Lacrosse Set for Two Games This Week

Game #13 - vs. XAVIER
Date	Wednesday, April 17 - 1 p.m.
Venue	Scicluna Field (Ypsilanti)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	Live Stats
Twitter	@EMU_Lacrosse \| @EMUAthletics

Game #14 - at YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Date	Sunday, April 21 - 12 p.m.
Venue	Farmers National Bank Field (Youngstown, Ohio)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	Watch (YouTube) \| Live Stats
Twitter	@E MU_Lacrosse \| @EMUAthletics

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University lacrosse team is set for a pair of games with Ohio teams this week as the Eagles will first play host to the Musketeers of Xavier University before traveling to face the Penguins of Youngstown State University in EMU's final Mid-American Conference road game of the season. The Eagles (6-6, 3-1 MAC) will welcome the Musketeers (3-10, 0-4 Big East) to town Wednesday, April 17, at Scicluna Field with the game start being moved up to 1 p.m. in anticipation of storms entering the area. The week ends Sunday, April 21, in Youngstown, Ohio, with the Eagles and Penguins (0-14, 0-4 MAC) meeting for a 12 p.m. contest.

OPENING DRAWS
» EMU stands 6-6 overall and 3-1 in MAC play following its 16-7 home loss to Central Michigan, Sunday, April 14.
» The Eagles slipped to second place in the latest MAC standings at 3-1 with CMU topping the chart at 4-0 and Robert Morris just behind the Eagles at 3-2.
» After not winning one game on the road in 2023 (0-8), the Eagles have captured four away from home in 2024. Additionally, after going 0-4 in MAC road games in 2023, an Eastern win at YSU would give the Eagles a 3-0 record on the road in MAC play this year.
» Kelsea Dague was a bright spot on offense against the Chippewas as she netted four goals for the second consecutive game. Prior to her back-to-back four-goal showings, her previous best was two goals, three times.
» Both Samantha Borgert and Karly Low recorded career highs in caused turnovers as each tallied three in the game with Central Michigan.
» 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 113-83 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.

WITH A WIN OVER XAVIER, EASTERN WOULD...
» Defeat the Musketeers for the first time after dropping an 11-10 decision in Cincinnati last year.
» Mark the second win over a Big East foe this year following EMU's 15-8 home win against Butler, March 15.

WITH A WIN OVER YOUNGSTOWN STATE, EASTERN WOULD...
» Defeat the Penguins for the first time after falling, 17-15, on the road last year, April 8, 2023.
» Post a perfect 3-0 record in MAC road contests for the year after going 0-4 last year.
» Post a three-game road winning streak for the first time in program history.

AROUND THE MAC
With six games to be played over the final two weekends of the regular season, the race for the top four positions in the MAC standings are tightening up. With last week's results, Central Michigan stands 4-0 and in the driver's seat to host the 2024 MAC Tournament, which will be played May 2 and May 4 at the site of the regular season champion. Eastern is second at 3-1 with Robert Morris just behind at 3-2. The fourth spot looks to be a battle between Kent State (2-2) and Detroit Mercy (2-3), who play each other in the final weekend, just as EMU and RMU.

LOOKING BACK: CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Eastern Michigan scored the opening goal, but was unable to maintain the lead as Central Michigan used a four-goal run in the first quarter to build a three-goal lead that would progress into a 16-7 Chippewa win Sunday, April 14, in Ypsilanti. The Eagles were led by Kelsea Dague, who scored four goals for the second consecutive game, marking the second hat trick of her career. Eastern scored three goals on the woman-up advantage, but it was not enough to down the defending MAC champions.

SCOUTING: XAVIER
The Musketeers, like the Eagles, are in their second varsity season and enter the game with a 3-10 overall record and an 0-4 mark in Big East play. Xavier, who is on a seven-game losing skid, last won March 5 at home in a 12-8 victory over Detroit Mercy, who the Eagles defeated, 12-9, on the road, April 7. Individually, Lola Mancuso leads the way with 48 points on 39 goals and nine assists while Kirra Crowley (18) and Katherine Prentice (14) both have double-digit goal totals. On defense, three goalies have split duties throughout the season with Marina Piszczor seeing more minutes than her teammates as she has saved 62 shots and allowed 14.31 goals per game in 390 minutes played.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. MUSKETEERS
Eastern is 0-1 all-time against Xavier after dropping an 11-10 decision last year, March 12, 2023, in Cincinnati. The one-goal loss was the first in program history and the first of three one-goal losses last year for the Eagles. This year's meeting will mark the first at home for Eastern.

BESTING THE B-EAST
A win over the Musketeers would not only be the first in series with Xavier, but would be the second this year against a member of the Big East. Previously in 2024, the Eagles defeated Butler, 15-8, March 15, in Ypsilanti before falling at Marquette, March 17, 14-5.

