Villanova Lacrosse: Wildcats rally against Rutgers to keep 1st place in sight

On Saturday, the Villanova Wildcats took down the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in Piscataway, NJ by a final score of 15-11. The win keeps Villanova tied with the Marquette Golden Eagles for 2nd place, however the Wildcats hold the tie breaker. The Denver Pioneers are still 1 game in front of the 'Cats for first place in the conference. Rutgers falls to 2-3 in Big East play.

The Wildcats entered the second quarter with a decisive 4-1 lead, but 'Nova added 8 goals in the quarter to take a commanding 12-3 lead at the half. Part of this offensive burst came from 3 faceoff violations by Rutgers in the 2nd quarter alone. The Scarlet Knights saw life heading into the third quarter just down 6, however their 8-goal second half was not enough to overcome the Wildcat first half storm.

Freshman Dan McNamara with 4 goals and 5 points overall. Jack Curran also got a hat trick and 5 points. The Wildcats' leading scoring Kevin O'Neill had 2 goals on the night. On the Scarlet Knights side, Rich Rambo led his squad with 3 goals.

Villanova only won 12 of the 29 faceoffs yet ended the night with 4 more shots. 'Nova limited themselves to 10 turnovers compared to Rutgers' 14.

Penalties were again an issue for the Wildcats. Each team had 4, however the Scarlet Knights' penalties summed to 2:30 compared to `Nova's 4:00.

Villanova takes on the St. John's Red Storm in their next contest. The game is played in Jamaica, NY. Faceoff is slotted for 1:00pm.