March 21, 2011
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Villanova senior Brian Karalunas (Dewitt, N.Y.) has been named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week while junior Kevin Cunningham (Garden City, N.Y.) has been named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll, as announced by the conference office Monday afternoon.
Syracuse's Tommy Palasek earned BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week accolades.
Karalunas earns Defensive Player of the Week honors after helping No. 7 Villanova to wins against No. 11 Princeton and Manhattan last week. Karalunas had a career-high game with eight ground balls and eight caused turnovers in the outing and held Princeton's leading scorer, Tom Schreiber, without a goal or assist and to just two shots. He also aided the VU defense in holding the Tigers scoreless for 31:11 - more than half the game.
Against Manhattan, Karalunas captured five ground balls and had four caused turnovers. The long-stick midfielder currently leads the NCAA averaging 4.63 caused turnovers per game and leads the team with 37 takeaways and 35 groundballs.
Cunningham earns his second nod to the Honor Roll for the season after his performances during the past week. The junior attackman tallied four goals and three assists in the Wildcats' wins against Princeton and Manhattan. Cunningham netted two goals in a 10-9 win against the Tigers and two goals and three assists in a 10-6 victory over the Jaspers. For the season, he leads the team with 20 goals, 13 assists and 33 points.
No. 7 Villanova will open their BIG EAST Conference schedule this coming Saturday, March 26th when they face No. 1 Syracuse in Villanova Stadium. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
HONOR ROLL
Rickey Mirabito, Georgetown, Grad., A Had two goals, three assists and five shots, three on goal, in a 14-5 win over conference foe Providence.
Brian Tabb, Georgetown, Sr., M Won 18-of-21 face-offs while tallying 14 ground balls in a 14-5 victory against Providence.
Dillon Ayers, St. John's, So., LSM In two losses last week, led the team in ground balls with 10 and five caused turnovers.
Thomas Guadagnolo, Syracuse, Sr., D Helped the Orange to two wins over ranked opponents last week. Registered his first career goal in the win against No. 14/14 Albany. Against No. 13/9 Johns Hopkins, shut out the Blue Jays' second-leading scorer, while recording a career-best three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Helped limit the Blue Jays to four goals, more than eight goals below their season average.
Kevin Cunningham, Villanova, Jr., A Tallied four goals and three assists in the Wildcats' wins against No. 11/11 Princeton and Manhattan. Had two goals in a 10-9 win against the Tigers and two goals and three assists in a 10-6 victory over the Jaspers.
