East Coast Swing Awaits Eastern Lacrosse

Game #3 - at HOWARD
Date	Sunday, Feb. 25 - 12 p.m.
Venue	Greene Stadium (Washington, D.C.)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	Watch \| Live Stats
Twitter	@EMU_Lacrosse \| @EMUAthletics

Game #4 - at DELAWARE STATE
Date	Wednesday, Feb. 28 - 12 p.m.
Venue	Drass Field (Dover, Del.)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	Live Stats
Twitter	@E MU_Lacrosse \| @EMUAthletics

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University lacrosse teams is set to play a pair of games on the East Coast next week as the Eagles will take on Howard University, Sunday, Feb. 25, before facing Delaware State University, Wednesday, Feb. 28. The Eagles (0-2) will open the trip with a noon opening draw with the Bison (0-2), who are set to play at George Mason, Feb. 22, before meeting with EMU. The trip closes Feb. 28 in a noon start with the Eagles facing the Hornets (0-1), who play host to Kent State University, Feb. 23.

OPENING DRAWS
» Eastern enters the week with an 0-2 record following a 16-13 loss at Duquesne, Feb. 15, in Pittsburgh, Pa.
» With the loss, the Eagles are now 0-10 all-time on the road. Eastern is in the midst of five consecutive road games to open the 2024 season, which is its second as a varsity program, giving EMU several chances for that first victory away from home.
» EMU had several stellar performances against the Dukes, including Mackenzie Blackwell, who scored a season-best four goals and added one assist for a team-high five points. She also recorded 12 draw controls, bettering her own school record by two, and recorded the third-highest single-game total in the NCAA in 2024.
» Mackenzie Blackwell's 12 draw controls at Duquesne vaulted her into the national top 20 as she ranks second in the MAC and 14th nationally with an average of 7.00 draws controlled per game.
» As a team, the Eagles recorded a school-record 26 draw controls against the Dukes, Feb. 15, which is tied for the most in a single game in the NCAA this year. EMU is tied for the lead with Wofford, who recorded 26 against Stetson one day after the Eagles recorded their 26.
» Kelsea Dague has been a model of consistency for the Eagles in her first two collegiate games as she is averaging four points, two goals, and two assists per game this year. Those totals currently rank her tied for first in the MAC in both points and assists and tied for third in goals.
» The Eagles currently lead the MAC in draw controls per game (17.0), are tied for the lead with 6.0 caused turnovers per contest, and rank second in ground balls per game (14.0). Additionally, their draw control average ranks 21st nationally and their ground balls per game average is 50th in the nation.
» Kyleigh Dill collected the first points of her collegiate career at Duquesne, Feb. 15, as the sophomore scored the first two goals of her career on back-to-back possessions for the Eagles to open the second quarter.
» Five Eagles were selected captains ahead of the 2024 season, including sophomores Mackenzie Blackwell, Skylar Hilmer, Gina Jaffurs, and Annika Wozney, and graduate student Sydney Lawrence.
» Head Coach Sara Tisdale is back for her second year building the Eagle program and carries a career record of 107-79 in 12 years of coaching. Eastern is the third program she has started from scratch after starting programs at Augustana (Ill.) in 2012 and Central Michigan in 2016.
» Eastern was voted fourth in the 2024 MAC Preseason Coaches Poll, up from a tie for sixth in 2023.

SCOUTING: HOWARD
The Bison, members of the Northeast Conference (NEC), hold an 0-2 record with one loss each at home and away. Howard, who will travel to play George Mason, Feb. 22, before welcoming the Eagles to town, is led by Quai Skeete-Ridely, who has tallied a team-high in both points (five) and goals (four). As a team, the Bison are averaging 8.0 goals per game with 10 different players having tallied at least one this season. Defensively, Logan Ford has played all 120 minutes in the cage and sports a 17.50 goals against average to go along with 18 saves and a 34.0 save percentage.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. BISON
The game between Eastern and Howard will mark the first in the series.

SCOUTING: DELAWARE STATE
The Hornets, also members of the NEC after playing in the Atlantic Sun Conference last year, are 0-1 on the season after dropping their opener, 20-2, at Maryland-Baltimore County, Feb. 10. Delaware State, who will play Kent State, Feb. 23, before meeting the Eagles, saw a pair of players score in the game with UMBC, including London Downing and London Stewart. Two goalies minded the cage in the opener as well with Yeda Couto-Erickson earning the start before being spelled by Isabel Gautreaux for the final 21 minutes of the game.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. HORNETS
Eastern holds a 1-0 lead in the all-time series with Delaware State after claiming a 12-7 win in Ypsilanti, March 7, 2023. The win marked the first in program history for the first-year Eastern program.

THE WHEELS ON THE BUS...
The 2024 season sees the Eagles open with five consecutive road games, which will give the team early chances for the first road victory in program history. Eastern is currently 0-10 all-time away from home after going 0-8 in 2023 and falling at No. 7 Notre Dame in the opener before dropping a 16-13 decision at Duquesne.

