Men's Lacrosse Knocks off #6 Villanova

Monday, March 27

Villanova, Pa.

3 p.m.

Brown University

4-4

Villanova

7-2

Brown

Villanova

Photo by: Andy Lewis

3/27/2023 6:12:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

VILLANOVA, Pa. – Connor Theriault recorded a season-high 22 saves and Devon McLane added six points as the Brown Bears (4-4, 0-1 Ivy League) took a 13-11 road win over the sixth-ranked Villanova Wildcats (7-2, 0-0 Big East) Monday afternoon at Villanova Stadium.

"Great team effort today," said head coach Mike Daly. "I'm proud of our players and staff. They earned a hard-fought win on the road. I'm happy for them and happy to get this team over the hump."

Devon McLane factored in Brown's first three goals, scoring twice and adding an assist on Ben Locke's goal to give the Bears a 3-1 lead halfway through the opening quarter.

Griffin King scored Bruno's final two goals of the quarter against Villanova goalie Will Vitton (8 saves) to give the Bears a 5-2 lead through 15 minutes.

Theriault was sharp from the jump and recorded six saves in the first quarter. Matthew Gunty began the game for the Bears and went 3-for-4 at X before missing the remainder of the contest.

Dash Sachs took the bulk of the faceoffs for the rest of the game and finished with a 13-for-18 effort with eight ground balls, all marking career-highs for the sophomore.

The Wildcats battled back in the second quarter as Matt Campbell recorded his third goal of the game with 2:42 remaining in the first half to tie the game at 6-6. Locke recorded his second of the game earlier in the frame with Devon picking up his second assist.

Mason Reale made it 7-6 Wildcats with 13 seconds left in the second quarter to give Nova the halftime lead.

Brown turned the tide in the second half with a six-goal run in the opening 7:36 of the third quarter to take a 12-7 lead. Marcus Wertheim, Gibson Linnehan, and Aidan McLane scored the first three goals of the run.

After Ryan Behrens made it 10-7 Bears, senior Logan Paff broke the Villanova 10-man ride with a long-distance strike for his fourth goal of the season. Matteo Corsi capped the scoring run with Devon picking up his third assist of the afternoon.

Lucas Raymond and Patrick Daly cut into the Bruno lead with Wildcat goals to end the third quarter and start the fourth quarter, respectively. Theriault made consecutive saves against Gavin Derham and Reale with 8:50 remaining to preserve the three-goal lead.

After cutting the lead to two with 4:39 remaining, Villanova had a chance at making it a one-goal game, but Theriault recorded saves 20 and 21 of the game with 3:30 remaining to keep the Bears ahead.

GAME NOTES

Devon McLane's third goal and sixth point of the night marked the 100th point of the senior's career. He is the 35th Bear to reach the 100-point milestone.
Theriault's 22-saves are the second-most of his career. The junior made 24 saves in Brown's win at Cornell last season.
Linnehan recorded his first career goal in Brown's second-half scoring run.
Villanova finished the game with a 48-37 edge in shots and a 33-21 edge in shots on goal. The Wildcats had 33 ground balls compared to 31 for the Bears.
Brown snapped a three-game losing streak and snapped Villanova's six-game winning streak.

Brown returns to Ivy League conference play and wraps up the three-game road trip on Saturday, April 1 against the 18th-ranked Princeton Tigers (3-4, 1-1 Ivy League). Saturday's game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+.

Gallery: (3-27-2023) MLAX at #6 Villanova (3/27/23)

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