Marquette lacrosse’s first scrimmage in the newly-constructed dome was much colder than expected, but that didn’t affect the Golden Eagles’ play on the field. The heaters in the facility broke down last night, but Marquette’s offense was hot in a 13-7 scrimmage victory against High Point Friday morning.
Due to the lack of heaters, the temperature was closer to the outside weather of 10 degrees than the typical dome climate. That made for a big adjustment for the High Point team who brought luggage thinking they were going to play a typical indoor game.
“Those guys are used to 60 and sunny,” head coach Joe Amplo said. “I think they wished they would have brought their sweatpants.”
Ryan McNamara led the team with three goals, while Tanner Thomson, Andy DeMichiei and John Wagner each scored a pair of tallies. Rounding out the scoring with a goal each was Grant Preisler, Peter Henkhaus, Ryan Fazio and Josh Williamson.
Wagner scored the first goal in the history of the dome at the 12:34 mark, off a feed from Colin O’Donnell.
Marquette dominated possession, thanks largely to great play from all three face-off men. Zack Melillo went 6 for 12, Owen Weselak went 5 for 8 and Jared Hershman went 2 for 3.
“We’ve got to play to our strengths, and our strengths are our offense certainly this year and our face-off game,” Amplo said. “We like to think that we can control a lot of it.”
Marquette opened the game with a 4-0 run in the first 11 minutes of the game, the first of two four-goal runs. The Golden Eagles began pulling starters after half.
Marquette will host two more scrimmages in its preseason schedule, both taking place Saturday. The day starts at 10 a.m. against Penn before a 2:30 scrimmage against MSOE.
Notes:
- Melillo left the game at the end of the third quarter after taking a high hit in the back of the neck. Amplo said after the game he had the wind knocked out of him.
- Joe Dunn, likely penciled into the final starting attack position, missed the game with a slight injury. Amplo gave a few players opportunities in that position, but the rest of the starting offensive unit looks set. Expect to see a lot of Ryan McNamara, Andy DeMichiei, Tanner Thomson, John Wagner and Kyran Clarke.
- The defensive unit is likely solidified according to Amplo, and there aren’t any surprises based on practices and scrimmages. Nick Eufrasio is the incumbent, while Nick Grill and Jackson Ehlert will join him in the starting unit. Noah Richard is the likely starter at long-stick midfield.
- The Golden Eagles played three goalies, with Cole Blazer getting the start. Jimmy Danaher played the second and third quarter before being relieved by Chris Rolfing.
- It’s going to take a bit of time for the defensive group to really click, as Amplo said the team needs time for players to make enough mistakes to learn. The scheme is still a work in progress.
- “Defensively in the first half, I think they scored on four of their first six possessions,” Amplo said. “To have four goals on six shots, that’s a cause for concern.”
