MLAX Travels to No. 1 Notre Dame on Saturday

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men’s lacrosse team heads to face two-time defending national champion No. 1 Notre Dame on Saturday at the Loftus Sports Center in Notre Dame, Indiana.

First faceoff is slated for 11 a.m. Central time and the contest airs live on ACCNX with Jacob Irons and Brian Benedict on the call. Live statistics are available through Stat Broadcast and linked through GoMarquette.com.

Admission to the game is free.

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

• The Golden Eagles defeated Detroit Mercy, 16-6, in their home opener at Valley Fields on Saturday, Feb. 8 behind a Marquette single-game points record from senior attackman Nolan Rappis (5-5-10). Classmate Bobby O’Grady also recorded the eighth five-goal game of his career, while MU outshot the Titans 49-26 and won 19-of-26 faceoffs.
• Rappis earned the first BIG EAST weekly honor of his career for his performance in the win and is on the USILA Team of the Week. The native of Delafield, Wisconsin and graduate of Kettle Moraine High School had posted 16 points in 20 career games entering the contest against UDM.
• 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).
• 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 (119 goals) and one of four returning offensive starters, alongside Carsen Brandt, Nolan Rappis and midfielder Will Foster.
• O’Grady had five goals and one assist in the win over UDM and now sits just one point behind Conor Gately (140 career points) for second in MU history.
• O’Grady is MU’s returning points leader from 2024 (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.

NOTRE DAME (1-0, 0-0 ACC)

• The Fighting Irish won their season opener over Cleveland State, 24-6, on Wednesday evening at the Loftus Center. Jake Taylor scored seven goals for ND, while Chris Kavanagh notched nine points on four goals and five assists. The Irish scored the game’s first three goals and jumped out to a commanding 15-2 lead before CSU scored with 32 seconds left in the opening half.
• Junior Thomas Ricciardelli made his first career start in net and recorded five saves in 38:18 of game action while allowing three goals.
• Kavanagh returns for his senior season after recording a program record 81 points in 2024 with 44 goals and 37 assists. He earned NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player honors last spring with 22 points (14-8-22) in the tournament.
• Notre Dame enters the 2025 campaign on the heels of back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2023 and 2024 with four members of the Tewaaraton Award Watch List in tow.
• A total of nine Irish players earned preseason all-America recognition from Inside Lacrosse, while ND had six players on the two USILA Preseason All-American teams.
• Defensive midfielders Ben Ramsey and Will Donovan (LSM) are members of the USILA Preseason All-America First Team alongside sophomore defenseman Shawn Lyght. Kavanaugh is on the second team with midfielder Devon McLane and faceoff specialist Will Lynch.
• Head coach Kevin Corrigan is in his 37th season at Notre Dame, the fourth-longest tenure at a single school in NCAA history.

HISTORY WITH THE IRISH

• Notre Dame has won all 12 meetings in the series and is 7-0 against MU at home. The lone contest played inside the Loftus Center was a 21-10 ND win on Feb. 15, 2023.
• O’Grady has scored four goals in each of MU’s last two games against the Irish, while Matt Caputo notched a hat trick against ND in 2024 while playing for Ohio State.
• The two Midwestern Catholic institutions have played every season of MU’s existence except for the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign. ND won three one-goal decisions over MU in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and hosted the Golden Eagles in the first round of the 2017 NCAA tournament at Arlotta Stadium.
• Key MU players career versus ND:
  • Andrew Bowman: 1 GP, 1g, 1a
  • Matt Caputo (at Ohio State): 2 GP, 3g, 4 gb
  • Peter Detwiler: 2 GP, 4 gb, 1 ct
  • David Lamarca: 3 GP, 9 gb, 1 ct
  • Bobby O’Grady: 3 GP, 10g
  • Mike Piraino: 1 GP, 2 gb, 1 ct
  • Adam Slager: 1 GP, 7-of-15, 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 45 games of his NCAA career, he’s the all-time program leader in goals (119) 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 (139 career points) is just 13 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. 19/17 Harvard on March 1 and RV Utah on March 15.
• The BIG EAST Conference features two squads ranked in both polls in No. 14 Denver and No. 14/15 Georgetown and No. RV/20 Providence is ranked in the media poll. The Hoyas are the unanimous preseason league favorites, while MU was tied for fifth with St. John’s in the coaches’ survey.

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.