Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/26/16
From Press Release
The Villanova Wildcats have been selected by the BIG EAST head coaches to finish fourth in the league in the 2016 Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced by the conference office on Monday afternoon. Reigning NCAA and BIG EAST Champions Denver was once again selected to win the league title for the third consecutive season.
Georgetown was selected second with 21 points and received the remaining first place vote, while Marquette was picked third with 16 points. Rounding out the league vote was Villanova in fourth (13 points), Providence (8 points) and St. John’s (7 points).
The Wildcats return 30 letterwinners and eight starters from last season and finished the 2015 campaign with a 6-8 overall record and 1-4 mark in BIG EAST action. They’ll look to make a fifth-straight conference tournament appearance in 2016.
Denver’s No. 1 ranking was bolstered by four preseason All-BIG EAST selections as well as a unanimous selection for Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Connor Cannizzaro and Co-Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Christian Burgdorf. Burgdorf split the votes for Defensive Player of the Year with Marquette’s long-stick midfielder Liam Byrnes. The Preseason All-BIG EAST team and Preseason Coaches’ Poll were voted on by the league’s six head coaches who could not cast votes on their ballot for their own teams or players.
The first big weekend of BIG EAST lacrosse will be Feb. 18 – 21 as all six teams compete. League play will start Saturday, April 2 with Denver at Georgetown; St. John’s at Providence and Villanova at Marquette. The 2016 BIG EAST Championship will be hosted by Denver, May 5 and May 7.
The six men’s lacrosse members of the BIG EAST participate in a five-game, single round-robin format, playing each opponent once each year. The top four teams in the conference standings determined and seeded by winning percentage in conference play at the conclusion of the regular season, will advance to compete in the postseason.
2016 Preseason Men’s Lacrosse All-BIG EAST Team and Awards
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Connor Cannizzaro, Denver, Jr., A^
Preseason Co-Defensive Players of the Year
Liam Byrnes, Marquette, Grad Student, LSM
Christian Burgdorf, Denver, Jr. D
Preseason All-BIG EAST
Nick Marrocco, Georgetown, So., GK ^
Connor Cannizzaro, Denver, Jr., A^
Eric DeJohn, St. John’s, Sr., A^
Craig Berge, Georgetown, So., M
Conor Gately, Marquette, Sr., A^
Peter Conley, Georgetown, Jr., M ^
Zach Miller, Denver, Jr., M ^
Kyle Whitlow, Marquette, R-Sr., M ^
Christian Burgdorf, Denver, Jr., D ^
B.J. Grill, Marquette, Grad Student, D ^
Jarrod Neumann, Providence, Jr., D ^
Liam Byrnes, Marquette, Grad Student, LSM ^
Trevor Baptiste, Denver, So., FO ^
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
First place votes in ( )
1. Denver – 25 pts. (5)
2. Georgetown – 21 pts. (1)
3. Marquette – 16 pts.
4. Villanova – 13 pts.
5. Providence – 8 pts.
6. St. John’s – 7 pts.
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