VILLANOVA, Pa. – Men's Lacrosse will be closing out the home portion of their season by facing off against the Marquette Golden Eagles, as well as celebrating senior day this Saturday at 12:00 P.M.
Pregame, the Wildcats will honor twelve student-athletes and a student manager for their immeasurable contributions to the Villanova Men's Lacrosse program over their tenures with the team.
Aidan Ahearn, Tyler Boes, Reilly Dugan, Pete Hewitt, Matt Licata, Brett Mallee, Dan Martin, Tucker Milhous, Mack Prybylski Luke Raymond, Tripp Robinson, Tyler Sandoval, and student manager Hayes Rosato will all be recognized for their time with the program in the ceremony.
LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats took down the St. John's Red Storm en route to their fourth consecutive win and their first time starting off 3-0 in the BIG EAST since 2013.
Gavin Michener scored a career-high three goals, while his brother, Colin, had his fifth consecutive game tallying three or more points.
Nicholas Lucchesi also tallied a multi-goal game, scoring two, and is tallying 2.00 goals per game during the four-game winning streak.
George Glomb stood out at the center "X," going 8-12 (.667%), a career high in winning percentage.
Denis Fargione tied his second-fewest goals allowed in a game with seven, lowering his GAA to 9.16.
For the first time since April 6, 2024, three different Wildcats caused three or more turnovers, as Villanova caused 18, the most that a BIG EAST team has caused this season. Brett Mallee, Jake Melchionni, and Jack Shoemaker forced three each, while Beau Kemler and Colin Michener chipped in two apiece.
GANDER AT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
In their last time out, Marquette fell to BIG EAST opponent Providence by a score of 14-2.
They are led on offense by Bobby O'Grady and Nolan Rappis, who combine for 38 percent of the Golden Eagles' goals this season.
O'Grady is the leading scorer in Marquette program history with 138 career goals.
Lucas Lawas is projected to start in net for Marquette; the junior has four games with at least 15 saves this year, including 17 against Georgetown in a game where they took the Hoyas to double overtime.
Adam Slager and Ty Ambush have split faceoff duties so far in BIG EAST play, going 28-69 (.406%) over their three contests.
The Golden Eagles currently rank fourth in the nation in converting on EMOs, at .560%.
FAST FACTS
Villanova ranks eighth in the country and first in the BIG EAST in caused turnovers per game with 10.36. Brett Mallee, Jake Melchionni, Jack Shoemaker, and Beau Kemler are also averaging over a caused turnover per game for the Wildcats. Last season, VU ranked third in the nation in this statistic and has been within the top 20 in each season since 2020 under defensive coordinator Chris Miller.
Mallee, a graduate transfer from Yale, is having a breakout season after moving to close defense. After forcing a turnover against Providence, he took down his career total over his four seasons at Yale of 10 through just 10 games of his extra campaign.
Melchionni made the USILA Team of the Week for his performance against St. John's, matching career highs by causing three turnovers and picking up seven ground balls.
Mike Corrado has a seven-game win streak against Marquette, his second longest among BIG EAST opponents, after extending his record against the Red Storm to 15-1, winning 11 in a row.
Three of the four Marquette coaches have played against Mike Corrado and Villanova during their playing days, with two overlapping with current Wildcat seniors. Head coach Jake Richard was a D-Mid on the Golden Eagles during their first few years in the BIG EAST. Offensive coordinator Mark Bieda played for the Delaware Blue Hens, scoring a goal in his senior season at Villanova. Mason Woodward, the career leader in ground balls for the Golden Eagles, scored last year at home against the Wildcats.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
The Villanova Wildcats have clinched a spot in the 2025 BIG EAST Tournament, held in Denver, Colorado.
Despite starting off 2-5 and having two 10-plus goal losses, VU has fought hard into conference play, starting off 3-0 for the first time since 2013. The squad has made 12 consecutive tournaments and faced the threat of not making it for the first time in the history of the BIG EAST until their impressive start during conference action.
UP NEXT
After this matchup, Villanova will take to the road for their final regular season contest of the year against the Georgetown Hoyas at Cooper Field in Washington, D.C.
WATCH
This game will be able to be streamed on FloSports; check here for the link to the stream. The broadcast will feature Ben Curtis and Enrique Hervada '85, while Tessa Peloso joins the crew on the sideline.
BIG EAST TOURNAMENT TICKETING (RELEASE COURTESY OF BIG EAST)
The semifinal games will take place on Thursday, May 1, at 6 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET, while the title game will take place on Saturday, May 3, at 5 p.m. ET. All three games will air live on CBS Sports Network.
General admission to the event for a single session starts at $30 per ticket. Reserved seating is also available for purchase starting at $46. All session tickets are available for both general admission ($50) and reserved seating ($65). In addition, a group discount is available for groups of 10 or more individuals. Large groups tickets are $18 per person, per session.
Youths under the age of two are free of charge. Students from any BIG EAST institution are also free with their student ID.
Tickets can be purchased HERE or by calling the Denver Ticket Office at 303-871-4625.
SOCIAL
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