The Golden Eagles will face six teams that reached the NCAA tournament, including four in non-conference play.
Guys, I think Marquette women’s lacrosse head coach Meredith Black really likes her team in 2024.
Fresh off the best season in program history that culminated in the team’s first ever NCAA tournament appearance, Black has dialed up a non-conference slate for the 2024 season that features four teams that joined the Golden Eagles in the national championship tournament. That includes Northwestern, who toppled Boston College 18-6 to win their eighth NCAA title back in the spring.
Here’s Black’s press release statement on her schedule for the spring:
“We are very excited about this year’s schedule,” said Black. “We have scheduled a few teams we haven’t seen in awhile, including some Midwest schools that we are excited about. This schedule will help us build off our successful campaign last year, and also define our identity as a team this year.”
The year starts with Cincinnati at home on Sunday, February 11th. That will be MU’s only home game until March as the next five are all on the road: at Louisville, at Northwestern, at Jacksonville, at Detroit Mercy, and at Niagara. Jacksonville is one of the other four NCAA tournament teams from last spring as the Dolphins were knocked out in the first round by #6 seeded Florida.
A Friday afternoon tilt with Colorado brings the Golden Eagles back to Milwaukee for a game on March 8th, but they’ll back on the road four days later to visit Ohio State. The next three contests are all at home, with MU hosting Eastern Michigan along with NCAA tourney teams Central Michigan and Regular Michigan all in an 8 day span.
Big East play starts on the road and with a notable test when Marquette visits Connecticut on Saturday, March 30. UConn is one of three Big East teams coming off an NCAA tournament appearance last season. Denver is the other one, and Marquette will have to hit the road on April 6th to face the Pioneers.
It’s a seven team league, so the schedule is split evenly home and road with three games each. Xavier is MU’s third road game, while they will host Butler, Georgetown, and Villanova, with the April 27th game against the Wildcats doubling as Senior Day and the regular season finale.
Here’s the full schedule with dates and times, although we’re still waiting on the Georgetown details. I wonder if there’s going to be a doubleheader with the men’s team that day or something?