Eagles Host Musketeers Saturday in Ypsilanti

GAME #4 \| vs. XAVIER
Date	Saturday, Feb. 14 \| 2 p.m.
Venue	Indoor Practice Facility \| Ypsilanti, Mich.
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	Live Statistics
Social Media	Instagram: @emu_Lacrosse \| Twitter: @EMU_Lacrosse

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University lacrosse team will look to stay undefeated at home in 2026 when it hosts the Musketeers of Xavier University, Saturday, Feb. 14, in a 2 p.m. contest inside the Indoor Practice Facility in Ypsilanti. Winners of two consecutive home games, the Eagles (2-1) are off to their best start in program history and will look to extend the run while also securing its first win over Xavier (0-1) in the third meeting between the schools.

OPENING DRAWS
» Eastern came back from a one-goal deficit with a strong second-half showing to defeat visiting Lindenwood, 14-11, Wednesday, Feb. 11, in Ypsilanti. The win moved the Eagles to 2-1 on the year and 2-0 at home.
» With a win over Xavier this week, the Eagles would extend their season-best start to 3-1 while also defeating the Musketeers for the first time in three tries.
» With a win over Xavier, Eastern would extend its home winning streak to three games and tie the program record set twice before. The first instance came with the final game of 2023 and the first two home contests of 2024 with the second consisting of three consecutive wins in 2025.
» The game with Xavier will mark the first time in program history the team has played on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14). The Eagles have twice played on Feb. 15 and are 0-2 in those two road games.
» Mackenzie Blackwell continued her torrid offensive pace as she added six points to her season total with four goals and two assists against Lindenwood. Her 13 goals currently lead the NCAA with two players in second place with 11 each.
» Two players tallied their first career points against Lindenwood as Emma Reichert scored twice and Reagan Riemer posted one assist. Reichert, a freshman, scored her first on a free-position goal while Riemer, a redshirt freshman, tallied her assist on second of Kelsea Dague's three goals.
» After sitting out 2025 because of injury, Kelsea Dague got back into the scoring column for the first time since April 2024 as she netted a hat trick for her first points of 2026. It marked her third career hat trick as well.
» The Eagles recorded 13 caused turnovers against Lindenwood, which tied for the sixth-most in a single game in program history and tied for the most by any team playing inside the Indoor Practice Facility at EMU. Four Eagles each recorded two caused turnovers, including Haley Hodak, Erin Humphrey, Annika Wozney, and Maddy Porter.
» Eastern is set to play 16 regular season games in 2026 with eight each being played at home and on the road. The schedule also features three games against teams from a 'Power 4' conference, including road games at Oregon (Big Ten) and Vanderbilt (SEC) and a home game with Cincinnati (Big 12).
» The Eagles will face four opponents for the first time in program history with games played at home and two on the road. The newcomers to the schedule include Lindenwood, Austin Peay, Vanderbilt, and UMass, who is the newest member of the MAC.
» Five Eagles were named captains for the 2026 season, including Mackenzie Blackwell, Samantha Borgert, Kelsey Dague, Maddy Porter, and Annika Wozney.
» The team will feature 12 seniors, including nine that were part of the program's first major signing class in 2022. The group will be honored in Senior Day festivities following the game with Robert Morris, April 18.
» The coaching staff also welcomed two new faces as Irene Carlquist and Ty McGuire were hired as assistant coaches. Carlquist, most recently the head coach at Lees-McRae, will work with the goalkeepers, while McGuire, the former head coach of the men's program at Concordia-Ann Arbor, will work with the defense.
» Maddie Dugan is in her second season guiding the Eagles. The 2024 MAC Coach of the Year at Detroit Mercy, Dugan guided the Eagles to a share of the MAC regular season crown in 2025, the first title in program history.

QUICK RECAP: EAGLES TAME LIONS
The Eagles scored a 14-11 home win over Lindenwood, Feb. 11, with a strong second half of play propelling the hosts to a 2-0 start at home. Eastern, who trailed, 4-3, early in the second quarter, used a pair of four-goal runs to take control of the contest and pull away for the win in the first meeting with the Lions. Mackenzie Blackwell tallied six points on four goals and a career-high-tying two assists as she brought her season goal total to an NCAA-leading 13 while Kelsea Dague recorded a hat trick with her first goals since the 2024 season. Emma Reichert notched the first two goals of her collegiate career while Reagan Riemer earned her first collegiate point on an assist as the Eagles scored their highest goal total in an indoor home game in program history.

