Women's Lacrosse Set to Face Detroit Mercy in Program's Home Opener

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's lacrosse is slated for five home games in the inaugural season of the program and will open the home competition schedule with opponent Detroit Mercy.

Entering the program's 15th season, the Titans were picked to finish seventh in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll. As the Musketeers enter the first season in program history, the BIG EAST Preseason Poll predicted a seventh place finish for the new squad.

Detroit Mercy entered the MAC in 2021 but was previously a member of the Southern Conference. Prior to the SoCon, the Titans were a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference and in the early years of the program, they belonged to the National Lacrosse Conference. From 2013-16, the Titans had four consecutive appearances in the ASUN Championship game but were unable to defeat Jacksonville from 2013-15 and Old Dominion in 2016.

GAME INFORMATION

XAVIER MUSKETEERS vs DETROIT MERCY TITANS
Sunday, Feb. 19 | 2 p.m. ET | Cincinnati, Ohio | Corcoran Field
Live Stats: https://goxavier.com/sidearmstats/wlax/summary
Watch: https://www.flolive.tv/events/10429726-2023-detroit-mercy-vs-xavier

ABOUT DETROIT MERCY

2023 Record: 0-1 (0-0 MAC)
2022 Record: 2-13 (2-8 MAC)
First Season: 2009
Series History: 0-0
Head Coach: Dwayne Hicks (4th Season)

SCHEDULE NOTES

• The 2023 women's lacrosse inaugural spring schedule will consist of five home matches and nine road games with a full BIG EAST schedule.

• Xavier women's lacrosse will play teams from seven different conferences in the inaugural season (BIG EAST, Big Ten, PAC-12, Horizon League, Big South, Southern, and Mid-American)

• The Musketeers will also compete against another first year program - the Eastern Michigan Eagles. Both Xavier and Eastern Michigan have spent the last year building programs from the ground up.

• Xavier will participate in BIG EAST play but is ineligible for the conference tournament in the first year of the program. They will be eligible for the tournament in the 2024 spring season.

PROGRAM NOTES

• Head Coach Meg Decker came to Xavier from Hartford where she built the program from the ground up. Prior to Hartford, Decker helped build Virginia Commonwealth University's women's lacrosse program from scratch as an assistant coach and was a student-athlete on the inaugural women's lacrosse team at the United States Naval Academy.

• Assistant Coach Grace Beshlian comes to Xavier from William and Mary where she spent the 2021-22 year as an assistant coach. Prior to William and Mary, Beshlian served as a student assistant coach at UConn in 2021 following her standout playing career for the Huskies from 2016-20.

• Director of Operations Erin Rubright arrived at Xavier following a one year stint as the Temple Football Graduate Assistant for Player Development and Recruiting. Prior to Temple, Rubright worked in the Liberty University Football program as a student worker in recruiting.

• Xavier Lacrosse's inaugural squad consists of three graduate students, four juniors, two sophomores, and 20 freshmen. With transfers from Vermont, Hartford, Walsh, Duquesne, and Winthrop, the coaching staff at Xavier has established a strong foundation to support the large number of freshman.

BIG EAST PRESEASON POLL

BIG EAST Preseason Poll
First Place Votes in ()
Denver (6) 36 pts
Georgetown (1) 29
Connecticut 26
Marquette 21
Villanova 18
Butler 11
Xavier 6

UP NEXT

• The Musketeers will travel to Virginia to see Radford on the 24th at 1 p.m. and Longwood on the 26th at 12 p.m.

Schedule

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