Villanova men’s lacrosse recorded its first win of the season with a 13-11 victory over No. 9 Yale on Saturday, Feb. 15 at Villanova Stadium.
Graduate attacker Matt Licata scored a team-high four goals in the win. Sophomore midfielder Nicholas Lucchesi put in the game-sealing goal with 6.6 seconds left on the clock.
“We haven’t beaten [Yale] since 2019, so to see the team bounce back from last week was tremendous,” Licata said. “There was some fear going into this week as to who we are as a team, and we really showed what we can do.”
It was Villanova’s second consecutive game against a nationally ranked opponent, after losing, 15-5, to No. 12 Penn State on Feb. 9. But the Wildcats looked like a much different team than the one that gave up 10 unanswered goals and 20 turnovers to the Nittany Lions last weekend.
Against Yale, the Wildcats were more aggressive on offense and, initially, played strong defense, only permitting four goals from the Bulldogs in the first half. Villanova had 15 turnovers across the game, while forcing 21 from Yale.
“[This week] I thought we cut down on turnovers,” Villanova head coach Mike Corrado said. “When they went on a run, we made a play to stop the run. This week, I thought our kids did a really good job of stopping those runs and going on runs of our own.”
After the first quarter, the Wildcats led the Bulldogs, 3-2.
Yale was assessed two penalties, which resulted in two Villanova goals.
The Bulldogs responded to the penalties by scoring two late second-quarter goals to trim the Wildcats’ lead to 5-4. Licata scored two goals in the second quarter, with sophomore midfielder/forward Ryan Cunningham also notching a goal and an assist.
The Wildcats entered halftime with a 7-4 lead.
Licata opened the second half with another goal, just thirty-six seconds after senior midfielder Tyler Sandoval won the face-off for Villanova.
With 2:06 left in the third quarter, Licata scored his fourth goal off a turn-of-the-shoulder and release.
“A lot of the guys around me stepped up and allowed me to be open today,” Licata said “Last week, we were pretty selfish with the ball and a little too excited. This week the focus was great and we were able to get the ball to the other side.”
Entering the final fifteen minutes, the Wildcats worked to maintain their lead.
But late in the fourth quarter, the defense conceded two goals. A Bulldog goal in the final minute blew the Wildcats’ four-goal lead to just one.
“We’ve tended to fall off in a certain quarter, or certain time of the game, so in my mind, and the team’s mind, was to finish it off,” Licata said. “We knew how it felt in the locker room last week, so we wanted to bring the intensity for the last seconds.”
The final seconds proved decisive, as Lucchesi scored the insurance goal to seal Villanova’s first win of the season.
While celebrations were on in the locker room after defeating a top-ten opponent, the attention of the team will soon shift to its next challenge.
“We’ll enjoy [Saturday’s win], but we’ll refocus for [Colgate],” Corrado said. “We certainly weren’t perfect today, so we’ll continue to get better. Next week’s a road game and it’ll have a different nuance to it, so we have a lot to do to get ready.”
Up next for the Wildcats is their first away game of the season. On Saturday, Feb. 22, the Wildcats will travel to Hamilton, NY for a matchup with Colgate.
The game can be streamed on FloSports at noon.
