NEW YORK – The combination of No. 9 Denver defeating Villanova, 16-8, and No. 15 Connecticut topping Butler, 22-15, on Saturday allowed the Pioneers to clinch at least a share of the BIG EAST women’s lacrosse regular-season title while also firmed up the field for the upcoming conference tournament. Denver, which will serve as host of the 2022 BIG EAST Women’s Lacrosse Championship presented by JEEP on May 5 and 7 at Peter Barton Stadium, will be joined in the league postseason by the Huskies, Georgetown and Marquette. The Golden Eagles defeated the Hoyas on Sunday, 14-12, to wrap up the penultimate weekend of BIG EAST play.
The regular-season title is the third for Denver (14-1, 4-0 BIG EAST) after earning it outright in 2021 and 2019 with unbeaten marks. The Pioneers will clinch the crown outright with a win over Marquette (8-8, 3-1) next Saturday in the regular-season finale. The Golden Eagles and UConn (13-2, 3-1) remain in the hunt for a share of the regular-season championship. Should Marquette upset the ninth-ranked Pioneers, the Golden Eagles would earn a share; a Marquette win also opens up the door for the Huskies, who would also claim a piece of the title if they knock off Georgetown (7-8, 2-2) on Friday.
Seeding for the BIG EAST Championship remains to be determined. With one weekend of play remaining, the only guarantees are: Denver will be a top-three seed and Georgetown cannot be the No. 1 seed. Regardless of finish, the Pioneers will play in the first semifinal on May 5, slated for 3 p.m. ET. The second semifinal is slated for a 6 p.m. start. Both semifinals will stream live on the BIG EAST Digital Network presented by SoFi, available on FloSports. Semifinal winners advance to the title game on May 7 at 2 p.m. ET, which will air on FS2. The winner of the BIG EAST Championship receives the league’s automatic bid into the 2022 NCAA Championship.
The final weekend of the regular season kicks off with a nationally televised tilt between 15
th-ranked UConn and Georgetown on Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET. FS2 will air the game live from Cooper Field. Two more games follow on Saturday, with Villanova at Butler slated for a noon start on BEDN, followed by Marquette at No. 9 Denver at 3 p.m. on Pioneer Vision.