Lacrosse Set for Road Test at Vanderbilt

GAME #8 \| at VANDERBILT
Date	Wednesday, March 4 \| 12 p.m. CT (1 p.m. ET)
Venue	Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex \| Nashville, Tenn.
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	Live Statistics \| Watch (ESPN+)
Social Media	Instagram: @emu_Lacrosse \| Twitter: @EMU_Lacrosse

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University lacrosse team will wrap up its four-game road trip Wednesday, March 4, when the Eagles put their two-game winning streak on the line in a game at Vanderbilt University. The Eagles (5-2), off to their best start in program history, and Commodores (2-3) will meet at 12 p.m. CT (1 p.m. ET) at the Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex in Nashville, Tenn., with the game streaming live on ESPN+.

OPENING DRAWS
» Eastern is 5-2 overall and has won back-to-back road games, including a 13-10 victory at Austin Peay (March 1) after downing Oregon (Feb. 22), 12-9. The Eagles are looking to post their second, three-game win streak of the season with a win at Vanderbilt.
» The game with Vanderbilt will mark the third opponent in 2026 Eastern will play for the first time after previously defeating Lindenwood at home (Feb. 11), 14-11, and Austin Peay on the road (March 1), 13-10. The fourth game will come April 11 at home against UMass in a MAC contest.
» The win over Xavier (Feb. 14) 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 has been a team of two halves this year as the defense has allowed 54 goals in the first two quarters of play and only 30 total in the final two stanzas. The Eagles have held foes to four or fewer second half goals in 5-of-7 games with the exceptions coming against Lindenwood (six goals) and at Canisius (nine).
» EMU has won four of its five games after trailing at some point, including twice when trailing in the fourth quarter. To aid in those wins, the defense held its opponent scoreless for more than 12 minutes in three of those contests, including the last three victories recorded (12:47 vs. Xavier, 19:00 at Oregon, 14:02 at Austin Peay).
» In the win at Austin Peay, three milestones were achieved with two coming from Tracy Grollman, who recorded one goal and three assists. Her goal came on the advantage for her 10th career woman-up goal to make her only the second EMU player to reach double-digit advantage goals. She also tied the program record with her 45th career save. Christie Evans not only scored her first collegiate goal but also the 600th in team history.
» Emerson Henry had the hot hand against Austin Peay as she scored a career-high five goals in the win, including two woman-up goals, which tied for the third-highest single-game total in program history. Henry, who tied her career high with five points, added eight draw controls as well.
» Two freshmen recorded their first collegiate points on the final goal of the game as Christie Evans recorded her first goal and Brooke Sganga tallied her first assist.
» Emma Baker made her collegiate debut as she played the fourth quarter in goal. The rookie goalkeeper allowed one goal and made three saves to help EMU erase a two-goal deficit and win by three.
» Tracy Grollman was named the MAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week (Feb. 25) following her strong play in Oregon. The graduate student and member of the first recruiting class in program history, Grollman tallied four points on two goals and two assists to reach exactly 100 points in her career.
» Mackenzie Blackwell has tallied 28 points this year on 20 goals and a career-high eight assists. She currently (as of March 2) ranks 15th nationally in goals scored (second in the MAC) and 23rd in total points (second).
» 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).
» 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.

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
For the second consecutive week, a member of the program was named the MAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week with Tracy Grollman earning the accolade (Feb. 25) after her four-point performance at Oregon helped the Eagles to their first win over a 'Power 4' program while also pushing her career total to 100 points. Grollman, who earned the honor one week after Kelsea Dague (Feb. 18), is the first player in program history to garner the award twice in a career after earning the award last year.

QUICK RECAP: APSU
Eastern Michigan once again used a fourth quarter filled with strong defensive play and timely goals to erase a 10-8 deficit and capture a 13-10 win at Austin Peay, March 1. Emerson Henry scored a career-high five goals while Tracy Grollman tallied four points on one goal and three assists to pace the offense while rookie Emma Baker made her debut in goal in the fourth quarter where she made three saves to shut the door on the Governors. Karly Low and Haley Hodak combined for seven ground balls and three caused turnovers for a defense that held its fifth opponent of the year to four or fewer goals in the final half of play.