LOVE IN THE AIR?
Eastern and Xavier will meet on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14), marking the first time the Eagles have played on the 'day of love'. The Eagles have twice played on Feb. 15 and suffered defeats in both as they fell on the road at Duquesne (16-13) in 2024 and No. 11 Notre Dame (17-7) in 2025.

STRONG STARTING
With their 14-11 win over Lindenwood (Feb. 11), the Eagles improved to 2-1 overall to mark their best start in program history after opening each of the past three seasons with 1-2 marks. With a win against Xavier (Feb. 14), Eastern would improve to 3-1 to break the record for the best four-game start in program history after the 2024 and 2025 squads both began their campaigns at 2-2.

DEFENDING HOME TURF
The Eagles are off to a 2-0 start at home for the second time in program history, joining the 2024 squad for the record. With a win over Xavier (Feb. 14) this weekend, the 2026 team would own the best home start at 3-0 as the 2024 side fell to No. 5 Michigan (20-4) it is third game of the season.

HOME STREAKING
With back-to-back wins, the Eagles are in position to tie the program record for consecutive home victories as a win over Xavier (Feb. 14) would mark the third time Eastern has prevailed in three consecutive home contests and the second to be accomplished in the same season. The first instance came across two seasons as the Eagles defeated Detroit Mercy (17-12) to close out 2023 before defeating Butler (15-8) and Kent State (12-11) to open 2024. Last year, Eastern posted wins over Canisius (12-10), Youngstown State (19-6), and Detroit Mercy (13-8) to tie the mark.

KNOW THE FOE: XAVIER
The Musketeers come to Ypsilanti with a 0-1 record following a 17-9 loss at crosstown rival Cincinnati, Feb. 6. Maya Graham led the way with four points on three goals and one assist while Claire Slade and Lily Hayes both added two goals. Defensively, Jada Brandon played the full time in goal and made 12 saves in the loss to the Bearcats, who EMU will host, March 8.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. MUSKETEERS
Eastern trails in the all-time series, 0-2, with both losses coming by one goal. The two teams met in Cincinnati in 2023 as both teams embarked on their inaugural seasons with the Musketeers taking an 11-10 win. The two sides met one year later in Ypsilanti with the visiting Musketeers grabbing a 13-12 win in overtime.

TAKING ON • BIG EAST
For the third time in four games, the Eagles will face a member of the BIG EAST Conference with Eastern holding a 1-1 record this year following its 20-9 road loss at Marquette and 12-8 home defeat of Butler. With those results, the Eagles stand 3-7 all-time against the conference with records of 3-1 against Butler, 0-4 against Marquette, and 0-2 against Xavier.

ON TOP OF THE (COLLEGIATE) WORLD
Following her six-point, four-goal performance against Lindenwood (Feb. 11), Mackenzie Blackwell moved into the national lead in two categories. Among NCAA Division I players, Blackwell holds the top spot for goals with 13 and points with 17. Additionally, her averages in three areas are among the top 30 nationally, including 18th in shots per game (8.67), 23rd in goals per game (4.33), and 28th in points per game (5.67).

PORTER ON THE RISE
Maddy Porter also features among the national top 40 in two categories, including ranking fourth nationally and first in the MAC in total saves with 26. Those saves average to 8.67 per game, which ranks her 38th in the NCAA and third in the league.

FEELING ACTIVE • NCAA CAREER LIST
Each year, the NCAA compiles a list of current players in each division and where they rank in statistical categories based upon their career totals with two Eagles highly ranked once again:
Mackenzie Blackwell
» 160 goals = 7th in NCAA Division I
» 3.08 goals/game = 9th in NCAA Division I
» 4.06 draw controls/game = 13th in NCAA Division I
» 3.40 points/game = 18th in NCAA Division I
Maddy Porter
» 4.06 ground balls/game= 1st in NCAA Division I
» 142 ground balls = 5th in NCAA Division I
» 337 saves = 11th in NCAA Division I

MORE N THE LIST
Ten more marks held by Eagles rank among the top 10 in the MAC with Maddy Porter adding three to the list as she sits fourth in save percentage (.400), sixth in goals against average (13.00), and eighth in ground balls (2.67). Both Payton Bloedow and Karly Low rank in the top 10 in both ground balls and caused turnovers as the duo rank fifth (3.67) and tied for ninth (2.00), respectively, in ground balls while both are tied for ninth in caused turnovers (1.67). The final three Eagles on the lists include Emerson Henry, who is sixth in draw controls (4.67), Erin Humphrey, who is tied for ninth in ground balls (2.00), and Tracy Grollman, who is 10th in assists per game (1.33).

