Marquette Golden Eagles men's lacrosse

The Marquette Golden Eagles men's lacrosse team represents Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and competes in the Big East Conference of NCAA Division I. The Golden Eagles play their home games at Valley Fields starting in 2016 and were formerly coached by Joe Amplo.

Marquette Golden Eagles
Founded2011
UniversityMarquette University
Head coachJake Richard (since 2024 season)
StadiumValley Fields
(capacity: 2,000)
LocationMilwaukee, Wisconsin
ConferenceBig East
NicknameGolden Eagles
ColorsBlue and gold[1]
   
NCAA Tournament appearances
(2) - 2016, 2017
Conference Tournament championships
(2) - 2016, 2017

History

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Starting a program

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Marquette started talking about adding a new program to its offerings in the summer of 2010. The athletic department eventually settled on lacrosse since the school lacked a spectator spring sport, and by September the move was approved by the Board of Trustees. The University partnered with former college head coach Dave Cottle, who led the search committee for the program's first coach. Marquette introduced former Hofstra assistant Joe Amplo as head coach on February 27, 2011.[2]

2015: Put on the map

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The first two years of play for the Golden Eagles went as expected. Marquette went 5–8 in its first season, earning the program's first victory on March 2, 2013 against Air Force,[3] and 6–10 in the second season.[3] It was 2015 when Amplo and his team started turning heads.

Marquette started its season defeating two straight ranked opponents, No. 18/16 Lehigh [4] and No. 17/19 Hofstra.[5] On February 16 the Golden Eagles entered the media and coaches' top 20 for the first time in program history.[6] They would move as high as 9th in the media poll.[7]

However, Marquette couldn't hold on down the stretch. Losses to Georgetown,[8] Bellarmine,[9] Notre Dame,[10] Duke [11] and Denver [12] ended the Golden Eagles tournament hopes.

Tournament Time

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Despite the strong 2015 season, Marquette hadn't accomplished its goal of making the NCAA Tournament. The team wouldn't have to wait much longer.

After defeating Villanova in the first round of the BIG EAST tournament, the Golden Eagles shocked the lacrosse community on May 7, 2016, defeating then-No. 1 Denver 10-9 for the Golden Eagles' first BIG EAST title. The loss was the first for Denver in their three years of BIG EAST play and the Pioneers first home loss in 22 games. The win was only the second for a Marquette program over a top ranked team, and the first since the men's basketball team took down Kentucky in 2003. Liam Byrnes was named the tournament's most valuable player.[13]

The win propelled the Golden Eagles from an on-the-bubble team to the sixth best seed and Marquette's first tournament appearance in just its fourth season of play. Marquette hosted its first NCAA Tournament game on May 14, 2016, a 10–9 loss to perennial powerhouse North Carolina.[14] The Tar Heels would go on to defeat Maryland 14-13 in overtime for their first NCAA title since 1991.[15]

All-time head coaches

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Years Head Coach Record Postseason
2012–2019 Joe Amplo 52-53 0–2
2020-2024 Andrew Stimmel 21-41 0–0
2025- Jake Richard
Total 73-94 0–2

Season results

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The following is a list of Marquette's results by season as an NCAA Division I program:

Season Coach Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Joe Amplo (Independent) (2012–2013)
2013 Joe Amplo 5–8
Joe Amplo (Big East Conference) (2014–2019)
2014 Joe Amplo 6–10 4–2 2nd
2015 Joe Amplo 10–6 3–2 3rd
2016 Joe Amplo 11–5 4–1 2nd NCAA Division I First Round
2017 Joe Amplo 8–8 2–3 4th NCAA Division I First Round
2018 Joe Amplo 6–8 3–2 T–2nd
2019 Joe Amplo 6–8 2–3 5th
Joe Amplo: 52–53 (.495) 18–13 (.581)
Andrew Stimmel (Big East Conference) (2020–2024)
2020 Andrew Stimmel 3–4 0–0
2021 Andrew Stimmel 4–8 3–7 T–4th
2022 Andrew Stimmel 4–11 2–3 4th
2023 Andrew Stimmel 6–8 1–4 5th
2024 Andrew Stimmel 4–10 0–5 5th
Andrew Stimmel: 21–41 (.339) 6–19 (.240)
Total: 73–94 (.437)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

†NCAA canceled 2020 collegiate activities due to the COVID-19 virus.

