DENVER, COLO. – Men's Lacrosse defeated No. 3 Providence in the BIG EAST Semifinals by a score of 16-14 in a thriller hosted by the University of Denver at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
The 'Cats tied their season high in goals and points with 16 and 24, respectively, in the victory.
Villanova had 11 different goal scorers in the game, the first time that has happened since April 15, 2023, against the same Providence Friars.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Providence got on the board first, scoring the first three of the contest, with all three coming off the stick of Richie Joseph.
Villanova was able to answer back when Nicholas Lucchesi found the back of the net from distance.
The Friars netted the next two, taking a 5-1 lead with 6:46 to go in the first frame.
Luke Raymond scored two goals, sandwiched by a Providence score to cut the deficit in half at 6-3; those two were his first of three, en route to career highs in goals and points, with three and five, respectively.
Colin Michener closed the quarter, bringing the Wildcats within two at 6-4 on an extra-man opportunity.
Lucas Newton opened up the second stanza, turning the corner at the goal at a low angle and scoring, which would turn out to erase the Providence lead for good. The redshirt sophomore has now scored in three straight games for VU.
Dan Martin appeared to score to tie things up but was called for a goal mouth violation early in the second quarter, but he was able to make his next shot count, as he answered a Providence goal to get the 'Cats back within one.
The Friars struck again, capitalizing on the 10-man ride from deep, but Tyler Boes was able to score with 3:11 remaining to start an impeccable sequence of events for Villanova that carried over the next 15 minutes.
Starting off the third quarter, Matthew Swirbalus scored his fourth goal of the season, continuing the momentum that the 'Cats took into halftime, tying things up at eight-all. The Massachusetts native recorded his first multi-point game of his career in this outing.
Matt Licata got involved in the scoring, tallying four points in eight minutes, while scoring three goals and dishing out an assist to Michener. Licata's third goal moved him into the team lead for goals with 26 on the year and also was the sixth consecutive goal for Villanova.
With five seconds remaining in the third quarter, Luke Williams received a pass from Newton at the top of the attack zone and brought it all the way in for a score, extending the Wildcat lead to five and giving him his fourth goal of the season.
Providence netted three goals to start the final portion of the game, all coming off of Villanova turnovers, cutting the score to 13-11 in favor of VU.
Raymond tallied his third goal of the contest to let the 'Cats jump out to a three-goal advantage, sealing a career-high in a very high-leverage matchup.
The Friars scored two goals in 12 seconds with eight minutes left, including one by their faceoff specialist to keep the game close, a comeback that the 'Cats thwarted three minutes later as Quinton Cepiel scored on an assist from Licata with one remaining on the shot clock.
PC struck one more time with five minutes remaining, but with less than 30 seconds in the contest, Jake Melchionni iced the game, scoring his eighth goal of the season on a shot from the attack line.
The BIG EAST Co-Specialist of the Year also caused three turnovers in the contest, the third time he has done that during conference action, and grabbed three ground balls.
Scot Mackie scooped up nine ground balls in the contest. He is the second Wildcat this year to tally at least nine ground balls in a game at Peter Barton LS (Beau Kemler vs. Denver.)
Denis Fargione stopped 12 shots in net while facing 40 shots, the second most in both statistics during his young career.
He became the fourth true freshman since VU joined the BIG EAST to win seven contests in a season, joining Billy Hurley, Dan Willis, and Will Vitton.
The duo of Tyler Sandoval and George Glomb won 21 of 33 faceoffs taken, the most wins in a regulation contest for VU since February 10, 2024, at Penn State. Glomb went 10-15 (.667), his second game in a row facing off at over .600%. Sandoval won 11 of the 18 that he took, to the tune of a .611% clip.
UP NEXT
Villanova will play the No. 1 Georgetown Hoyas in the BIG EAST Championship on Saturday, May 3, in Denver at 5:07 P.M. EST.
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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