QUEENS, N.Y. – It's time for conference play in the Villanova men's lacrosse world as the Wildcats (3-5, 0-0 BIG EAST) head up to the Empire State this weekend for a Saturday afternoon affair at St. John's.

LIFTING THE LID    
Since joining the BIG EAST in 2010, the 'Cats have racked up a 9-6 record in conference lidlifters with wins over four different opponents in the opener. 2012 & 2013 saw victories over Syracuse while 2014-19 all opened against Marquette with four VU wins (14, 17-19). Last year was an OT win at Denver to kick off BIG EAST play, and both VU-St. John's contests at the beginning of league play (2022 & 2023) have gone the way of the Wildcats. No matter the opener result, each season has ended in a BIG EAST Tournament berth as VU hasn't missed one since the league's inception.

THE SERIES WITH ST. JOHN'S    
The Wildcats kick off BIG EAST play this year with a team they've met every year since 2014 in the St. John's Red Storm. Villanova maintains a 19-7 edge all-time over the Johnnies, including victories in the last 11 matchups. Last year saw a 10-7 VU victory thanks to six points from the Michener brothers, including a hat trick from Gavin Michener and two assists from Colin Michener in addition to a seven ground ball, three caused turnover outing from Jake Melchionni. Lucas Newton dished out three assists in a 14-9 win in 2024 while then-freshmen Ryan Cunningham and George Glomb combined for 15 faceoff wins that year. 2023 was a 10-goal W for the 'Cats thanks to strong outings from Dan Martin (two goals), David Evanchick (one assist, three GB, two CT) and Scot Mackie (seven FO wins). Luke Raymond is the only 'Cat to play against St. John's four times (appeared in 2022).

SIMILARITIES WITH THE RED STORM    
The BIG EAST lidlifter sends the Wildcats up to familiar territory in the Empire State, an area that eight different Wildcats call home. Nine different 'Cats live within an hour's drive of the St. John's campus with Aidan Haggerty's hometown of Manhasset or the two Garden City natives being the closest. Beyond the New York connections, there are a number of Wildcats with ties to the Johnnies. Sophomore SSDM Jack Koch was teammates with SJU's Matt Nelson at La Salle College High School while Nolan Sabel was a teammate of Jonah Choi at Seton Hall Prep, where Red Storm assistant David Drozjock used to coach. Three different Johnnies hail from Michigan like Lachlan Moffatt, while Connor Dodd attended high school in California about an hour from Luke Williams' hometown.

JUDGING THE JOHNNIES

• St. John's went 2-7 in non-conference play this year, toppling Quinnipiac and Hofstra early in the year before losing the last five contests.  
• The Red Storm were projected to finish last in the BIG EAST this year, though redshirt junior attackman Adrian Nowak was named to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team.
• Noah Plenn paces the Johnnies with 27 points on a near-even stat line of 14 goals and 13 assists, ranking in the conference's top five for goals, assists, points and shots per game. Matt Nelson is the main netminder with nine starts on the year and Ethan Wiegand has won 54% of his faceoffs this season.

The bout will stream live on ESPN+ while statistics for the contest are available on StatBroadcast.