Villanova suffered a difficult loss at Penn State on Saturday and looks to rebound tonight at home against Georgetown. The Wildcats come into the game with a 5-4 record and are 1-0 in the Big East conference. They handed Syracuse its first-ever conference loss in their last league game. Georgetown also won their Big East conference opener to go to 1-0 in the league and 5-3 overall. Villanova currently sits at #13 and #18 in the polls, while Georgetown snuck in at number-20 so far this season.
The 7:00 p.m. game will be the first home lacrosse game in 22 days for the Wildcats.
It will be the 17th time that the basketball rivals have met in lacrosse. Villanova hasn't defeated the Hoyas since April 12, 1992, with the Hoyas winning both games over the past two seasons in Big East conference play. The Wildcats were successful in the rivalry prior to the inception of the Big East league, however, and lead the all-time series 9-7.
Georgetown has wins over Detroit Mercy, Harvard, Mount St. Mary's and Providence and losses to Maryland, Loyola and Denver.
They average 9.38 goals per game on offense with Brian Casey leading the way with 22 points on 10 goals and 12 assists. Two talented "Zacks" follow with 17 points each: Zack Angel has added 15 goals and 2 assist while Zac Guy has 5 goals and 12 assists.
Defensively, the Hoyas' opponents have averaged 9.50 goals per game. They have utilized three goalies, primarily going to Matt Winter, but C.T. Fisher and Jake Haley have also contributed to a .510 save percentage. Winter alone has a 8.93 goals against average and a .539 save percentage. Close defenseman Bobby Boyle, Chris Nourse and Brennan Bicknese posted 42 ground balls and 31 caused turnovers so far this season.
Villanova has averaged 10.33 goals per game and allowed an average of 10.66. The Wildcats rely on offense to gain an advantage over opponents, and need to start fast and maintain a high-octane attack throughout games if they hope to win. That will be no-different tonight. Senior goalkeeper Dan Gutierrez has performed admirably for the Wildcats this season to anchor the defense.