Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/25/18
From Press Release
Villanova senior midfielder Devin McNamara, and senior attackmen Christian Cuccinello and Danny Seibel have been selected to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team as announced by the conference office on Wednesday afternoon. The Wildcats have been selected by the BIG EAST head coaches to finish second in the league in the 2019 Preseason Coaches’ Poll, receiving 21 points and one first place vote.
McNamara was a unanimous selection to the BIG EAST Preseason Team. The midfielder last season netted 14 goals and dished out the same amount of assists for a total of 28 points. Last season, he was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team and was named a USILA Scholar All-American.
Cuccinello is coming off a successful 2017 season where he scored 33 goals, had a team and conference high 31 assists for 64 points on the year. Also a unanimous selection to the Preseason Team, he was also named to the All-BIG EAST First Team in 2017. Last season, Cuccinello had a career high five goal performance against Marquette during the Wildcats overtime victory.
Seibel finished the 2017 season with 34 points on 23 goals and eight assists. Last season Seibel netted the Wildcats winning goal in overtime against Maryland; this was Villanova first win against the Terps in program history.
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 2018 season will mark the sixth for the BIG EAST Championship which will be held on May 3rd and 5th at Villanova University. 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.
The Wildcats will open the season on February 3rd when they travel to Penn State. Game time is slated for 1:00 P.M.
2018 Preseason Men’s Lacrosse All-BIG EAST Team and Awards
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Ethan Walker, Denver
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Trevor Baptiste, Denver
Preseason All-BIG EAST *
^ Tate Boyce, Providence, Jr., GK
Cole Blazer, Marquette, Sr., GK
^ Daniel Bucaro, Georgetown, Jr., A
^ Ethan Walker, Denver, So., A
^ Christian Cuccinello, Villanova, Sr., A
Danny Seibel, Villanova, Sr., A
^ Colton Jackson, Denver, Jr., M
^ Craig Berge, Georgetown, Sr., M
^ Devin McNamara, Villanova, Grad., M
Conner Byrne, Providence, Sr., M
Connor Donahue, Denver, Sr., M
^Nick Grill, Marquette, So., D
^Dylan Gaines, Denver, Jr., D
^ James Barclay, Providence, Sr., D
Pat Smyth (Springfield-Delco/ Duke’s LC, HEADstrong), St. John’s, So., D
^ Sean Mayle, Denver, Sr., LSM
^ Trevor Baptiste, Denver, Sr., FOS
Zachary Melillo, Marquette, Sr., FOS
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
First place votes in ( )
Denver – 25 pts. (5)
Villanova – 21 pts. (1)
Providence – 16 pts.
Marquette – 14 pts.
Georgetown – 9 pts.
St. John’s – 5 pts.
^ – denotes unanimous selection¬¬¬¬
* – due to a tie in voting, there are 19 members on the all-BIG EAST preseason team