Villanova 2023

[gymman1031]

Villanova lacrosse has 2 major hurdles to get over in order to compete on a level playing field, the first issue is that Nova has only 8.5 full scholarships along with the fact that coach Corrado has the smallest roster in all of Div 1 mens lacrosse every spring

In other words, depth is often the biggest issue.

[Henpecked]

The biggest problem Villanova had last year was losing Owen Prybylski and Keegan Khan to the transfer portal when both defected to Maryland. Had those two players stayed, I am pretty sure Villanova would have gotten into the NCAA tourney and potentially ended its streak of never winning a tourney game. This team had lots of talent at the top but not a lot of depth.

Corrado doesn't seem to have a problem bringing in talented players from the best prep schools around. It's just a matter of time before they break through IMO.

[wgdsr]

Villanova lacrosse has 2 major hurdles to get over in order to compete on a level playing field, the first issue is that Nova has only 8.5 full scholarships along with the fact that coach Corrado has the smallest roster in all of Div 1 mens lacrosse every spring

roster size they'd be on the lower end of the range, there are schools with small rosters. my opinion low 40s works better than high 40s or more, with mid 40s being optimal.

[Henpecked]

Villanova lacrosse has 2 major hurdles to get over in order to compete on a level playing field, the first issue is that Nova has only 8.5 full scholarships along with the fact that coach Corrado has the smallest roster in all of Div 1 mens lacrosse every spring

roster size they'd be on the lower end of the range, there are schools with small rosters. my opinion low 40s works better than high 40s or more, with mid 40s being optimal.

I agree with you. Virginia generally keeps its roster to 43-45 each year and seems to do just fine.

[gymman1031]

I still think that, with more scholarships, things would improve so much to the point that you wouldn't see as many Nova players transferring to bigger programs.

[Henpecked]

I am not a Villanova fan or expert but I got to watch them play a ton this past year. They had a boatload of talent on both sides of the ball but couldnt seem to win the tight games against tough competition.

A quick look at Villanova's returning roster and they appear to be returning a good defense, goalie and FOGO, but the offense will lose a bunch.

Returning on offense is the team's most important player, Matt Campbell (45g 22a). The fact that he is returning for a fifth year is great news for the Wildcats. Fifth year Pat Daly, the prolific shooter (33 goals) appears to be returning as well. The problem is they are losing three of their top four scorers in Bret Baskin (34 g 16a), playmaker Luke Keating (30g 31a) and JP Brasile (23g, 18a). That is a lot of offense to replace.

Another challenge the Wildcats will face is replacing Chris Hervada at close defense. Hervada was generally put on the opponent's top threat and finished the season with 25GBs and 19CTs. The good news is that Nova has pretty good depth at defense returning Brody Laporte (5thYear Maybe?) who had 40 GBs and 22 CTs along with super-soph Reid Colwell who finished the season with 27GBS and 12CTs. They also return some superb SSDMs in Chet Comizio (49GBs 24CTs) and underrated local junior Gavin Burke (16GBs and 9CTs) from the Haverford School.

5 foot 5 inch FOGO Justin Coppola will also be returning for his senior year. Coppola is unbelievably quick player who won 59% of his draws and scored 3 goals and 5 assists as well. He keeps Nova is every game.

Goalie Will Vitton might also be returning for a fifth year and that would be good news as well. Vitton had a decent .510 save percentage this year, but can be very streaky at times. I have seen opposing teams struggle with the athletic lefty goalie on several occasions. I have seen him have insane games, just standing on his head, with 16-17 saves against Delaware, Marquette and Georgetown twice. And occasionally he will have really poor games
like against Yale (7 saves 16 goals) and Penn (6 Saves) when a good performance might have meant another 2 wins and a tourney bid. But for the most part he is a solid tender.

As far as recruits go, Nova Nation is touting its best recruiting class ever with SEVEN 4 star players arriving on campus this fall. You never know how that will all shake out, but there are plenty of open roster spots to fill. Last year Nova ran with predominantly seniors and grad transfers. Only one young player really contributed (sophomore Colwell) and the three 4 star recruits (Aiden Ahearn, Mack Prybylski and Luke Raymond) from the class of '21 barely played. Of the three, only Ahearn received playing time in 7 games and had 4 GBs and 4CTs for the year.

