VILLANOVA, Pa. – Men's Lacrosse (2-5) returns home after a two-game road trip to Philadelphia to take on their final non-conference opponent of the 2025 season in Brown University (2-4) of the Ivy League.

The last time these two teams faced off in 2024, the 'Cats prevailed in a gritty, low-scoring battle by a score of 9-5. Colin Michener scored four times, tying a career high, while Tyler Boes, Matt Licata, and Dan Martin also tallied goals. Anthony Wilson gave up a career-low five goals and saved 11 shots.

BEHOLDING THE BEARS
A new yearly home-and-home for Villanova, starting in 2022, after a short series from 2016-2019, is with the Brown Bears of Rhode Island.

Brown's two wins came in the unofficially named Ocean State Cup, where they took down Providence and Bryant. Jon Torpey is in his first year at the helm, after spending the last 12 years at High Point, where he finished with an 89-88 record.

Connor Foley is the projected starter in net for the Bears. The 5'9 sophomore holds a 9.21 goals against average this season and has recorded double-digit saves in all but one contest, with three 15+ save performances. He is first in the nation in saves per game at 15.60.

The Bears' leading scorers are Marcus Wertheim and Aidan McLane, who have found the back of the net 11 times each. Wertheim notched four goals against No. 17 Penn in Brown's conference lidlifter.

LAST TIME OUT
Villanova fell to Saint Joseph's in their third and final game of their adventure playing all three Philadelphia schools that have men's lacrosse teams.

Colin Michener led the way with three goals, a season high. Two of them came during the final five minutes as the Wildcats attempted a comeback after trailing 8-2 at the break.

Ryan Cunningham starred at the center X, going 15-22 (.681), including winning 14 of his first 17 faceoffs and picking up five ground balls.

Denis Fargione totaled nine saves in the cage and picked up two ground balls. The freshman ranks within the top three in the conference in goals against average with 10.00 and save percentage at .521%.

Matt Licata assisted on two of Michener's goals, picking up his first multi-assist game of the season. His first since April 6, 2024, against Providence.

FAST FACTS
Since 2020, Villanova has compiled a 5-3 record against teams located in Providence, R.I., those teams being conference foe Providence and Monday's opponent, Brown.

Faceoff specialists must take 40% of the team's faceoffs and play 75% of the team's games to qualify for an official NCAA ranking, a percentage point in which Ryan Cunningham is unqualified for by just one faceoff. The sophomore will rank 15^th in the nation in faceoff win percentage if he takes and wins the first faceoff Monday and maintains a 40 percent season usage rate throughout the remainder of the contest. Graduate student Tyler Sandoval is already in the top 15 in the country as of March 12, as he stands at 55-91 (.604%), good for 14^th. He did not appear in the game at Saint Joseph's on March 15.

Against Brown last season, Cunningham came on in relief of Justin Coppola, who suffered an injury. He went 5-13 (.385) in the remainder of that contest.

This will be the second time this season that the Wildcats face a goalie in the top three in the nation in saves-per-game with Foley in net for the Bears, as Kasey Heath from Lehigh held the number two spot in that statistic when the two teams faced off on February 28.

Colin Michener tallied three goals in the Wildcats most recent contest at Saint Joseph's; another goal scorer in that game was his younger brother, Gavin. They also both scored against Colgate on February 22. These two occurrences were the first time that two brothers tallied goals for Villanova Men's Lacrosse in the same game since April 15, 2017, when Jake and Joey Froccaro scored five combined goals in a win over Georgetown.

PROMOTION
The promotions for Monday's game against the Bears will be Military Appreciation Day, St. Patrick's Day, and the HeadSTRONG Game. Green nets will be used during the game to represent the primary color of all three promotions.

Villanova will be honoring their own for Military Appreciation Day, alongside all active or former military members, thanking them for their service.

Villanova head coach Mike Corrado served four years in the U.S. Navy, where he was based out of Norfolk, Va., after graduating in 1987. He is a veteran of the Persian Gulf War and retired as a Commander from the Naval Reserves.

The HEADstrong Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Philadelphia that has a strong base within the lacrosse community. It was founded by the late Nicholas Colleluori, a former Hofstra University men's lacrosse player who lost his valiant battle to non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2006. The foundation provides various types of support and assistance to families affected by cancer.

UP NEXT
After this matchup, the Wildcats have 11 days off before entering conference play out west, as they take on the Denver Pioneers to open up the BIG EAST Regular Season.

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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