BEST START
With its win at Austin Peay (March 1), Eastern improved to 5-2 and set the record for best start in program history, surpassing the 4-3 record the 2025 team recorded one year ago. The five wins in seven games is two ahead of the previous pace as both the 2024 and 2025 teams recorded their fifth wins of the year in the ninth game of their respective seasons.

TOUGH TO CLOSE OUT
The Eagles have won five games in 2026 and trailed in four of those contests with only a wire-to-wire home win over Butler (Feb. 8) the outlier. Starting with the win over Lindenwood (Feb. 11), Eastern has trailed its opponent in each of the last five games and pulled out a win in four, including victories over Xavier (Feb. 14) and Austin Peay (March 1), when the Eagles trailed in the fourth quarter before claiming victory.

RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT
Eastern has held foes scoreless for long stretches in the fourth quarter in its past three victories while scoring goals to help complete come-from-behind wins. The win over Xavier (Feb. 14) saw the Eagles hold the Musketeers scoreless the final 12:47 of the game while scoring four goals to win, 9-7. On the road at Oregon, the Ducks tied the game at nine with four minutes to play in the third before EMU went on a 3-0 run over the final 19 minutes of play for the 12-9 win. Most recently, Eastern held Austin Peay (March 1) scoreless over the final 14:02 while going on a 5-0 run for the 13-10 win.

A TALE OF TWO HALVES
The Eagles have allowed 84 goals scored this year with 54 coming in the first half and only 30 in the second. In fact, in five of those games, an opponent has scored more than four goals just twice as Lindenwood tallied six in EMU's 14-11 win while Canisius scored nine in the Eagles' road loss in Buffalo.

POWER OUTAGE
The 2026 season features a trio of games against 'Power 4' foes with the Eagles' game at Vanderbilt the second of those contests. On Feb. 22, Eastern traveled to Eugene, Ore., and snagged a 12-9 win over the Oregon Ducks, marking the first 'Power 4' win in program history and snapping a seven-game slide in such games. Prior to the game, Eastern had previously faced members of the Big Ten in Michigan (0-3) and Oregon (1-1), Notre Dame (0-2) of the ACC, and Cincinnati (0-1) of the Big 12. Following the game with the Commodores, Eastern will entertain Cincinnati (March 8), which will provide Eastern another chance to 'Fly the Flag' (the MAC's designation for defeating a 'Power 4' team in any sport utilizing a black flag featuring the MAC shield over crossbones).

COLLECTING REAL ESTATE
Prior to winning at Oregon (Feb. 22), the furthest West the Eagles had won a game came with their win in Indiana at Butler last year (March 7). With the win over Austin Peay (March 1), the Eagles have now won at least one game in eight states, including Michigan, Delaware, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, and Tennessee, as well as Washington D.C.

KNOW THE FOE: VANDERBILT
The Commodores are 2-3 with all three losses coming to nationally ranked foes, including No. 12 Clemson (20-5), No. 2 Stanford (18-6), and No. 17 Denver (19-7) with the latter two being played at home. Vanderbilt has won twice at home, including a 14-11 victory over Mercer and a 22-10 defeat of Cincinnati in its most recent game (Feb. 27). Nancy Halleron leads the team with 19 points on a team-best 16 goals and three assists while Shea Panzik is second with 16 points while leading with 10 assists and adding six goals. Emme Martin has started all five games in goal where she has saved 31.9 percent of the shots she has faced, recording 30 saves and allowing 14.76 goals per game.

IN THE SERIES: EAGLES vs. COMMODORES
Eastern and Vanderbilt are meeting for the first time.

THIRD OF FOUR FIRSTS
The game at Vanderbilt will mark the second consecutive game and third overall in 2026 that Eastern Michigan will play a team for the first time in program history. Already this year, the Eagles have defeated Lindenwood at home (Feb. 11), 14-11, and are coming off a 13-10 win at Austin Peay (March 1). The fourth of the four new opponents in 2026 comes April 11 when UMass comes to Ypsilanti for a Mid-American Conference game at Scicluna Field.

