Okay, alright, officially, they’re picked to TIE for last place in the conference in 2025.
Well, I can’t say it’s a surprise, but it’s at least a little bit of good news, kind of.
On Thursday, the Big East announced the preseason awards for the 2025 men’s lacrosse season. As you would expect for a team that went 4-10 a year ago and winless in the conference and then underwent a coaching change, the Big East coaches voted Marquette to finish in last place this coming season. However, that’s not entirely true, as the polling broke down with both Marquette and St. John’s — fresh off a 1-4 Big East record last year — earning seven points to tie for fifth place and stop someone from actually being picked to finish sixth in the six team league.
Georgetown is the unanimous favorite in the Big East, which I’m a little surprised about. There hasn’t been much distinction between the Hoyas and Denver over the past couple of seasons, so it’s a little weird to see the other four coaches just line up behind the Hoyas without a doubt. With that said, the Pioneers are the clear #2 pick in the league with 20 points, and Villanova and Providence are a bit of a coin toss in the middle of the league at 16 and 15 points in the polling respectively.
Marquette has just one player on the 16 man preseason All-Big East team, and it’s hard to deny Bobby O’Grady’s credentials as one of the best attackers in the Big East. Here’s how the Marquette press release wrote him up:
O’Grady, a three-time All-BIG EAST postseason selection, notched 26 goals in 2024 and became the program’s all-time scoring leader on Feb. 24 against then-No. 13/12 Michigan.
The native of Milton, Massachusetts ended the 2024 campaign with 114 career scores and is third in Marquette history with 133 points in 43 career games. His 45 goals recorded as the 2022 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year still rank as a program single-season record.
In other award news, I nailed the pick on every single individual player that I named in my preseason picks. Providence’s Ryan Bell is the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Denver’s Jimmy Freehill was a unanimous pick as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, and each of the 10 men that I put on the preseason all-Big East team are on the league’s 16 man list. Seven of my picks ended up as unanimous picks as well, so that has me feeling pretty good about my decision making process.
The weirdest part about the preseason all-Big East team? There are two goalkeepers on the list, and it’s Georgetown’s Anderson Moore, not Denver’s Malcolm Kleban who got the unanimous nod. Why is that weird? Because the coaches had Kleban as the best keeper in the Big East at the end of the 2024 season. You have to wonder if swapping the Marquette vote from Andrew Stimmel to Jake Richard was a deciding factor there. Related: What’s with not picking a Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year?
Let’s wrap up with the full rundown of the awards!
Big East Preseason Men’s Lacrosse Coaches’ Poll
First-place votes in ( )
1. Georgetown (5) 25 pts.
2. Denver (1) 20
3. Villanova 16
4. Providence 15
5. Marquette 7
5. St. John’s 7
Big East Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Ryan Bell, Providence, Sr., M
Big East Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Jimmy Freehill, Denver, Sr., D ^
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team *
Jimmy Freehill, Denver, Sr., D ^
Mic Kelly, Denver, Sr., M
Malcolm Kleban, Denver, R-Sr., GK
Casey Wilson, Denver, Sr., SSDM ^
James Ball, Georgetown, Gr., FOS
Ty Banks, Georgetown, So, D^
Aidan Carroll, Georgetown, Gr., A^
Anderson Moore, Georgetown, So., GK ^
Patrick Crogan, Georgetown, Jr., M
Bobby O’Grady, Marquette, Sr., A
Ryan Bell, Providence, Sr., M ^
Richie Joseph, Providence, Jr., A ^
Brian Kelly, St. John’s, Sr., A
Bobby Seel, St. John’s, Sr., M
Matt Licata, Villanova, Gr., A ^
Jack Shoemaker, Villanova, Jr., D
^denotes unanimous selection
*due to a tie, 16 players are on the All-Big East Team
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