Men's Lacrosse Falls To No. 17 Villanova, 14-7

April 30, 2016

VILLANOVA, PA. - The Providence College men's lacrosse team fell to No. 17 Villanova, 14-7, in its 2016 regular-season finale on April 30 in Villanova, Pa. The Friars finished in a three-way tie for fourth place in the BIG EAST Conference final standings with St. John's and Georgetown, but earned the No. 4 seed in the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament by virtue of tie-breaking procedures.

The Friars will face the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST semifinals, which will be claimed by today's winner in the head-to-head match-up between Denver and Marquette. Villanova has claimed the No. 3 seed. This year's BIG EAST Tournament will be played in Denver, Colo., and the semifinals are set for Thursday, May 5. The winner of each semifinal will advance to the BI EAST Championship Game on Saturday, May 7. The Friars are making their first appearance at the BIG EAST Championship since the league began sponsoring lacrosse in 2010.

In today's game vs. the Wildcats, senior Will Mazzone (Stony Brook, N.Y.) led the Friars with four points on three goals and one assist.

The Wildcats were the first to get on the board with a goal at 14:14 to give themselves a 1-0 lead. Senior Michael Perettine (Farmingdale, N.Y.) then responded for the Friars to tie the game at 1-1 at 11:18 in the first quarter.

Villanova retaliated with two-unanswered goals to regain and then extend its lead to 3-1. The second of the Wildcat's two goals was scored by Johnny Gallaway during a man-up situation.

Senior Nolan Fillet (Rockville, Md.) cut the Wildcat's lead to 3-2 after he found the back of the net at 7:10, unassisted.

Villanova took a 5-2 edge with back-to-back goals to end the first quarter at 2:02 and 0:04, respectively.

To open up the second quarter, Fillet registered his second goal of the game at 13:55 to close the gap to 5-3. Mazzone was credited with the assist. The Wildcats managed to get another one on the board before junior Austin Goltz (Orchard Park, N.Y.) tallied the Friars' fourth goal of the game to make the score 6-4 at the end of the half.

Villanova scored three-unanswered goals in the third quarter, while holding the Friars scoreless on the other end of the field. The spurt gave the Wildcats a 9-4 lead.

At the 11:33 mark in the fourth quarter, Mazzone tallied his first goal of the game off a feed from freshman Brendan Kearns (Wantagh, N.Y.) to make the score 9-5. Villanova's Danny Sweeney followed with a goal of his own to extend the Wildcat's lead to 10-5.

Mazzone was back at it again with under 10 minutes in regulation. Fillet fed Mazzone the ball, who then found the back of the net to close Villanova's lead to four goals (10-6). It was as close as Providence would get the rest of the way as Villanova reeled off four-straight goals to take a 14-6 lead with 1:27 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Mazzone completed the hat trick with just 1:09 left in the game, as he found the back of the net unassisted.

Providence goaltender Tate Boyce (Matthews, N.C.) registered 13 saves, while junior Colin McKendry (Cary, N.C.) picked up a team-high four ground balls and finished 13-24 at the face-off "X".

"We are not thrilled with our performance today, although I was pleased with our defensive effort in the second half", Head Coach Chris Gabrielli said. "We are very fortunate to be headed to the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time next week! This opportunity gives us more time together as a team to improve and to be with one another a bit longer."

- Go Friars -

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Team Stats

Will Mazzone

Nolan Fillet

Austin Goltz

Michael Perettine

Players Mentioned

Tate Boyce

Nolan Fillet

Austin Goltz

Brendan Kearns

Will Mazzone

Colin McKendry

Michael Perettine

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Providence College Athletics