Awards

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All-Americans

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  • Tyler Melnyk (2014 Honorable Mention)
  • Liam Byrnes (2016 Second Team)
  • B.J. Grill (2016 Third Team)
  • Jake Richard (2016 Third Team)
  • Mason Woodward (2021 Honorable Mention)

Big East Coach of the Year

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  • Joe Amplo (2014)

Big East Defensive Player of the Year

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  • Liam Byrnes (2016)
  • Noah Richard (2019)

First-Team All-Big East Selections

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  • B.J. Grill (2014, 2015)
  • Tyler Melnyk (2014)
  • Liam Byrnes (2015, 2016)
  • Kyle Whitlow (2015)
  • Ryan McNamara (2016, 2017)
  • Noah Richard (2018, 2019)
  • John Wagner (2018)
  • Nick Grill (2019)
  • Tanner Thomson (2019)
  • Bobby O'Grady (2022)
  • Devon Cowan (2021, 2023)
  • Mason Woodward (2021, 2023, 2024)

Golden Eagles in the Pros

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Seven Golden Eagles were drafted in the Major League Lacrosse Draft, eight in the National Lacrosse League Draft and one in the Premier Lacrosse League Draft.

The following Golden Eagles players were selected in the Major League Lacrosse Draft:

Player Year Team
Liam Byrnes 2016 Florida Launch
Jake Richard 2016 New York Lizards
B.J. Grill 2016 Denver Outlaws
Ryan McNamara 2017 Rochester Rattlers
Andy DeMichiei 2017 Ohio Machine
Noah Richard 2019 Chesapeake Bayhawks
Luke Anderson 2020 Chesapeake Bayhawks

[16]

The following Golden Eagles players were selected in the National Lacrosse League Draft:

Player Year Team
Tyler Melnyk 2014 Edmonton Rush
Andrew Smistad 2014 Calgary Roughnecks
Liam Byrnes 2016 Georgia Swarm
Kyle Whitlow 2016 Colorado Mammoth
Tanner Thomson 2019 Saskatchewan Rush
John Wagner 2019 New York Riptide
Connor McClelland 2020 Saskatchewan Rush
Mason Woodward 2023 New York Riptide
Luke Williams 2024 Calgary Roughnecks
Caleb Creasor 2024 Saskatchewan Rush

[17] [18]

The following Golden Eagles players were selected in the Premier Lacrosse League Draft:

Player Year Team
Noah Richard 2019 Atlas Lacrosse Club
Mason Woodward 2024 Utah Archers

References

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  1. ^ "Marquette Athletics Quick Facts". GoMarquette.com. May 21, 2018. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  2. ^ Jack Goods, jack.goods@mu.edu. "Blueprint of a program". Marquette Wire. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  3. ^ a b "Marquette Golden Eagles Official Athletic Site – Men's Lacrosse". Gomarquette.com. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  4. ^ "Marquette upsets No. 16 Lehigh in season opener". Marquette Wire. 2015-02-07. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  5. ^ "Marquette wins second straight against No. 19 Hofstra". Marquette Wire. 2015-02-14. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  6. ^ "Men's lacrosse enters national rankings for first time". Marquette Wire. 2015-02-16. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  7. ^ "Joe Amplo Bio Marquette Golden Eagles Official Athletic Site". Gomarquette.com. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  8. ^ "Men's lacrosse coping with first loss to Georgetown". Marquette Wire. 2015-03-24. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  9. ^ "Bellarmine dominates Marquette in 9–3 victory". Marquette Wire. 2015-03-31. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  10. ^ "Lacrosse falls 14–7 to top ranked Fighting Irish". Marquette Wire. 2015-04-07. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  11. ^ "No. 16/17 Marquette falls to No. 6/6 Duke". Marquette Wire. 2015-04-20. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  12. ^ "Men's lacrosse falls to No. 5 Denver on Senior Day". Marquette Wire. 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  13. ^ "Marquette Shocks Denver in Big East Men's Final – Lacrosse Magazine". Laxmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  14. ^ "Lacrosse season ends with first round loss to North Carolina". Marquette Wire. 2016-05-14. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  15. ^ Dan Aburn May 30, 2016 (2016-05-30). "Sector SPDRs May Madness: Carolina Wins NCAA Title, 14-13, in OT". Inside Lacrosse. Retrieved 2016-08-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Gadsby, Paige (2016-03-18). "Atlanta Blaze Select Duke's Myles Jones No.1 Overall in 2". Major League Lacrosse. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  17. ^ "2014 NLL Draft results | National Lacrosse League". Nll.com. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  18. ^ "2016 NLL Draft Results | National Lacrosse League". www.nll.com. Archived from the original on 2016-09-27.