In the spring of 2016, just the fourth season of Marquette lacrosse, the Golden Eagles reached brand new heights with a Big East tournament title and the first NCAA tournament appearance in program history.
The program is already guaranteed to hit a new height in 2017, as they announced the schedule for next spring on Friday afternoon. Included in that schedule is six regular season home dates, more than in any other season. Last year’s team ended up playing six games in Milwaukee, but the sixth and final game was the NCAA tournament game against North Carolina.
The highlights of the 2017 slate for the Golden Eagles will all come at home. First, they’ll be hosting the Midwest Lacrosse Classic this season. It’s a yearly four team event that involves Ohio State, Bellarmine, and Detroit, and this time around it comes to Milwaukee. Marquette gets games against the Buckeyes and the Titans, but will not play the Knights at all this season.
The other major highlights come on the final two weekends of the regular season. Marquette’s yearly non-conference series with Duke returns to Milwaukee this season, while the regular season and conference schedule both culminate one week later in a home game against Denver. Marquette defeated the Pioneers in Colorado last May in the Big East championship game for MU’s first ever win over Denver, and this will be their first meeting since then.
One question I do have is why Notre Dame is so afraid to come to Milwaukee. The Golden Eagles and Fighting Irish continue their series for the fifth straight year, but after a neutral site game in Chicago and a game in Milwaukee, Marquette will travel down to South Bend for the third consecutive season in 2017. C’mon, guys, what’s so scary about Milwaukee?
Here’s the full schedule so you can mark your calendars:
Date | Opponent |
Saturday, February 18 | at Jacksonville |
Saturday, February 27 | at Richmond |
Friday, March 3 | vs Ohio State |
Sunday, March 5 | vs Detroit |
Saturday, March 11 | at Robert Morris |
Saturday, March 25 | at Georgetown |
Tuesday, March 28 | vs Air Force |
Saturday, April 1 | at Villanova |
Saturday, April 8 | St. John's |
Tuesday, April 11 | at Notre Dame |
Saturday, April 15 | at Providence |
Saturday, April 22 | vs Duke |
Saturday, April 29 | vs Denver |
Check out GoMarquette.com for more on the schedule, including fall ball dates and MU's spring exhibition schedule.