Men's Lacrosse Hosts Holy Cross In 2020 Home Opener

FRIARS BACK AT CHAPEY FIELD AT ANDERSON STADIUM...
Providence College welcomes the Holy Cross Crusaders for its 2020 home opener on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 3:30 p.m at Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium.

LIVE STATS AND STREAM...
The game will be broadcast live on Friars.com, in addition to the live stats.

SERIES BREAKDOWN...
Since 1980, the Friars and Crusaders have met 30 times. Holy Cross holds a 17-13 series lead over Providence.

The Friars have won four-straight games over the Crusaders. Most recently, during the 2019 campaign. Providence defeated Holy Cross, 12-5 in Worcester, Mass. Sophomore Matt Grillo recorded his first career hat-trick versus the Crusaders.

FRIARS WIN OPENING GAME FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2014...
Providence's 12-5 season-opening victory over Boston University on Saturday, Feb. 1 marks the first-time the Friars have won a season open- er since 2014. Providence defeated Vermont, 8-6, in its opening game in 2014.

PROVIDENCE HALTS FOUR-GAME SKID VERSUS BOSTON UNIVERSITY...
A second quarter surge powered the Friars past the Terriers, 12-5, on Saturday. Feb. 1. The win marked Providence's first win over BU since 2015. The Friars outscored the Terriers, 6-0, in the second quarter to en- ter the half with an 8-2 lead. Matt Grillo registered his fifth-career hat trick and added one assist for four points. In his first career start in net, Toby Burgdorf held a .667 save percentage and made 10 saves.

SHARE THE WEALTH...
In the first game of the season against BU, the Friars had seven different players find the back of net and five players tally an assist. Matt Grillo led the Friars in goals (three) and Sean Leahey paced the Friars in assists (three). Grillo and Leahey each recorded a team-best four points.

HUNGRY, HUNGRY, HOFFMAN
John Hoffman was the lone freshman in the starting line-up in Providence's season opener. The high school U.S. Lacrosse All-America selection scored two goals and added an assist in his collegiate debut against Boston University on Feb. 1.

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 sec- ond 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.

HINRICH'S 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.

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.

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.

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.

WELCOME TO FRIARTOWN...
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 HOLY CROSS...
The Crusaders opened the 2020 season with a 13-12 victory over Merrimack College. Merrimack is in its first season as an NCAA Division I member. Holy Cross won its opening season game for the first time since 2015.

Holy Cross was selected tied for sixth (55 points) in the Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll.

PLAYERS TO WATCH...
Midfielder Connor Waldron and attackman Kevin Kodzis powered the Crusaders to victory on Saturday, Feb. 1. Waldron tallied a team-high five points on two goals and three assists. Preseason All-Patriot League selection Kodzis recorded his first hat-trick of the season, seventh of his career and added an assist.

Senior Jonathan Tesoro started in net in the opening game. Tesoro gave up 12 goals and only making six saves versus Merrimack.

WHAT'S NEXT...
The Friars welcome Ocean State foe Bryant University to Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium on Saturday, Feb, 15 at 1:00 p.m.

Providence fell to Bryant, 11-8, last season in Smithfield, R.I.

-GO FRIARS-

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Players Mentioned

John Anderson

Wynton Bastian

Owen Borek

Tate Boyce

Toby Burgdorf

Chad Cannon

Dean Costalas

Matt Grillo

Nick Hatzipetrakos

Tim Hinrichs

John Hoffman

John Hufnagel

Michael Hughes

Brendan Kearns

Colin Keating

Jack Kilian

Grant Latimer

Sean Leahey

Luke McKernan

Nick Shaw

Danny Striano

Brendan Tully

Cullen Young