MLAX Hosts Detroit Mercy Saturday for Home Opener

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men’s lacrosse team hosts Detroit Mercy on Saturday, Feb. 8 in its home opener inside the seasonal dome at Valley Fields.

The contest is slated for 2:30 p.m. Central time and follows the 11 a.m. women’s exhibition game against the University of Chicago. The game airs live on FloCollege with Matt Yeazel on the call.

Due to extremely limited capacity within the dome, very limited tickets remain for Saturday’s game and can be purchased online.

Live statistics can be accessed through GoMarquette.com.

MARQUETTE (0-1, 0-0 BIG EAST)

• Senior Conor McCabe scored first, but the Golden Eagles fell 14-1 at No. 15 Michigan in the season opener on Feb. 1. MU was outshot, 49-26, by the Wolverines and lost the ground ball battle, 38-15. The Golden Eagles also had seven failed clears (18-of-25) and 23 total turnovers.
• Former MU USILA All-American Jake Richard, a Team USA and PLL defensive midfielder, is in his first season as head coach at his alma mater. Richard has been involved with all 168 games in program history as either a student-athlete (2013-16) or assistant coach (2017-24). During his playing career, he led MU to the program’s first BIG EAST Conference title in 2016 and still ranks among MU’s all-time leaders in games played (fourth, 61), ground balls (fourth, 193), and caused turnovers (sixth, 38).
• MU is picked to tie for fifth place with St. John’s in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll and attackman Bobby O’Grady was selected to the league’s all-preseason team.
• O’Grady, a senior captain, is MU’s all-time scoring leader (114 goals) and one of four returning offensive starters, alongside Carsen Brandt, Nolan Rappis and midfielder Will Foster.
• O’Grady is MU’s returning points leader (34 on 26 goals and eight assists) after leading the squad in goals for the third time in as many campaigns. Brandt put up an outstanding freshman season with 28 points on 16 goals and 12 assists, while Foster was third on MU with 16 goals and fifth with 23 total points.
• O’Grady, Foster and junior short-stick defensive midfielder Peter Detwiler are team captains for the 2025 campaign.

DETROIT MERCY (0-1, 0-0 NEC)

• The Titans dropped their season opener at Ohio State, 14-4, on Tuesday.
• Freshman Zach Gleason scored two goals for UDM, while junior Kyle Grant caused a career-best six turnovers. Senior goalie Ryan Richters made 16 saves in net.
• UDM was outshot, 53-28, by the Buckeyes and won just 6-of-22 faceoffs.
• The Titans are picked to finish sixth in the Northeast Conference preseason poll. They bring back seven starters from last season including leading returning scorer Aidan Bishop (21-5-26), while Richters was third in the nation last season with 14.38 saves per game.
• Charlie Hayes is in his first season as head coach at his alma mater. Hayes played for the Titans from 2015-18 and had served as an assistant coach with the program since graduation. He has played professional lacrosse since 2019 in both the MLL and PLL and was a teammate of former MU student-athletes Jake Richard and Liam Byrnes with the Philadelphia Waterdogs in the summer of 2024.

HISTORY WITH THE TITANS

• Marquette has won 10 of the 11 meetings all-time against UDM, including each of the last four games.
• MU downed the Titans, 22-8, last season at Valley Fields behind five goals from O’Grady and a program-record six assists from Jake Stegman. Stegman also broke MU’s career assist record during that game. The Golden Eagles put the game away with a 15-1 run that spanned from late in the first quarter into the third.
• Marquette is 4-1 against Detroit Mercy in Milwaukee and 3-1 in games played against UDM at Valley Fields. MU’s lone loss in the series was a 15-12 defeat on Feb. 23, 2019.
• MU’s Matt Caputo, a midfield transfer from Ohio State, owns six career goals against UDM. He posted hat tricks against the Titans in both 2023 and 2024.
• Key MU players versus UDM:
  • Andrew Bowman: 1 GP, 3g
  • Carsen Brandt: 1 GP, 1g, 1a
  • Matt Caputo (at Ohio State): 2 GP, 6g, 4 gb, 1 ct
  • Peter Detwiler: 2 GP, 1g, 3 gb
  • Will Foster: 2 GP, 4g, 2a
  • David Lamarca: 2 GP, 4 gb, 4 ct
  • Bobby O’Grady: 3 GP, 11g
  • Mike Piraino: 2 GP, 2 gb, 1 ct
  • Nolan Rappis: 3 GP, 1g, 1a
  • Adam Slager: 1 GP, 9-of-12, 4 gb

O’GRADY VAULTS UP MU RECORD BOOK

• Bobby O’Grady burst onto the scene as the 2022 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and scored at an elite pace in his first three seasons at Marquette (2.65 goals per game). He’s a three-time All-BIG EAST performer and was named to the league’s all-preseason team in January.
• Through 44 games of his NCAA career, he’s the all-time program leader in goals (114) and man-up scores (22). He broke Ryan McNamara‘s program goal record of 102 against then-No. 13/12 Michigan on Feb. 24, 2024, in Naples, Florida.
• 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.
• O’Grady (133 career points) enters his senior campaign just 19 points from McNamara’s program points record of 152.

