Marquette Golden Eagles men's lacrosse

Marquette Golden Eagles
Founded 2011
University Marquette University
Conference BIG EAST
Location Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Coach Joe Amplo (7th)
Stadium Valley Fields
(capacity: 2,000)
Nickname Golden Eagles
Colors Blue and Gold[1]
         
NCAA Tournament Appearances
2016
Conference Tournament Champions
2016

The Marquette Golden Eagles men's lacrosse team represents Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and competes in the Big East Conference of NCAA Division I. The Golden Eagles play their home games at Valley Fields starting in 2016 and are currently coached by Joe Amplo.

History

Starting a program

Marquette started talking about adding a new program to its offerings in the summer of 2010. The athletic department eventually settled on lacrosse since the school lacked a spectator spring sport, and by September the move was approved by the Board of Trustees. The University partnered with former college head coach Dave Cottle, who led the search committee for the program's first coach. Marquette introduced former Hofstra assistant Joe Amplo as head coach on February 27, 2011.[2]

2015: Put on the map

The first two years of play for the Golden Eagles went as expected. Marquette went 5–8 in its first season, earning the program's first victory on March 2, 2013 against Air Force,[3] and 6–10 in the second season.[3] It was 2015 when Amplo and his team started turning heads.

Marquette started its season defeating two straight ranked opponents, No. 18/16 Lehigh [4] and No. 17/19 Hofstra.[5] On February 16 the Golden Eagles entered the media and coaches' top 20 for the first time in program history.[6] They would move as high as 9th in the media poll.[7]

However, Marquette couldn't hold on down the stretch. Losses to Georgetown,[8] Bellarmine,[9] Notre Dame,[10] Duke [11] and Denver [12] ended the Golden Eagles tournament hopes.

Tournament Time

Despite the strong 2015 season, Marquette hadn't accomplished its goal of making the NCAA Tournament. The team wouldn't have to wait much longer.

After defeating Villanova in the first round of the BIG EAST tournament, the Golden Eagles shocked the lacrosse community on May 7, 2016, defeating then-No. 1 Denver 10-9 for the Golden Eagles' first BIG EAST title. The loss was the first for Denver in their three years of BIG EAST play and the Pioneers first home loss in 22 games. The win was only the second for a Marquette program over a top ranked team, and the first since the men's basketball team took down Kentucky in 2003. Liam Byrnes was named the tournament's most valuable player.[13]

The win propelled the Golden Eagles from an on-the-bubble team to the sixth best seed and Marquette's first tournament appearance in just its fourth season of play. Marquette hosted its first NCAA Tournament game on May 14, 2016, a 10–9 loss to perennial powerhouse North Carolina.[14] The Tar Heels would go on to defeat Maryland 14-13 in overtime for their first NCAA title since 1991.[15]

All-time head coaches

Years Head Coach Record Postseason
2012– Joe Amplo 32-29 0–1
– Total 32-29 0–1

Annual Records

Year Overall Conference Coach BIG EAST Tournament NCAA Tournament
2013 5–8 – Joe Amplo – –
2014 6–10 4-2 Joe Amplo First Round –
2015 10-6 3-2 Joe Amplo First Round –
2016 11-5 4-1 Joe Amplo Champion First Round

Awards

All-Americans

  • Liam Byrnes (2016 Second Team)
  • B.J. Grill (2016 Third Team)
  • Jake Richard (2016 Third Team)

Big East Coach of the Year

  • Joe Amplo (2014)

Big East Defensive Player of the Year

  • Liam Byrnes (2016)

First-Team All-Big East Selections

  • B.J. Grill (2014, 2015)
  • Tyler Melnyk (2014)
  • Liam Byrnes (2015, 2016)
  • Kyle Whitlow (2015)
  • Ryan McNamara (2016)

Golden Eagles in the Pros

Three Golden Eagles have been drafted in the Major League Lacrosse Draft and four in the National Lacrosse League Draft. The following Golden Eagles players were selected in the Major League Lacrosse Draft:

Player Year Team
Liam Byrnes 2016 Florida Launch
Jake Richard 2016 New York Lizards
B.J. Grill 2016 Denver Outlaws

[16]

The following Golden Eagles players were selected in the National Lacrosse League Draft:

Player Year Team
Tyler Melnyk 2014 Edmonton Rush
Andrew Smistad 2014 Calgary Roughnecks
Liam Byrnes 2016 Georgia Swarm
Kyle Whitlow 2016 Colorado Mammoth

[17] [18]

References

  1. ↑ "Marquette Athletics Identity Standards" (PDF). Marquette University. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  2. ↑ Jack Goods, [email protected]. "Blueprint of a program". Marquette Wire. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  3. 1 2 1 second ago. "Marquette Golden Eagles Official Athletic Site – Men's Lacrosse". Gomarquette.com. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  4. ↑ "Marquette upsets No. 16 Lehigh in season opener". Marquette Wire. 2015-02-07. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  5. ↑ "Marquette wins second straight against No. 19 Hofstra". Marquette Wire. 2015-02-14. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  6. ↑ "Men's lacrosse enters national rankings for first time". Marquette Wire. 2015-02-16. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  7. ↑ 1 second ago. "Joe Amplo Bio Marquette Golden Eagles Official Athletic Site". Gomarquette.com. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  8. ↑ "Men's lacrosse coping with first loss to Georgetown". Marquette Wire. 2015-03-24. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  9. ↑ "Bellarmine dominates Marquette in 9–3 victory". Marquette Wire. 2015-03-31. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  10. ↑ "Lacrosse falls 14–7 to top ranked Fighting Irish". Marquette Wire. 2015-04-07. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  11. ↑ "No. 16/17 Marquette falls to No. 6/6 Duke". Marquette Wire. 2015-04-20. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  12. ↑ "Men's lacrosse falls to No. 5 Denver on Senior Day". Marquette Wire. 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  13. ↑ "Marquette Shocks Denver in Big East Men's Final – Lacrosse Magazine". Laxmagazine.com. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  14. ↑ "Lacrosse season ends with first round loss to North Carolina". Marquette Wire. 2016-05-14. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  15. ↑ Dan Aburn May 30, 2016 (2016-05-30). "Sector SPDRs May Madness: Carolina Wins NCAA Title, 14-13, in OT". Inside Lacrosse. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  16. ↑ Gadsby, Paige (2016-03-18). "Atlanta Blaze Select Duke's Myles Jones No.1 Overall in 2". Major League Lacrosse. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  17. ↑ "2014 NLL Draft results | National Lacrosse League". Nll.com. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  18. ↑ http://www.nll.com/view/nll/news-1147/news_462208
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