While much of Villanova relaxed during Easter break, the men’s lacrosse team was hard at work. Since defeating Stony Brook the ‘Cats have gone 2-1, with wins over Lafayette and Penn and a loss to no. 10 Towson State.

They also collected two personal accolades for outstanding performances. Matt Starker was awarded the Colonial Athletic Association’s rookie of the week (his second this year) on April 8.

Another honoree was senior Brian Marks, who shared the co-player of the week award with Jim Femminella of Hofstra. Starker received the award as a result of his six goals in a span of two games while filling in for senior midfielder Dave Cacciabeve, who was lost for the year to an injury. Marks earned his award after his contributions in victories this last week over Penn and Lafayette. He also leads the nation in scoring with 58 points.

The final game of the break Villanova played was against Philadelphia rival UPenn April 19. The game was closer than the ‘Cats would have liked, but still ended with a successful Villanova comeback, 8-7. In the third period, the ‘Cats were down 7-3 when Matt Lucas started their rally, winning a face off and taking it solo all the way to the goal.

After winning another face off, Marks added yet a second goal to the ‘Cats rebound.

The comeback extended with a third goal by Lucas and was capped with two clutch goals by freshman Brendan O’Donnell.

The scoring came in pairs with Lucas, O’Donnell, Marks and sophomore Marc Creegan, each scoring two. The defense held strong in the final stretch of the fourth quarter to secure the ‘Cats ninth victory of the season.

The Wildcats previously traveled to Easton, Pa. on April 15 and faced off against Lafayette, who they beat soundly, 10-4.

The scoring in this game mostly came from two sources, Creegan and Marks, who each scored four goals in the win. The other two goals came from juniors Richie Kratz and Matt Lucas.

The important aspect of the victory was that the defense rebounded from the tough loss to Towson. Goalie Joseph Canuso stopped 20 of the 33 shots he faced and Villanova controlled the ground ball game.

Before break the Wildcats started out their stretch of games with a 13-10 loss to Towson.

The game started out with Villanova leading 2-0 with goals from Starker and Marc Creegan, but the usually strong ‘Cats defense could not stop the string of six straight Towson goals, which gave them a lead that proved to be insurmountable.

While the ‘Cats came within one goal during the second half, Towson’s scoring came too rapidly for Villanova to match.

The men play on the home field Saturday against University of Delaware at 7 p.m.