TAKING ON • THE AMERICAN
Vanderbilt plays in the American Conference (formerly the American Athletic Conference) for lacrosse, a league that also includes Charlotte, East Carolina, James Madison, Old Dominion, South Florida, and Temple. The game at Vanderbilt will mark the first time the Eagles have played a member of the American.

ADDED TO THE LIST
Two more Eagles recorded their first career points with each earning those points on the same goal as Brooke Sganga assisted on Christie Evans' goal with 2:28 to play at Austin Peay. Both players were making their collegiate debuts and joined Emma Reichert and Reagan Riemer on the list as they scored one goal and dished one assist, respectively, against Lindenwood (Feb. 11). Three other Eagles posted career first earlier in the season as Mak Grisinger scored her first goal while Erin Humphrey and Kendall Nagle each recorded their first career assists.

MAKE IT MORE MEMORABLE
The goal scored by Christie Evans and assisted by Brooke Sganga at 2:28 to play in the fourth quarter at Austin Peay will be memorable for the freshmen as their first collegiate points. Additionally, it will go down in another historical chapter as the goal stands as the 600th scored in program history.

NEW BRICKS
At the start of the fourth quarter at Austin Peay, freshman Emma Baker was brought on to play goalkeeper and performed exceptionally well as she recorded three saves and one goal allowed in her 15 minutes of play. Baker, who entered the game with EMU trailing, held the Governors scoreless over the final 14:02 to pick up the victory.

OH HENRY!
Emerson Henry was the offensive catalyst for the Eagles in their 13-10 come-from-behind win as she scored five goals for five points while adding eight draw controls. Her five goals, which surpassed the four she scored against Akron (April 20, 2025) at home, marked her fourth career hat trick and bettered her season high of two goals scored at Oregon one game prior. Her five goals, which tied for the eighth-most in a single game in EMU history, included two woman-up goals, which tied for the third-highest total in program history. Additionally, Henry posted a season-high eight draw controls and was one shy of her season high of nine recorded against Butler (Feb. 8). Henry also recorded her fourth career game with a hat trick while also posting at least five draw controls won, giving EMU a 3-1 record in those contests.

HAPPIEST OF HELPERS
Tracy Grollman finished the game at Austin Peay (March 1) with four points on one goal and three assists. With her hat trick of helpers, Grollman brought her career total to 45, which tied Avery Schwab (2023-25) for the all-time record in program history. Her second game of the season with a trio of assists (at Marquette, Feb. 6), Grollman has now recorded three or more assists in nine career games.

GROLLMAN HITS CENTURY MARK
Tracy Grollman recorded four points on two goals and two assists at Oregon (Feb. 22) to bring her career total to 100 points (now at 104), making her only the second player in program history to reach the century mark. Grollman, who recorded her sixth career game with multiple goals and multiple assists in the same contest, tied her season-high in points she set at Marquette in the opener (Feb. 6).

NEAR THE TOP OF THE (COLLEGIATE) WORLD
Following games played March 1, Mackenzie Blackwell continues to rank among the best nationally as she holds three rankings among the top 30, including standing 15th in NCAA Division I with 20 goals. She also ranks 23rd in points with 28 while sitting 26th in shots per game with 7.00. On a conference level, Blackwell has her name listed in the top 10 of seven categories, including second in both goals and points, fourth in goals per game (2.86), points per game (4.00), shots per game, and draw controls per game (3.86), while rankings ninth in assists per game (1.14).

PORTER ON THE RISE
Maddy Porter also ranks highly in two national categories, including saves, where her 54 stops are eighth in NCAA Division I. Porter also ranks 50th in saves per game (7.17).