LOOKING BACK: ON THE ROAD AT DUQUESNE
Eastern traveled to Pittsburgh, Pa., Feb. 15, and took on Duquesne with the Eagles falling, 16-13, on a rainy day at Rooney Field. Eastern built leads of 4-2 through the first quarter and 8-7 at halftime before the Dukes led, 12-11, heading into the fourth. A four-goal run for the hosts would extend DU's lead for the final score.
Individually, Mackenzie Blackwell led the way with five points on four goals and one assist while recording a school-record 12 draw controls, and Kelsea Dague repeated her opening game performance at Notre Dame with two goals and two assists for four points. Kyleigh Dill also got into the scoring as the sophomore tallied the first two goals of her collegiate career on back-to-back possessions.

TAKING CONTROLS
Mackenzie Blackwell was remarkable in the circle at Duquesne, Feb. 15, as she collected a school-record 12 draw controls for the Eagles, bettering her own record of 10 set twice in 2023. The 12 controls are not only a record for EMU, but rank as the third-most recorded in a single game this year in the NCAA. For the season, Blackwell is averaging 7.0 draw controls per game, an average that ranks second in the MAC and 14th nationally.

QUICK ON THE DRAWS
EMU collected 26 draw controls against Duquesne, Feb. 15, bettering the previous school record of 23 set at home against Detroit Mercy, April 29, 2023. Overall, the 26 draw controls are tied for the most in a single game nationally this year after Wofford recorded 26 one day later, Feb. 16, against Stetson.

EARLY CONTRIBUTIONS
Freshman Roya Khaleeli recorded four more draw controls at Duquesne, Feb. 15, marking the second game in a row she has done so. With her average of 4.0 draw controls per game, the rookie currently ranks tied for fifth in the MAC while her 2.5 ground balls per game rank her tied for seventh.

HATS OFF TO YOU
Mackenzie Blackwell recorded the first hat trick of the season for the Eagles, Feb. 15, at Duquesne as she found the back of the net four times against the Dukes. The four goals mark the 14th time Blackwell has scored multiple goals in a game in her career and eighth time she has tallied a hat trick.

DAGUE-JA VU
In two games this year, redshirt freshman Kelsea Dague has been very consistent with her offensive output. Dague opened the year with four points on two goals and two assists at No. 7 Notre Dame, Feb. 9, before posting identical numbers (2G/2A/4P) at Duquesne, Feb. 15. Through games played last weekend, Dague ranks tied for first in the MAC in both points and assists per game while sitting tied for third in goals per game.

DILL ENTERS THE SCORING
Kyleigh Dill appeared in seven games in 2023 for EMU with just one shot to her credit. At Duquesne, Feb. 15, she turned the stat sheet on its head as she scored two goals in the span of one minute to start the second quarter, marking her first collegiate goals.

HAPPY TO HELP
Three players dished out multiple assists on goals at Duquesne, Feb. 15, including three each from Abby Alderman and Sydney Lawrence, and two from Kelsea Dague. The trio of assists for Alderman and Lawrence tie for the second-most in a game in program history while Dague tied for the sixth-best.

MAKING THEIR DEBUTS
Six Eagles made their debuts at Notre Dame, Feb. 9, including five freshmen and one graduate student. Kelsea Dague, after sitting out the 2023 season with an injury, earned a start in her collegiate debut while four "true" freshmen saw the field, including starters Karly Low and Maddie Porter along with substitutes Roya Khaleeli and Kendall Nagle. Additionally, Addie Pastor, who started all 53 games she played at Albion, earned a start in her graduate student debut. In the game at Duquesne, Feb. 15, Ally Moore mad her collegiate debut.

HIGH MARKS
Following the 2023 season, the IWLCA announced its Academic Merit Squads, which are comprised of the three teams with the highest cumulative grade-point average in each of the NCAA divisions. With a 3.723 GPA last year, the Eagles ranked second in NCAA Division I with only Harvard ahead of Eastern with a GPA of 3.781. Jacksonville was the third team honored with a 3.720 GPA.

ON THE HORIZON
The Eagles' five-game road trip comes to an end March 9 when Eastern ventures to Easton, Pa., to take on the Leopards of Lafayette College. The game is slated for a 10:30 a.m. opening draw and will stream live on ESPN+.

FOLLOW US
For all things EMU Lacrosse, be sure to check out the team's social media accounts, including EMU_Lacrosse on X (formerly Twitter) and EMU_Lacrosse on Instagram.

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Players Mentioned

Abby Alderman

Mackenzie Blackwell

Kelsea Dague

Kyleigh Dill

Skylar Hilmer

Gina Jaffurs

Roya Khaleeli

Sydney Lawrence

Karly Low

Ally Moore

Kendall Nagle

Addie Pastor

Maddy Porter

Annika Wozney

Eastern Michigan Athletics