Marquette's men's lacrosse team has played 15 Division 1 games. That's it. And yet, as we get things rolling on this Monday...
Quint Kessenich of @Inside_Lacrosse has Marquette in his top-20 this week http://t.co/5fyT7f7lSE pic.twitter.com/1Kjvk7IRRl
— Marquette Lacrosse (@MarquetteMLax) February 17, 2014
What? Really?
20. Marquette (1-1)
Welcome to the big show, Marquette. The Golden Eagles beat Hofstra 11-9 on Hempstead Turnpike as Tyler Melnyk and Kyle Whitlow stung the net three times apiece. Hofstra shot 9-of-37 while Marquette went 11-of-30. Prove you belong on Feb. 22 at Ohio State, the third of seven straight road games for the second-year DI program.
Well, would you look at that. Well, okay, so that's just Kessenich throwing his final ballot spot to Marquette because he's rewarding them for what might be the best win in program history.
Then, this:
In addition to being ranked No. 20 by @QKessenich Marquette also receiving votes in this week's @Warrior_Sports media poll. #mulax
— Marquette Lacrosse (@MarquetteMLax) February 17, 2014
WHAT?
[goes to Inside Lacrosse.com, clicks on Warrior Media Poll, scrolls to bottom]
Receiving Votes: Georgetown (25), Colgate (21), Villanova (11), Fairfield (9), Bryant (7), Rutgers (5), Bellarmine (4), Binghamton (3), Drexel (3), Canisius (2), Marquette (2)
Some quick math on #1 Duke's point total tells me that you get 20 points for a 1st place slot, so you get 1 point for a 20th place slot. Kessenich is joined by someone else in rewarding the Golden Eagles for their hard fought game against Lehigh and their win over Hofstra. This is a remarkable accomplishment for such a young program.
As Kessenich pointed out, Marquette gets a chance to show that they belong on the big stage this Saturday, as they travel to face Ohio State. The #17 Buckeyes have not started out the season well, dropping their first two contests in overtime. They may be lucky to be that close, as they're struggling on face offs (25.5%) and they've yet to convert on nine extra man opportunities this year.