#BIGEASTmlax Minute – Championship Field Set, Denver Three-Peats As No. 1
NEW YORK – The field for the BIG EAST Men’s Lacrosse Championship, presented by Jeep, was solidified on Saturday as Providence clinched the final spot in the tournament and Denver won their third-straight regular season title. Set for Denver’s Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium May 5 and 7, the first semifinal on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. (ET) will feature No. 2 seed Marquette and third-seeded Villanova. The second semifinal, directly following at 9 p.m. (ET) will pit regular-season champion and top-seeded Denver against fourth-seeded Providence. Both semifinals will air on CBS Sports Network; while Saturday’s championship match, set for 4:30 p.m. ET, will air on FS2.
It took until the final game of the league schedule was completed to solidify the tournament roster as Marquette and Denver battled it out in the mile high city for the regular season title, the third time in as many years these two teams fought for the No. 1seed. Tied at 6-6 at halftime, Denver scored six unanswered goals in the third period to take a 12-6 lead. In the final period, Marquette rallied with five goals to Denver’s two, but it was not enough as the Pioneers held on for a 14-11 victory and the BIG EAST regular season title. Connor Cannizzaro and Zach Miller had five points each for the Pioneers, Cannizzaro scored four goals, Miller had four assists. For the Golden Eagles, Ryan McNamara had seven points with a hat trick and four assists. Tanner Thomson and Kyran Clarke also had hat tricks for Marquette, Tyler Pace netted one for Denver.
In the 1 p.m. games, St. John’s defeated Georgetown on senior day, 8-5. The Red Storm scored five goals in the first period scored by four different players taking an early 5-1 lead. The Hoyas rallied in the third period and cut the Red Storm lead to one at the start of the final quarter. Daniel Bucaro finished with a four points with a hat trick for Georgetown, Jason DeBenedictis led the scoring effort for St. John’s with a hat trick, while reigning BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week Eric DeJohn had two goals and two helpers. Villanova defeated Providence 14-7 as nine different players scored at least one goal for the Wildcats. Joey Froccaro had four points for the Wildcats with a hat trick and an assist. For the Friars, Will Mazzone boasted the same stat line.
With Providence’s loss and St. John’s win, the Friars, Hoyas and Red Storm all tied at 1-4 and fourth in the conference standings.
By league rule, multiple-team ties are decided in a “mini-conference” which puts each of the tied teams against each other. Georgetown, Providence and St. John’s all went 1-1 against one another in the mini-conference, making goal differential within the three-team conference the next tiebreaker. Providence had defeated St. John’s 15-10 (+5) and lost to Georgetown by three (8-5) for a +2 goal differential against the group, therefore clinching the final spot in the bracket. Georgetown’s goal differential against the group was 0, while St. John’s was -2.
BIG EAST Men’s Lacrosse Championship Presented by Jeep
Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium
University of Denver
Semifinals - Thursday, May 5
No. 2 Marquette vs. No. 3 Villanova at 6:30 p.m. ^
No. 1 Denver vs. No. 4 Providence at 9 p.m. ^
Final – Saturday, May 7
Semifinal Winners, 4:30 p.m. #
All Times Eastern
^ CBSSN
# FS2
TICKETS: Tickets for the 2016 BIG EAST Conference Championship are on sale now, and can be
purchased here