Lacrosse Hits the Road to Face Canisius

GAME #5 \| at CANISIUS
Date	Wednesday, Feb. 18 \| 3 p.m.
Venue	Demske Sports Complex \| Buffalo, N.Y.
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	Live Statistics \| Watch (GoGriffs.com)
Social Media	Instagram: @emu_Lacrosse \| Twitter: @EMU_Lacrosse

BUFFALO, N.Y. (EMUEagles.com) – Following a successful home stand that featured a trio of victories, the Eastern Michigan University lacrosse team returns to the road this week as the Eagles will venture to Demske Sports Complex in Buffalo, N.Y., to face the Golden Griffins of Canisius University Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 3 p.m. The game, which will be streamed live on GoGriffs.com, is the first four consecutive road game for the Eagles (3-1) that will see them play in New York and Oregon before playing twice in Tennessee while the Golden Griffins (2-0) will look to remain undefeated in 2026 with their third of four consecutive games against the Mid-American Conference to open their schedule.

OPENING DRAWS
» Eastern enters the week with a program-record 3-1 mark after coming from behind to defeat visiting Xavier, 9-7, Feb. 14 in Ypsilanti. The Eagles moved to 3-0 at home after winning all three games over a seven-day span.
» The win over Xavier extended EMU's home winning streak to three games and tied 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.
» Eastern can tie a program record with a win at Canisius as the Eagles are currently on a three-game winning streak. The record was set last year after the Eagles won four consecutive games following a 0-2 start to the year. The wins included three road contests (19-10 at Presbyterian, 16-6 at Gardner-Webb, and 10-4 at Butler) with a 12-10 home win over Canisius the third win in that run.
» Kelsea Dague caught fire last week as she scored seven points on six goals and one assist over two games. Dague, who sat out the 2025 season because of an injury and had not scored since May 2, 2024, recorded a hat trick against Lindenwood (Feb. 11) before adding three more goals and one assist against Xavier (Feb. 14). The only player to score multiple goals against Xavier, she recorded the game-winning score for the first time since April 7, 2024, at Detroit Mercy.
» Mackenzie Blackwell has scored 18 points this year on 13 goals and five assists. The MAC leader in goals and points, Blackwell ranks third nationally in goals scored and sixth in total points (as of Feb. 15). She also ranks among the top 10 in five other categories among MAC players, including seventh in goals and points per game at 3.25 and 4.50, respectively.
» In the game with Xavier, Maddy Porter and Karly Low were active on the defensive end as the combined for 12 of the team's 24 ground balls as Porter recorded seven and Low posted a career-high five. The duo also each caused two turnovers to contribute to the 14 the team recorded.
» Maddy Porter is closing in on two career milestones as she needs one more ground ball to reach 150 for her career and five saves for 350. Among active NCAA Division I players, her career totals rank third and 10th, respectively, while her 4.14 ground balls per game leads the way.
» 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 DOWN MUSKETEERS
Kelsea Dague scored a hat trick and the Eastern defense hunkered down in the second half by allowing just two goals as the Eagles battled back from a three-goal deficit to defeat visiting Xavier, 9-7, Feb. 14, in Ypsilanti. The Eagles trailed by two with 12:47 remaining in the game before the defense caused three turnovers, Maddy Porter stopped two shots, and the offense netted four goals to claim the win, its first over the Musketeers in three tries. Porter recorded seven ground balls and Karly Low added five while Payton Bloedow caused three turnovers as the Eagles held Xavier to just two goals in the second half -- the third-fewest in the second half of any game EMU has played -- while holding the visitors to seven goals total, the second-lowest total for a visiting team in program history and tying for the sixth-fewest in any game the Eagles have played.

BEST START
Eastern is off to its best start in program history at 3-1, a mark that surpasses the 2-2 starts achieved in the 2024 and 2025 seasons. With a win at Canisius, the Eagles would move to 4-1 and improve the record for the best five-game start that is currently held by the 2025 squad at 3-2. Last year, EMU opened at 0-2 before winning a program-record four consecutive games.

DEFENDING HOME TURF
The Eagles played three home games in seven days and emerged with a perfect 3-0 record. The three consecutive wins broke the record for best home start after the 2024 team opened at 2-0 before falling to visiting No. 5 Michigan (20-4). Eastern will look to extend its home winning streak March 8 when Cincinnati comes to town.

HOME STREAKING
With the win over Xavier (Feb. 14), the Eagles recorded their third consecutive home win to tie the record set twice previously and just once prior in the same season. The first streak began with the final game of the 2023 season, a 17-12 defeat of Detroit Mercy, and continued through the first two home games of 2024, which included a 15-8 win over Butler and 12-11 defeat of Kent State. Last year, the Eagles won three in a row at home with wins over Canisius (12-10), Youngstown State (19-6), and Detroit Mercy (13-8).

