Men's Lacrosse Opens 2020 Campaign At Boston University

FRIARS OPEN UP 2020 CAMPAIGN ON THE ROAD AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY...

Providence College will begin their 2020 season on the road at Boston University on Saturday, Feb. 1. The game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Nickerson Field in Boston, Mass. This marks the fifth-straight time the Friars and Terriers have faced off in the opening game of the season.

LIVE STATS AND STREAM...

The game will be broadcast through The Stadium. Live stats will also be available on the Boston University athletics website.

SERIES BREAKDOWN...

The Friars and Terriers have met eight times since 1980. The series is tied at 4-4. The Terriers have won the last four matchups.

In 2019, the Friars lost (8-7) to the Terriers in Providence, R.I. The score was tied 5-5 at the half and Providence led 6-5 at the end of three quarters. Boston University scored three unanswered goals in the fourth before Providence brought it within one with 2:32 remaining in the period. The Terriers held the Friars off to claim the win.

FRIARS PICKED TO FINISH FOURTH IN BIG EAST POLL...

Providence was picked to finish fourth in the 2020 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll with a total of 13 points. Denver is picked to win the league, having collected four first-place votes and 24 points overall. Villanova (22 points), who received two first-place votes, is picked second and Georgetown (17 points) is selected third. Rounding out the conference is Marquette (nine points) in fifth and St. John's (five points) in sixth.

HINRICHS EARNS PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST ACCOLADES...

The BIG EAST announced on Wednesday, Jan. 22 that Providence College's Tim Hinrichs (Amherst, N.H.) was named to the 2020 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Last season, Hinrichs recorded 29 points on 13 goals and 16 assists. He tallied a career-high five assists against Sacred Heart (Mar. 2). Hinrichs earned a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team.

ONE-GOAL GAMES IN 2019...

Seven of the Friars' 16 games in 2019 were decided by just one goal. Four of those seven resulted in losses. Additionally, two of those contests were decided in over time. The Friars won their last regular season game at home in overtime versus #17 Villanova, 9-8, to earn the fourth seed in the BIG EAST Tournament.

2020 CAPTAINS...

Tim Hinrichs and Nick Shaw have been named team captains, and will lead a team comprised of 30 returners and 15 newcomers in the 2020 campaign.

NEXT MAN-UP...

The Friars will look for players to step-up and make an impact for the 2020 season. Providence lost its two-time All-American and two-time BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year, Tate Boyce. Boyce finished with 725 career saves, marking a program record. On the offensive end, Nick Hatzipetrakos and Brendan Kearns graduated in 2019. Hatzipetrakos scored a team-high 39 goals, 7 assists and a team-high 46 points on the season. Kearns finished the 2019 season with 27 goals, a team-high 19 assists and team-high 46 points. The Friars will look to replace face-off specialist Colin Keating. Keating finished the season 113-218 (51.8-percent) at the face-off "X" and collected a team-high 53 groundballs.

GRILLO LEADS THE ATTACK...

Sophomore Matt Grillo is the Friars' top returning goal scorer. In his freshman campaign, Grillo had a team-high 99 shots, scored 30 goals, had 10 assists and totaled 40 points. Grillo was named to the 2019 BIG EAST All-Tournament Team after his four point performance (three goals, one assist) in the BIG EAST Semifinal game against #17 Georgetown.

JENNINGS AND STOVEL ANCHOR THE DEFENSE...

Emmett Jennings and Rob Stovel will anchor the Providence defense this season. Jennings started all 16 games for the Friars and led the team in caused turnovers (22). Stovel played in all 16 games, including 11 appearances in the starting line-up. Jennings and Stovel played a large role in helping the defensive unit to an 11th place ranking among NCAA Division I programs in scoring defense, allowing just 10.00 goals per game.

FRIARS LOOK TO WIN THE 'X'...

Face-off specialists RJ Romeo and Alex George will be key contributors for the Friars this season. Last season, Romeo won 60-of-127 opportunities at the 'X' for a .472 winning percentage and George won 15-of-40 opportunities at the 'X' for a .375 winning percentage.

THREATS IN MAN-UP SITUATIONS...

The Friars return three of their top four threats in man-up situations.

Kevin McCordic, Luke O'Grady and Matt Grillo combined for eight of Providence's 14 man-up goals.

ROOKIES...

The Friars welcomed 15 freshmen to the men's lacrosse program in the fall of 2019. Newcomers include Jack Kilian (Jupiter, Fla.), Cullen Young (Maynard, Mass.), John Hufnagel (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.), Grant Latimer (Topsfield, Mass.), John Hoffman (Smithtown, N.Y.), Danny Striano (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.), Wynton Bastian (Carlsbad, Calif.), Dean Costalas (Royersford, Pa.), Michael Hughes (Andover, Mass.), Owen Borek (Raymond, N.H.), Chad Cannon (Wilmington, Del.), Brendan Tully (Foxborough, Mass.), Luke McKernan (Duluth, Ga.) and John Anderson (Hollis, N.H.).

SCOUTING BOSTON UNIVERSITY...

The Terriers open the 2020 schedule against the Friars for the fourth -consecutive season. In 2019, Boston University went 11-6 overall and 5-3 in the Patriot League. The Terriers defeated Bucknell, 14-8, in the Patriot League Quarterfinals before falling to Lehigh and 10-9 in the semi finals.

Boston University was selected fourth in the 2020 Patriot League preseason poll.

PLAYERS TO WATCH...

The Terriers return a lot of experience on the defensive side with two of their top LSMs in seniors Reece Eddy and Chase Levesque. Eddy (34) and Levesque (31) led the Patriot League in caused turnovers.

In net for the Terriers will be senior Joe McSorley. McSorley led all returning Patriot League goalkeepers and ranked 12th in the NCAA with a .549 save percentage.

Leading the attack for the Terriers will be sophomore Timmy Ley. Ley tallied 34 goals and six assists for 40 points in 17 games at attack in 2019.

WHAT'S NEXT...

The Friars will play their home opener at Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 3:30 p.m. against Holy Cross. The Friars have defeated the Crusaders in four-straight games. Most recently in 2019, Providence defeated Holy Cross, 12-5.

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Players Mentioned

John Anderson

Wynton Bastian

Owen Borek

Tate Boyce

Chad Cannon

Dean Costalas

Alex George

Matt Grillo

Nick Hatzipetrakos

Tim Hinrichs

John Hoffman

John Hufnagel

Michael Hughes

Emmett Jennings

Brendan Kearns

Colin Keating

Jack Kilian

Grant Latimer

Kevin McCordic

Luke McKernan

Luke O'Grady

RJ Romeo

Nick Shaw

Rob Stovel

Danny Striano

Brendan Tully

Cullen Young