ANOTHER CHALLENGING SCHEDULE

• The Golden Eagles will once again face a difficult non-conference schedule in addition to the always-challenging BIG EAST Conference slate.
• In addition to the season opener at then-No. 15 Michigan on Feb. 1, the Golden Eagles face the two-time defending NCAA Champion No. 1 Notre Dame on Feb. 15 in Indiana. MU also has road contests at No. 20/18 Harvard on March 1 and No. 18/19 Utah on March 15.
• The BIG EAST Conference features two squads ranked in both polls in No. 15/14 Denver and No. 10 Georgetown and two other teams receiving votes in the media poll (Villanova and Providence). The Hoyas are the unanimous preseason league favorites, while MU was tied for fifth with St. John’s in the coaches’ survey.

BRANDT IMPRESSED AS FROSH

• Attackman Carsen Brandt played a large role early in his freshman season last spring and is expected to be a large contributor to the MU offensive unit.
• The 6-foot-3 native of Edina, Minnesota was the No. 54 incoming freshman last season, according to Inside Lacrosse, and ended the 2024 campaign with 16 goals and 12 assists while starting all 14 contests. His 28 points were third on the squad.
• Brandt was mentored by former MU All-American and fellow Minnesotan Ryan McNamara and is one of the best prep players to come from the Gopher State. As a junior at Benilde St. Margaret’s, he set state records for most points in state tournament history (21), most points in a tournament game (10) and most assists in a state tournament (12) and most assists in a state tournament game (seven).

QUESTION MARKS ON DEFENSE AND SPECIALTY UNITS

• The Golden Eagles lost a pair of starting close defensemen in Woodward and Noah Verlinde and must also replace all-conference faceoff specialist Luke Willams and goalie Caleb Creasor, who started every game last spring.
• Poles David Lamarca (44 career games entering 2025) and Mike Piraino (22 games) return as MU’s most experienced defenders and played both LSM and close defense last season. Ryan Kilcoyne served as MU’s fourth defenseman and started four games last year in addition to serving on MU’s man-down unit.
• Head coach Jake Richard, a former D-mid himself, will rely upon team captain Peter Detwiler to lead MU’s rope unit and contributions from younger players. Detwiler played in all 28 games (34 ground balls and seven caused turnovers) over his first two seasons at MU and grad student Jadyn Castillo redshirted last spring. Redshirt junior Brendan Boyle has also played short stick and pole during his 25-game career.
• In net, Lucas Lawas returns after playing just 38 minutes last season behind Creasor. Lawas played big minutes at the end of his freshman campaign in 2023, which featured overtime losses to three top-12 teams to end the season.
• At the faceoff dot, native Wisconsinite Adam Slager (Stoughton) is the lone returner. Slager played in eight games in 2024 as a redshirt freshman, won 55.8% of his draws (43-of-77) and picked up 22 ground balls. All but one of his appearances came prior to the start of BIG EAST action.

FORMER GOLDEN EAGLES SHINE FOR TEAM USA AND IN PRO LACROSSE

• Marquette is represented in the highest levels of the sport by some of the world’s best lacrosse players in Liam Byrnes (’16), Jake Richard (’16), John Wagner (’19) and Mason Woodward (’24).
• Woodward, now in his first season as assistant coach at his alma mater, was a first-round selection of the Utah Archers in the PLL College Draft and led the Archers to a repeat PLL crown in the summer of 2024. His play in the championship game was instrumental to the victory for the Archers with three ground balls and a caused turnover that spurred his own two-point goal to swing momentum.
• Woodward, a defenseman ranked No. 30 in the 2024 PLL Players Top 50, concluded his rookie campaign with seven points on three goals and a pair of two-pointers, alongside 26 ground balls and 12 caused turnovers. In two PLL playoff games he notched seven ground balls and caused four turnovers.
• Wagner captured a silver medal in the 2024 World Lacrosse Men’s Box Championship in Albany playing with Team USA. Wagner is fourth in MU history in goals (77) and sixth in career points (109) and helped the Golden Eagles to a pair of BIG EAST titles as a freshman and sophomore in 2016 and 2017.
• Byrnes and current head coach Jake Richard helped Team USA to its 11th gold medal in the 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship from June 21-July 1, 2023, in San Diego, California. Byrnes and Richard are long-time members of the American training team and were selected to the active roster for the event in the fall of 2022.
• Byrnes is all All-Premier Lacrosse League close defenseman and led Waterdogs LC to a league title in 2022, while Richard plays SSDM. Byrnes also plays box lacrosse in the NLL.

HOME GAMES ON FLOSPORTS

• All home games for both MU men’s and women’s programs will be broadcast live on FloSports, the BIG EAST Conference’s digital rights holder. Discounted rates for FloSports accounts are available by signing up through the Marquette portal for either men’s or women’s (signing up with either link will work for both sports).
• Most BIG EAST games, home- and road-contests, will be available through FloSports. Check MU’s online schedule for updated direct links to live statistics and broadcasts throughout the season.

Keep up with the Marquette men’s lacrosse program through social media by following on X (@MarquetteMLax) and Instagram (@MarquetteMLax) and ‘liking’ on Facebook (/MarquetteMLax).

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.