They will have to find replacements for Baskin, Keating and Brasile on offense. Perhaps some of these young recruits will get a shot.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Villanova lacrosse has 2 major hurdles to get over in order to compete on a level playing field, the first issue is that Nova has only 8.5 full scholarships along with the fact that coach Corrado has the smallest roster in all of Div 1 mens lacrosse every spring

roster size they'd be on the lower end of the range, there are schools with small rosters. my opinion low 40s works better than high 40s or more, with mid 40s being optimal.

I agree with you. Virginia generally keeps its roster to 43-45 each year and seems to do just fine.

Virginia has pretty much a hard cap ~44. Mid 40’s is a good number. A little over is better than a little under.

[gymman1031]

I am not a Villanova fan or expert but I got to watch them play a ton this past year. They had a boatload of talent on both sides of the ball but couldnt seem to win the tight games against tough competition.

A quick look at Villanova's returning roster and they appear to be returning a good defense, goalie and FOGO, but the offense will lose a bunch.

Returning on offense is the team's most important player, Matt Campbell (45g 22a). The fact that he is returning for a fifth year is great news for the Wildcats. Fifth year Pat Daly, the prolific shooter (33 goals) appears to be returning as well. The problem is they are losing three of their top four scorers in Bret Baskin (34 g 16a), playmaker Luke Keating (30g 31a) and JP Brasile (23g, 18a). That is a lot of offense to replace.

Another challenge the Wildcats will face is replacing Chris Hervada at close defense. Hervada was generally put on the opponent's top threat and finished the season with 25GBs and 19CTs. The good news is that Nova has pretty good depth at defense returning Brody Laporte (5thYear Maybe?) who had 40 GBs and 22 CTs along with super-soph Reid Colwell who finished the season with 27GBS and 12CTs. They also return some superb SSDMs in Chet Comizio (49GBs 24CTs) and underrated local junior Gavin Burke (16GBs and 9CTs) from the Haverford School.

5 foot 5 inch FOGO Justin Coppola will also be returning for his senior year. Coppola is unbelievably quick player who won 59% of his draws and scored 3 goals and 5 assists as well. He keeps Nova is every game.

Goalie Will Vitton might also be returning for a fifth year and that would be good news as well. Vitton had a decent .510 save percentage this year, but can be very streaky at times. I have seen opposing teams struggle with the athletic lefty goalie on several occasions. I have seen him have insane games, just standing on his head, with 16-17 saves against Delaware, Marquette and Georgetown twice. And occasionally he will have really poor games
like against Yale (7 saves 16 goals) and Penn (6 Saves) when a good performance might have meant another 2 wins and a tourney bid. But for the most part he is a solid tender.

As far as recruits go, Nova Nation is touting its best recruiting class ever with SEVEN 4 star players arriving on campus this fall. You never know how that will all shake out, but there are plenty of open roster spots to fill. Last year Nova ran with predominantly seniors and grad transfers. Only one young player really contributed (sophomore Colwell) and the three 4 star recruits (Aiden Ahearn, Mack Prybylski and Luke Raymond) from the class of '21 barely played. Of the three, only Ahearn received playing time in 7 games and had 4 GBs and 4CTs for the year.

They will have to find replacements for Baskin, Keating and Brasile on offense. Perhaps some of these young recruits will get a shot.

They definitely have their most impressive incoming class ever. The thing is, with all they have to offer, they should be getting classes like that one most years.

[gymman1031]

I am not a Villanova fan or expert but I got to watch them play a ton this past year. They had a boatload of talent on both sides of the ball but couldnt seem to win the tight games against tough competition.

A quick look at Villanova's returning roster and they appear to be returning a good defense, goalie and FOGO, but the offense will lose a bunch.

Returning on offense is the team's most important player, Matt Campbell (45g 22a). The fact that he is returning for a fifth year is great news for the Wildcats. Fifth year Pat Daly, the prolific shooter (33 goals) appears to be returning as well. The problem is they are losing three of their top four scorers in Bret Baskin (34 g 16a), playmaker Luke Keating (30g 31a) and JP Brasile (23g, 18a). That is a lot of offense to replace.

Another challenge the Wildcats will face is replacing Chris Hervada at close defense. Hervada was generally put on the opponent's top threat and finished the season with 25GBs and 19CTs. The good news is that Nova has pretty good depth at defense returning Brody Laporte (5thYear Maybe?) who had 40 GBs and 22 CTs along with super-soph Reid Colwell who finished the season with 27GBS and 12CTs. They also return some superb SSDMs in Chet Comizio (49GBs 24CTs) and underrated local junior Gavin Burke (16GBs and 9CTs) from the Haverford School.