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
» 167 goals = 7th in NCAA Division I
» 2.98 goals/game = 15th in NCAA Division I
» 188 points = 15th in NCAA Division I
» 3.36 points/game = 25th in NCAA Division I
» 4.45 draw controls/game = 15th in NCAA Division I
Maddy Porter
» 3.90 ground balls/game= 1st in NCAA Division I
» 152 ground balls = 3rd in NCAA Division I
» 365 saves = 11th in NCAA Division I

YOU'RE GROUNDED
Karly Low is ranked 43rd nationally in ground balls per game as she is averaging 2.71 per contest. The junior collected three ground balls in the game at Austin Peay, marking her second consecutive game with at least three, while scooping at least one ground ball in all seven games played in 2026. Additionally, she has added at least one caused turnover in all seven games this year, too.

MORE ON THE LIST
Emerson Henry also ranks among the top 10 in the MAC as her 3.00 draw controls per contest rank eighth. She tallied eight in the game at Austin Peay, which was one shy of her season-high nine recorded Butler (Feb. 8). All told, Henry has posted eight or more draw controls in a single game eight times in her career.

NATIONALLY KNOWN • TEAM RANKINGS
As a team, Eastern is among the top 50 in three statistical categories (through games played March 1), led by the team's 17.86 ground balls per game, which rank 18th nationally. The Eagles also rank 33rd in caused turnovers per game (9.71) and 39th in draw controls per game (13.00).

MILESTONE HUNTING • BLACKWELL
Mackenzie Blackwell is the program's career leader in nine categories, including goals (167), hat tricks (34), game-winning goals (six), free-position goals (27), woman-up goals (37), points (188), shots (358), shots on goal (260), and draw controls (249) through the game played at Austin Peay (March 1). The only player in program history to reach 100 and 150 goals and the first of two to reach 100 points, Blackwell is nearing another stellar milestone as she needs just one draw control win to reach 250. Additionally, she is chasing 200 career points as she needs just 12 more.

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 56 games in program history and has scored at least one goal in 87.3 percent of the games she has played with 78.6 percent of her games ending with multiple goals. Here is how she has fared throughout her career:
» 1+ goals: 49-of-56 games (.875 percent)
» 2+ goals: 44-of-56 games (.786)
» 3+ goals: 34-of-56 games (.607)
» 4+ goals: 21-of-56 games (.375)
» 5+ goals: 9-of-56 games (.161)

MORE MILESTONES AHEAD
A handful of Eagle are approaching career milestones as well as several look to reach new heights in goals, points, and caused turnovers. Here is who is moving closer to higher marks:
» Goals: Abby Alderman has tallied 48 goals in her career and needs two more to become only the fourth player in EMU history to reach 50.
» Points: Three Eagles are approaching 50 career points with Emerson Henry at 49, Katheryn Wilson at 47, and Kelsea Dague at 43. The trio currently ranks seventh, eighth, and ninth, respectively, on the program's top 10 ledger.
» Caused Turnovers: Annika Wozney, who has started on defense in all 55 of EMU's games, has collected 42 caused turnovers, leaving her eight away from becoming just the second player to reach 50 and nine away from tying Sydney Lawrence (2023-24) for the record (51).

SHE CAN DIG IT
Maddy Porter achieved her second career milestone of the season during the victory at Oregon (Feb. 22) as the junior goalkeeper collected one ground ball to bring her career total to 150, making her the first player in program history to reach the milestone mark after becoming the first to reach 100 as well. Ranked first among all current NCAA Division I players for career ground balls per game average (3.9), Porter previously recorded her 350th career save in the game at Canisius (Feb. 18).

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 returns to action Sunday, March 8, with its first outdoor home game of 2026 as the Eagles will welcome the Bearcats of the University of Cincinnati to Scicluna Field in Ypsilanti. The game is scheduled for a 12 p.m. start and will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Ben Holden and Lindsey Chase on the call.

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

Emma Baker

Mackenzie Blackwell

Samantha Borgert

Kelsea Dague

Christie Evans

Mak Grisinger

Tracy Grollman

Emerson Henry

Haley Hodak

Erin Humphrey

Karly Low

Kendall Nagle

Maddy Porter

Emma Reichert

Reagan Riemer

Avery Schwab

Brooke Sganga

Katheryn Wilson

Annika Wozney

Eastern Michigan Athletics