VILLANOVA, Pa. – Men's Lacrosse (2-4) will close out their short, two-game road trip to Philadelphia on Saturday, as they take on the No. 20 Saint Joseph's Hawks (4-2) at Sweeney Field.

The last time Villanova played against the team from Hawk Hill was 2007, when the Wildcats emerged victorious by a score of 10-4 in Mike Corrado's first year at the helm.

LAST TIME OUT
Villanova fell short against Penn in their last matchup, 11-8. Matt Licata and Quinton Cepiel both scored two goals in the loss, the latter notching his first career multi-goal game.

After falling behind 6-0 at half, the Wildcats rallied off five goals, from Cepiel, Licata, Mack Prybylski, Colin Michener, and David Link.

Jake Melchionni came back from injury in style, lighting up the stat sheet with a goal, assist, a caused turnover, and six ground balls.

In goal, Denis Fargione made his first career appearance against a ranked opponent and made nine saves. The freshman also forced a turnover and picked up four ground balls. This led to him winning his first career weekly award, a BIG EAST Freshman of the Week nod.

Villanova's faceoff unit, comprised of Sandoval and Ryan Cunningham, went 15-23 (.652%) in their last game, with the graduate student leading in attempts 11-16, playing to a (.688%) clip. Sandoval recorded six consecutive wins to start the contest. The second in command, from Avondale, Pa., went 4/7 (.571%).

SCOUTING ST. JOE'S
Saint Joseph's is on a four-game winning streak, winning all of those games by five goals or more. They are receiving the most votes out of all unranked teams in the Inside Lacrosse poll and ranked No. 20 in the USILA poll.

The Hawks have defeated Monmouth, Towson, RV Rutgers, and Drexel in consecutive games, starting just a week after a close 11-9 loss at No. 7 Duke on February 15.

Ben Dutton and Mark Watters have 30 goals and four assists between the two of them; both look to be a factor to attack the net on Saturday. The two account for 42.3% of the Hawk's goals in 2025 so far.

Dutton and Richie LaCalandra earned Atlantic 10 weekly awards this past week for each of their games against Drexel, where they both tallied hat tricks, and the latter dished out five assists in the victory. 

The Hawks rank first in the Atlantic 10 in caused turnovers per game with 10.67, led by the number one ranked defense in the nation in opponent clearing percentage. They are supported by a physically imposing defensive lineup, where their starting three measure up at 6'2, 6'5, and 6'7, and all weigh over 215lbs.

The "smallest" of the bunch, Levi Verch, has caused 15 turnovers and scooped up 41 ground balls through just six games. The Canada native finds himself third in the nation in caused turnovers per game, averaging 2.50. He also ranks tenth in ground balls per game with 6.83 averaged across all six contests.

FAST FACTS
Villanova ranks 21st in the country and first in the BIG EAST in caused turnovers per game with 9.33. Brett Mallee has forced seven, while Melchionni and Jack Shoemaker are also averaging a caused turnover per game for the Wildcats with six each.

Since starting his first career game against Lehigh, Mallee has caused six turnovers and scooped up six ground balls over his past three games. In his last game, against Penn, he forced three turnovers and picked up three GBs, setting a career high in the former and matching one in the latter.

Entering Saturday, Sandoval leads the BIG EAST and ranks 13^th in the country at a .604% faceoff win rate. Villanova is currently the only school in Division I with a player in both Men's and Women's Lacrosse that ranks within the top 15 in win percentage in the circle in both faceoffs and draw controls. For Villanova Women's Lacrosse, sophomore Emma Verhoest leads the BIG EAST and is third in the nation in draw controls, averaging 10.13 per game.

Cunningham ranked first in the BIG EAST in faceoff win percentage last week across all faceoff specialists with a minimum of 10 attempts, going 12-19 (.632%) in the matchups against the Dragons and Quakers.

UP NEXT
After this matchup, the Wildcats return home to take on the Brown University Bears of the Ivy League on Monday, March 17, at Villanova Stadium. The promotions for Monday's game against the Bears will be Military Appreciation Day, St. Patrick's Day, and the HeadSTRONG Game.
 
WATCH
This game will be streamed live on ESPN+.

TICKETING
Individual game tickets are available for the rest of the season; please check here for more information and to purchase tickets for upcoming games.

SOCIAL 
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