WLAX Hosts Niagara and Louisville this Week

MILWAUKEE — The Marquette women's lacrosse team (5-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) returns home for a pair of games this week as it takes on the Niagara Purple Eagles (6-2, 0-0 MAAC) on Thursday, March 12 before hosting the Louisville Cardinals (4-3, 1-2 ACC) on Sunday, March 19. First draw for both games is set for 12 p.m. (CT) at Valley Fields in Milwaukee. Both contests will be broadcast on FloSports with links to live stats and video available at GoMarquette.com.

Marquette is off to its best start in program history, sitting at 5-1 through six games, and boasts the nation's top scoring offense with 19.33 goals per game. The Golden Eagles are coming off of strong road performance against UC Davis on Sunday, defeating the Aggies 19-17. Four different MU players recorded hat tricks, led by a four-goal, four-assist performance by Mary Schumar.

Niagara is 6-2 on the year, most recently posting a 12-11 overtime win against Delaware on Saturday. The Purple Eagles have been led by Riley Latray, who has 28 points on six goals and 22 assists. Andra Savage leads their scoring attack with 21 goals this season.

Louisville enters the week 4-3 overall, and will host No. 1 North Carolina Thursday afternoon before trekking to Milwaukee. All three of the team's losses have been to teams inside of the Top-12 nationally. Nicole Perroni leads the squad with 28 points and 21 goals this season.

Marquette leads the all-time series against Niagara 3-1, though NU won last year's meeting between the squads. Against the Cardinals, MU trails the all-time series 1-9 with its lone win in the series coming in 2019.

SCOUTING THE PURPLE EAGLES

• Niagara enters Thursday's contest with a 6-2 overall record on the season, and has won three of its past four. Most recently, it defeated Delaware in a 12-11 overtime battle in Denver on Saturday.

• The squad is led by junior attacker Riley Latray, who has a team-best 28 points on six goals and 22 assists this season, ranking fifth in the NCAA in assists. Junior midfielder Andra Savage leads the team's scoring efforts with 21 goals.

• In net, sophomore Emma Mielke has started six of eight games and has a 11.15 GAA with 33 saves on the year and a .379 save percentage.

• NU ranks 10th nationally in fewest turnovers per game with 11.50, and 19th in clear percentage at .901. It averages 12.38 goals per game while allowing 10.25.

SERIES HISTORY VS NIAGARA

• Thursday's matchup will be the second all-time between Marquette and Niagara.

• Marquette holds a 3-1 series lead, though the Purple Eagles won last year's matchup 12-9 in Niagara Falls.

All Time Meetings

DATE LOCATION RESULT SCORE

3/6/22 A L 9-12

2/23/20 H W 16-6

3/17/19 A W 16-2

3/3/18 H W 23-15

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS

• Louisville enters the week 4-3 overall and 1-2 in AAC play. It faces No. 1 North Carolina at home on Thursday afternoon before traveling to Milwaukee.

• All three of its losses have come to teams ranked in the top-12.

• The squad is led by senior midfielder Nicole Perroni, who has a team-best 22 points on 19 goals and three assists. Junior attacker Kokoro Nakazawa has a team-high five assists, to go along with 12 goals this year.

• In net, junior Sara Addeche has started all seven games and has a 9.55 GAA with 53 saves on the year and a .469 save percentage.

• Louisville averages 10.57 goals per game while allowing 10.86.

SERIES HISTORY VS LOUISVILLE

• Sunday's game will be the 11th all-time between Marquette and Louisville, the teams having met up every year of MU's history.

• Louisville holds a 9-1 series lead, and has won each of the past three meetings.

All Time Meetings

DATE LOCATION RESULT SCORE

2/18/22 A L 9-18

3/14/21 H L 10-14

2/17/20 A L 6-16

2/10/19 H W 15-12

2/11/18 A L 8-16

LAST TIME OUT

• Marquette earned an impressive win at UC Davis on Sunday, defeating the Aggies 19-17 to improve to 3-0 on the road this season.

• In what was a meeting between two of the top-10 scoring offenses in the nation, MU pounced early to take a 3-0 lead just four minutes in. The Golden Eagles held a comfortable lead through most of the contest, though the Aggies closed the game with three-straight goals to narrow the gap.

• Four different MU players recorded hat tricks, including a four-goal, four-assist outing from Mary Schumar. Leigh Steiner and Lydia Foust each finished with four goals apiece as well, while Shea Garcia scored three.

SCHUMAR NAMED TO BIG EAST WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

• After posting a big individual performance in Sunday's win over UC Davis, Mary Schumar was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.

• The senior went for a game-high eight points, tied for fifth-most in program history, with four goals and four assists in the outing.

• She also had two ground balls and a caused turnover, with seven shots.

• This was Schumar's second Weekly Honor Roll appearance of the season, and the fourth of her career.

GOAL-DEN EAGLES

• Currently leading the NCAA in scoring, the Marquette offense is off to an unprecedented offensive start this season.

• The Golden Eagles currently average 19.33 goals per game, up from 14.33 in 2022. Prior to this season, they had only scored 18 or more goals in a single game 25 times in the team's 10-year history, and have done that five times in six games this year.

• Additionally, MU currently leads the nation in shots (40.17), shots on goal (30.17) and draw controls (20.83), and ranks third in both assists per game and points per game with 8.67 and 28.0, respectively.

GETTING EVERYONE INVOLVED

• MU has had success this season in finding contributions all across the roster, ranking as the deepest team in the nation according to LacrosseReference.

• Every player on the roster has seen the field this season, with 33 of the 35 appearing in at least two contests.

• 17 different Golden Eagles have already scored a goal this season, including every attacker on the roster and each of the offensive freshmen.

UP NEXT FOR MU

• Marquette travels to the Great Lake State next week for a pair of contests, facing Eastern Michigan on Friday, March 24, at 10 a.m. CT before taking on Central Michigan on Sunday, March 26, at 11 a.m. CT.

• Links to live stream and stats for those games will be available on GoMarquette.com