Villanova defeated Providence in its first conference road trip of 2022, by a score of 110-95.

Juniors Reid Hutcherson and Jake McIntyre led the Wildcats with two wins a piece, as Villanova won half of the events, including four one-two finishes in the match. 

The Friars were led by Justin Viotto and William Layden, who each had two wins of their own in four of the five Providence victories. 

The day started off slow for the Wildcats as they lost the first relay, the 200-meter medley, to a Providence team who finished the relay in a time of 1:45:34. Villanova’s lone team in the race, made of sophomore Ethan Brown, junior Kevin Geist and freshmen Henry Halloran and Patrick Hemingway, placed second in the event, just half a second behind the Friars.

Then came the Hutcherson and McIntyre pair, with McIntyre winning the 800 free and Hutcherson winning the 200 free. McIntyre finished the race in 8:38, just one second faster than his teammate, sophomore Charlie Hinckley. Hutcherson finished in 1:54, which was also a second faster than the Friar’s Alex Beauchene. 

After those races, Layden and Viotto would win the next four races. Layden took home the 50 and 100 freestyles, while Viotto won the 400 individual medley and the 200 butterfly. Layden raced his 50 in 23.56 and his 100 in 52.75. He still holds the top Big East 50-meter time in the event this year. The 100 free was the closest race of the day, as Layden edged Hutcherson by 0.1 seconds. Viotto finished his races in dominating fashion. He finished the 400 IM in 4:34, three seconds faster than Halloran, and the 200 butterfly in 2:06, two seconds faster than Geist. 

The next four races were all taken by Villanova. Brown started this winning streak off by taking home the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:06. It was two and a half seconds faster than freshman teammate Carson Brockette. McIntyre took the next event, the 400 free, with a time of 4:08 and beat out Hinckley by one second. Sophomore Richard Nolan took home his only victory of the meet, winning the 200 backstroke in a time of 2:23. He edged out Halloran, who had three second place finishes, by one second. 

Villanova finished off the meet with a win in the 400 freestyle relay. The team was composed of junior Ryan Maher, Hutcherson, Hinckley and Hemingway. They finished with a time of 3:29. Providence’s three other teams took home the next three spots, the closest being five seconds behind Villanova’s group.

Villanova ended with six first place finishes, nine seconds and three thirds. Providence finished with five firsts, two seconds and eight thirds.

Villanova currently sits at 681.3 points this year, third in the Big East. Providence sits at fifth. The Wildcats look to continue their perfect 2022 on Thursday when they face the University of Pittsburgh.