SCOUTING: YOUNGSTOWN STATE
The Penguins enter the weekend with a 0-14 overall record and stand 0-4 in MAC play following a 17-6 road loss at Robert Morris, April 13. YSU has lost a pair of games by three or fewer goals, including a 14-11 home loss to George Washington, March 13, before a close, 16-15, setback at home to Kent State, March 17, in the MAC opener. Six Penguins have scored 10+ goals this season with Lena Cox leading the way with 32 points on 24 goals and eight helpers. Defensively, Paige Borkowski has played all but 15 minutes in goal. She has saved 159 shots and allowed 245 goals for a 17.82 goals-against average in her 825 minutes played.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. PENGUINS
Eastern is 0-1 against Youngstown State after dropping a 17-15 decision on the road, April 8, 2023. The Penguins are the only team in the MAC the Eagles have yet to face in Ypsilanti.

WELL, WELL, WELL... HOW THE TURNTABLES...
In their inaugural season, the Eagles went 0-8 on the road and were 0-4 against MAC foes, including 0-1 at Youngstown State. Heading into its game with the Penguins this week, Eastern is 4-4 on the road in 2024 and 2-0 in MAC play. A win at YSU would not only see EMU finish a perfect 3-0 on the road in league play this year, but also give the Eagles a winning road record for the first time in program history at 5-4.

DAGUE-JA VU ALL OVER AGAIN
Through her first 10 games, redshirt freshman Kelsea Dague had scored nine goals with a career-high two goals scored three times. In her last two games, she has nearly doubled her output as she has tallied eight goals, scoring four goals in back-to-back games for the first hat tricks of her career. Dague's run started with six points on four goals and two assists at Detroit Mercy, April 7, before she scored four more at home against Central Michigan, April 14. All told, her 17 goals rank second on the team behind Mackenzie Blackwell's 41.

MORE HATS THAN A BASEBALL TEAM
Mackenzie Blackwell continues to lead the team in scoring this season as she has accumulated 41 goals, surpassing the single-season record of 38 she scored in 2023. After scoring three goals at Detroit Mercy, April 7, Blackwell has 15 hat tricks in her career and seven this year. Additionally, she has scored at least one goal in 85.7 percent of all games played (24-of-28) and tallied three or more goals in 53.6 percent of the game (15-of-28).

ONE OF THE BEST
With her 41 goals in 10 games, Mackenzie Blackwell is averaging 3.42 goals per contest, which is second in the MAC and ranks 29th nationally. The fourth-highest scoring sophomore in NCAA Division I, Blackwell's 41 goals ranks 45th in the nation as well.

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE ADVANTAGE
Eastern has taken advantage of being a woman up in 2024 as the Eagles have scored 24 times this year, an average of 2.00 woman-up goals per game after averaging just 1.12 per game last year. Additionally, the EMU defense is doing its part as only eight woman-up goals have been scored this year, an average of 0.67 per game, compared to last year's 14 goals allowed, an average of 0.88 per contest.

TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADERS
As a team, the Eagles hold the top spot in seven statistical categories in the MAC with top three rankings in five others. Through games played April 14, Eastern leads the league in points (15.92), assists (5.50), woman-up goals (2.00), save percentage (.468), goals against average (11.92), ground balls (18.67), and draw controls (14.67). The Eagles rank second in the MAC goals (10.42) and shots on goal per game (19.25).

TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADERS, PART II
Individually, an Eagle leads three offensive categories with Mackenzie Blackwell holding the top spot in draw controls per game (4.92); Avery Schwab is tops in assists (1.33); and Maddie Porter leads in ground balls per game (4.45).

NATIONAL LEADER: SUPER SCOOPER
Maddie Porter not only leads the MAC in ground balls per game (4.45), she also leads all players in NCAA Division I with Madison Hranicka (Delaware) and Hanna Pawela (Duquesne) tied for second at 4.21. Additionally, she is the top-ranked freshman in the category with second belonging to freshman goalie Lauren Solis of Colgate, who ranks 12th nationally at 3.08.

NATIONAL LEADER: FEW FOULS
Through 12 games, the Eagles have committed 83 fouls, an average of 6.92 per game, both of which are the fewest of any team in NCAA Division I. The next closest team in either category is Old Dominion, who is second by both number of fouls committed (100) and average per game (7.14).

HIGH MARKS
As a team, the Eagles have posted three marks that rank among the top four nationally in single-game standings with the 20 saves recorded at Marquette (March 17) ranking third in a single game among all NCAA Division I teams. Earlier this year, the 26 draw controls recorded at Duquesne (Feb. 15) rank as the third-most while the 37 ground balls recorded at Howard (Feb. 25) rank fourth.

HAPPY HELPERS
It is no surprise the Eagles lead the MAC in assists as three players rank among the top four with Avery Schwab (1.33) leading the league. Sydney Lawrence sits third on the chart (1.11) with Tracy Grollman fourth (1.22).

ON THE HORIZON
The final game of the 2024 regular season is up next for the Eagles as they will welcome the Colonials of Robert Morris University to Scicluna Field Sunday, April 27 for a 1 p.m. Mid-American Conference contest. The game also will serve as Senior Day for the Eagles with a ceremony being held before the start of the contest.

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

Mackenzie Blackwell

Samantha Borgert

Kelsea Dague

Tracy Grollman

Skylar Hilmer

Gina Jaffurs

Sydney Lawrence

Karly Low

Maddy Porter

Avery Schwab

Annika Wozney

Eastern Michigan Athletics