Offensive coordinator Bo Lori can still recall the first time that Bobby O’Grady’s talent caught his eye.
“It was one of his first practices in the fall of his freshman year,” Lori said. “We were doing a drill we like to call the Farley drill.”
The Farley drill involves quick transitions with a lot of chances to score. Lori said that O’Grady’s performance in that drill alone was an indicator of things to come.
“Bobby must’ve scored 8-10 goals in that five-to-seven-minute drill,” Lori said. “From that day on, I knew that he was special in terms of his goal scoring ability.”
O’Grady wasted no time showing off his ability to find the back of the net, scoring 88 goals in his first two seasons. Those 88 goals were good enough to place him second all-time on Marquette’s goals list heading into his junior season, just 14 shy of tying former attacker Ryan McNamara’s all-time record of 102 goals.
And considering that O’Grady scored an average of 44 goals in his first two seasons as a Golden Eagle, the question wasn’t if he would break the scoring record, it was when. That day finally came Feb. 24 in a 20-12 loss against then No. 13 Michigan.
As time was expiring in the second quarter, O’Grady jumped up and caught a lengthy pass from graduate defenseman Noah Verlinde, then fired into the back of the net to officially solidify himself as one of Marquette’s all-time greats.
BUZZER BEATER! O’Grady is now the all-time scoring leader for Marquette!#WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/eSszuLKSXu
— Marquette Lacrosse (@MarquetteMLax) February 25, 2024
“It’s really cool,” O’Grady said. “My family was very happy for me, the guys around me were very happy for me.
“You could probably count on one hand how many of those were unassisted, so the credit is all to my teammates. Guys like Stegs (Jake Stegman), Dev (Devon Cowan), they just help so much and have supported me through it all.”
Stegman becomes all-time assists leader
More history was made earlier this season when graduate midfielder/attack Stegman passed former attacker Conor Gately’s program record 63 assists in a 22-8 win over Detroit Mercy Feb. 13. Stegman broke the single-game assist record at Marquette that same day as well, tallying six in the win.
No. 1⃣4⃣ is now No. ☝️‼️
Jake Stegman is the new Marquette assist 👑. A fitting way to pass Conor Gately’s program record with a MU single-game record six helpers on Tuesday afternoon. #WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/GAevOOMO5h
— Marquette Lacrosse (@MarquetteMLax) February 13, 2024
“That’s the unique thing about an assist,” Stegman said. “The pass is only 50 percent of it, and the other 50 percent of it is the person who puts the ball in the back of the net. Obviously, a lot of those statistics and milestones that I’ve reached wouldn’t be possible without some great players around me.”
After only tallying 25 total assists in his first three seasons with the Golden Eagles, a switch flipped for Stegman during his senior season.
“I really felt last year a switch really flipped for him in terms of what film could do for his game, he really committed to it.” Lori said. “From there, he started to get in a rhythm of finding guys, finding our great finishers.”
“He worked hard to build chemistry with those guys and has become a really efficient lacrosse player because of it.”
Stegman shattered the single season assist record previously held by Gately (20), assisting on 32 goals last season on his way to being named to the all-Big East second team.
Woodward sets groundball record
Graduate defenseman Mason Woodward also recently joined the record-breakers club with Stegman and O’Grady, as he set the new career ground ball record in a 16-5 win over Lindenwood Feb 9.
𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘
Mason Woodward is now the all-time leader in career grounds balls at Marquette 💪
219 and counting…#WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/xHA2BRb7cU
— Marquette Lacrosse (@MarquetteMLax) February 9, 2024
“I feel incredibly blessed to be able to break this record,” Woodward said after the win. “Liam Byrnes is such a great player, and I’m just extremely blessed to break his record, and to do it on a win.”
While these three Golden Eagles have set a new standard for these respective stats and accomplishments within the program, they are hungry for more than just individual awards.
“We might be breaking these records, but the guys before us, they just they left the perfect example of what it meant to be a Marquette lacrosse player,” O’Grady said. “Guys like McNamara, Gately and all those guys, they were awesome players, and they were the hardest workers you could think of.”
“They’ve got something we don’t, they’ve got a ring or two. So we’re chasing that, and it’s all about the team success.”
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.
