Lacrosse Ready for Mid-American Conference Play

Lacrosse at Detroit Mercy
Date	Saturday, April 1, 12 p.m.
Venue	Titan Field \| Detroit, Mich.
Preview Info	EMU Notes (PDF) \| Media Guide (PDF)
Live Stats	Fan Stats
Live stream	YouTube
Social Media	Instagram: @emu_Lacrosse \| Twitter: @EMU_Lacrosse

DETROIT, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University lacrosse team is set to play its inaugural Mid-American Conference game this week as the Eagles will travel to Titan Field to face the University of Detroit Mercy Titans Saturday, April 1, at noon. The Eagles (1-7, 0-0 MAC), coming off a close, 14-13, road loss at Butler University, March 26, will look to secure their first road win and first conference win in program history while the Titans (1-6, 0-1 MAC) will be looking to rebound from their 13-8 road loss at Central Michigan University in both teams' MAC opener, March 29.

OPENING DRAWS:
» Eastern fell in a pair of games last week, dropping an 18-5 home decision to Marquette (March 24) before falling in a close, 14-13, road loss at Butler (March 26).
» The game at Butler produced several program records, including goals scored (13), points (18), free-position goals (six), and draw controls (21).
» A win at Detroit Mercy this week would give the Eagles a trio of firsts, including the program's first road win as well as the program's first overall MAC and road MAC victory.
» The game with UDM will be the first of two this year between the two southeast Michigan teams as the Eagles will play host to the Titans on the final day of the regular season, April 29.
» The Eagles swept the MAC Weekly Awards while also earning the first two accolades in program history with Sydney Lawrence and Mackenzie Blackwell earning offensive and defensive player of the week honors, respectively.
» Lawrence tallied eight points on six goals and two assists last week, including a program-record seven points and five goals in the game at Butler. She also recorded the first free-position hat trick in program history with three against the Bulldogs.
» Blackwell earned the defensive honor as she averaged 7.5 draw controls per game, including a program-record 10 at Butler, while averaging 3.0 goals and 3.0 points per game. Blackwell scored a career-high-tying four goals at BU after scoring twice against Big East leader Marquette.
» Lawrence is averaging 1.75 caused turnovers per game this year, which is tops in the MAC and ranks 39th nationally.
» With 4.25 draw controls per game, Blackwell ranks fourth in the MAC to help the team also rank fourth in the league.

FEELING HONORED: The Mid-American Conference announced its weekly lacrosse honors, March 28, with EMU sweeping the accolades while earning the first player of the week honors in program history. Mackenzie Blackwell was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Week while Sydney Lawrence was named the MAC Offensive Player of the Week following their impressive performances against both Butler University, March 26, and Marquette University, March 24.

SCOUTING DETROIT MERCY: The Titans enter the weekend with a 1-6 record and stand 0-1 in the MAC after falling at Central Michigan, 13-8, in both teams' league opener, March 29. UDM has played four games against common opponents for the Eagles, including a pair of two-goal losses to Butler, an 11-10 win at Xavier, and a loss at Marquette. Offensively, Cat Kopchia leads the way for the Titans with a team-high 11 goals and 15 points while Marina Butler carries a team-high seven assists. Defensively, three goalies have seen action with Meredith Leavell starting all seven games. She has saved 79 shots and allowed 82 goals for a 49.1 save percentage and a 14.07 goals-against average.

MEET THE MAC: The MAC is comprised of seven teams, including four current MAC member institutions and three affiliate members. The MAC schools represented include Eastern, Akron, Central Michigan, and Kent State, with Detroit Mercy, Robert Morris, and Youngstown State joining as affiliate members.

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS: The Mid-American Conference announced its preseason coaches' poll for the 2023 season, Feb. 7, with the Eagles earning 13 votes and a tie for sixth place on the table with Detroit Mercy. Robert Morris, who was one of three teams to share the regular season crown last year with Central Michigan and Youngstown State, was voted first with 46 points and four first-place votes, while CMU, who captured the tournament title on their home turf, was second with 43 points and three first-place votes. The remaining teams in the rankings are Kent State in third (32 points), YSU fourth (31), and Akron fifth (18).

QUICK REVIEW • MARQUETTE: The Green and White dropped its final home non-conference game of the 2023 regular season Friday, March 24, as visiting Marquette University defeated the Eagles in an 18-5 decision at Scicluna Field. The Eagles were led by Mackenzie Blackwell and her two goals, marking the fourth time this year she recorded multiple goals in a game.
    After a quick 14-2 half in favor of Marquette, the Eagles found the back of the net three more times in the tail end of the game, scoring two in the third quarter and one in the final to reach five. Despite the overwhelming first half, the Eagles managed to hold the Golden Eagles to just two goals in each of the last two quarters.

