Trevor Baptiste goes for a ground ball against Villanova in 2015.
NEW YORK, N.Y. – The second full weekend of BIG EAST men’s lacrosse starts on Saturday with Georgetown at Providence on the BIG EAST Digital Network and St. John’s at Marquette on Milwaukee’s Spectrum Sports. Sunday features the BIG EAST game of the week with No. 18 Villanova visiting No. 5 Denver on FS1. Sunday’s game is the first league top 20 match up this season.
Why We Are Watching:
Georgetown at Providence
(Saturday, 1 p.m., BEDN)
The Hoyas 2-8, 0-2) are looking for their first BIG EAST win after just falling short at home against Marquette and losing 20-11 at Denver. Providence is looking to extend its winning streak to four games. PC earned its league first victory on the road at St. John’s 15-6. Daniel Bucaro leads the Hoyas in scoring with 40 points on 29 goals, 11 assists. In 10 games played, only Hofstra has scored more than eight goals on Providence goalie Tate Boyce. Boyce boasts a Goals Against Average of 6.60.
St. John’s at Marquette
(Saturday, 2 p.m., Spectrum Sports)
Marquette is 1-1 in the league after being on the losing side of a one-goal overtime thriller at Villanova last week. The Golden Eagles have six players who have at least 10 points this season, led by Ryan McNamara with 19 (10g, 9a). Both league games have come down to one goal for the Golden Eagles. St. John’s is 0-1 after losing 15-6 to Providence. The Red Storm will be trying to end their current five-game skid that includes three losses in four non-conference games to Top 20 opponents, most-recently to No. 17 Yale on Tuesday. The Red Storm is led by Nick Heller in scoring by Scott Scannell and Joe Madsen with 14 points. Nick Heller leads the goal efforts with 10. Marquette leads the all-time series 3-1.
No. 18 Villanova at No. 5 Denver
(Sunday, 2 p.m., FS1)
Sunday in Denver is the first league game between two top 20 opponents this season. Denver has held on to one of the top five/six spots in the poll all season with a 7-2 record. Villanova, while being ranked in the preseason polls has made its way back in the Top 20 as one of the hottest teams in the country, on a five-game winning streak. Denver is still holding on to an undefeated league record at 17-0 since joining the league in 2014. All time, Denver leads the series against Villanova 8-3. Both VU and DU rank in the top 10 in the first NCAA RPI released on Monday. Senior Connor Cannizzaro (22g, 17a) leads the attack for the Pios alongside freshman Ethan Walker (22g, 12a); while junior Trevor Baptiste is 154-207 (.744) in faceoffs with four goals and 90 ground balls. The Wildcats, which haven’t lost since March 4, boast the offense of Jack Curran (28g, 14a) and Christian Cuccinello (23g, 19a). Jake Froccaro also has 20+ goals with 24g, 10a; while he is 59-105 (.562) in faceoffs. Baptiste will face off against Froccaro or Luke Palmadesso (39-72, .542).
BIG EAST Men’s Lacrosse Schedule
Saturday, April 8
GEORGETOWN at PROVIDENCE (BEDN) at 1 p.m. ET
ST. JOHN’S at MARQUETTE (Spectrum Sports) at 2 p.m. ET
Sunday, April 9
VILLANOVA at DENVER (FS1) at 2 p.m. ET