Villanova, Pa.- The Villanova Wildcats will open BIG EAST play this Saturday when they travel to Queens, New York to take on the St. John's Red Storm.  First faceoff is scheduled for 12:30 P.M. and can be seen on FloSports.

Matchup History:  Saturday marks the 23^rd meeting all-time between the Wildcats and Red Storm.  Villanova has won 15 of the previous meetings including both last season.  St. John's last win came in 2014 in overtime.

A Look at Villanova: The Wildcats are 5-3 entering Saturday's BIG EAST opener and are riding a two-game winning streak.  Villanova played four straight home games and went 3-1 over the span with wins over Hofstra, Drexel, and Delaware.  For their efforts against the Blue Hens Matt Campbell was named BIG EAST Attacker of the Week and Will Vitton earned Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Villanova's Offense:  Campbell had a career high eight points last weekend on seven goals and one assist.  The senior, who has shifted to attack the last two weeks, has a team high 37 points on 26 goals and 11 assists.  Graduate transfer Luke Keating has 33 points this season while Brett Baskin has 28 and Patrick Daly 24.  Keating has a team high 19 assists, with five of those coming against Drexel.

Villanova's Defense:  Vitton last weekend finished with 17 saves and one the year has 81 along with a 11.74 goals against average.  Chet Comizio leads the team with 16 caused turnovers while Brody LaPote has 12.  The Wildcats average 10.88 caused turnovers per game which is 2^nd most in Division I men's lacrosse.  Justin Coppola ranks 9^th in the country in faceoff winning percentage, he has a 60.1% win percentage along with 72 ground balls.

A Look at St. John's:  The Red Storm are 2-7 entering this weekend.  St. Johns' defeated Manhattan for their first win of the season and Fairfield less than two weeks ago for their second.  Brian Kelly, Jonathan Huber, and Dylan Willis lead the Red Storm offense with over 20 points each.  Jake Owmcke is the primary FOG and has won 78-of-166 (.470) this season while collecting 41 ground balls.  Starting in goal all nine games for St. John's has been freshman Kaden Quirk.  The rookie has a .436 save percentage and 16.17 goals against average.