Lacrosse Hosts Lindenwood Wednesday

GAME #3 \| vs. LINDENWOOD
Date	Wednesday, Feb. 11 \| 4 p.m.
Venue	Indoor Practice Facility \| Moon Township, Pa.
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, in the middle of a three-game home stand, is set to welcome the Lions of Lindenwood University to Ypsilanti Wednesday, Feb. 11, for a 4 p.m. contest inside the Indoor Practice Facility on campus. The Eagles (1-1) are coming off a split of their opening weekend of games that included a 12-8 home win over Butler University (Feb. 8) while the Lions (0-1) are looking to bounce back from a 12-11 overtime home loss to Kent State University in their opener.

OPENING DRAWS
» Eastern opened its season with a split of two games as the Eagles dropped a 20-9 decision at Marquette (Feb. 6) before rebounding to score a 12-8 win over Butler in EMU's home opener.
» Mackenzie Blackwell scored nine goals in two games, including four at Marquette and five against Butler, to tie for the national lead with Madison Rassas of Notre Dame. Blackwell's third goal at MU also stood as the 150th in her career.
» In the game with Butler, the Eagles scored half of their goals (6-of-12) on the woman-up advantage, the second-highest total scored in a single game in EMU history. Mackenzie Blackwell scored four of the six advantage goals to break her own school record in the process.
» Emerson Henry also reached a milestone as her third draw control win against Butler (Feb. 8) have her 100 for her career. She set the school record for single-season draw controls in 2025 with 94.
» Mak Grisinger not only netted her first two goals of the season at Marquette, but also the first two of her career. Additionally, her first career goal came with the Eagles down a player for just the sixth woman-down goal scored in the program's history.
» In the first two games of the season, five players made their EMU debuts, including four freshmen and one senior transfer. Sanai James, a transfer from Delaware State, played in both games while rookies Ashley Culin, Ainsley Owens, Emma Reichert, and Ella Toth also played.
» 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: OPENING SPLIT
Eastern posted a 1-1 record on opening weekend as the Eagles dropped a 20-9 decision on the road at Marquette before claiming a 12-8 win over Butler in their home opener. Mackenzie Blackwell led the way with 11 points on nine goals and two assists while recording a pair of hat tricks while Katheryn Wilson recorded a hat trick in the win over Butler to help EMU to victory. Defensively, Payton Bloedow was solid as she recorded a team-high seven ground balls while also setting the standard with four caused turnovers.

AND YOU ARE?
One quarter of the Eagles' slate will come against teams Eastern has previously not played with two of those four games being played at home, including the upcoming game with Lindenwood (Feb. 11). Eastern will play back-to-back road games against Austin Peay (March 1) and Vanderbilt (March 4) to add to the list of newcomers to the slate with the final of the four games coming April 11 when MAC newcomer UMass comes to town.

KNOW THE FOE: LINDENWOOD
The Lions, who are opening the season with three consecutive games against members of the MAC, dropped their opening, 12-11 in overtime, to visiting Kent State, Feb. 6, and stand 0-1 on the year. LU, who will play at Akron, Feb. 14, as well as holding home games later in the season with both Central Michigan and Detroit Mercy, was led in its opener by Alissa DiGiacinto, who netted a hat trick and added two assists for five points, while Luci Selander added five points on two goals and three assists. Defensively, Taylor Coughlin made 10 saves in goal.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. LIONS
The game between Eastern Michigan and Lindenwood will mark the first meeting between the two teams.

TAKING ON • ATLANTIC SUN
Entering the season, the Eagles have not played a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, but will play two this year, starting with the game against Lindenwood. The second will come on the road, March 1, at Austin Peay, who is in its inaugural season. The remaining seven teams in the A-Sun include Coastal Carolina, Delaware, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Queens, and Stetson.

TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADERS!
Six Eagles currently rank among the top 10 statistically in the MAC with Maddy Porter on the list four times and Mackenzie Blackwell three to lead the way. Porter ranks third in saves per game (8.0), fourth in save percentage (.364), sixth in goals against average (14.0) and eighth in ground balls per game (2.5) while Blackwell leads the MAC in shots per game (10.0) and sits sixth in both goals per game (4.5) and points per game (5.5). Payton Bloedow is ranked fifth in a pair of categories, including caused turnovers per game (2.0) and ground balls per game (3.5) while Tracy Grollman is sixth in assists per game (2.0). Emerson Henry ranks fourth in draw controls per game (6.0) while Erin Humphrey is ninth in ground balls per game (2.0).

NATIONALLY KNOWN • INDIVIDUAL
Mackenzie Blackwell finished the opening weekend with nine goals, which tied for the most scored in the NCAA this season. She currently shares the top spot with Notre Dame's Madison Rassas while four other players have scored eight goals in 2026.

NATIONALLY KNOWN • GAME HIGHS
Eastern added a trio of entries on to the NCAA single-game ledgers for 2026 with all three coming against Butler (Feb. 8). Mackenzie Blackwell's seven points are tied for the sixth-highest total in a single game this year while her five goals tied for ninth. Emerson Henry recorded nine draw controls against the Bulldogs, which tied for 13th on the list.

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
» 157 goals = 5th in NCAA Division I
» 3.02 goals/game = 9th in NCAA Division I
» 3.28 points/game = 10th in NCAA Division I
Maddy Porter
» 4.09 ground balls/game= 1st in NCAA Division I
» 139 ground balls = 3rd in NCAA Division I
» 316 saves = 12th in NCAA Division I

MILESTONE: NIFTY 150
Mackenzie Blackwell scored nine goals on opening weekend to bring her career total to 157. 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 currently has tallied 47.

MILESTONE: DRAW 100
Emerson Henry closed out her freshman season in 2025 with 94 draw controls, which tied for the single-season record in program history and took the top spot in the freshman record book. Henry, who tallied 12 draw controls on the weekend, including nine against Butler, recorded her 100th with the third draw control won against the Bulldogs. With 106, Henry is third all-time in EMU history with Mackenzie Blackwell (228) and Abby Alderman (126) the only two ahead of her.

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 171 points in her career and is 29 shy of becoming the first Eagle to reach 200 while Porter is 11 away from 150 ground balls as she recorded 139.

MORE THAN HATS
Mackenzie Blackwell has played in all 51 games in program history and has tallied a school record 157 goals. Here is how she has fared in scoring goals for the Eagles throughout her career:
» 1+ goals: 45-of-51 games (.882 percent)
» 2+ goals: 40-of-51 games (.784)
» 3+ goals: 32-of-51 games (.627)
» 4+ goals: 20-of-51 games (.392)
» 5+ goals: 9-of-51 games (.176)

A DIFFERENT TYPE OF HAT
Tracy Grollman tallied four points on one goal and three assists in the game at Marquette (Feb. 6) to mark the eighth game of her career with a hat trick of helpers. To date, Grollman has accumulated 39 assists, which ranks second in program history and six shy of the top spot held by Avery Schwab (2023-25) at 45.

NEW TO THE SCORING
Three Eagles tallied career firsts over the weekend with Mak Grisinger scoring her first collegiate goals while Erin Humphrey and Kendall Nagle recording their first collegiate assists. Grisinger tallied both of her goals in the game at Marquette with the first coming with the Eagles down a player. Humphrey recorded her helper in the game at Marquette as she assisted on Mackenzie Blackwell's fourth goal of the game while Nagle's dish set up one of Katheryn Wilson's three goals against Butler.

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 will play its third home game in seven days when it welcomes the Musketeers of Xavier University to town Saturday, Feb. 14. The game will be played inside the Indoor Practice Facility with a 2 p.m. opening draw.

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

Ashley Culin

Kelsea Dague

Mak Grisinger

Tracy Grollman

Emerson Henry

Erin Humphrey

Sanai James

Kendall Nagle

Ainsley Owens

Maddy Porter

Emma Reichert

Avery Schwab

Ella Toth

Katheryn Wilson

Annika Wozney

Eastern Michigan Athletics