QUICK REVIEW • BUTLER: The EMU lacrosse team jumped out to an early lead, but was unable to grab the victory in a back-and-forth battle on the road at Butler University as the Eagles fell, 14-13, in their final non-conference game of the season. The Eagles were led by a career offensive day from Sydney Lawrence, who recorded a school-record in points and goals with seven and five, respectively, while the Bulldogs were led by Leah Rubino, who scored seven goals in the game.
    After a back-and-forth first half, the final stanza saw the Eagles tie the score with the Bulldogs then reclaiming their one-goal advantage. Tracy Grollman tied things at 11 with Amber Alderman scoring her first career goal to tie things at 12. Mackenzie Blackwell collected her fourth goal of the day to knot the score at 13 with 2:56 remaining before the Bulldogs scored at 0:34 remaining to take a 14-13 lead. Despite the Eagles winning the ensuing draw control, a quick turnover prevented EMU from getting off a shot for the equalizer, ultimately falling,14-13.

RECORDING RECORDS: As a team, the Eagles set records in goals scored with 13 and points with 18, against Butler University, March 26. The goal total is one better than the 12 tallied at home against Delaware State, March 7, while the points are one better than the 17 recorded at Xavier, March 12.

CAREER DAY: Sydney Lawrence had a career day offensively against Butler, March 26, as she recorded career-highs in points (7) and goals (5) while adding two assists, the most points in a single game in program history. The previous record was four points which were recorded by Lawrence (at Winthrop), Avery Schwab (at Xavier), and Mackenzie Blackwell (at Xavier), who also finished with four points against the Bulldogs as well.
    Additionally, Lawrence's seven points tie for the second-most in a single game among all players in the MAC this year so far.

HIGH-FIVE FOR SYD: Sydney Lawrence's five goals against Butler, March 26, are the most in a single game in program history, surpassing the four scored by Mackenzie Blackwell at Xavier, March 12. Blackwell also scored four against the Bulldogs to tie with Lawrence as both players have recorded a pair of hat tricks in their Eastern careers.
    Additionally, Lawrence's five goals tie for the seventh-most in a single game this year by a player in the MAC.

BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK: Sydney Lawrence opened the Butler game with three consecutive goals scored, tallying goals at 14:27, 13:51, and 12:01, March 26. She is the first Eagle player to record three goals in a row, surpassing the two goals in a row scored four other times. Her first two goals rank as the fastest scored in program history as she needed just 37 seconds to score the opener before scoring her second with 1:09 elapsed in the game. Both of those goals surpassed the previous record of 1:31 by Avery Schwab, who tallied her goal against Delaware State, March 7.

RACING THE CLOCK: Sydney Lawrence's first two goals against the Bulldogs, March 26, came 38 seconds apart, the second-fastest set of goals scored by an Eagle this year, just behind Avery Schwab, who scored twice in 33 seconds against Delaware State, March 7. Lawrence's third goal was followed 19 seconds later by Mackenzie Blackwell's first of the game, marking the second-fastest back-to-back goals by EMU teammates this year, bettered only by the 18 second gap between third-quarter scores at Xavier, March 12, by Tracy Grollman and Syklar Hilmer.
FREE-PO HATTIE: Sydney Lawrence recorded the first hat trick off free-position goals in program history as she was 3-of-4 from the arc at Butler, March 26. Lawrence, who is the only Eagle with multiple free-position goals in a game after scoring two at Winthrop, March 3, helped the team score a program-record six free-position goals, surpassing the five scored at Winthrop.

DRAWING THE DRAW: Along with her scoring, Mackenzie Blackwell had a career day at the draw line as she recorded 10 draw controls versus Butler, March 26, to set a school record, bettering the nine Sydney Lawrence tallied at Winthrop, March 7. Abby Alderman added a career-high seven draw controls, which rank as the third-most in a single game, to help the Eagles record a single-game record 21 against the Bulldogs, surpassing the 20 recorded at Winthrop.

DITSKY'S DOZEN: Giuliana Ditsky recorded a single-game record 12 saves in the cage, against the Bulldogs' offense, March 26, surpassing the 10 she had recorded in three previous games. Those games included 10 against Niagara, Feb. 16, in the program's inaugural game, before adding 10 more at home against both Delaware State, March 7, and St. Bonaventure, March 14. All told, the 12 saves rank as the second-most in a single game as a team with the 14 total saves against Niagara leading the way.

UP NEXT: Following the team's first ever MAC competition, the Green and White will prepare to host in-state rival, Central Michigan University, April 5 for a 3 p.m. draw on Scicluna Field.

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Players Mentioned

Abby Alderman

Amber Alderman

Mackenzie Blackwell

Giuliana Ditsky

Tracy Grollman

Sydney Lawrence

Avery Schwab

Eastern Michigan Athletics