Four Golden Eagles Snag All-Big East Men’s Lacrosse Honors

The Big East announced the postseason awards for men’s lacrosse on Wednesday afternoon. With Marquette finishing in fifth place and failing to qualify for the four team conference tournament, it’s not a surprise that MU did not earn any of the individual trophies this spring. However, four Golden Eagles did make their way onto the all-conference teams.

Defender Mason Woodward is one of seven unanimous choices for the All-Big East First Team, where he was joined by attacker Devon Cowan. Attacker Bobby O’Grady and midfielder Jake Stegman were included on the 15 man Second Team.

We turn to the GoMarquette.com press release for more info as to what makes these young men so special, as the league’s release focused on the individual honors.

First, Mason Woodward:

Woodward was a unanimous selection at close defense after another standout season during which he pushed his name into the conversation as the best defenseman in the country. He was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List on Feb. 10 and is the program’s second two-time USILA All-American. Woodward was an All-BIG EAST First Team selection during his first conference season in 2021 and was a second team choice last spring.

The native of Towson, Maryland has led the Golden Eagles in caused turnovers in each of his four campaigns and is the program’s all-time leader in ground balls per game (4.71 per contest).

Woodward posted a career-high 12 ground balls at Utah on Feb. 11 and ended the regular season first in NCAA Division I in ground balls per game (5.00) among close defensemen. Overall, he’s 41st nationally in ground balls per game and, in total, has posted a career-high seven points (five goals, two assists), 70 ground balls and forced 16 turnovers this season. Marquette all-time ground ball leader Liam Byrnes (218) is just six ground balls ahead of Woodward (212).

And Cowan:

Cowan turned in the second first team all-conference season of his career after previously earning the honor in 2021. He scored 26 goals this year and added four assists for the second 30-point season of his career (he had 29 points in 11 games in 2022).

The Mount Laurel, New Jersey native became the fourth player in Marquette history to reach 100 career points with two goals against St. John’s on April 8 and his 114 career points rank third all-time at MU behind Ryan McNamara (152) and Conor Gately (140). He also ranks third all-time at MU in goals (86), fourth in game winners and seventh in assists.

And O’Grady:

O’Grady once again led MU in scoring this season, posting 43 goals and 49 points over 14 games, placing him 15th nationally in goals per game (3.07). Through just 29 games of his NCAA career, he’s second in program history in career goals (88) and the all-time leader in man-up scores (19).

The native of Milton, Massachusetts was BIG EAST Attack Player of the Week on Feb. 6 to open the season and earned five other weekly honor roll recognitions during the year. He’s the only Marquette player to score 40 goals in a season and has now done it twice – 43 this year and a program-record 45 last year as a true freshman.

And Stegman:

Stegman set a new Marquette record with 32 assists this season – 12 more than Conor Gately’s previous single-season record of 20 set in 2013. The Naperville, Illinois native had six games with at least three assists and posted a single-game program record of five helpers in MU’s BIG EAST opener against Providence on April 1.

Through 46 career games, Stegman is second in Marquette history with 57 career assists, behind only Conor Gately (63) for MU’s all-time lead. He began the year as an attackman but played primarily out of the midfield during conference action, posting the league’s second-best assist per game (2.80) and fourth-best points average (4.00) in conference play.

The press release also notes that this is the seventh time in nine Big East campaigns that Marquette has had two First Team players.

As for the individual honors, Georgetown cleaned up with Tucker Dordevic grabbing Attack Player of the Year, Will Bowen snaring Defensive Player of the Year, and Patrick Crogan being named Freshman of the Year. Oh, and they also took home Coaching Staff of the Year after the Hoyas went 5-0 in league play for the second straight season. Georgetown also went 10-3 after starting the year with three straight losses, so if anyone deserved that trophy, it was head coach Kevin Warne and his staff. Dordevic was the only unanimous choice amongst the individual award winners, which is what happens when you lead the Big East in goals per game in league play and overall.

The other two trophies are headed to Villanova and Providence. VU’s Matt Campbell won Midfielder of the Year, while PC’s James Corasaniti was named Goalkeeper of the Year for 2023.

Let’s wrap up with the rundown of the all-conference teams!

All-Big East First Team

Ryan Bell, Providence, So., A
Devon Cowan, Marquette, Sr., A
Tucker Dordevic, Georgetown, Gr., A ^
Graham Bundy Jr., Georgetown, Sr., M ^
Matt Campbell, Villanova, Gr., M ^
Michael Chabra, Providence, Jr., M
Will Bowen, Georgetown, Gr., D ^
Reid Colwell, Villanova, Jr., D ^
Mason Woodward, Marquette, Sr., D ^
James Reilly, Georgetown, Gr., FO ^
Chet Comizio, Villanova, Gr., SSDM
AJ Mercurio, Denver, Sr., LSM
James Corasaniti, Providence, Gr., G

All-Big East Second Team

Stephen Avery, Denver, Jr., M
Justin Coppola, Villanova, Sr., FOGO
Patrick Daly, Villanova, Gr., A
Jack DiBenedetto, Denver, Sr., D
Jimmy Freehill, Denver, So., D
Dylan Hess, Georgetown, Jr., SSDM
Jacob Kelly, Georgetown, Gr., A
Michael Lampert, Denver, Jr., M
Brian Minicus, Georgetown, Gr., A
Bobby O’Grady, Marquette, So., A
JJ Sillstrop, Denver, Sr., A
Malik Sparrow, Denver, Sr., LSM
Alec Stathakis, Denver, Gr., FO
Jake Stegman, Marquette, Sr., M
Will Vitton, Villanova, Gr., G