CINCINNATI, Ohio -- For the first time in program history, Villanova women's lacrosse will play in the BIG EAST Tournament for a second straight year, facing off against the No. 1 seed Denver Pioneers at Xavier's Corcoran Field at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.

BACK IN THE BIG EAST    
For the fifth time in the last 10 years, the Villanova Wildcats will play in the conference's postseason tournament. This marks the second year in a row that the 'Cats have qualified for the BIG EAST Tournament, the first time it's been back-to-back berths since joining the league in 2010. Villanova has been the fourth seed in the tournament four times now, but never advanced beyond the semifinals and into the league championship. The 'Cats will square off against the No. 13 team in the country and BIG EAST's #1 seed in the Denver Pioneers, who Villanova has never beaten before (0-10 all-time). This year, the Wildcats did manage the closest defeat to the Pios in program history during the regular season matchup as VU was ahead 7-3 at halftime before falling in an 11-8 final.

FIVE WILDCATS NAMED TO ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM    
This year's BIG EAST awards featured five Wildcats, the second year in a row that Villanova has placed five on the list and earned one major award. The 2024 conference honors for Villanova saw three new 'Cats earn the awards, including two first years. VU also captured its second ever BIG EAST Freshman of the Year with Mary Moore joining Katie Comerford as Wildcats to win top conference freshman honors. Sydney Pappas was one of nine league players to be named a unanimous all-conference First Team selection while Sami Carey picked up the second league laurel of her career and both Maddy Stoddard and Emma Verhoest earned their first career league honors.

THE SYDNEY AND SAMI SHOW    
The Villanova offense in 2024 has revolved around its pair of star junior attackers out of the Empire State: Carey and Pappas. The reigning BIG EAST Co-Attacker of the Year and First Team selection, Pappas has found the back of the net 49 times for over 29% of the team's scores. The Garden City, N.Y., native has turned in the 56th most goals in the nation, averaging 3.50 tallies per contest with a .527 shot percentage. Carey has been the yin to Pappas' yang, serving as the main feeder and X initator of the Villanova offense. Already ranking top 10 in program history for assists entering the season, the Rochester, N.Y., product holds the team high and conference fourth rank with 28 assists including an eight-helper day against Marquette for the highest Villanova mark in the last 10 years.

DIGGING INTO DENVER

• The Pioneers enter the matchup as the No. 13 team in the nation after amassing a 13-3 overall record, currently riding a 10-game win streak to end the year. Last year's DU team made it to the NCAA Final Four, using a strong defense to hold opponents to 17 total goals in the first three tournament games.
• Denver won all five of its conference contests to win the BIG EAST regular season title, even despite the final matchup against Xavier being cancelled due to extreme weather in Colorado. 
• The BIG EAST Attacker of the Year comes from DU as graduate student Julia Gilbert scored 48 goals on the year. Lauren Black (34 goals, 19 assists) and Olivia Penoyer (team's leading scorer with 63 points) each earned All-BIG EAST First Team, as did midfielder Caroline Colimore.
• Trinity McPherson picked up Defensive Player of the Year honors with 34 ground balls, 33 caused turnovers and 63 draw controls on the year, with fellow defender Anna Palmisano a unanimous first team selection and Bryn McCaughey earning mention to the second team.
• Draw specialist Abby Jenkins was an All-BIG EAST First Teamer and netminder Emelia Bohi was the second team goalie, while Denver's coaches picked up coaching staff of the year.

The contest will stream on FloLive as a BIG EAST Digital Network production, and live stats will be available on StatBroadcast.

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