2022 Men’s Lacrosse Season Preview

Villanova, Pa.- The Villanova men’s lacrosse team is set to open the 2022 season this Saturday, February 12th against the Penn State Nittany Lions. Head coach Mike Corrado breaks down the 2022 Wildcats position-by-position as Villanova completes their final practices before their season opener.

The Wildcats are returning 31 letterwinners from last season where they went 7-5 overall and 6-4 in BIG EAST play.  This season Villanova is returning three starters from the 2021 season, all earned All-BIG EAST honors last season.  Matt Campbell was named to the First Team and earned many All-American honors while Patrick Daly and Will Vitton earned spots on the Second Team. 

In the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the Wildcats were slated to finished third and Campbell earned a spot on the BIG EAST Preseason Team.

Villanova this season will face six ranked teams as of the latest USILA Coaches Poll. In non-conference play, the Wildcats will face four ranked teams: Yale, Penn, Drexel, and Delaware. In league play both Georgetown and Denver are ranked, and Villanova is receiving votes. 

Captains 

Leading the Wildcats this season will be five key players: Matt Campbell, Chet Comizio, Patrick Daly, Brendan Haggerty, and Brody LaPorte.  

Attack

Leading Villanova’s attack this season will be top returner Patrick Daly.  Last season the lefty senior was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team after finishing with 28 points on 21 goals and seven assists.  Two graduate transfers, Luke Keating, and J.P. Basile will also be contributing to the midfield for the Wildcats this season. Keating came to Villanova from Franklin and Marshall and this season he will run the offense and play behind the cage. Basile, a transfer from Duke, is big and athletic and will be a strong goal scorer.

Matt Licata will be the fourth player the Wildcat will utilize on the attack this season.  The sophomore will provide speed and depth to the offense.  Filling out the attack this season will be senior Stelios Kroudis, juniors Joe Gougan and Gavin Derham, and freshmen Dan Martin, Tucker Milhous, and Luke Raymond.    

Midfield 

On the offensive midfield side, senior All-American Matt Campbell leads the Wildcats.  Last season Campbell finished with a team high 32 goals and was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team.  Brett Baskin, who joined the Wildcats this fall after playing at John’s Hopkins, will be making an impact at midfield this season.  Making the transition from attack to midfield is Tucker Goodelle, Austin Fraser, and Mason Reale. 

Sophomore Will Wheeler will see minutes at midfield this season with classmates Jack Cerza and Jack Neill adding to the depth.  Freshmen Tyler Boes, Reilly Dugan and Mack Prybylski will also battle for minutes this season. 

This season the Wildcats return all their short-stick midfielders from a season ago led by senior Chet Comizio.  Junior’s Stevie Jones, Gavin Burke, and Sam Parkinson will also see minutes as SSDM this season.  In the offseason Jimmy Gabrielson and Tom Miller made the switch from offensive midfielders to short stick defensive middies and will see action in both positions this season. 

Defense

The Wildcats close defense will see new faces this season in Brody LaPorte, Reid Colwell, and Chris Hervada. LaPorte will slide into close defense after playing as a long-stick midfielder for the Wildcats last season. Colwell appeared in five games on defense in 2021 and will now transition into a central role.  Hervada comes to Villanova from Monmouth where he was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Year last season and led the Hawks to conference title. 

Michael Tracanna and Keith Carra will see minutes at both close defense and long-stick while Alex Spiker and Thad Spiker will add depth to the close defense. 

The Wildcats have three long stick midfielders this season, a pair of freshmen in Tripp Robinson and Aidan Ahearn and junior Jonathan Taylor. 

Faceoff

Justin Coppola will return as the Wildcats primary faceoff-specialist this season.  Last year the junior went 130-for-248 (.524) from the center x and had a team high 56 ground balls. Lucas Kopecky will also see time at faceoff this season, the year the then rookie appeared in five games and went 5-for-19. 

Goalkeeper

Will Vitton returns for his fourth season as the Wildcats primary goalkeeper.  Last year, the senior started in 11 games and picked up six wins finishing with a 50.2% save percentage and 107 total saves.  Brendan Haggerty will return for his fifth season in the blue and white and will serve as the back-up keeper.  Last season Haggerty got his first career start and win at St. John’s.  Justin Clark and Nico Iacovino add depth to the goalkeeping position and will battle for minutes this season.