NATIONALLY KNOWN • TEAM RANKINGS
As a team, the Eagles hold top 50 rankings nationally in seven categories through games played Feb. 11. Eastern currently ranks 15th in ground balls (20.0), 26th in both shot percentage (.473) and caused turnovers (10.67), 30th in assists (6.67), 34th in fewest fouls committed (5.67), 40th in points (18.33), and 49th in goals (11.67).

MORE THAN HATS
Mackenzie Blackwell has played in all 52 games in program history and has tallied a school record 160 goals. Here is how she has fared in scoring goals for the Eagles throughout her career after scoring four goals against Lindenwood (Feb. 11):
» 1+ goals: 46-of-52 games (.885 percent)
» 2+ goals: 41-of-52 games (.788)
» 3+ goals: 33-of-52 games (.635)
» 4+ goals: 21-of-52 games (.404)
» 5+ goals: 9-of-52 games (.173)

MILESTONE: NIFTY 150
Mackenzie Blackwell scored nine goals on opening weekend to bring her career total to 156 and now has 160 after scoring four against Lindenwood (Feb. 11). With her third of four goals scored at Marquette (Feb. 6), she tallied the 150th goal of her career, making her the first EMU player to surpass the number. She also was the first to reach 50 and 100 in a career with only two other players -- Sydney Lawrence with 61 and Tracy Grollman with 53 -- breaking 50. Abby Alderman is closing in on 50 for her career as she has 47.

ADDING TO THE LIST
A pair of Eagles recorded their first collegiate points in the win over Lindenwood (Feb. 11), including Emma Reichert and Reagan Riemer. Reichert scored a pair of goals in the win to mark her first goal, first free-position goal, and first point while Riemer dished her first assist for her first point. The duo joined three teammates who scored their first points earlier this season in Mak Grisinger with her first goal and Erin Humphrey and Kendall Nagle with their first assists.

BACK IN THE GROOVE
In 2024, Kelsea Dague tallied 31 points on 23 goals and eight assists that included two hat tricks and one game-winning goal. One year later, an injury kept her out of the 2025 season. In 2026, Dague was back on the field and returned to the scoring column against Lindenwood as she recorded her third career hat trick with three goals against the Lions. The goals scored marked her first since netting two in the 2024 MAC Tournament semifinal game with Robert Morris (May 2, 2024) and marked her first hat trick since she netted four in back-to-back games at Detroit Mercy (April 7) and home against Central Michigan (April 14).

A CAUSED (TURNOVER) FOR CELEBRATION
In the game with Lindenwood (Feb. 11), the Eagle defense swarmed the Lions and forced 13 caused turnovers, the sixth-highest total in a single game in EMU history and tied for the most tallied by any team that has played inside the Indoor Practice Facility. Five Eagles each recorded two caused turnovers in the game, including Haley Hodak, Erin Humphrey, Annika Wozney, Karly Low, and Maddy Porter.

MAKING MOVES
Annika Wozney recorded two caused turnovers against Lindenwood to bring her career total to 40, making her only the second Eagle to record 40+ in a career. She now trails all-time leader Sydney Lawrence, who set the mark at 51 in her two seasons.

PUSHING FOR MILESTONES
Two more milestones are on the horizon as Mackenzie Blackwell pushes toward 200 career points and Maddy Porter looks to scoop 150 ground balls. Blackwell has tallied 177 points in her career and is 23 shy of becoming the first Eagle to reach 200 while Porter is eight away from 150 ground balls as she recorded 142.

MORE MILESTONE HUNTING
Tracy Grollman is tracking toward a pair of milestones in her career including assists and points. Grollman has tallied 39 helpers, leaving her one shy of becoming only the second Eagle with 40+ assists in a career while sitting six away from tying Avery Schwab's record of 45. In career points, Grollman has accumulated 92 (53 goals, 30 assists) to leave her eight points from 100, which would make her only the second Eagle to hit the century mark.

AHOY, CAPTAINS!
Five Eagles were selected as team captains for the 2026 season. The captains include Mackenzie Blackwell, Samantha Borgert, Kelsea Dague, Maddy Porter, and Annika Wozney.

ON THE HORIZON
With its three-game home stand complete, the Eagles will embark on a four-game road trip that begins Feb. 18 against Canisius. The Eagles and Golden Griffins will meet in Buffalo for a 3 p.m. game that will be streamed 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

Payton Bloedow

Samantha Borgert

Kelsea Dague

Mak Grisinger

Tracy Grollman

Emerson Henry

Haley Hodak

Erin Humphrey

Karly Low

Kendall Nagle

Maddy Porter

Emma Reichert

Reagan Riemer

Avery Schwab

Annika Wozney

Eastern Michigan Athletics