DENVER—Villanova Men's Lacrosse opened conference play at the site of this season's BIG EAST Championship in Denver, Colo., taking on the No. 20 Denver Pioneers and picking up an overtime victory by a score of 10-9.
Colin Michener netted the game-winning goal 70 seconds into the extra period for his fifth point of the game.
This is the Wildcats' second consecutive win over the Pioneers, with the first coming in the BIG EAST Semifinal at Villanova Stadium on May 2, 2024.
Starting things off, Denver got going first on a goal from Marek Tzagournis.
C. Michener answered back with a goal of his own to extend his consecutive games with a goal streak to seven and tie the game at one.
The Pioneers struck for two more before Luke Raymond closed the first frame on a jumping try that landed in the net, and Nicholas Lucchesi wound up from deep and fired it past Malcolm Kleban to knot the game at three to kick off the second stanza.
Villanova took their first lead of the day, a 4-3 advantage, on a Daniel Flaim goal, sending it in off the weak side, assisted by C. Michener, for the freshman's first career score.
Entering the break, Villanova trailed 5-4 after Denver attacker Noah Manning tallied two goals from just outside the crease.
The game stayed scoreless for the next 12:19, with both teams' defensive regimes battling it out.
Tzagournis got the scoring started again with five minutes to go in the third quarter, but that tally brought momentum to the Wildcats instead.
Gavin Michener picked up two goals in the final 3:14 of the third, coming on assists from Matt Licata and his brother Colin.
The game was halted at 10:58 to go in the fourth quarter due to a lightning delay, which lasted 99 minutes.
Licata got the ball rolling immediately after the break was over, scoring two goals in four minutes to give the 'Cats an 8-7 lead.
Senior attackman Dan Martin made his first appearance of the season after missing the first eight games and scored VU's ninth goal, giving them their largest lead of the game with 5:28 to go in regulation.
Denver was able to cash in twice in the final three minutes to send the game to extra time, capped off by the first goal of the season by LSM Chris Caldwell, after his errant pass went into the net.
To open the extra period, Villanova won the faceoff with a ground ball pickup by C. Michener, who got it back after throwing it around the horn to score the golden goal before parading around the field helmetless with the Villanova fans who traveled out to Colorado.
Beau Kemler starred on defense, scooping up 10 ground balls, a season high for a Wildcat, and caused three turnovers. The sophomore moves into the lead in both statistics amongst the team.
Tyler Sandoval continued his stellar season in the circle, going 13-16 (.813%) in the circle, increasing his season winning percentage to .632%. He also picked up six ground balls.
Villanova went 17-23 (.739%) at the center "X" on the day in total, as Ryan Cunningham won four of seven (.571%).
Denis Fargione made eight saves, including seven in the first half while holding the Pioneers to five goals, helping lower his GAA to 9.66 after allowing just four in the second half and overtime.
FAST FACTS
Gavin Michener is the second true freshman to score two goals in a game this season for Villanova (Brady Dumont vs. Lehigh).
This is only the second time that Denver was held to single-digit goals this season, the last by then No. 3 Cornell.
This is only the second time since Denver joined the BIG EAST in 2014 that Villanova won the faceoff battle between the two teams, after having to take on future professional faceoff specialists in Alec Stathakis, TD Ierlan, and Trevor Baptiste in years prior.
Colin Michener recorded the first five-point game for a Wildcat since Matt Licata on April 6, 2024, vs. Providence.
This is the Wildcats' second ranked win of the season, the first since defeating No. 9 Yale on February 15.
This is the first time VU has won back-to-back against Denver since 1998 and 1999.
Beau Kemler recorded the first double-digit ground ball game since Justin Coppola against Monmouth on March 16, 2024, and the first game with 10 or more by a non-faceoff specialist since John Moderski against Marquette on May 5, 2016 in Denver.
UP NEXT
After this matchup, Villanova will continue conference play on the road, as they head up to Rhode Island to take on the Providence Friars on April 5 at 12:00 P.M.
TICKETING
The next Villanova home game will be against St. John's on April 12 at 12:00 P.M. Individual game tickets are available for the rest of the season; please check here for more information and to purchase tickets for upcoming games.
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