5 foot 5 inch FOGO Justin Coppola will also be returning for his senior year. Coppola is unbelievably quick player who won 59% of his draws and scored 3 goals and 5 assists as well. He keeps Nova is every game.

Goalie Will Vitton might also be returning for a fifth year and that would be good news as well. Vitton had a decent .510 save percentage this year, but can be very streaky at times. I have seen opposing teams struggle with the athletic lefty goalie on several occasions. I have seen him have insane games, just standing on his head, with 16-17 saves against Delaware, Marquette and Georgetown twice. And occasionally he will have really poor games
like against Yale (7 saves 16 goals) and Penn (6 Saves) when a good performance might have meant another 2 wins and a tourney bid. But for the most part he is a solid tender.

As far as recruits go, Nova Nation is touting its best recruiting class ever with SEVEN 4 star players arriving on campus this fall. You never know how that will all shake out, but there are plenty of open roster spots to fill. Last year Nova ran with predominantly seniors and grad transfers. Only one young player really contributed (sophomore Colwell) and the three 4 star recruits (Aiden Ahearn, Mack Prybylski and Luke Raymond) from the class of '21 barely played. Of the three, only Ahearn received playing time in 7 games and had 4 GBs and 4CTs for the year.

They will have to find replacements for Baskin, Keating and Brasile on offense. Perhaps some of these young recruits will get a shot.

They definitely have their most impressive incoming class ever. The thing is, with all they have to offer, they should be getting classes like that very frequently.

[Magbride14]

I am not sure when Nova got up to 8.5 scholarships but besides being not fully funded & a small roster, coach Corrado really has below average facilities ( practice & play on the same field) and Nova has very high academic standards for his recruits to meet unlike a majority of his opponents ( especially the blue blood programs) I am also surprised with those negatives to overcome that his top assistant the last 16 seasons, Simon Conor has not drawn interest for any of the head coaching positions that open up every off season

[gymman1031]

I am not sure when Nova got up to 8.5 scholarships but besides being not fully funded & a small roster, coach Corrado really has below average facilities ( practice & play on the same field) and Nova has very high academic standards for his recruits to meet unlike a majority of his opponents ( especially the blue blood programs) I am also surprised with those negatives to overcome that his top assistant the last 16 seasons, Simon Conor has not drawn interest for any of the head coaching positions that open up every off season

Even with a track surrounding the action, I think Nova's stadium is better than people think.

[10stone5]

Scholastic boys’ scoring leaders for 2022 (Phila area)
Monday, 27th June 2022
Categories Boy's/Men's, High School

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/27/22

Points (70 or more)

1] Max Busenkell (Notre Dame), Garnet Valley, 83 goals, 79 assists, 162 points


2] Colin Michener, Penn Charter, 84 goals, 65 assists, 149 points

A good get for Villanova.
Normally, the top 5-10 teams snatch these local 4/5 star SE PA recruits.

[gymman1031]

Scholastic boys’ scoring leaders for 2022 (Phila area)
Monday, 27th June 2022
Categories Boy's/Men's, High School

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/27/22

Points (70 or more)

1] Max Busenkell (Notre Dame), Garnet Valley, 83 goals, 79 assists, 162 points


2] Colin Michener, Penn Charter, 84 goals, 65 assists, 149 points

A good get for Villanova.
Normally, the top 5-10 teams snatch these local 4/5 star SE PA recruits.

A huge get, for sure! And, hopefully, a confidence-builder.

[Matnum PI]

For the 2023 FanLax Fantasy Lacrosse season, UMBC, Hofstra, and Fairfield were dropped and Villanova, Harvard, and Brown were added... Big Leagues! This is arguably bigger than winning a National Championship.

[Matnum PI]

Any predictions for the Villanova starting attack and 1st and 2nd middy lines?

[ohmilax34]

Any predictions for the Harvard starting attack and 1st and 2nd middy lines?

Harvard starting lineup? You're gonna tick off the Villanova fans and they won't give you any good info.

[Matnum PI]

Any predictions for the Harvard starting attack and 1st and 2nd middy lines?

Harvard starting lineup? You're gonna tick off the Villanova fans and they won't give you any good info.

Villanova. Any predictions for the Villanova Offense...

[10stone5]

Matt Campbell and more Matt Campbell.

[Matnum PI]

Will anyone else be on the field when Campbell and Daly take turns going to the net?

[ohmilax34]

Will anyone else be on the field when Campbell and Daly take turns going to the net?

Maybe Kerry Kittles