VILLANOVA, Pa. – After a historic 2009 season which included taking home a CAA title and making their first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament, the Villanova men's lacrosse team will face another formidable schedule as they compete in the inaugural season of the BIG EAST lacrosse conference in 2010.

After finishing the 2009 season with an 11-6 record and finishing No. 18 in the final Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and No. 19 in the USILA Division I Coaches Poll, Villanova looks to compete on the national stage as they join the BIG EAST Conference along with Syracuse, Georgetown, Notre Dame, St. John's, Rutgers and Providence College.

The 2010 Villanova schedule includes 6 BIG EAST Conference matchups and 6 contests against teams who were either ranked in the top-20 or received votes in the final Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll of the 2009 season.

The Wildcats open their regular season on the road as they head to Columbus, Ohio on Feb. 13th to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at OSU's campus. Two weeks later on Feb. 27th, VU travels the short distance to Bethlehem, Pa. to face Lehigh University.

Villanova then begins at-home play against upstate New York's Binghamton University on March 2nd and follows with a contest against Fairfield on March 6th. Matchups against No. 16 Penn State (Mar. 9), Penn (Mar.13), Delaware (Mar. 20), Drexel (Mar.24) and Manhattan (Apr. 10) conclude the Wildcat non-conference schedule.

BIG EAST play begins with an afternoon tilt on March 29th against defending National Champion Syracuse University at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y., and an April 3rd encounter with No. 9 Notre Dame at Villanova Stadium. The Wildcats will then face BIG EAST rivals St. John's (Apr. 17), Rutgers (Apr. 24), Providence (May 1) and RV Georgetown (May 8) to cap the regular season and begin to prepare for the conference tournament.

The Wildcats return 26 letterwinners from last year's squad including junior Brian Karalunas who was named a 2009 Honorable Mention All-American and CAA Defensive Player of the Year.

Feb. 13   Ohio State   Columbus, OH          1:00 p.m.           
Feb. 27   Lehigh       Bethlehem, Pa.        1:00 p.m.                                 
 
Mar. 2    BINGHAMTON   Villanova, Pa.        4:00 p.m.
Mar. 6    FAIRFIELD    Villanova, Pa.        1:00 p.m.
Mar.  9   Penn State   State College, Pa.    7:00 p.m.
Mar. 13   Penn         Philadelphia, Pa.     1:00 p.m.
Mar. 20   Delaware     Newark, DE            7:00 p.m.
Mar. 24   DREXEL       Villanova, Pa.        7:00 p.m.
Mar. 29   Syracuse     Syracuse, N.Y.        3:00 p.m.
 
Apr. 3    NOTRE DAME   Villanova, Pa.        1:00 p.m.
Apr. 10   Manhattan    Bronx, N.Y.           7:00 p.m.                                 
Apr. 17   ST. JOHN'S   Villanova, Pa.        7:00 p.m.
Apr. 24   Rutgers      New Brunswick, N.J.   TBD  
 
May  1    Providence   Providence, R.I.      2:00 p.m.
May  8    GEORGETOWN   Villanova, Pa.        7:00 p.m.

2009-10-15