Lacrosse Faces #11 Notre Dame Saturday

GAME #2 \| Lacrosse at #11 Notre Dame
Date	Saturday, Feb. 15 \| 3:00 p.m.
Venue	Loftus Sports Center \| South Bend, Ind.
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	Watch (ACCNX) \| Live Statistics
Social Media	Instagram: @emu_Lacrosse \| Twitter: @EMU_Lacrosse

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University lacrosse team will play its first road game of the 2025 season Saturday, Feb. 15, when the Eagles travel to South Bend, Ind., to take on the University of Notre Dame inside the Loftus Sports Center. The game, which will be streamed live on ACCNX at 3 p.m., will see the Eagles (0-1) look to capture the program's first win over a nationally ranked team as they take on the No. 11 Fighting Irish (1-1).

OPENING DRAWS
» Eastern is 0-1 on the season after dropping a 15-10 decision to visiting San Diego State, Feb. 9.
» The Eagles are set to play their first road game of the year while also looking to win their first road opener after dropping the last two, including a 21-6 decision at then-No. 7 Notre Dame last year (Feb. 9, 2024).
» Eastern is 0-3 all-time against nationally-ranked foes, including 0-2 against Michigan and 0-1 against UND.
» Two Eagles currently lead the NCAA in a statistical category as freshman Katheryn Wilson is tied for the national lead in free-position shot percentage (1.000/2-of-2) and Maddie Porter, last year's national leader in ground balls at 4.20 per game, leads the same category with 7.00.
» Mackenzie Blackwell scored four goals and added one assist for five points in the opener with San Diego State, bringing her career total to 100 points. She has scored 92 goals and added eight assists. She currently ranks nationally in three categories, including 19th in goals (4.0), 28th in points (5.0), and fifth in shots (11.0).
» Freshman Katheryn Wilson had a strong debut as she scored four goals with two coming on free-position shots. Wilson, who is tied for the MAC lead in goals and free-position goals, ranks third nationally in free-position goals (2.0) and 19th in goals per game (4.0).
» Along with her top-ranking in ground balls, Maddie Porter also ranks third in the NCAA in saves per game (18.0) while sitting 19th in save percentage (.545).
» Three Eagles are currently ranked in the top 50 on the NCAA Active Leaders list with Mackenzie Blackwell leading the way as she is ranked 11th in draw controls (5.45), 14th in goals (2.79), 38th in points (3.03), and 46th in goals scored (92). Abby Alderman sits 43rd in draw controls (3.09) and Emerson Henry is 10th in caused turnovers per game (2.00).
» In the opener with San Diego State (Feb. 9), three players earned their first collegiate starts, including Kendall Nagle, Stella Burke, and Erin Humphrey. Additionally, Marley Helton and Katheryn Wilson made their collegiate debuts in the game.
» Speaking of firsts, both Katheryn Wilson (four) and Emerson Henry (one) scored their first collegiate goals while Stella Burke recorded her first assist.
» Maddie Dugan is in her first season guiding the Eagles. The 2024 MAC Coach of the Year at Detroit Mercy, Dugan took a Titans team that was selected to finish seventh in the standings to the MAC Tournament championship game. She is in her seventh year as a collegiate head coach.

KNOW THE FOE: NOTRE DAME
The Fighting Irish, ranked among the top 15 in all three national polls, enter the game with a 1-1 record following a 13-10 loss at No. 2 Northwestern (Feb. 7) and a 20-7 home win over Central Michigan (Feb. 9). Eight different players have scored at least one goal through two games with four leading the team with five goals, including Madison Rassas, Kate Timarky, Kathryn Morrissey, and Kristen Shanahan on the list. Defensively, Isabel Pithie has seen a majority of the minutes and has stopped 14 shots while allowing 6.86 goals per game.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. FIGHTING IRISH
Eastern and Notre Dame will meet for the second time overall and the second time in South Bend, Ind. The Fighting Irish hold a 1-0 lead in the series after winning last year's contest, 21-6 (Feb. 9, 2024).

NATIONALLY RANKED
The game with Notre Dame will mark the fourth time the Eagles have faced a nationally-ranked team in its short existence. Previously, the Eagles fell to No. 17 Michigan, 16-3, March 19, 2023, before falling to both No. 7 Notre Dame (Feb. 9, 2024), 21-6, and No. 5 Michigan (April 3, 2024), 20-4, last year.

LIFTING LIDS • ROAD OPENERS
Eastern is 0-2 all-time in its first road game of the year. The Eagles dropped a 16-11 decision at Winthrop (March 3, 2023) in their inaugural season before falling at No. 7 Notre Dame, 21-6, last year (Feb. 9, 2024).

RECAP: SEASON OPENER
The Eagles dropped their season opener, 15-10, to visiting San Diego State, Feb. 9, at the EMU Indoor Practice Facility. Mackenzie Blackwell and Katheryn Wilson each scored four goals to lead the offense while Maddie Porter posted 18 saves and a nation-leading seven ground balls in the contest.

KEEPING IT 100
Mackenzie Blackwell became the first player in EMU history to reach 100 points in her career as her four goals and one assist put her exactly at 100 points. Blackwell has scored 92 goals and added eight assists. She is now eight goals away from reaching 100 for her career as well.

