MLAX claims season opener, 12-6, at Air Force

Box Score (PDF)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado – Three players recorded hat tricks and goalie Caleb Creasor made 12 saves for the Marquette University men's lacrosse team in a 12-6 victory over the United States Air Force Academy at Holaday Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.

Bobby O'Grady, Devon Cowan and Luke Blanc each scored three goals for the Golden Eagles (1-0) and O'Grady's first score at the 1:08 mark of the first quarter was his 100th career point.

Creasor, a graduate transfer from Lehigh, notched his first NCAA win with a pair of caused turnovers and ground balls in addition to his 12 saves.

Blanc put the Golden Eagles on the board at the 10:50 mark of the opening quarter and MU never trailed, leading 3-1 at the end of one quarter and 6-2 going into the half.

The Falcons (0-1) scored the first two goals of the second half before Cowan and Blanc potted goals over the final 1:18 of the third quarter.

The Golden Eagles outscored AFA, 4-2, over the final quarter to expand their lead and picked up 14 ground balls in the frame.

Caelan Diggs led Air Force with a pair of goals.

NOTABLE:

The contest marks the beginning of the 12th season of NCAA Division I competition for the Golden Eagles and the fifth in the tenure of head coach Andrew Stimmel.
Marquette leads the all-time series with Air Force, 3-1.
The Air Force series holds special significance to Marquette as the Golden Eagles claimed their first win in program history at Falcon Stadium, 8-6, on March 2, 2013, during MU's inaugural season of competition.
With O'Grady now up to 102 career points with his three goals on Saturday, only recent M Club Hall of Fame inductee Ryan McNamara (152), Conor Gately (140), teammate Devon Cowan (118) and John Wagner (109) rank ahead of him among MU athletes.
Cowan now has 16 career hat tricks while O'Grady has 15 and Blanc has four.
MU All-American defenseman Mason Woodward had three ground balls (215 career) and is just three behind Marquette all-time ground ball leader Liam Byrnes (218). Woodward also had a pair of caused turnovers.
O'Grady and Cowan have 91 and 89 career goals, respectively, and are within striking distance of Ryan McNamara's program record of 102.
MU midfielder Jake Stegman had two assists to put him at 59 career assists, just four behind Conor Gately's MU record of 63.
MU true freshman attackman Carsen Brandt scored a pair of goals in his NCAA debut. Brandt is the No. 54 incoming freshman in the country, according to Inside Lacrosse.
In addition to Brandt, Beau Westphal, Jack Schoenwetter and redshirt freshman Adam Slager each made their NCAA debuts.
Slager won 8-of-10 at the faceoff dot with four ground balls, while Luke Williams won 8-of-12 with nine ground balls. MU was a combined 16-of-22 at the dot on the day.
Air Force was predicted to finish third in the ASUN preseason coaches' poll after a second-place finish during last year's regular season. They went 11-6 overall and 7-2 in league action last year.

UP NEXT: The Golden Eagles begin their home schedule at 2 p.m. Central time on Friday, Feb. 2 against Lindenwood inside the seasonal dome 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).