The Big East announced the results of the 2026 men’s lacrosse preseason poll
on Tuesday, and YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles project to be a conference tournament team in the eyes of the head coaches in the league. Marquette came in fourth in the team poll, earning 12 points. That’s one point ahead of 5th place Providence and four points behind 3rd place Denver, and let me tell you: It is very weird to type the phrase “third place Denver.”Georgetown is the unanimous favorite to win the Big East this
year, as they earned all five possible first place votes since coaches can not vote for their teams. Villanova came in second buoyed by the first place vote from Georgetown head coach Kevin Warne. St. John’s rounds out the predictions in the team poll in sixth place with the last place votes on each ballot.
Over in the all-conference team voting, Marquette has two men tabbed as best in the Big East heading into the season. Attacker Nolan Rappis was one of nine unanimous choices by the coaches for the 15 man preseason all-Big East team, while midfielder Peter Detwiler also made the list. He’s not officially listed as a short stick defensive midfielder in the league’s press release, but that’s how Detwiler made the All-Big East Second Team last season so we can presume that’s why the coaches voted for him now.
Here’s what the Marquette press release put together for these two:
Rappis, a 2025 All-BIG EAST Second Team selection, totaled 32 goals and 15 assists last season. He ranked among the top eight players in the conference in both goals and assists during the 2025 campaign.
Detwiler, the lone 2026 captain for the Golden Eagles, earned 2025 USA Lacrosse All-America Honorable Mention honors and was also named to the 2025 All-BIG EAST Second Team. During the 2025 season, he recorded 37 ground balls, caused seven turnovers, and scored three goals.
Here’s where I have to make a teeeeeeeny little confession: I 100% had Detwiler on my preseason all-Big East team picks…. but I don’t have Rappis in there. I think the whiff is a miscommunication between Marquette and myself, as when I put together my picks, I pulled up each team’s rosters and checked to see which players from last year’s end of season all-Big East teams were returning for 2026. I think it’s a pretty safe bet that I would have included the guy who finished fifth in the Big East in goals per game last season, ninth in assists per game, and eighth in points per game if he was on the roster when I made the list. I can say it’s a safe bet because here’s what I wrote when I was filling in the last spots on the team:
Picking the two attackers was a little harder, as I had to figure out why Malawsky, Michener, and Georgetown’s Jack Ransom were on the Second Team. They weren’t amongst the top 10 in goals or points, although Malawsky was #7 in the league in assists per game last year. That’s as good a reason as any for putting him on the list, and Michener was #1 in the Big East in shots per game last year. Not top 10 in putting those shots to use at all, but if he’s a Second Teamer and the top option for the Wildcats, that’s something worth putting in.
See? Between being a Second Team performer last season and being top 10 in all three scoring categories, Rappis easily beats out those guys. But I just didn’t have him on the list because he wasn’t on MU’s roster at that precise moment in time. If I had to guess? “Graduate student Nolan Rappis” in the first paragraph of the Marquette press release miiiiiiight just explain things, and if “had to figure out if he would be at MU for grad school and/or have the time to play lacrosse” was the issue, I get it. We can’t rule out the possibility that Marquette was still waiting to hear if Rappis was actually eligible, as he has played in four seasons for Marquette, but had injuries that limited his campaigns in 2022 and 2023. Oh, and he was honored on Senior Night back in the spring, too. Not my fault!
The rest of my picks were dead on: Providence’s Richie Joseph and Georgetown’s Ty Banks as Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year respectively; four of the six teams in the right place in the team poll, and I honestly would have put Marquette in front of Providence if I had Rappis on the MU roster; and 10 of the 15 guys on the all-conference team. If there wasn’t a tie in the voting, I would have come off a little bit better there, as I would clearly benefit from 14 guys instead of 15 because of a tie.
Marquette knocks out their only preseason competition of the year this coming weekend when they head to the US Naval Academy in Maryland for a pair of scrimmages against Navy and Virginia. Actually for real competition starts on Saturday, February 7th, when the Golden Eagles welcome preseason #20 Michigan to Valley Fields. First draw on that game is set for Noon Central, and it will undoubtedly be an emotionally charged atmosphere in the Valley Bubble as it will be MU’s first game since Scott Michaud and Noah Snyder were killed in a traffic accident in September.
You can check out the entire Big East press release on the awards here, and you can see the Marquette press release here.
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