MLAX opens BIG EAST play Saturday at Providence

Game Notes (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's lacrosse team begins its ninth season of BIG EAST Conference action on Saturday, April 1 at Providence.

The contest at Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium against the Friars is set to air live on FloSports with John Avino on the call. Live statistics are available through GoMarquette.com.

Following this weekend's game, Marquette returns home for a Saturday, April 8 contest against St. John's before traveling to No. 5 Cornell on Tuesday, April 11. During the month of April, MU will face four teams ranked in the top 15 of the current USILA Coaches Poll.

MARQUETTE (5-3, 0-0 BIG EAST)

• The Golden Eagles enter BIG EAST play with consecutive wins over St. Bonaventure and then-No. 5 Penn State and are 5-3 overall.
• In addition to the wins over SBU and PSU, Marquette has also defeated Michigan, Detroit Mercy and Lindenwood with a loss at current-No. 3 Notre Dame on Feb. 15 and narrow defeats at the hands of Utah and Bellarmine.
• Marquette defeated the Bonnies, 9-5, on March 25 after holding them scoreless for the first 20 minutes of regulation and goalie Michael Allieri made 10 saves and allowed just four goals.
• Bobby O'Grady posted his fourth four-goal performance of the season in the victory and now leads the Golden Eagles with 23 goals and 27 points. He earned his fourth BIG EAST weekly accolade of the season on Monday with honor roll recognition and enters conference play third in the league in both goals per game and total scores.
• The Marquette defense holds its opponents to 10.25 goals per game and its face-off unit is winning at a .544 clip (112-of-206) at the dot, led by 53 faceoff wins from Luke Williams and a .667 percentage by graduate transfer Grant Williams, who has played a larger role in recent weeks.

PROVIDENCE (4-5, 0-0 BIG EAST)

• The Friars are led by attackman Ryan Bell's 37 points on 16 goals and a BIG EAST-best 21 assists, while Jack Horrigan is PC's leading scorer with 22 goals.
• Providence began the season with a 12-9 victory over Holy Cross on Feb. 5 and has also defeated Siena, Fairfield and Stony Brook this season.
• The Friars have fallen the last two weeks to Hobart, 13-11, and at North Carolina, 25-8, most recently on Saturday.
• PC has allowed just five man-up goals this season, while Marquette has scored a BIG EAST-best 15.
• The Friars are allowing 13.74 goals per game and rank last in the league in both ground balls per game (23.44) and shots per game (35.56).
• Providence is led by first-year head coach Bobby Benson, a former assistant at the University of Maryland.

HISTORY WITH THE FRIARS

• Marquette holds a 7-3 mark all-time against Providence and is 3-2 when those games are played in Rhode Island.
• The Golden Eagles have won each of the last two meetings, including a 7-6 victory in four overtimes during their last trip to Providence on April 17, 2021 as Devon Cowan scored the game winner.
• Bobby O'Grady scored a then-MU freshman-record six goals against PC during last season's BIG EAST opener, a 16-11 Marquette triumph at Valley Fields. MU goalie Michael Allieri made 14 saves in the win and Luke Williams won 18-of-28 faceoffs. Ryan Bell led the Friars with three goals, while Evan McGreen also had a hat trick.

BIG EAST CONFERENCE PLAY 

• The Golden Eagles played their first season in the BIG EAST during the 2014 campaign after beginning NCAA Division I play in 2013. On Saturday they begin their ninth league season thanks to the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.
• Marquette is an even .500 overall (23-23) in conference action, including a 5-3 mark in league lid-lifters and a 3-1 record when those contests are on the road.
• Overall, MU is 6-2 through their first eight BIG EAST seasons in their first conference road game each year.
• Last season was the first time that MU opened conference play against Providence – MU began league action against Georgetown five-straight years from 2015-19.

OFFENSIVE UNIT STARTING TO SEE STABILITY
Outside of leading scorers Bobby O'Grady and Jake Stegman, Marquette's offensive unit was in a state of flux over the season's first seven contests. Fellow attackman Devon Cowan reentered the lineup alongside the pair, while the first midfield has rotated due to injuries.

With the return of Cowan and redshirt freshman Nolan Rappis on attack, MU has settled into a first midfield unit featuring Stegman, Will Foster and Luke Blanc.

Cowan played his first game this season against Michigan on Feb. 25 and posted hat tricks in three-straight games against Detroit Mercy, Bellarmine and Penn State. Rappis, who missed most of last season after suffering a season-ending knee injury on March 5, made his season debut this year at Detroit Mercy on March 2 and scored his first goal since last year against Bellarmine on March 11.

Of the nine players to start in the midfield for the Golden Eagles this season, six have missed games due to injury, including three games each for Andrew Bowman – who had a hat trick against Penn State – and Foster, MU's assist leader last season.

WOODWARD IS ELITE

• Close defenseman Mason Woodward was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List on Feb. 10 as the program's second two-time USILA All-American (Ryan McNamara earned honors in both 2016 and 2017). He follows McNamara (2017) and Conor Gately (2015, 2016) as MU players to earn recognition.
• Woodward led the Golden Eagles in caused turnovers in each of his first three seasons and is the program's all-time leader in ground balls per game (4.59 per contest entering 2023).
• He was the BIG EAST's leader in ground balls among non-faceoff specialists in each of the last two seasons and is the third player in MU history with over 100 career ground balls and 50 caused turnovers (Liam Byrnes and B.J. Grill are the others).
• Woodward posted a career-high 12 ground balls at Utah on Feb. 11 and through seven games is the NCAA leader in ground balls per game (5.62) among non-faceoff specialists.
• Overall, he's 33rd nationally in ground balls per game and, in total, has posted five points (four goals, one assist), 45 ground balls and forced 10 turnovers.
• Woodward is three ground balls from tying Zachary Melillo (190 GB; 2016-18) for third place in the MU record books and is six from tying assistant coach Jacob Richard (193 GB; 2013-16) for second.
• Marquette all-time ground ball leader Liam Byrnes is still nearly 30 ground balls ahead of Woodward.

VETERAN ATTACKMEN ARE KEY FOR MU

• Senior attackmen Devon Cowan and Jake Stegman have proven their importance to Marquette in recent weeks and rank in the top-three of MU's point producers this season.
• Stegman was averaging two assists per game as Marquette's X-attackman but has played out of the box since the win over Penn State. His 15 assists are already seventh best all-time in MU's single-season record book and is second on the Golden Eagles this year with 26 points. Stegman is third in Marquette history with 40 career assists, behind only Conor Gately (63) and Ryan McNamara (50).
• Cowan is third on MU with 10 goals despite playing just five contests so far due to injury. He was slowly worked into action against Michigan and scored a late goal in the victory. He notched hat tricks in the three games that followed and is five points from becoming the fourth Marquette player to reach 100 in his career.

O'GRADY VAULTS UP MU RECORD BOOK

• Bobby O'Grady 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.
• His 3.00 goals per game in 2022 was a MU single-season record and currently through just 23 games of his NCAA career he's sixth in program history in career goals (68) and the all-time leader in man-up scores (17).
• O'Grady was named the BIG EAST Attack Player of the Week for his play in MU's opener against Lindenwood after posting his third career game with at least six goals and seven points.
• He's also earned weekly honor roll mention this season for his play against Utah, Notre Dame and St. Bonaventure.

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