Multi-faceted Creasor shines in starting role
Emma Kroll (COMM, '26)
The emergence of Caleb Creasor into Marquette’s starting goalie as a graduate transfer this spring has been of no surprise to Creasor or the MU men’s lacrosse coaching staff.
Despite spending four years as a reserve at his last collegiate home, Creasor has thrived in the early portion of 2024, surrendering just 13 goals in his first three contests and making 12 saves in his MU debut at Air Force on Feb. 3.
In 2022, then a rising senior at Lehigh University, Caleb Creasor, could be seen wearing a bright red jersey with Canada across his chest, competing in the U21 World Lacrosse Championship in Limerick, Ireland. It was there that he crossed paths with Marquette men’s lacrosse head coach Andrew Stimmel for the first time, who was an assistant for the American gold medalists.
Creasor was a force in the cage last night. And he's just getting started. ??#WLMU21C | #CanadaLacrosse
— Team Canada Lacrosse (@CanadaLacrosse) August 11, 2022
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Creasor était une force dans la cage hier soir. Et il ne fait que commencer. ??#WLMU21C | #CanadaCrosse pic.twitter.com/yruVu7ZuaA
I got a first-hand look coaching Team USA, and he was Canada's starting goalie. Coming into the tournament two years ago, we really didn't have a lot of film on him. We were able to piece some stuff together and I had heard he was pretty good.Andrew Stimmel
Creasor experienced his first start since beginning his college career with the U21 Canadians after spending the three previous seasons as a backup goalie with the Mountain Hawks.
“It was the first time I started since being in college and playing against the best guys in the world is no small task,” Creasor said. “Being able to step up in that position and earn some confidence in myself. Coach Stimmel knew who I was after that tournament, so personally, that was pretty cool.”
When Stimmel saw Creasor’s name pop up in the transfer portal last spring, he felt ready to pull in another goalie. Assistant coach and defensive coordinator Jake Richard then ended up FaceTiming Creasor, in an informal first meeting.
“I was still living at Lehigh at the time, and he FaceTimed me, showed me the facilities, and we kind of bonded over that,” Creasor said. “Honestly, I had never really thought of Marquette prior. And he said, ‘is this a place you could see yourself coming to like, in any way?’ And I said yes.”
The Marquette coaching staff took a chance on him, pulling the graduate student in. Even without much NCAA starting experience, Creasor had an impressive resume.
“For him not to play wasn't necessarily a knock on him and more tribute to the talent that Lehigh had,” Richard said. “You look at his resume, he's competed at the international level, both with the under-21 team and the senior team this summer at the World Games. And that experience is invaluable.”
Creasor was one of 26 players and three goalies named to the Canadian senior men’s team for the 2023 World Games in San Diego, an event Richard played in as a defensive midfielder for Team USA. Creasor did not see action on the active roster during the event, but served as the team’s third goalie throughout and gained invaluable experience in practices against some of the world’s best shooters.
As a fifth-year student-athlete, Creasor has brought a unique playing style to the goal. He was a talented goal scorer in youth hockey and ranked as the No. 21 prospect in the 2023 National Lacrosse League draft as a transition player, though he chose to keep his name out of the draft due to a remaining year of NCAA eligibility after this season.
“He has great anticipation and understands what plays are going to be made ahead of time, just because of his background in the indoor game,” Stimmel said. "There aren’t many goalies playing or starting Division I lacrosse games and then are playing a different position in box."
Coming off a four-year career at Lehigh with limited playing time and one career start, Creasor relied on the confidence he had coming off the Canada team to transition into Marquette.
Our coaching staff is so awesome, they're so good at instilling confidence in everybody. Now that there's some more pressure on my play, I have to be confident that I've seen the best shots and that I can do well in the goal.Caleb Creasor
It wasn’t easy. Creasor transitioned into a deep Marquette team with a bit of a different vibe than his previous team.
“Definitely some growing pains. Not a completely different culture, but every team's got their own vibe,” he said. “I love that school. So, leaving that behind and taking a new step forward was definitely difficult and acclimating to a different culture, while holding on to the same values that I've grown into, was challenging. But I've come to love the guys on this team, I really love this program.”
Creasor acclimated himself quickly to his new teammates, recording 12 saves in his debut at Air Force, the highest save total in a first MU start since all-time save leader Cole Blazer had 13 against Villanova in 2016. He also stepped out of the crease with a couple huge caused turnovers against the Falcons to help the Golden Eagles take control.
He was pretty emotional after that first one. And even emotional when we told him he was going to be starting. And an excellent performance against Air Force meant that much more. I'm sure as he pursued his goals and his dreams, he had a vision for what that first one would look like, and that one was pretty special.Jake Richard
As the schedule gets more difficult, Creasor and the team are taking it day by day, but with big goals.
“We have high aspirations for this team,” Creasor said. “The energy in the locker room is confident and focused. We are going into every game this year with the expectation that we're going to win and we're going to play our brand of ball and bring it to whoever's in front of us.”
Through and through, Creasor wants to keep playing his game, for his team.
I want to keep riding this high and keep doing my job for the guys in front of me. They play so hard for me and I want to play hard for them. So, keeping focused on what our ultimate goal is, but also taking it day by day is my goal.Caleb Creasor
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