NEW YORK – For their performances in Villanova's 10-7 triumph over St. John's on Saturday, freshman attack Gavin Michener and sophomore LSM Jake Melchionni received weekly honors from the BIG EAST on Monday, the conference announced.
The BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, Gavin Michener, tallied three goals, leading the Wildcats on offense. This is the first career weekly award for the Plymouth Meeting, Pa. native. He recorded his second multi-goal game in conference action thus far, scoring twice in the first half and then again with three minutes remaining in the contest to thwart a St. John's comeback. He is the first true freshman to notch a hat trick in BIG EAST action for the Wildcats since Nicholas Lucchesi did so against Providence on April 6, 2024.
Jake Melchionni was awarded his second BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll nod of the year for his outing against the Red Storm. He caused three turnovers and grabbed seven ground balls in the game, both statistics matching career highs. Five of those ground balls came on VU faceoff wins. Since Melchionni has entered the starting lineup against Providence, he has forced a combined six turnovers and nabbed 10 ground balls. He ranks second in the BIG EAST in ground balls with 16 during conference action and is fifth in the conference on the season with 3.80 ground balls per game. He is currently second in the BIG EAST behind Georgetown's Robert Plath and slots in at 24th nationally for caused turnovers per game with 1.70, despite missing the game against Drexel and Villanova having played one less game than most other Division I teams due to starting their season a week later than most teams.
UP NEXT
Villanova will remain home to face the Marquette Golden Eagles on April 19 at noon for their final home game of 2025. The team will be celebrating Senior Day, honoring their four fifth-year players and eight graduating seniors.
TICKETING
The final Villanova home game will be against Marquette on April 19 at 12:00 P.M. Please check here for more information and to purchase tickets.
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