ADDING TO THE STREAK?
While Eastern will have to wait until March to try and extend its home winning streak, it can tie the record for consecutive wins overall with a victory at Canisius. A win for the Eagles over the Golden Griffins would give Eastern four consecutive wins for just the second time in program history after the 2025 squad set the mark. After starting the year 0-2, the Eagles went on the road and defeated Presbyterian (19-10) and Gardner-Webb (16-6) before returning home to hand Canisius a 12-10 setback. The streak concluded with a 10-4 win at Butler as the Eagles fell at Cincinnati two days later, 13-9.

BRICK WALLS
Last week, the Eagles hosted three games and allowed an average of just 8.6 goals per game, including eight to Butler, 11 to Lindenwood, and seven to Xavier. Combined, Eastern added eight marks into its record book for fewest goals allowed with all three games appearing on the list for home games, including the seven goals allowed to Xavier tied for second; the eight to Butler tying for fourth; and the 11 to Lindenwood tying for ninth. When looking at all locations, the seven allowed to Xavier tied for sixth-fewest all-time while the eight the Bulldogs scored tied for ninth.

When looking at halves of play, the two goals surrendered to Xavier in the second half (one each in the third and fourth quarters) tied for the fifth-fewest in any game EMU has played while also tying for third for a home game in the second half. Additionally, the four goals scored by Butler in the fourth quarter tied for the eighth-lowest total for the second half of a home game in EMU history.

KNOW THE FOE: CANISIUS
The Golden Griffins are 2-0 on the year with a 1-0 record at home following a 23-6 win over Detroit Mercy in their season-opening game and 1-0 on the road after defeating host Robert Morris, 11-8, over the weekend. Canisius, whose first four games of the season are against members of the MAC, are led by Ella Forcucci, who has tallied nine points on eight goals and one assist while Katie Adams (five) and Meg Hiltz (four) are part of a group of eight players with multiple goals in 2026. Defensively, two players have shared duties in goal with Olivia Licardi starting both contests. She has played more than half the minutes and has tallied four saves while allowing 10 goals.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. GOLDEN GRIFFINS
Eastern leads its series with Canisius, 1-0, after taking a 12-10 win at home last year (March 1, 2025) in the initial meeting. In the game, the Eagles built a 7-4 lead at halftime before the Golden Griffins stormed back with four goals to open the third quarter for an 8-7 lead. After back-and-forth play and eight total goals scored in the third, the Eagles were back in front, 10-9, heading into the fourth where Caitlin Beahm scored the winning goal midway through the stanza and Roya Khaleeli added insurance for the win.

TAKING ON • MAAC
The Eagles are 1-1 all-time against the MAAC with both games played in Ypsilanti. The first came against visiting Niagara, who defeated the Eagles, 18-4, Feb. 16, 2023, in the inaugural game for EMU. The lone win came last year (March 1) against visiting Canisius, a 12-10 win for the Eagles.

NEAR THE TOP OF THE (COLLEGIATE) WORLD
Mackenzie Blackwell enters the week ranked among the best in the NCAA in scoring points as she ranks in the top 10 nationally in both goals scored and total points. Through four games, Blackwell has scored 13 goals and added five assists for 18 points. Her 13 goals currently rank sixth in Division I while her 18 points are eighth. Additionally, she is ranked among the top 10 in seven statistical categories in the MAC, including first in goals and points, fifth in shots per game (7.25), seventh in both goals per game (3.25) and points per game (4.50), ninth in draw controls per game (2.75), and 10th in assists per game (1.25). Her shots (7.25) and shots on goal (5.0) per game averages rank 34th and 42nd, respectively, in the national rankings.

PORTER ON THE RISE
Maddy Porter also ranks highly in three national categories, including saves, where her 34 stops are second in NCAA Division I. Porter also ranks 23rd in ground balls per game (3.75) and 40th in saves per game (8.50). The junior goalkeeper is among the top 10 in the MAC in five areas, including first in saves, second in ground balls, third in saves per game, and fourth in both goals against average (11.50) and save percentage (.425).

BLOEDOW NATIONALLY RANKED
Payton Bloedow has added her name to two lists in the top 50 national statistics following her strong play last week. The senior currently ranks 43rd nationally in ground balls per game (3.0) while sitting 50th in caused turnovers per game (2.0).

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
» 3.02 goals/game = 12th in NCAA Division I
» 4.51 draw controls/game = 13th in NCAA Division I
» 3.36 points/game = 20th in NCAA Division I
Maddy Porter
» 4.14 ground balls/game= 1st in NCAA Division I
» 149 ground balls = 3rd in NCAA Division I
» 345 saves = 10th in NCAA Division I

MORE ON THE LIST
Three more Eagles also rank among the top 10 in the MAC statistically with both Payton Bloedow and Karly Low ranked in ground balls and caused turnovers while Emerson Henry appears on the draw controls list. Bloedow, who ranks 40th nationally in caused turnovers per game, is tied for fourth at 2.0 per contest while also being tied for fourth in ground balls at 3.0. Low is eighth in both categories, including 2.75 ground balls and 1.75 caused turnovers. Henry currently ranks seventh in draw controls at 3.5.

