MLAX Begins Road Swing Saturday at Utah

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men’s lacrosse team hits the road for its final two non-conference games beginning Saturday against the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

Opening faceoff is slated for 1 p.m. Central time at Ute Field and the game airs live on ESPN+. Live statistics are available through Stat Broadcast, courtesy of Utah Athletics.

Following Saturday’s matchup against the Utes, MU heads to Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois to host Air Force on Saturday, March 22 in a neutral site contest. BIG EAST Conference action begins Saturday, March 29 against St. John’s at Valley Fields.

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

• The Golden Eagles are 3-3 following home victories over Detroit Mercy, Cleveland State and Bellarmine and road losses at then-No. 15 Michigan, No. 1 Notre Dame and then-No. 13/12 Harvard.
• As a team, the Golden Eagles lead the nation during man-up opportunities with a .706 success rate (12-of-17), following a perfect 3-for-3 showing against Bellarmine in their last game on March 4.
• Senior attackman Nolan Rappis is MU’s point leader (16-13-29) and set a program single-game record with 10 points (five goals, five assists) in the win over UDM on Feb. 8. He tied that goal mark on March 4 against Bellarmine to earn his third BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll mention of the season.
• Senior attackman Bobby O’Grady broke Ryan McNamara‘s career points record of 152 against Bellarmine with eight points on a hat trick and career-high five assists. O’Grady was named to the league honor roll for the second time in as many weeks for the accomplishment.
• Freshman midfielder Noah Snyder has stepped up over the last three weeks and his 12 points have all come against Cleveland State (3g, 2a), Harvard (2g, 1a), and Bellarmine (1g, 3a).
• O’Grady, senior midfielder Will Foster and junior short-stick defensive midfielder Peter Detwiler are team captains for the 2025 campaign.
• 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 170 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).

UTAH (1-5, 0-0 ASUN)

• The Utes have played a very challenging early season schedule and are 1-5 after a season-opening win at then-No. 19 Ohio State and five consecutive losses entering Saturday.
• Four of Utah’s five losses have come by two goals or fewer, including an 11-9 loss at Dartmouth on Saturday. Utah also fell at home to Delaware, 13-12, at then-No. 14 Denver, 10-8, and at Vermont, 11-10.
• Ryan Stines leads the Utes with 15 assists and 22 total points, while Luke McNamara (14-1-15) and Cade Faulkner (12-2-14) are each in double figure points on the year.
• Goalie Colin Lenskold has started all six games and has recorded 65 saves in nearly 360 minutes with a goals against average of 12.08.
• McNamara led the Utes with four goals in the loss at Dartmouth, while Stines and Zachary White each posted four points as well.
• Head coach Andrew McMinn is in his fourth season at Utah and has led the squad to three ASUN regular season titles (2022-24) and a pair of league tournament crowns and the NCAA berths that accompany them.

HISTORY WITH THE UTES

• Marquette and Utah are relatively new programs on the NCAA Division I scene and have met during each of the last three regular seasons.
• The Utes have won the three meetings by a combined four goals, including narrow one-goal decisions in 2022 (12-11) and last year (9-8). MU’s only other regular season trip to Utah was an 18-16 loss to Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
• This year’s contest will mark the first game between the two at Ute Field.
• MU squared off against Utah’s McMinn when he was head coach at Robert Morris during each season from 2016-20.
• Lenskold had 12 saves for the Utes in a tight defensive matchup last season at Valley Fields. The two squads scored one goal apiece in both the third and fourth quarters and the Utes overcame an 11-of-14 performance at the dot by MU faceoff specialist Luke Williams.
• Career vs. Utah:
  • Carsen Brandt: 1 GP, 1g
  • Peter Detwiler: 2 GP, 1a, 4 gb
  • Will Foster: 3 GP, 1g, 2a, 2 gb,
  • David Lamarca: 3 GP, 7 gb, 4 ct
  • Bobby O’Grady: 3 GP, 6g, 1a, 4 gb, 3 ct

OFFENSIVE DEPTH EMERGING

• O’Grady has been one of the most productive players since bursting onto the scene with a program-record 45 goals as a freshman in 2022. This season his fellow attackmen, Rappis and Carsen Brandt, have come into their own and have led the way for the Golden Eagles.
• Rappis leads MU with 29 points through six games, while Brandt, a former high-level recruit, sits behind Rappis and O’Grady with 18 points on the year.
• The Golden Eagles are also able to roll two productive midfield lines for the first time in recent memory with Snyder and sophomore Beau Westphal each providing significant offense.
• Snyder was the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Feb. 24 after posting the first five points of his NCAA career in a 15-7 win over Cleveland State with a hat trick and two assists.
• Junior transfer Matt Caputo and senior Will Foster anchor the first midfield.

RAPPIS IS A REVELATION

• Senior attackman Nolan Rappis is Marquette’s point leader early in the 2025 campaign after little offensive production during his first three seasons on campus. The native of nearby Delafield, Wisconsin is an ambidextrous X attackman and has developed a quick rapport to MU’s young but talented offensive unit.
• He is the team leader with 29 total points on 16 goals and 13 assists through six games.
• Rappis entered 2025 with just 16 total points in 19 career contests and currently is 18th nationally entering the week with 2.17 assists per game.
• Rappis was named to the USILA Team of the Week and earned BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll recognition for his play against Detroit Mercy on Feb. 8. He was also on the league honor roll for posting six points in the win over Cleveland State (2g, 4a) on Feb. 22 and against Bellarmine (5g, 1a) on March 4.

O’GRADY VAULTS UP MU RECORD BOOK

• Bobby O’Grady was 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 49 games of his NCAA career, he’s the all-time program leader in points (157), goals (129) and man-up scores (25).
• He broke Ryan McNamara’s program goal record of 102 against then-No. 13/12 Michigan on Feb. 24, 2024, in Naples, Florida.
• O’Grady broke McNamara’s program points record of 152 with eight points, including a career single-game best five assists, on March 4 against Bellarmine.
• 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.

NEW FACES ON DEFENSE AND SPECIALTY UNITS

• The Golden Eagles lost a pair of starting close defensemen in Woodward and Noah Verlinde as well as 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 both short stick and pole during his 25-game career.
• Freshman Hayden Hiltz was inserted into the lineup against Bellarmine to infuse some athleticism at short stick and immediately provided dividends. Hiltz picked up three ground balls against the Knights and scored his first career goal with under one minute remaining in the second quarter. Hiltz is a 5-foot-11, 185-pound native of Waterdown, Ontario, who played at The Hill Academy.
• 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.

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.