VILLANOVA, Pa. – The number one overall seed in the 2026 BIG EAST Tournament is up for grabs at Villanova Stadium on Friday night as VU men's lacrosse (6-6, 3-1 BIG EAST) hosts the Georgetown Hoyas under the lights in a 7 p.m. matchup for the regular season title.

CLINCHED A SPOT AT CHAPEY     
Nick Lucchesi sent Villanova into the postseason with a game-winning goal in overtime on Saturday, giving the Wildcats a 16-15 victory over Marquette to clinch a BIG EAST Tournament berth. For the second straight year, Villanova had to come from behind to topple the Golden Eagles but overcame a three-goal deficit in the final five minutes with the junior midfielder from Radnor High eventually putting VU on top. The first quarter was highlighted by a trio of man-up scores for the 'Cats making it a 4-2 game after 15 minutes, but two separate 3-0 runs from Marquette gave the hosts a 9-7 edge after the second quarter. A 4-0 Villanova stretch was the story of the third, though MU weathered the storm for a 12-11 lead. The Golden Eagles moved their advantage to 15-12 before the 'Cats managed to tie it at 1:14 left in regulation. VU won the overtime faceoff and after a timeout, Lucchesi made his defender slip and buried one righty to catapult the 'Cats into the conference tournament.

A TILT FOR THE (REGULAR SEASON) TITLE    
The top seed in the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament is on the line at Villanova Stadium Friday evening when a longtime regional rivalry is renewed. Georgetown has won the last 13 matchups in the all-time series, including seven contests in the last four years that current players have been on the roster. Villanova's best chance came in 2024 when the 'Cats fell 11-10 in overtime despite scoring nine goals in a row between the second and early fourth quarters. Mike Corrado has six victories all-time against the Hoyas, all of them coming in a seven-game stretch from 2012-17.

A POSTSEASON PRIMER    
Three of the spots for next week's BIG EAST Championship Presented By JEEP are already locked up going into the final week of conference action. Georgetown, Villanova and Providence have all clinched berths in the tournament hosted by the Friars at Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium while the other spot comes down to Friday night's Marquette-Denver game in the Mile High City. The Wildcats can slot in at any of the one, two or three seeds in the tournament, but not the four. For the one seed, it's simple: beat Georgetown and the 'Cats are the top overall seed and the regular season co-champions in the conference. The three seed also has just one option: a VU loss, PC win and Denver victory. If the Wildcats lose their regular season finale, the two-seed can be theirs with a win by either Marquette or St. John's as Villanova is ahead in two tiebreakers.

HEAR ABOUT THE HOYAS

• Georgetown, who's ranked top 12 in all three major polls this week, owns a 7-4 record on the season, sweeping the BIG EAST slate so far with non-conferences losses only coming against top 10 teams.
• GU has locked in a berth at the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament and will at least share the regular season title regardless of Friday's result.
• The Hoyas are led by Colgate transfers Liam and Rory Connor with Liam leading the nation at 3.73 assists per game while Rory is the conference leader with four goals per outing. Anderson Moore is the main goaltender for the Hoyas while freshman Hayden Cody takes the majority of faceoffs.

GAMEDAY DETAILS
Tickets are sold online here. It's $25 to buy a tailgate spot in the A2 lot behind the stadium, and there is also paid rate parking available in the I1 garage located across the street from Jake Nevin Field House. Be advised, on-site parking can only be purchased with credit cards, cash will not be accepted.

The bout will stream live on ESPN+ while statistics for the contest are available on StatBroadcast.