#BIGEASTmlax Saturday – 4.1
NEW YORK – The first full Saturday of conference play included wins by Denver, Villanova and Providence. The Wildcats pulled out a 10-9 overtime victory at home over Marquette; Denver defeated Georgetown 20-11 and Providence outscored St. John's 15-6.
No. 20/RV Villanova 10, RV/RV Marquette 9 (OT)
BOX SCORE
Villanova’s Christian Cuccinello scored a game-high five goals, which included the game-winner in overtime, in an evenly-matched contest against Marquette. With 2:28 left in the third quarter, Marquette led 9-7. VU’s Jack Curran tied the game for the Wildcats with a goal with one minute left in the third and the lone goal for both teams in the fourth. Villanova goalkeeper Nick Testa made 11 saves in the contest, while Marquette’s Cole Blazer made eight. Marquette led in the first period with five goals to Villanova’s three. Both teams scored two each in the second as the Golden Eagles went into the locker room up 7-5 at the half.
Providence 15, St. John’s 6
BOX SCORE
The Friars opened BIG EAST play with eight unanswered goals in the first and second periods on the road at St. John’s. Providence led 6-0 after the first period. Brendan Kearns and Sean Leahey each had a hat trick for the Friars. St. John’s Jackson O’Leary also netted a hat trick. After being down 9-2 at halftime, St. John’s outscored Providence 2-1 in the third. The win marks the Friars' largest margin of victory over a BIG EAST opponent since the league began sponsoring lacrosse in 2010. The Friars defeated St. John’s 15-10 during the 2016 season, which previously marked the team’s greatest margin of victory.
No. 4/6 Denver 20, Georgetown 11
BOX SCORE
Denver junior faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste broke the Pioneers’ career faceoff wins record (736) and tied the single-game faceoff wins record (26), while senior Connor Cannizzaro added a career-high nine points to lead the DU in the win over Georgetown. Baptiste won 26 of 30 attempts. Eleven Denver players scored a goal on Saturday. Georgetown had six points come from Daniel Bucaro who had a hat trick with three assists. Peter Conley rounded out the attack with a pair of markers. Nick Marrocco took the decision for the Hoyas after making six saves in 53:46 of action before Jack Stephenson and Nate Cornblatt split duties the rest of the way. The contest was tied at 4-4 at the end of the first period. Denver led 8-6 heading into halftime. Coming out of the break, Denver outscored Georgetown 8-1 in an 11-minute span.