MLAX holds off Detroit Mercy, 10-5

Box Score (PDF)

DETROIT – The Marquette University men's lacrosse used an 8-0 second half run to down Detroit Mercy, 10-5, on Thursday afternoon at Titan Field in Detroit.

"I'm really proud of our team's response on a day when we didn't have our best," said Marquette head coach Andrew Stimmel. "We knew coming up here on a short week, fourth away game in a row, was going to be a massive challenge. Ultimately we started slow and that's on me to make sure we are ready to play."

Senior attackman Devon Cowan led the Golden Eagles (3-2) with a hat trick, while Luke Blanc, Jackson Rose and Bobby O'Grady each scored twice. Goalie Michael Allieri notched a season-best 17 saves between the pipes, while Detroit-native Max Christides played the final 2:14 in net for MU.

Marquette scored the lone goal of first quarter and went into the half down, 4-2, after allowing two UDM goals in the final 1:28 of the second.

"Credit to Detroit and their goalie play, especially in the first half," Stimmel said. "I think he had double digit saves and really dictated those first 30 minutes. We settled for a couple average shots early and that only fueled his confidence & put us behind."

The Golden Eagles responded out of the break with three third quarter tallies and scored the first five goals of the fourth before a man-up goal from Detroit with under 10 seconds to play.

"A credit to our guys - they stepped up," Stimmel said. "No panic, just guys challenging each other and themselves to execute better and make more toughness plays than we did in the first half.

"I thought our sideline juice throughout the game was a difference maker. Guys picking each other up, staying in the fight with positive emotion throughout the game. Even when we weren't playing our best, they found a way to energize our effort in the second half."

The Titans (0-3) were led by a pair of goals from Ryan Birney.

NOTABLE:

The contest was originally scheduled to be played on Saturday but the game was moved up due to impending inclement weather over the weekend in southeastern Michigan.
Cowan's hat trick was his first of the season and 11th of his career
Marquette leads the all-time series, 9-1, and has won each of the the meetings during Andrew Stimmel's head coaching tenure.
MU is 4-0 all-time against UDM in the state of Michigan and most recently played in the Great Lakes State on Feb. 8, 2020 in Pontiac, Michigan – an 18-6 Marquette win.
The only previous meeting at Titan Field came during MU's second season of competition in 2014 and resulted in a 15-10 MU victory.
In the 10 series games, MU has a plus-47 goal differential and its lone loss came 15-12 on Feb. 23, 2019 in Milwaukee.
Cole Emmanuel won 6-of-10 faceoffs for MU.
MU attackman Nolan Rappis made his season debut almost exactly a year after sustaining a season-ending knee injury against Detroit on March 5, 2022 as a true freshman.
The contest concludes MU's season-long four-game road swing.

UP NEXT:
The Golden Eagles will play their first home game since Feb. 4 against Bellarmine on March 11 at Valley Fields.

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).