STAYING ACTIVE
According to the latest release of the NCAA statistics, three Eagles are ranked in the career top 50 among active players, including Mackenzie Blackwell in four categories. Blackwell ranks 11th with 5.45 draw controls per game, 14th with 2.79 goals per game, 38th with 3.03 points per game, and 46th with 92 goals scored. Abby Alderman is 43rd with 3.09 draw controls per game while Emerson Henry is 10th with 2.00 caused turnovers per game.

NATIONALLY RANKED
Through games played Feb. 11, the Eagles rank among the top 50 in four statistical categories, including 12th in ground balls per game (21.0). EMU also sits 13th overall in caused turnovers (14.0), 17th in save percentage (54.5), and 40th in draw controls per game (13.0). Additionally, three Eagles are ranked nationally in individual categories, including Mackenzie Blackwell in goals per game (19th at 4.0), points per game (28th at 5.0), and fifth in shots per game (fifth at 11.0). Katheryn Wilson also sits 19th in goals pre game (4.0) while ranking third nationally in free-position goals per game (2.0) and first in free-position shooting percentage (1.000). Lastly, Maddie Porter sits first in ground balls per game (7.00), third in saves per game (18.0), and 19th in save percentage (54.5).

SENSATIONAL SCOOPING
Maddie Porter finished her freshman season ranked first in the NCAA with 4.20 ground balls per game, marking the first time an EMU player has won a statistical category award from the NCAA in program history. She picked up right were she left off as she tallied seven ground balls against San Diego State (Feb. 9), which leads the NCAA.

MAKING DEBUTS
Five Eagles made their debuts against San Diego State, including four freshmen. The rookies seeing their first action included Stella Burke, Marley Helton, Erin Humphrey, and Katheryn Wilson while Payton Bloedow, saw her first action after transferring in from Stony Brook for her junior season. Additionally, three players earned their first collegiate starts, including sophomore Kendall Nagle and freshmen Burke and Humphrey.

FIRST POINTS
Three rookies tallied their first collegiate points in the game with San Diego State (Feb. 9), led by Katheryn Wilson, who scored four goals. Additionally, Emerson Henry scored her first goal while Stella Burke recorded her first assist.

AHOY, CAPTAINS!
Four Eagles were selected as team captains for the 2025 season. The captains include sophomores Mackenzie Blackwell, Samantha Borgert, Kelsea Dague, and Annika Wozney.

HELLO! MY NAME IS...
The remaining 11 players on the roster are newcomers, including 10 freshmen and one transfer in junior Payton Bloedow.

SEA TO SHINING SEA
The EMU roster features 28 American and five Canadians with players hailing from 13 states and two provinces. Maryland dominates the roster with nine players while Michigan (three), Illinois (two), Georgia (two), Minnesota (two), and Pennsylvania (two) each have multiple representatives. Of the Canadian contingent, three hail from Ontario with two coming from British Columbia.

A MADDIE OF FACT
Maddie Dugan is entering her first season as the head coach of the Eagles after being hired Aug. 8, 2024. The third head coach in program history, Dugan came to Ypsilanti after a successful season at Detroit Mercy, where she was named the 2024 MAC Coach of the Year after guiding the Titans to the MAC Tournament final. Dugan served as the head coach at Trine University, an NCAA Division III program, from 2017-21 where she helped see the program increase its win totals over her five seasons in charge. A standout on the field, Dugan was recently inducted into the Adrian College Athletic Hall of Fame where she helped the Bulldogs to four appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

ADDING MORE
The coaching staff grew by two with the additions of Mikela McCauley as an assistant coach and Liv Dameron as a graduate assistant. McCauley came to Ypsilanti after serving as an undergraduate coach at Vanderbilt while Dameron finished her playing career with the Eagles in 2024 as a graduate player.

AND YOU ARE?
The Eagles' schedule features 16 games with seven at home and nine away. Among those 16 opponents are five the program has previously not played. The newcomers to the schedule include home games with San Diego State (Feb. 9), Canisius (March 1), and Oregon (April 11), and road games at Presbyterian (Feb. 25) and Gardner-Webb (Feb. 27).

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS
The 2025 MAC Preseason Coaches Poll was released, Feb. 5, with the Eagles voted to place third in the 2025 MAC regular season standings, the highest predicted finish for the program after being selected sixth (tie) in 2023 and fourth (2024). Robert Morris was first with 34 points while Central Michigan was second with 31. EMU earned one first-place vote and two votes to win the conference tournament, both of which were firsts for the program.

ON THE HORIZON
A two-game Spring Break road trip awaits the Eagles when they play at Presbyterian College and Gardner-Webb University. First, the Eagles and Blue Hose will meet in Clinton, S.C., Tuesday, Feb. 25, with the game starting at 6 p.m. The trip ends Thursday, Feb. 27, with a 2 p.m. game against the Runnin' Bulldogs in Boiling Springs, N.C.

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

Payton Bloedow

Samantha Borgert

Stella Burke

Kelsea Dague

Marley Helton

Emerson Henry

Erin Humphrey

Kendall Nagle

Maddy Porter

Katheryn Wilson

Annika Wozney

Eastern Michigan Athletics