MLAX Plays Air Force Saturday in Wilmette, Illinois

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men’s lacrosse team plays Air Force in a neutral site game at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois on Saturday at noon Central time.

Opening faceoff is at noon Central time. There will be no stream available.

Following Saturday’s matchup against the Falcons, Marquette opens BIG EAST play against St. John’s at Valley Fields on Saturday, March 29.

MARQUETTE (4-3, 0-0 BIG EAST)

• The Golden Eagles are 4-3 following home victories over Detroit Mercy, Cleveland State and Bellarmine, an overtime road win at Utah, and road losses at then-No. 15 Michigan, No. 1 Notre Dame and then-No. 13/12 Harvard.
• As a team, the Golden Eagles are second in the nation during man-up opportunities with a .722 success rate (13-of-18).
• Senior attackman Nolan Rappis is MU’s point leader (18-13-31) 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 netted the overtime winner in the Golden Eagles’ win at Utah on March 15.
• 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).

AIR FORCE (2-5, 0-0 ASUN)

• Air Force is 2-5 on the season with wins over Quinnipiac and Marist
• Junior attacker Caelan Driggs leads the team with 32 points (24g, 8a)

HISTORY WITH THE FALCONS

• Marquette and Air Force have met four times, with MU leading the series, 3-1.
• The Golden Eagles have taken the last two meetings, including last year’s 12-6 win in Colorado Springs on Feb. 3, 2024.
• Bobby O’Grady recorded a hat trick in last year’s contest.

SLAGER BIG EAST MLAX SPECIALIST OF THE WEEK

• Faceoff specialist Adam Slager is the BIG EAST Conference Specialist of the Week
• Slager, a redshirt sophomore, posted career highs of 15 faceoff wins and eight ground balls in Marquette’s 12-11 overtime victory at Utah on Saturday.
• The native of Stoughton, Wisconsin was 15-of-18 at the faceoff dot and secured his 15th win and eighth ground ball at the start of overtime to give MU possession prior to Bobby O’Grady’s game winner.

CAPUTO ON BIG EAST WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

• Junior midfielder Matt Caputo earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
• Caputo scored a career-high four goals and added one assist against the Utah on Saturday.
• The Ohio State transfer scored MU’s first of the day early in the opening quarter and all three of his goals after halftime gave Marquette the lead
• His final score put MU up 11-10 with 4:41 remaining in regulation and held until the Utes’ final goal with 25 seconds remaining tied the game.

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 31 points through six games, while Brandt, a former high-level recruit, sits behind Rappis and O’Grady with 20 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 31 total points on 18 goals and 13 assists through seven 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 50 games of his NCAA career, he’s the all-time program leader in points (159), goals (130) 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.