NEWARK, Del. – Villanova men's lacrosse (1-2) finishes out a road-heavy first month of the season in the next week, heading to The First State on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. matchup at Delaware before a Tuesday afternoon contest at Drexel.

STYMIED BY THE SCARLET KNIGHTS    
After one of the biggest results of the season a few weeks ago against No. 7 Penn State, it's been back-to-back difficult losses for the 'Cats as last Saturday they dropped an 8-7 decision at No. 18/19 Rutgers. Villanova led 5-4 after the opening quarter but scored just twice the rest of the way, and RU's goal with 4:21 remaining went unanswered for a one-goal home victory. Denis Fargione was on fire between the pipes with just one score allowed the entire second half and Jake Melchionni totaled nine ground balls and three caused turnovers in the contest. Colin Michener and Luke Raymond each contributed a pair of goals and VU got important contributions across the board from a number of others, but their efforts weren't enough as the 'Cats fell to 1-2. 

A DATE WITH DELAWARE    
This Saturday the Wildcats will renew a regional rivalry that hasn't been played since 2023 as they head south to visit the Delaware Blue Hens. Villanova leads the all-time series 13-7 with the 'Cats owning wins in the last five matchups of the series. Head coach Mike Corrado has just five losses against the Hens all-time with only one of those coming since 2009 (2013). Most recently, it was a 13-12 VU victory against the then-No. 10 Blue Hens at Delaware Stadium in 2023 thanks to a Matt Campbell game-winning goal at 1:39 of the fourth quarter. Raymond managed a goal and two assists off the bench while Dan Martin chipped in a score and a helper as a starter. David Evanchick contributed an assist that day in addition to two ground balls and a caused turnover while Luke Williams and Jack Shoemaker also saw time for the Wildcats that afternoon.

DASHING TO DREXEL    
For the first time this season, the Wildcats will have a quick turnaround after a Saturday game as Villanova heads to Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon to take on the Drexel Dragons. VU is 27-17 against their City Six compatriot with wins in each of the last four years, never falling to the Dragons while any of these players were on the roster. Michener, David Link and Nick Lucchesi all had two goals last year at Villanova Stadium in a 9-6 win over Drexel while Matt Swirbalus added his first career goal. Ryan Cunningham won eight faceoffs last year as Fargione made 11 saves and allowed just six goals. 2023 saw a Michener hat trick in a double OT victory, and 2022 featured two CTs from each of Evanchick (also 5 GBs) and Shoemaker in a 14-7 win.

BREAKING DOWN THE BLUE HENS

• Delaware is 1-3 on the season, falling to Utah, Drexel and Penn so far in 2026 while the one win was a single-goal defeat of St. John's. This is the first game of the year that UD will play outdoors at Delaware Stadium.
• The Blue Hens are projected to finish fourth in the preseason poll for their first year in the Atlantic 10 after missing the CAA playoffs last year.
• UD is led by eight goals from John McCurry, including a hat trick against the Red Storm, while Bennett Parmer has seven points on four assists and three goals. 

DECIPHERING THE DRAGONS

• Drexel has racked up a 3-1 record to this point, beating Delaware, UMBC and Lafayette in the first three games before falling to No. 20 Albany last week. The Dragons will face Mercer on Saturday for a final tune-up before the 'Cats.
• VU's fellow Big 5 school is receiving votes in the USILA poll this week and earned a third-place projection in the CAA preseason coaches poll.
• The Dragons have gotten 10 points out of each of Alec Tulio, Owen Knight and Witt Crawford. Short stick Liam Kammar has a team-best 15 ground balls and four caused turnovers while netminder Brendan Donnelly averages just 8.50 goals against.

Statistics for both contests will be available on StatBroadcast while the Delaware game will stream on ESPN+ and the Drexel contest will air on FloSports.