(Photo Courtesy of Villanova Athletics)

The Villanova Wildcats are the 38th DI team and fifth from the Big East to release their 2022 men’s lacrosse schedule. The Wildcats are coming off a 2021 campaign in which they went 7-5 overall (6-4 Big East) against a conference-only schedule. They fell in the Big East semifinals to eventual conference champion Georgetown.

Wildcats’ 2022 Schedule:

Date	Home	Away	Notes
2/12	Penn State	Villanova
2/19	Yale	Villanova
2/26	Villanova	Fairfield
3/1	Brown	Villanova
3/5	Villanova	Hofstra
3/12	Villanova	Penn
3/19	Villanova	Drexel
3/26	Villanova	Delaware
4/2	St. John’s	Villanova	Big East
4/9	Villanova	Denver	Big East
4/16	Villanova	Providence	Big East
4/23	Marquette	Villanova	Big East
4/30	Villanova	Georgetown	Big East

New Opponents

Brown, Drexel, Fairfield, Hofstra, Penn, Penn State, Yale

Team’s Dropped

N/A

Key Games

2/12 @ Penn State: With the exception of last season when they couldn’t play, Villanova has opened up each season since 2018 against the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Wildcats defeated the Nittany Lions in overtime, 18-17, in 2018 but fell to them by significant margins in both 2019 and 2020. With both teams coming out of conference-only seasons, it’ll be interesting to see how this one plays out.

2/19 @ Yale: These two teams have created some instant overtime classics in recent history with the Wildcats upsetting Yale in both 2018 and 2019. In 2020, Yale bested Villanova 18-12 in a game in which the Bulldogs went on a seven-goal, second-half run to pull away after things were knotted at nine at half and 11 late in the third.

4/30 vs Georgetown: After getting blown out, 16-1, against the Hoyas in their season-opener, Villanova fell by one, 8-7, and two, 14-12, in their next two meetings. Their final meeting of the season came in the Big East semifinals. A win over the Hoyas would be huge for this Wildcats program that has been sitting in third in the conference for multiple years now.