May 2, 2012
VILLANOVA, Pa. - Written By Vinnie James
Villanova University will host the inaugural Big East Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament from May 3rd - May 5th at Villanova Stadium. The tournament will feature the top four teams in the BIG EAST standings competing for the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. These teams also represent three of the top 20 spots in the national rankings, according to Inside Lacrosse.
The semifinals games will both take place on Thursday, May 3rd, featuring top seeded Notre Dame facing off with No. 4 seeded St. John's at 4:30 p.m., followed by No. 2 Villanova taking on No. 3 seeded Syracuse at 7 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday, May 5th at noon.
Semifinal number one and the championship game will be shown live on ESPNU, while the second semifinal game can be seen on ESPN3.
This marks the first conference tournament since the BIG EAST began sponsoring men's lacrosse in 2010. Villanova was handpicked by the BIG EAST conference to host the inaugural men's lacrosse tournament for a number of reasons, including location, quality of facilities, and stadium capacity.
"That's what makes us feel so good about it is the conference picked us" said Bob Steitz, Sr. Associate Athletics Director. "We're hoping that this could be a staple here. The conference has the ability to move the site but we're hoping that if all goes well enough, they won't want to."
Along with Steitz, Steve Pizzi, Director of Facilities/Operations, has been instrumental in coordinating the operations of this event internally as well as meeting the requests of the BIG EAST conference. Hosting a tournament featuring four of the top lacrosse teams in the country presents a unique set of challenges for any school, something that the BIG EAST conference was confident Villanova could handle.
"Jim Siedliski from the BIG EAST offices knows our people and our facilities from when we hosted the BIG EAST track & field championships," Pizzi said. "Still, hosting this tournament is all new to the University and the main challenge is getting everyone on the same page."
While the impact this tournament will eventually have on the program remains to be seen, hosting the BIG EAST lacrosse championships is a landmark event for Villanova lacrosse.
"All the games being nationally televised and putting the University front and center on a national stage, you can't put a price tag on that," stated Steitz. "Getting people to see our team play in the tournament as well is a huge bonus for our program."
Villanova finished with a 4-2 record in BIG EAST play, including wins over St. John's and their semifinal opponent, Syracuse.
"I'm very excited for our players that they get to compete for a conference championship on their home turf in front of our home crowd," Villanova head men's lacrosse coach Mike Corrado said. "I think this speaks volumes about the support that our program has gotten from our administration as well as the future of lacrosse in our area."
For more information on the BIG EAST Lacrosse Championship Tournament, please visit www.bigeast.org/Sports/MensLacrosse.aspx. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.villanova.com or by calling the Villanova box office at 610-519-4100.
