VILLANOVA, Pa. – Men's Lacrosse wraps up the 2025 regular season on the road against the Georgetown Hoyas in a battle for the No. 1 seed at the BIG EAST Tournament next week in Denver, Colo.
Villanova (7-5, 4-0 BIG EAST) is on a five-game winning streak, starting off 4-0 in conference action for the first time since 2013, a year that they made it to the BIG EAST Championship against the then conference member, Syracuse Orange.
The Wildcats took down Marquette on Saturday in a back-and-forth contest on Senior Day. Matt Licata and Luke Raymond combined for three goals in 41 seconds as Tyler Sandoval and Ryan Cunningham won three consecutive faceoffs to seal the deal for VU.
Gavin Michener dished out three assists, as his brother Colin totaled four points on two goals and two assists. They are the first brothers to tally at least six total points in a game for Villanova since Jake and Joey Froccaro in Villanova's most recent win over Georgetown on April 15, 2017.
Jake Melchionni scored two goals while also causing two turnovers as he set the record for most goals in a season by a defender.
The last matchup between these two teams was an instant classic, as in the 2024 BIG EAST Championship, Georgetown jumped out to an 8-1 lead just 15:32 into the contest. The 'Cats rattled off nine consecutive goals to tie the game, going up 10-8 with just 10 minutes remaining. The Hoyas came from behind, forcing an extra period, where they eventually secured their sixth straight BIG EAST Championship.
Nicholas Lucchesi and Dan Martin tallied two goals each in that game, while Jack Shoemaker caused two turnovers.
Last week, Shoemaker recorded his 48th career turnover, intercepting a pass that eventually turned into a Licata goal, moving him into the top 10 in caused turnovers in program history.
Last Saturday, Georgetown (8-4, 3-1 BIG EAST) took down St. John's University by a score of 21-8, eliminating them from postseason contention and punching their own ticket to the Centennial State. A 7-3 loss to Denver two weeks prior leaves the Hoyas one game behind the 'Cats in the standings. However, they have been able to take 11 games in a row against Villanova.
Aidan Carroll and Jack Ransom netted five and six goals, respectively, for Georgetown in their latest contest, showing their offensive firepower. Carroll leads the squad with 50 points on the year, followed closely by Fulton Bayman, who has tallied multiple points in all but one game since joining Georgetown for his fifth season after serving as a reserve attackman for the two-time defending champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The Hoyas' freshman defender, Robert Plath, leads the BIG EAST in caused turnovers per game at 2.00, ranking just above Melchionni's 1.72.
All-BIG EAST goalie Anderson Moore is averaging 8.98 goals against this season, allowing just 21 scores combined over his last three games.
At the center "X" will be a primetime matchup as the leading faceoff specialist in the BIG EAST, Sandoval, projects to take on Ross Prince. The freshman from the Main Line is winning faceoffs at a .625% clip, just 0.02 percent behind Villanova's graduate transfer. Prince is coming off of a 13-17 (.765%) game against St. John's, after taking over for Sandoval's former high school teammate, James Ball, who was a top 10 specialist nationally in win percentage in 2024.
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.
Ticket information can be found below.
UP NEXT
After this game, the Wildcats will find out their opponent for their BIG EAST Semifinal game in Denver, Colo. on May 1 at either 6:07 or 9:07 ET.
WATCH
This game will be shown nationally on CBS Sports Network with Dave Ryan and Ron Zwerin on the call.
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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