Villanova, Pa.- The Villanova Wildcats will take on the Denver Pioneers on Saturday afternoon inside Villanova Stadium. First faceoff is scheduled for 1:00 P.M. and can be seen on FS1. Saturday's game will also be alumni day, with the Class of 2020 being honored at halftime.
Matchup History: Saturday will make the 18
th meeting all-time with Denver winning 13 of the previous games. The Wildcats defeated Denver in 2019 on the road by a final of 12-11. This was Denver first BIG EAST loss since joining the conference five years prior.
A Look at Villanova: The Wildcats are 6-3 over coming into Saturday's game and 1-0 in league play. Last weekend Villanova opened BIG EAST play with a 22-9 win at St. John's. This was the third straight meeting between the two teams that the Wildcats have scored 20 or more goals against the Red Storm. For his four-point effort senior attackman
Matt Campbell was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.
Villanova's Offense: Campbell leads the Wildcats with 41 points this season. The senior has netted a team high 29 goals and dished out 12 assists. Graduate transfers
Luke Keating and
Brett Baskin both have contributed over 30 points this season. Keating has 35 on 15 goals and 20 assists while Baskin has 21 goals and 12 assists for 33 points.
Patrick Daly and
J.P. Basile both have over 20 points this season with Daly netting 25 goals.
Villanova's Defense:
Justin Coppola's 61.1 percent faceoff winning percentage is ninth in the country. The junior has won 143 faceoffs this season and has a team high 81 ground balls. Overall Villanova's defense ranks fourth in caused turnovers per game with an average of 10.33.
Chet Comizio leads the team with 18 while
Chris Hervada has 13.
Will Vitton has please just over 516 minutes in goal and has a .479 save percentage. The senior has six wins this season along with 92 saves and a 11.39 goals against average.
A Look at Denver: The Pioneers are 5-5 overall and 0-1 in BIG EAST play entering Saturday's game. Against Georgetown last weekend Denver fell 17-9 with JJ Sillstrop leading the team in scoring with a hat trick. Sillstrop leads the team with 39 points on 25 goals and 14 assists with Jack Hannah has 22 goals through 10 games with eight assists for 30 points. Jack Thompson has started in goal for eight games this season and is 4-4 with a .485 save percentage.