NATIONALLY KNOWN • TEAM RANKINGS
As a team, Eastern is among the top 50 in three statistical categories, including sixth in ground balls per game at 22.0. The Eagles also rank 17th in caused turnovers at 11.5 and 24th in fewest fouls committed per game at 5.0. Eastern moved up the lists in both ground balls and caused turnovers this week after strong showings in both categories in its last two games with Lindenwood and Xavier. In those games, the Eagles tallied 51 ground balls (24 vs. the Lions and 27 vs. the Musketeers) while causing 27 turnovers (13 vs. the Lions and 14 vs. the Musketeers).

HAVE A DAGUE, KELSEA!
Entering the game with Lindenwood (Feb. 11), Kelsea Dague had not recorded a point for the Eagles in 2026 after sitting out the 2025 season because of injury. When the dust settled on the 14-11 victory over the Lions, Dague had finished with a hat trick, scoring three goals on three shots for her first goals and points since the 2024 MAC Tournament semifinal against Robert Morris, May 2, 2024. It marked her third career hat trick and her first since April 14, 2024, when she scored four against visiting Central Michigan.

Three days later against Xavier (Feb. 14), Dague was back at it again as she not only scored a hat trick and added one goal, but she was the lone EMU player to score multiple goals in the game. Dague, who scored the game-winning goal against the Musketeers, made it back-to-back games with a hat trick, a feat she previously accomplished April 7, 2024, and April 14, 2024, when scored four goals at Detroit Mercy and four at home against the Chippewas, respectively.

MILESTONE HUNTING • BLACKWELL
Mackenzie Blackwell has scored 13 goals in 2026 to bring her career total to 160, the most by an EMU player in program history and the first player to surpass the 50, 100, and 150-goal milestones at Eastern. Along with goals, she has accumulated 178 career points by adding 18 assists to her total, including five through four games in 2026, which is one shy of her season high of six recorded in 2025. The only player to reach 100+ points in a career at Eastern and one of only three to surpass 50, she needs 22 points to become the first to reach 200.

MORE THAN HATS
To reach her goals and points totals, Mackenzie Blackwell has scored goals in bunches for the Eagles throughout her career. Blackwell has played in all 53 games in program history and has scored at least one goal in 86.8 percent of the games she has played with 77.4 percent of her games ending with multiple goals. Here is how she has fared throughout her career:
» 1+ goals: 46-of-53 games (.868 percent)
» 2+ goals: 41-of-53 games (.774)
» 3+ goals: 33-of-53 games (.623)
» 4+ goals: 21-of-53 games (.396)
» 5+ goals: 9-of-53 games (.170)

MILESTONE HUNTING • PORTER
Maddy Porter is closing in on two milestones that could be reached at Canisius as she nears 150 ground balls and 350 saves. Porter, the NCAA leader in ground balls per game in 2024 and 2025, has tallied 149 scoops in her career, leaving her one away from the milestone, while she sits five saves away from 350 as she has accumulated 345 saves in 36 career games.

MILESTONE HUNTING • GETTING POINTS
Five Eagles are nearing milestones in career points with Tracy Grollman closing in on 100 while Amber Alderman, Katheryn Wilson, Emerson Henry, and Kelsea Dague each are tracking toward 50. Grollman has accumulated 93 points in her career with 54 goals and 39 assists to sit seven points away from becoming only the second Eagle with 100+ points. The remaining four are nearing 50 points, including Am. Alderman with 49, Wilson with 46, Henry with 42, and Dague with 38.

MILESTONE HUNTING • GROLLMAN
Tracy Grollman also is tracking toward a milestone in career assists to go along with her points quest. 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.

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.

A CAUSED (TURNOVER) FOR CELEBRATION
In the past two games, the Eagles have been disruptive as the team has tallied 27 caused turnovers in those games. It started with 13 against Lindenwood (Feb. 11), then tied for the sixth-highest total in a single game in program history before being bumped one spot following the game with Xavier (Feb. 14) where EMU recorded 14, which tied for the third-highest. Overall, 11 Eagles recorded at least one caused turnover while five tallied at least four across the two contests, including five from Karly Low and four each from Erin Humphrey, Payton Bloedow, and Maddy Porter.

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
Eastern Michigan's four-game road trip takes the Eagles to the Pacific Northwest this weekend as they are set to face the University of Oregon in a 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET) contest, Feb. 22, in Eugene, Ore. The Sunday matinee with the Ducks will be played at Pape Field and will air live on B1G+ (Big Ten Network Plus).

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

Amber Alderman

Caitlin Beahm

Mackenzie Blackwell

Payton Bloedow

Samantha Borgert

Kelsea Dague

Mak Grisinger

Tracy Grollman

Emerson Henry

Erin Humphrey

Roya Khaleeli

Karly Low

Kendall Nagle

Maddy Porter

Emma Reichert

Reagan Riemer

Avery Schwab

Katheryn Wilson

Annika Wozney

Eastern Michigan Athletics