A new head coach means lots of questions, and we’ve got three big picture ones here.
#1 — Who’s going to score for this team?
Jake Stegman, 13 goals, 23 assists. Luke Blanc, 22 goals, 5 assists. Devon Cowan, 13 goals, 4 assists. That’s three of Marquette’s top six scorers from last season, none of whom return for 2025. Just on those three guys alone, Marquette has to replace 34% of their goals and 41% of their assists from a team that was 59th out of 76 Division 1 teams last year in offensive efficiency according to Lacrosse Reference. In other words: Marquette was objectively bad at putting the ball in the net in 2024, and now they have to replace more than a third of that offense…. as well as find a way to improve if they want to improve their win total.
Replacing Stegman is probably the biggest component relative to offensive flow, seeing as he’s the program’s all-time leader in assists as well as the holder of the top two single season marks in that department. Carsen Brandt might be the answer there, as he had 14 helpers as a freshman last year. But he also did that while playing with Stegman, so it stands to reason that MU can really only activate Brandt’s passing talents if someone else is stepping up to distribute as well.
Having Bobby O’Grady around to continue to build on the Marquette career goals record that he already holds is great news for this season, especially as he chases after Ryan McNamara’s career points record. Big things will be asked from Will Foster, who had a career high goal total a year ago. Other than that, goals are going to have to come from guys who haven’t provided goals in a big way before. Nolan Rappis jumps to mind, as he can put up points when healthy. Jake Bair had a nice year last season as a guy who wasn’t asked to carry the offense. Can he produce regularly when MU needs him to produce game in and game out? Same thing for Matt Caputo, who transfers in from Ohio State after putting up 32 points in 24 appearances for the Buckeyes.
#2 — Who’s going to play goalie for this team…. or defend in general?
A year ago, Lucas Lawas got beat out for the starting goalkeeper job after at least holding his own in three straight overtime losses to ranked teams to end the 2023 season. Caleb Creasor played effectively the entire season, and he was fine. It’s hard to argue against the sixth best save percentage in program history amongst guys with at least 80 saves in a season, or the third most saves per game. 11.45 goals per 60 minutes isn’t the worst thing in the world as far as a goals-against average, but it’s also not record breaking in MU history.
Now Lawas is still the goalie on the roster with the most experience playing for Marquette, but Dawson Friers arrives after four seasons at Holy Cross. He suffered a lot of losses for the Crusaders, but when you’re playing on the other end of the field from what Lax Reference marked as one of the five least efficient offenses in the country last season, yeah, you’re gonna lose some lacrosse games no matter what you do. He’s got experience and he’s only going to be in Milwaukee this year, so there’s an argument that he’s going to get the nod in net.
That doesn’t necessarily have to line up with “What makes Marquette win ballgames,” though. If Lawas is the option that the coaching staff thinks will get them wins — and Inside Lacrosse called him the starter after watching him in a scrimmage against Virginia and talking to head coach Jake Richard — then that’s the way to go. The staff also has to be unafraid to make a change if that’s what’s best for the team. It’s Year 1 for Richard, both on the Marquette sideline and in general as a head coach, so there’s no reason not to be bold with the decision making.
Same goes for the close defense in front of whoever’s minding the net. Of the three guys that started on defense in last year’s season finale, only Mike Piraino returns. Maybe more importantly to the point here, Mason Woodward is going to be wearing a ballcap and carrying a clipboard on the sideline as opposed to the helmet and stick combo he had for the last several years as he has finished up one of if not the best career by a Marquette defenseman in program history. Two-thirds of the starters have to be replaced, and you’re not just replacing Woodward by sticking a different guy out on the field. Inside Lacrosse said they watched Ryan Kilcoyne and redshirt freshman Jackson Nichols alongside Piraino against Virginia last weekend, but Richard and his assistants can’t be married to any particular set of guys if they’re not getting results.
#3 — What’s going to be different with Jake Richard in charge?
I will say this much about the elevation of Jake Richard from assistant coach to head coach: There’s only so much he can do to affect the direction of the team as an assistant coach. In fact, given that he played on the defensive side of the ball, there’s only so much that he can do to affect Andrew Stimmel’s choices on the offensive side of the ball. I am at least willing to believe in the possibility that Lacrosse Reference charted out Marquette’s defensive efficiency at #49 out of 76 teams in the country last year because the offense was worse off and they kept putting Richard’s defense in poor positions. Check out that #59 turnover rate, for example. Sometimes you have to play complimentary lacrosse in order to play great lacrosse.
It is possible that Jake Richard wowed the hiring search committee with his list of “things I said out loud to Stimmel that he never listened to, but I will implement immediately if not sooner.”
If that’s the case, if Jake Richard is attacking his first opportunity as a head coach with the vim and vigor of a guy who knows — or at least believes he knows, sometimes that’s just as important — exactly what went wrong over the past few seasons, then you can’t really ask for more.
Because that’s the only reason why you should promote an assistant coach from a team that hasn’t had a winning record at the end of the season since Jake Richard last pulled on a helmet and ran out onto the field as a short stick defensive midfielder for Marquette.
Things. Have. To. Change.
Marquette’s schedule this season is stacked up with three preseason top 20 teams in non-conference play and two more in Big East play. There’s three more teams on the slate that are earning preseason top 20 votes and thus could very possibly be ranked by the time the Golden Eagles come across them. It is going to be hard to come out of this year with a winning record, so we can not judge Richard completely on that alone. We’re going to have to find things to judge him on though, and as long as Marquette looks like a better lacrosse team, that will be enough.