Sign up for the latest news & updates

© 2024 USA Lacrosse. All Rights Reserved.

Marquette coach Joe Amplo found inspiration while flying back from a conference meeting last week. He came across a quote. It read something like “‘patience is not sitting and waiting for time to pass. You’ve got to be active while you're being patient.” 

It was a simple yet powerful line, and one that Amplo carried with him outside of his travels. He felt it embodied his approach to the 2018 version of his Golden Eagles program — which has made the NCAA tournament in consecutive seasons.

“That’s what we’re trying to do,” Amplo said. “We’re trying to teach them everything, as small as how to hold the stick and how to shoot overhand, to as big as how to lead and hold ones accountable. We feel like our culture is in place, but we have to make sure that it’s sustainable.”

With a cast of seniors including three of the top four scorers and a starting defenseman gone, that patience was vital this fall season. In addition, Amplo didn’t have the services of names like Jackson Ehlert and Brendan Connolly on defense and Tanner Thomson on offense for much of the fall.

Marquette lacrosse has enjoyed a meteoric rise of national relevance after starting at Division I in 2012. However, Amplo and his program will have work to do in order to continue that success in 2018. With a young roster and a freshman class just getting settled into the program, the Golden Eagles’ will be looking for help from its veterans as 2018 quickly approaches.

“The burden of leadership is a big thing that we’re struggling with,”  Amplo said. “The only thing that can help that is time. We have to be patient.”

But Amplo isn’t full of concern. He’s been impressed with what he’s seen from his younger players, especially on defense — where Marquette has made its mark over the past four seasons.

The Golden Eagles were among the nation’s best defenses in 2016, when they held opponents to just 8.12 goals per game. Although that number dropped to 9.31 last season, it still ranked 20th in the nation

Back from the 2017 defense is senior Colin Riehl, juniors Ehlert and Noah Richard, sophomore Nick Grill and a cast of contributions. Not to mention, goalie Cole Blazer is back for his senior year after stopping 52.1 percent of his shots in 2017. It’s enough for Riehl to believe that the defense can be the backbone in 2018.

“It’s going to take our team to buy into what they’re telling us and do what they need us to do off-ball, communications wise,” he said. “… The sky is the limit. We just have to believe what [assistant coach Jacob Richard] and coach Amplo have been telling us the whole time. If guys keep stepping up like Noah and Nick, we're definitely going to be a contender.”

And if those names are ringing bells, it’s for good reason. LSM Noah Richard and  defensman Nick Grill — and a number of other Marquette players — aren’t the first members of their families to suit up for Amplo’s program. Nick Grill’s brother, B.J., and Noah Richard’s brother, Jacob, starred for Marquette from 2013-16 and helped put the school on the lacrosse landscape. Jacob Richard joined on as the team's defensive coordinator for the 2018 season. Both B.J. Grill, Jacob Richard and former teammate Liam Byrnes made the U.S. training team ahead of the 2018 World Championships in Netanya, Israel.

To have Marquette royalty in the household certainly has its benefits, according to Nick Grill. 

“Whenever I can, I’ve been picking his brain this fall and since I got here last year,” he said. “He’s been giving great insight, especially playing the position I’ve been playing and really knowing what it’s like to go through this program.”

For players like Riehl, who worked on the same defenses as B.J. Grill and Jacob Richard, adjusting to a new set of brothers wasn't easy.

“My junior year, it took me a little time,” Riehl said of said Nick Grill, who wore his brother’s No. 8. “I always double checked to make sure, and I caught myself a couple times.”

“You can admit who’s the better one, Colin,” Nick Grill said.

“No comment,” Riehl answered.

The Grills and Richards are just two of seven sets of brothers, by Amplo’s count, that have or will go through the Marquette program. Included on this year’s roster are the Thomsons (Keaton and Tanner) and Aaron Joseph, whose brother Noah is a Marquette lacrosse alum.

“It’s my favorite stat,” Amplo said. “It’s so humbling to have families just say ‘You know what? Marquette is a great place. This program is a great place for the growth of our young men."

Amplo has been able to usher in a new group of Grills and Richards, but he’s not placing expectations on either. Grill and Richard have played in a combined 34 games in a Marquette uniform, so the maturation process on the field in still continuing.

The same goes for the Golden Eagles offense, which is very much a work in progress. With Thomson, a Second Team All-BIG East honoree, and Wagner back, they’ll play a roll in mentoring a group of freshmen looking for immediate playing time.

Amplo said players like sophomore Josh Williamson and freshmen Keton Thomson and Anthony Orsini have made major strides in the offseason and fall ball and could step into roles on the Marquette offense.

Regardless of who he’ll use in the spring, Amplo knows this season will consist of trail and error. The quicker his team can accept that, the quicker they can grow.

“They’ve got to come to a place where they are not afraid to make mistakes,” he said. “The mistakes that they make, they don’t beat them down with the frustration of those mistakes. … We’re going to get our butts whooped a little at the beginning of the season, and if our kids grow from that, it could be a quicker time to grow as an offense.”

ABOUT MARQUETTE

  • Coach: Joe Amplo

  • Last Seen: Losing to Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA tournament after upsetting Denver to win the BIG East.

  • Key Returners: Tanner Thomson (20G, 14A), John Wagner (22G, 3A), Colin Riehl (20GB), Cole Blazer (52.1 save percentage), Zach Melillo (155-297 FO)

  • 2017 Team Stats: 9.56 goals per game (56th in Division I), 9.31 GAA (20th), .756 Man Down Defense (8th)

  • Last Nike/US Lacrosse Ranking: Also Considered

  • Conference Snapshot: Marquette has climbed to the top of the BIG East quickly, winning back-to-back conference tournament titles. However, Denver stills lurks as a power and Providence is becoming more competitive. The BIG East is still a conference in which Marquette can succeed, but it might take another Denver upset to win the conference once again.

OFFSEASON HOT TOPICS

The NCAA men’s lacrosse rules committee is allowing teams to experiment with a shot clock this fall. The committee is also discussing several other aspects of the game, including whether to allow attackmen to leave their feet to score around the crease. Amplo gives his feedback on these hot topics in the men's game, as well as the new recruiting realities since the landmark legislation passed, which prohibits college lacrosse coaches from communicating with prospective student-athletes until Sept. 1 of their junior year of high school.

  • Possession Clock: “We did not experiment with it, simply because we’re so young and we wouldn’t get the observation that was necessary. … The shot clock has got to be somewhere between 70-90 seconds. I don’t know what that looks like. I think 60 seconds possession is too quick. You rush things and the game can be more sloppy. It’s not a matter of pace of play, it’s more of a visual aid and taking the referee out of it. Having a shot clock, whatever the rule is, it makes that that the rule. There’s no ambiguity in how it’s enforced.”

  • The Dive: “I go back and forth. It’s the hardest play in the game to officiate. It’s always called a push when it’s really not a push. It’s exciting, but at the end of the day, it’s never going to get passed. All it’s going to take is one person saying it can create an injury and the NCAA is not going to pass it. I’m not really for or against it."

Social Snapshot

Fall ball has ended, but teams are still busy gearing up for the 2018 season. Here's a snapshot of what has happened in the lacrosse world the past few days: