Men's Lacrosse Concludes Road Trip At Sacred Heart

FRIARS CONCLUDE THREE-GAME ROAD TRIP AT SACRED HEART...

The Friars will finish their three-game road trip at Sacred Heart on Saturday, Mar. 7. Face-off is set for 4:00 p.m. at Campus Field in Fairfield, Conn. This game will serve as Sacred Heart's Youth Day.

LIVE STATS AND STREAM...

The live stats will be on SacredHeart.PrestoSports.com. The live stream will be broadcast live on NEC Front Row.

SERIES BREAKDOWN...

Since 2000, the Friars and Pioneers have met nine times. Sacred Heart holds a 5-4 series advantage over Providence.

Last season, the Pioneers defeated the Friars, 17-16 at Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium. Matt Grillo recorded a hat-trick in the loss. Tim Hinrichs tallied six points on five assists and one goal.

THE OCEAN STATE CUP IS BACK IN FRIARTOWN...

The Ocean State Cup returns to Friartown for the second time in three years after Providence defeated Bryant and Brown (16-9, 13-12 (OT)).

Providence defeated Brown, 13-12 on Feb. 29. Tim Hinrichs found Sean Leahey in a man-up opportunity who scored the game-winning goal in overtime. Providence held a five goal advantage entering the fourth quarter and the Bears came back to tie it late. Toby Burgdorf collected a career-high 16 saves in the victory. Leahey and Matt Grillo both had hat-tricks in the win and Tim Hinrichs chipped in with three assists.

Providence defeated Bryant, 16-9 on Feb. 15. Providence never trailed in the win. The Friars had three players register five points. Matt Grillo tallied his third hat-trick of the season and added two assists. Sean Leahey recorded his eighth hat-trick of his career, first of the season and chipped in with two assists. Ryan Nawrocki pitched in with two goals and three assists. Goalie Toby Burgdorf had 15 saves in the victory and improved his career-record to 3-0.

SHARE THE WEALTH...

The Friars have had 11 different goal scorers and 10 different players assist on a goal this season. Matt Grillo leads the Friars in goals (15) and Sean Leahey has a team-best 11 assists.

MAKING THE MOST OF THE MAN-UP...

Providence ranks eighth in the country in man-up offense (.571). Dan Axelson leads the Friars with three goals out of the eight in man-up opportunities.

BURGDORF TABS BIG EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR THE THIRD TIME

Junior goalie Toby Burgdorf was named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this season on Mar. 4. Burgdorf had a career-high 16 saves, .571 save percentage and collected one groundball in the victory over Brown on Feb. 29.

Burgdorf was named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week for the second time on Feb. 17. Burgdorf had 15 saves, including seven in the fourth quarter against Bryant. He held a .625 save percentage and had one groundball.

Burgdorf earned his first-career BIG EAST accolade on Feb. 10 after he registered 13 saves and a .765 save percentage in the victory over Holy Cross. He also tallied one caused turnover and four groundballs versus the Crusaders.

RISE TO THE OCCASION...

Junior goalie Toby Burgdorf had large shoes to fill after replacing the graduating Tate Boyce. Boyce was a two-time All-American and BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year.

Burgdorf currently ranks first in the BIG EAST in saves per game (13.00)., second in save percentage (.619) and second in goals-against average (7.93). Burgdorf's save percentage puts him fifth in the NCAA and his goals-against average ranks seventh. The junior's saves per game ranks 16th in the nation.

BEST START SINCE 2015...

The 4-1 Friars have matched their best start since 2015. In 2015, Providence lost to Fairfield in its season opener before rattling off five-straight victories.

The best starts in program history were in 2000 and 2013 where the Friars started their seasons 5-0.

GRILL-O IS COOKIN'...

Matt Grillo has recorded four hat-tricks in five games this season. Grillo leads the Friars in goals (15) and points (18). The sophomore ranks fourth in goals per game (3.00) and ninth in points per game (3.60) in the BIG EAST.

HUNGRY, HUNGRY, HOFFMAN

John Hoffman was the lone freshman in the starting line-up. The high school U.S. Lacrosse All-America selection ranks tied for third on the team in goals (seven) and fifth in points (nine).

GRILLO, BURGDORF POWER FRIARS PAST HOLY CROSS

Providence defeated Holy Cross, 6-4 in their home opener on Saturday, Feb. 8. Grillo paced the Friars with five-goals and Burgdorf had 13 saves and a career-high .765 save percentage. The Friars led wire-to-wire over the Crusaders. Holy Cross pulled it within one with 5:19 remaining in the fourth quarter after scoring three unanswered in the second half. Grillo notched an insurance goal for the Friars with 24 seconds remaining to secure the victory for the Friars.

GRILLO NAMED TO BIG EAST WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

Sophomore Matt Grillo was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Feb. 10. Grillo scored five of the six Friar goals versus Holy Cross. Grillo has recorded a hat-trick in all three games this season. He leads the Friars in goals (eight) and points (nine).

JENNINGS, STOVEL, AND TOMMASI ANCHOR THE DEFENSE...

The Providence defense led by Emmett Jennings, Rob Stovel and Nick Tommasi currently ranks second in scoring defense (8.00) and third in man-down defense (0.933) in the country.

Jennings ranks first in the BIG EAST and tenth in the country in caused turnovers per game (2.40).

The Friar victories over Boston University and Holy Cross were the first time since 2009 that the Friars have held their opponents to five or fewer goals in back-to-back games. During that season, the Friars defeated Canisius, 5-4 and St. Joseph's, 5-4 (4OT). The four goals let up against Holy Cross marked the fewest goals given up since March 19, 2019 in a 14-4 win over UMass Lowell. The trio is improving upon a 2019 season where the defensive unit ranked 11th among NCAA Division I programs in scoring defense, allowing just 10.00 goals per game.

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 opener 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 enter 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.

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.

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.

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 SACRED HEART...
The Pioneers enter Saturday's matchup with a 1-4 record. In their most recent game, the Pioneers lost to Stony Brook ,13-12, in overtime. Sacred Heart's lone victory came in the opening game against Hartford (14-11).

Sacred Heart was selected third in the NEC East Division Preseason Poll.

PLAYERS TO WATCH...

The Pioneers return two 2019 All-NEC Performers in attackman Logan Liljeberg and defenseman Austin Pavone.
Drew Edwards and Liljeberg are leading the attack for the Pioneers. Edward leads the team in goals (13) and points (16). Liljeberg is second in goals (10) and points (12).
The Pioneers have played three goalies this season. In the game against Stony Brook, Brooks Dutton played the first half and Colton King finished the game. Dutton has started in all five games thus far. He holds a 15.20 goals-against average and a .493 save percentage on the year. King has appeared in five games. King has a 12.76 goals-against average and a .530 save percentage.

WHAT'S NEXT...
The Friars return home for the first time since Feb. 15 to take on Hofstra University on Saturday, Mar. 14. Face-off is set for 1:00 p.m. at Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium.

Last season, the Friars defeated the Pride, 11-10, in Hempstead, N.Y. Dan Axelson scored four goals in the victory.

Hofstra holds a 7-2 all-time advantage over Providence.

Awards and Honors

Emmett Jennings

USILA Division I Team of the Week (Feb. 3)

Toby Burgdorf

BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week (Mar. 4)

BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week (Feb. 17)

BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week (Feb. 10)

Matt Grillo

BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (Feb. 10)

USILA Division I Team of the Week (Feb. 11)

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Players Mentioned

John Anderson

Dan Axelson

Wynton Bastian

Owen Borek

Tate Boyce

Toby Burgdorf

Chad Cannon

Dean Costalas

Matt Grillo

Nick Hatzipetrakos

Tim Hinrichs

John Hoffman

John Hufnagel

Michael Hughes

Emmett Jennings

Brendan Kearns

Colin Keating

Jack Kilian

Grant Latimer

Sean Leahey

Luke McKernan

Ryan Nawrocki

Nick Shaw

Rob Stovel

Danny Striano

Nick Tommasi

Brendan Tully

Cullen Young