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The Marquette Golden Eagles lost a ton of scoring last year due to graduation, and will lose another for this season.
Senior midfielder Tanner Thomson will redshirt this upcoming season, the school confirmed on Tuesday. Thomson was the team’s top returning scorer with 20 goals and 14 assists a year ago, and was an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection.
Inside Lacrosse reported the injury back in December, and Golden Eagles head coach Joe Amplo said he was still rehabbing at that time.
Amplo discussed Thomson missing the season in the school’s press release, saying injury and a change in major played a part in the decision:
“Tanner faced a tough injury in the fall semester and has recently decided to change career paths academically,” Amplo said. “After thoughtful deliberation with him, his family and the staff we have decided that what is best for Tanner in the long run is for him to redshirt this season. While we will miss his presence on gameday, I am thankful that we will have his leadership at practice to mentor a talented but young offensive unit.”
Our good friend Brewertown Andy from Anonymous Eagle adds some context to the impact of Thomson’s injury for the team:
With Thomson out, the Golden Eagles are going to have to replace their top five point scorers from last season and six of the top seven, and the 2017 team was not particularly strong on the offensive end in the first place. John Wagner is the only player returning who scored more than seven goals last season and the only one who tallied more than eight points. Jack Zerillo is the guy propping that last sentence up, by the way, and past Zerillo, no one else returning had more than three points last season.
I guess the good news is that defenses are going to have no idea who to focus on other than Wagner? If Marquette can activate the skills of multiple underclassmen, then perhaps a wide ranging attack can be beneficial to the Golden Eagles’ scoring efforts.
Despite Tanner Thomson missing this season, there will still be a Thomson on the team this year. Keaton Thomson is a freshman who’s listed as a midfielder on the team’s website, but an attackman on the injury press release.
This is the third notable injury as the season gets closer to starting up. Villanova Wildcats midfielder Joey Froccaro and Rutgers Scarlet Knights attackman Adam Charalambides are the other two notable injuries to come up before the start of the regular season.