2020 Men's Lacrosse Season Preview

The Villanova men’s lacrosse team is set to open the 2020 season this Saturday, February 8th against the Penn State Nittany Lions for the third straight season. Head coach Mike Corrado breaks down the 2020 Wildcats position-by-position as Villanova takes their final practices before their season opener. 

The Wildcats are returning 30 letterwinners and nine starters from last season.  Villanova finished 8-7 overall and 3-2 in conference play in 2019.  Connor Kirst was named BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year and Coach Corrado was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year.  The Wildcats also had six players named to the All-BIG EAST Second team, the most since joining the conference, Matt Campbell, TJ Comizio, Patrick Kennedy, Keegan Khan, Corey McManus and Will Vitton all earned spots last season. 

In the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the Wildcats were slated to finish second with two first place votes while Patrick Kennedy, Connor Kirst, Keegan Khan, and Will Vitton were all named to the BIG EAST Preseason Team. 

Villanova will start the season with three straight home games against three of the top-five ranked teams in the Nike/US Lacrosse Preseason Polls.  The Wildcats opener will be against #1 ranked Penn State, the following Saturday they will host #3 Yale, and will wrap up the homestand on Tuesday, February 18th against #4 Maryland.  Villanova was ranked #17 in the same preseason poll and will take on two additional ranked opponents later in the season. 

2020 Captains

Leading the Wildcats this season will be the trio of Connor Kirst, Zachary Kryza, and Matt Webster. This trio were voted team captains by their fellow teammates following last season. 

Attack

The Wildcats return all three starters from last season in juniors Keegan Khan and Corey McManus and sophomore Patrick Daly.  Khan has been named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team twice and earned 2018 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year honors as well.  McManus earned All-BIG EAST Second team honors last season and was the Wildcats leading goal scorer with 35.  McManus’s biggest goal of the season was when he netted what was the game-winner against the Denver Pioneers handing them their first conference loss since joining. Daly moved into the starting role for the final six games of the season.  The then rookie finished with 21 points on 16 goals and five assists in 13 games played. 

Luke Prybylski is the lone senior attack this season and last season he netted his first career goal against Delaware.  Sophomore Austin Fraser has grown in his development during the offseason and will see minutes this season.  Gavin Derham and Joe Goguen will be fighting for minutes while Stelios Kroudis and Mason Reale are rehabbing entering this season.

Midfield

Villanova this season also returns all three starters from last season in Connor Kirst, Matt Campbell, and Eric Overbay as well as the return of Colin Crowley from injury.  Kirst earned Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-American Second Team honors last month and a spot on the conference preseason team.  Last season the midfielder finished tied with a team high 50 points.  Campbell made an impact as a rookie last season, in back-to-back games he netted six goals in non-conference play and finished with 28 on the season.  Overbay moved into the starting role after the first four games last season and finished with 20 points.  Crowley, who was sidelined with an injury last season, has been practicing in preseason.  The junior only played in the first four games last season but finished with three points during the Wildcats win over #1 ranked Yale. 

Senior Jack Kinnear will be the Wildcats most skilled midfielder this season while Owen Black will bring leadership and depth.  Junior Stevie Peters brings speed to the line while Jimmy Gabrielson and Sam Parkinson have been competing in preseason.  Also expect this season to see Gavin Burke playing both offensive and defensive midfield.

Villanova lost the most due to graduation in the SSDM position with both TJ Comizio and Chris Donovan.  To bring experience to the role, the Wildcats added Jared Warner as a graduate transfer from Penn.  Also adding experience to the SSDM position this season is junior Brendan Quigley and sophomore Chet Comizio, who have both started in past season.  Adding to the depth to the position and battling for minutes is freshman Stevie Jones. 

The Wildcats also have four LSM’s this season, Brody LaPorte is the top returning this season.  Also a pair of juniors in Colin Hunt and Michael Clark will bring leadership and depth to the position.  Freshman Jonathan Taylor will also see minutes at LSM and on defense this season.

Defense

Villanova returns all three starters from last season in Zachary Kryza, Patrick Kennedy, and Owen Prybylski.  Also returning from injury this season is Matt Webster, who was a starter for Villanova two seasons ago.  Kennedy was named to the All-BIG EAST Second team last season and the conference preseason team last month.  Both Thad Spike and Alex Spiker have been working hard in practice and will add to the depth of the Villanova defense this season. 

Goalkeepers

Will Vitton, the sophomore keeper, is the Wildcats top returner.  Named to the 2019 All-BIG EAST Second Team and picking up conference preseason honors, Vitton helped lead the Wildcats in seven wins last season including a career high 19 saves during Villanova’s 12-11 win at Denver.Senior Michael Toomey and junior Brendan Haggerty have had strong offseason.  Rookie Justin Clark will add to the depth at goalkeeper this season. 

Faceoff

This season the Wildcats will switch off between three different FOGs.  Dan Fisher is the top returner from last season going 129-for-249 (.518) in 2019.  Zack Ornstein took the other 138 faceoffs last season and won 66 for a .478 win percentage.  Rookie Justin Coppola, who was named one of Inside Lacrosse’s Power 100 Freshman, had a good fall season, and will see time at the center X this season.