MLAX hosts Utah on Saturday afternoon

Game Notes (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's lacrosse team returns to Valley Fields on Saturday afternoon to welcome Utah before embarking on a season-long five game road swing.

Opening faceoff is slated for noon Central time in the seasonal dome at Valley Fields and the contest airs live on FloSports with play-by-play announcer Scott Sudikoff and analyst Eric Simon on the call. The broadcast will be produced by Marquette University's Diederich College of Communications. Live statistics are also available through GoMarquette.com.

Capacity is currently full, accounting for team pass lists and MU students.

New this spring, Marquette Athletics is enforcing a clear bag policy at its athletic venues. Clutch purses, totes and belt bags are permissible, as are bags deemed medically necessary after inspection at the entrance. A further explanation of the policy can be found here.

Saturday's game is the last home game for MU until April 13 against Providence, its penultimate home game of the year.

MARQUETTE (3-2, 0-0 BIG EAST)

The Golden Eagles opened the season with wins at Air Force and against Lindenwood and Detroit Mercy but have dropped their last two games to ranked teams in then-No. 1 Notre Dame and then-No. 13/12 Michigan.
MU's veteran core has reached numerous statistical milestones through the first five games of this season, including a new program ground ball record for defenseman Mason Woodward (229), career assist record for Jake Stegman (70), career goal mark for Bobby O'Grady (105) and the 100-point threshold for both O'Grady (118) and Stegman (109).
O'Grady (17 goals, two assists) leads the team with 19 points through five games. Stegman has a team-high 13 assists and 18 total points.
O'Grady became the program's all-time scoring leader with four goals against then-No. 13/12 Michigan on Feb. 24, surpassing Ryan McNamara's record of 102 in the process. O'Grady now has 105 career goals just 34 games into his career (it took McNamara 64 games to reach 102) along with 118 points, just three behind teammate Devon Cowan (121) for third all-time at MU.
Cowan made his return to the MU lineup against Michigan after missing the previous two games against Detroit Mercy and then-No. 1 Notre Dame due to injury. With Cowan's return to the attack unit, freshman Carsen Brandt slid into a midfield spot, while Stegman stayed up on attack alongside Cowan and O'Grady.
Long-stick midfielder David Lamarca also made his season debut against the Wolverines. Lamarca's return at LSM bumped Mike Piraino back to close defense next to Woodward and Noah Verlinde.
Woodward is a member of the Tewaaraton Award Watch List and a consensus preseason All-America selection, with recognition from USILA, Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse Magazine.
The Golden Eagles were projected to place third in the BIG EAST Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. MU returns eight of 10 starters from last season, including Preseason BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Mason Woodward and preseason all-conference selections in Cowan and O'Grady.
In total, the Golden Eagles return 94 percent of their offensive production this season from the highest-scoring team (13.29 goals per game) in program history.

UTAH (1-3, 0-0 ASUN)

The Utes began the year with losses to Ohio State, Denver and Syracuse before a 22-12 win over Vermont on Saturday afternoon at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Jordan Hyde and Ryan Stines each scored five times in the victory against the Catamounts and Stines leads the Utes with 10 goals and 13 points on the year. Hyde and Tyler Bradbury sit behind Stines on the season ledger with 10 points apiece.
Utah has won just 34.2 percent of its faceoffs this spring (40-of-117).
Head coach Andrew McMinn is in his third season at Utah after a successful run at Robert Morris, where he coached current MU senior defensive midfielder Blake Lori.
Utah was selected to finish first in the ASUN preseason coaches' poll for the third-straight season, while Jared Andreala was selected as ASUN Preseason Midfielder of the Year and Joe Boylston earned top defensive honors. Bradbury is also on the preseason all-league team.
The Utes went 12-5 last season while winning the ASUN regular season and conference tournament titles. They fell, 20-7, to eventual national champion Notre Dame in the NCAA First Round in their first appearance in the national tournament.

HISTORY WITH THE UTES

Utah has won both regular season meetings against Marquette, an 18-16 victory in Salt Lake City last season on Feb. 11, 2023, and a 12-11 win in 2022 at Valley Fields.
Bobby O'Grady scored a game-high five goals last season, while Matthew Winegardner added a career-high four scores for MU.
MU could not overcome a two-goal halftime deficit last season as the Utes answered each MU second half goal. Andreala led Utah with four goals.
Woodward has put up remarkable statistical numbers in both games against the Utes, setting program records for caused turnovers (six) in 2022 and ground balls by a non-faceoff specialist (12) in 2023.

MU LOADED WITH EXPERIENCE

Marquette returns 10 graduate students in addition to 14 other seniors looking to get MU back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since consecutive appearances in 2016-17.
Three-time USILA All-American Mason Woodward is back for a fifth year, as are fellow captains Devon Cowan, Jake Stegman, Noah Verlinde and Luke Williams. Cowan, Stegman and Williams all made late decisions last spring to return for 2024.
Stegman leads the MU contingent entering this season with 46 career games played, while Woodward, Max Kruszeski, Verlinde and Cowan have each played over 40 games at MU. Faceoff specialist Grant Evans played 54 games over four seasons at NCAA Division III Grove City College (2019-22) and 12 last year for Marquette.

MU HAS VETERAN OFFENSIVE PIECES

Cowan and Stegman return alongside junior scoring dynamo Bobby O'Grady to lead an offense that ranked as the highest scoring in program history last spring with 13.29 goals per contest and brings back 94 percent of its point production.
O'Grady (104 career goals) and Cowan (91) are first and third, respectively, in MU career history. O'Grady broke Ryan McNamara's career record of 102 goals on Feb. 24 against then-No. 13/12 Michigan in Naples, Florida.
Stegman has 70 career assists and passed Conor Gately's MU record of 63 in the win over Detroit Mercy on Feb. 13.
Stegman also set the MU single-game record for assists with six in the Feb. 13 win over Detroit Mercy.
Stegman set a single-season program record with 32 assists in 2023 (12 more than the previous record set by Gately in 2013). The Naperville, Illinois native switched to a spot in MU's first midfield unit during league play and responded with his first all-conference season.

O'GRADY VAULTS UP MU RECORD BOOK

Bobby O'Grady burst onto the scene as the 2022 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and has scored at an elite pace in his first two seasons at Marquette (3.02 goals per game).
Through just 34 games of his NCAA career, he's the all-time program leader in goals (105) and man-up scores (22). He broke Ryan McNamara's program goal record of 102 against then-No. 13/12 Michigan on Feb. 24.
He 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.

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