Villanova, Pa. -

Villanova men's lacrosse is riding a four game winning streak into the start of BIG EAST play. The Wildcats started out 0-3 for the first time in over 20 years and have bounced back. Now 5-4, two of those wins against NCAA Final Four teams, the Wildcats are now receiving votes in the national polls. Villanova will open up BIG EAST play this weekend when they host the Marquette Golden Eagles on Saturday inside Villanova Stadium.

Villanova has defeated Brown, Maryland, Bucknell, and Fairfield during this four game run that started on March, 7^th in Providence.

A season ago, the Bears played in the NCAA semi-finals and still have the 2016 Tewaaraton Award winner. The Wildcats were able to pull away after being tied at halftime and win by a final of 17-15.

After a snow storm caused the Wildcats game against Bucknell to be pushed back a week, Villanova had 11 days to prepare for No. 4 Maryland. The Terrapins beat Brown in the NCAA semi-finals and eventually lost to North Carolina in the national championship game by one in overtime, and came into the game with a 4-1 record. The Wildcats led for most of the game and were up four with seven minutes to go, but Maryland fought back and tied the game at the end of regulation. It was with just 33 seconds to go in overtime that Jake Froccaro found Danny Seibel, and Seibel was able to net the game winner and give Villanova their first ever program win over Maryland.

Villanova kept the momentum going when they hosted Bucknell. Led by Jack Curran's career high five goals and another four from Jake Froccaro, the Wildcats defeated the Bison by a final of 13-8 to earn their first win inside Villanova Stadium.

In their final non-conference game the Wildcats jumped out to an early 5-0 lead at Fairfield and kept the goals coming to win by a final of 18-9. Besides strong offensive efforts by Jake Froccaro and Curran, Nick Testa had a career day in between the posts. The sophomore goalie had a career high 14 saves in just over 56 minutes of action.

"We didn't dwell on the three losses so early in the season," stated Curran. "As a team we knew we needed to move on from it and knew we were a better team. As time has gone on we have gelled better on both the offense and defensive ends and have peaked at the right time."

Offense has been a strength for the Cats, ranked first in the conference in assists per game (8.56), points per game (21.78), and scoring offense (13.22) many of these thanks to Curran. The graduate student has a team high 40 points on 26 goals and 14 assists. Moved to the starting attack line midway through non-conference play he is currently 10^th in the country and 1^st in the conference in goals per game averaging 2.89.

Christian Cuccinello has been a huge contributor to the offense this season, he currently has 18 goals and 18 assists for 36 points. He as a .691 shot on goal percentage, the best among the attack line. Against Brown, Cuccinello had a career high eight points on four goal and four assists. He and Curran each have scored five man-up goals that is .625 of the teams extra man opportunities.

Danny Seibel, who scored the overtime game winner against Maryland, has 17 goals this season and five assists. While Devin McNamara, who transitioned to midfield, has 18 points on eight goals and 10 assists. Coming into the season, McNamara had scored a goal in every game during the 2016 season and continued the streak until Villanova's game at Drexel. He rode out a point streak for two more games to end the run at 20 games with at least one point.

Jake Froccaro has 32 points on the season. He has netted 23 goals and added nine assists as a midfielder this season. Since Luke Palmadesso got hurt against Drexel, Jake has been the Wildcats primary faceoff specialist going 58-for-102 (.569) over the first nine games this season. He also has collected a team high 61 ground balls.

Midfielders, John Kluh, Joey Froccaro, and Connor Kirst have make their impact in non-conference play. Kluh has 13 points (8g, 5a), Joey 10 (5g, 5a), and Kirst 8 (6g, 2a). Joey Froccaro and Kirst have also seen action at the faceoff during this season. Joey is 14-for-30 (.467) while Kirst is 27-for-71 (.380). Long-stick midfielder Kurtis Naslonski has had success on both ends of the field netting four goals and dishing out two assists while also causing seven turnovers and collecting 16 ground balls.

Starting in the backfield for the Wildcats has been senior Danny Sweeney along with freshmen Zachary Kryza and Patrick Kennedy.

"We have a young backfield," stated Sweeney. "It took some time for them to get up to speed with the game but now they have the confidence and we are playing as a unit."

This unit collectively has 22 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers. They have limited the last two opponents to only single digit goal totals.

Kryza who was able to block a shot in overtime against Maryland is described by Sweeney as "a really big defender and really physical but has great footwork for his size. When he is out on the field he gives us a tough presences that a lot of attackmen are afraid to go against."

Kennedy, who has the most ground balls out the unit, brings a different presence to the backfield according to Sweeney, "he is a best takeaway defensemen. He is really good at checks and taking the ball away but he is also very calm which is needed on the field."

Adding to the young backfield is sophomore goalkeeper Nick Testa, who last season spilt time in goal but over the last few games has been the Wildcats go to. Testa had a career best 14 saves against Fairfield and now has 47 saves on the season. He boasts an 11.80 goals against average and .416 save percentage. Senior Dan Willis was splitting time with Testa, playing the second half, but an injury has sidelined him over the last few games.

"We got off to a slow start and weren't playing like we knew we could. Also as of late we have started to play a lot tougher and get more ground balls. Overall we have more confidence as a team," stated Sweeney.

Curran added, "we are all embracing our roles and doing our jobs."

The strong non-conference schedule has prepared this team for BIG EAST play. Currently the conference has four out of six teams receiving votes in the major polls. The team believes that all of their non-conference ups and downs have prepared them for the next six games.

Villanova will open conference play this Saturday at home against the Marquette Golden Eagles. Last season Marquette won both contests and the Wildcats are looking to even out the series record this weekend. This game can be seen on Nova Nation All-Access and will begin at 1 p.m. inside Villanova Stadium.

Next the Wildcats will hit the road for back-to-back games, first traveling to Denver and after to Georgetown. On Sunday, April 9^th the Wildcats will take on the Pioneers; the game can be seen on FS1 at 2 p.m. ET. Villanova is looking to hand Denver their first conference loss. Since joining in 2014, the Pioneers haven't lost a BIG EAST contest but did fall to the Golden Eagles in the BIG EAST Tournament Championship game. The following weekend the Wildcats will travel down 95 to Washington, D.C. to take on the Georgetown Hoyas. Villanova has had success against the Hoyas holding the all-time record at 14-8 and defeating them last season by a final of 16-4. CBS Sports Network will broadcast the game and faceoff is set for 2:30 p.m. ET.

Villanova will close out home play on April 22^nd when they host the St. John's Red Storm for Senior Day. The game will be on the BEDN and faceoff has been moved to 4 p.m. to ensure time for the senior day ceremony following the women's lacrosse game that will take place prior. The Wildcats have had success against the Red Storm winning the last two contests and scoring a combined 39 goals over those games.

The Wildcats will close out the regular season at Providence on Saturday, April 29^th with first faceoff being set for 1 p.m. Villanova hopes to stay in Providence since the Friars are the host school for the 2017 BIG EAST Tournament that will begin on May 4^th. Both semi-final games will air on CBS Sports Network and the final on May 6^th on FS1.