VILLANOVA, Pa. – Men's Lacrosse battles #9 Yale tomorrow at 12:00 P.M. at Villanova Stadium. This will be the Bulldogs' first test of the 2025 campaign, while the Wildcats lost their first matchup of the season last Saturday to Penn State.

For the second time this season, the 'Cats will be hosting a team ranked in the top 15 of the Inside Lacrosse poll.

BEFORE WITH THE BULLDOGS
Villanova has faced off against Yale seven times, with all matches coming since 2017, under the tutelage of Mike Corrado. The Bulldogs hold a 5-2 advantage, including being the winners of the last four.

In 2019, the Wildcats traveled up to New Haven, Connecticut, during a week in which Yale was ranked the number one team in the country, according to media polls. This win was also Corrado's 100th career victory. Villanova was able to come out on top in overtime by a score of 11-10, with current Las Vegas Desert Dogs transition Connor Kirst netting the game-winning goal.

When these two teams faced off in 2024, the game was going Yale's way until the third quarter, as they were up 10-5, until VU scored six of the next seven goals to pull even at 11. Ultimately, the Bulldogs pulled away in the final frame, winning by a score of 13-11.

Returning attackers Matt Licata, Colin Michener, and Luke Raymond all scored multiple goals in last year's game, with Licata tallying a hat trick during the late rally.

Princeton transfer and starting Villanova FO Tyler Sandoval faced off against Yale three times during his time in the Ivy League. He is 19/31 (.613%) in his career on faceoffs against the Bulldogs.

LAST TIME OUT
Villanova fell to the Penn State Nittany Lions by a score of 15-5 in their first contest of the season.

The two caused turnovers that Jack Shoemaker caused against PSU helped him find his way into the Villanova record book, as he now holds sole possession for 14^th in program history with 36 career caused turnovers.

Mack Prybylski scored his first career goal, and the usual suspects in Licata and Michener found the back of the net as well.

The 'Cats went 13/24 in the circle, beating out the Nittany Lions. Sandoval won 10 of his 19 attempts, while Ryan Cunningham went three for five in his turns taking faceoffs.

VU deploying multiple faceoff men that can both win in the circle and were successful doing so against Penn State will be vital going forward in the 2025 season after the loss of the program record holder in faceoff wins and ground balls in Justin Coppola and the implementation of a new faceoff rule for the upcoming season.

The new rule introduced by the NCAA in 2025 for men's lacrosse states, "Under the new rule, if a faceoff player commits a violation, that player will not be allowed to participate in the next faceoff. Also, the 30-second penalty for teams that commit three faceoff violations in a half was eliminated."

COLLEAGUES TO COMBATANTS
Brett Mallee is one of the new faces on the Villanova defensive end at LSM, and Saturday he will be facing off against his old squad.

Due to the Ivy League transfer rule, he was not permitted to play his fifth season he received due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the cancellation of the 2021 Ivy League spring sports season, in the conference.

Mallee comes to the Main Line after playing four seasons with Saturday's visitors. He appeared in 35 career games over four seasons, registering 23 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers. In the Wildcat's first matchup of 2025 against Penn State, he picked up two ground balls and caused a turnover.

UP NEXT 
Villanova Men's Lacrosse will return to action Saturday, February 22, at 12:00 P.M., when they travel up to Hamilton, N.Y., to take on the Colgate Raiders.

TICKETING
The next home game for the 'Cats takes place on Friday, February 28, against Lehigh University at 4:00 P.M. Season tickets and individual game tickets are available; please check here for more information and to purchase tickets for upcoming games.

SOCIAL 
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