis, MU winning the previous showdown in 2015, a 5-4 overtime win in Davis, California.

SCOUTING THE AGGIES

• UC Davis is off to a 3-1 start to the year, opening with a 16-12 loss to No. 13 Virginia before rattling off three-straight wins. Most recently, it posted a 19-1 win at home over Howard on Sunday afternoon.

• In 2022, the Aggies went 5-8 overall with a 3-2 record at home.

• UC Davis returned eight starters and lost four from last year's squad.

• The Aggies are led this season by Alannah Scott, a sophomore attacker who has a team-best 14 points on eight goals and six assists. Senior midfielder Alex Agnew has chipped in seven goals and six assists as well.

• In net, senior Ashley Laing has started all four games this season, and has posted a 10.33 GAA with 39 saves and 35 goals allowed.

• The squad ranks 10th nationally with 15.5 goals per game, while allowing 9.25. It also ranks in the top 10 in assists per game (8.75), points per game (24.25) shots per game (34.0) and turnovers per game (10.5).

SERIES HISTORY VS UC DAVIS

• Sunday's matchup will be the second all-time between Marquette and UC Davis.

• Marquette won the lone meeting back in 2015, a 5-4 overtime win by the Golden Eagles in Davis, California.

LAST TIME OUT

• Marquette had an all-around dominant performance on Sunday afternoon, defeating Detroit Mercy 26-4 at Valley Fields.

• The Golden Eagles set a program scoring record, as 14 different players got on the board and they posted the largest winning margin in program history.

• MU scored the first eight goals of the game, and had a 10-goal lead and a running clock early in the second quarter. It outshot the Titans 40-10, and had 22 draw controls to DMU's 11.

• Lydia Foust led the Golden Eagles with five goals, while Tess Osburn had four and Shea Garcia posted a hat trick. Mary Schumar once again led MU in assists with six.

A RECORD-SETTING PERFORMANCE

• Along with being a program record, Marquette's 26-goal outing against Detroit Mercy is one of the top scoring performances in college lacrosse in recent years.

• In the past decade, there have only been 17 26-goal games in all of Division I women's lacrosse. Marquette was the first team in the country this season to score more than 24.

• None of the other six current BIG EAST programs have ever scored 26 or more goals in a game against Division I opponent.

• Additionally, MU held the Titans to just four goals, tied for third-fewest by a Marquette opponent in program history.

OSBURN AND FOUST EARN BIG EAST WEEKLY HONORS

• Following big individual performances in last week's win over Detroit Mercy, Tess Osburn and Lydia Foust were each recognized by the BIG EAST.

• Osburn was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week after recording career-highs of five points and four goals with an assist in the contest. She took six shots, all six of which were on goal.

• Foust led all scorers with five goals in the game to earn a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. This was her third time earning weekly honors from the league in just four weeks so far this season.

AN UNSTOPPABLE ATTACK

• With at least 18 goals in four of its first five games, Marquette's offense has wasted no time finding an early rhythm this season.

• The Golden Eagles currently rank second in the NCAA with 19.4 goals per game, with no other BIG EAST team averaging more than 13.7.

• They also lead the nation in both shots (40.2) and shots on goal (30.6) per contest, and are in the top-10 nationally points per game (3rd - 28.0) assists per game (4th - 8.6) and scoring margin (10th - +7.0).

• Individually, Lydia Foust ranks 12th in the nation with 3.8 goals per game, while Shea Garcia and Meg Bireley are both in the top-10 in the conference, averaging 3.4 and 2.8 goals per game, respectively.

SCHUMAR PICKING UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF

• After tying program records in both points and assists last season and earning All-BIG EAST First Team honors, Mary Schumar hasn't skipped a beat this year.

• She currently ranks second in the NCAA with an incredible 4.0 assists per game, and is eighth in points with 5.0 per contest.

• Her eight-assist performance against Northwestern was not just a program record, but is also the most assists by any player in Division I this season.

DRAW TEAM DOMINATION

• Much of Marquette's early season success has been a result of a strong performance on the draw control, one of the team's most consistent strengths in recent years.

• The Golden Eagles currently lead the nation in draw controls per game with 21.60, 2.1 more than any other team in the NCAA. They also rank 12th in draw percentage at 61.0.

• Prior to this year, Marquette had posted 22 or more draw controls in a game just eight times in its 10-year history. This season, it has four such performances in just five games.

• Ellie Henry ranks second in the league and 25th nationally with 6.0 draw controls per game. Josie Kropp (5.75) and Mary Blee (5.4) are each in the top-40 nationally as well, and rank third and fourth in the BIG EAST, respectively.

UP NEXT FOR MU

• Marquette returns home to host Niagara on Thursday, March 16, at 12 p.m. inside the Valley Fields Dome in Milwaukee.

• The game will be streamed on FloSports, with links to live stats and stream available on GoMarquette.com.