VILLANOVA, PA. 4/20/2019 – The Villanova Wildcats continued their winning ways dominating the Red Storm of St. John’s at Villanova Stadium on men’s lacrosse senior day. The Wildcats cruised to a 16 – 5 win, the second highest offensive output of the year, in one of their most complete efforts of the season.
Nova got out to a fast start scoring the first 6 goals of the game within 10 minutes of the initial faceoff. Villanova attack Corey McManus scored twice in that span. Keegan Kahn, Patrick Daly, Jack Kinnear and Matt Campbell, also found the back of the net.
“We got off to a good start on the offensive end,” said Villanova Coach Mike Corrado. “It was a complete effort on both ends.”
After St. John’s attack Colin Duffy scored a man-up goal, Villanova responded with the next four goals and went into halftime leading 10 – 2. McManus had 2 more goals in the opening thirty minutes of the game. He had a game-best four goals.
The Wildcats were efficient in the first half with 32 shots, 18 on goal, posting a 31.2% shooting percentage. Each time the Red Storm would mount an attack, goalie Will Vitton was there to close the door. Vitton had 10 saves in the first half, and 17 for the game. Senior walk-on Paul Egloff saved the only shot he faced.
“Our defense played well and when they did get some shots, Will was there,” Corrado said.
The Johnnies and the Cats tied the third quarter 2 – 2. Mike Madsen led the team with 2 goals and an assist.
In addition to McManus, Nova got three goals and an assist each from Daly and Connor Kirst. Campbell had two goals and assists. Kahn got a goal and posted a game-high 3 assists.
St. John’s falls to 4 – 9 for the season and are 0 – 4 in conference.
Villanova (8 – 5, 3 – 1) remains one of three teams in the Big East with one loss at the top of the standings along with Denver and Providence. With the victory the Wildcats out themselves in position for a tournament berth. Nova travels to Rhode Island for their final game of the regular season, let’s see what happens.
“Next week five or six teams will have a chance to be in the tournament which makes it exciting,” said Corrado.
Prior to the game Villanova honored the Class of 2019 seniors; Kevin Kelly, Joey Froccaro, Roberto Locascio, Fernando Delgado, Nick Testa, Paul Egloff, Brendan Black, Chris Donovan, Andrew Gallahue, Timmy Hardy, TJ and Comizio. It was a class that accomplished much over their four years.
“They’re a group that will be third or fourth in wins as a four year group, they’ve qualified three of four years for the Big East Tournament, and hopefully four out of four,” Corrado stated. “They’ve beaten the #1 team, made it to the NCAA Tournament. It has been a good group with a lot of success.”
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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