In an important conference showdown with major postseason implications, the St. John’s lacrosse team fell to No. 16/15 Villanova, 10-8, on Saturday afternoon at DaSilva Memorial Field in Queens. The Wildcats (9-4, 2-1 BIG EAST) used a 4-0 scoring run in the opening half to turn a 2-1 deficit into a lead they never surrendered to hand the Johnnies (6-7, 0-4 BIG EAST) their fifth-consecutive loss. Joe Madsen led the way with a four-point effort for the Red Storm in the defeat. The sophomore scored a trio of goals and added an assist to extend his point streak to 17 games dating back to last season. Madsen has also recorded multiple goals in nine of the team’s 13 goals this year. Jason DeBenedictis also tallied a tetrad of points for the hots with a pair of second-half goals and two helpers. The senior’s first strike of the game was the seventh man-up goal of the season, tied for fifth in the nation. Christian Cuccinello led Villanova with a four-point effort of his own; while Connor Kirst tallied a hat trick for the Wildcats. Continuing his hot offensive streak, Declan Swartwood reached the 20-point plateau with his third hat trick of the season. The junior has recorded multiple points in five of his last six games and became the fifth player to score 20-plus points. With Mike Madsen sidelined with an injury, Matt Oehl stepped into the starting lineup for the Johnnies. The sophomore snapped a four-game scoreless drought with an assist while also collecting a pair of groundballs. Colin Duffy, Ryan Schaeffer, and Justin Corpolongo each added an assist with Corpolongo also finishing with 11 faceoff victories on 21 opportunities. Matt Hanley shined in-between the pipes for the hosts, turning aside a season-high 17 shots for his most stops in a St. John’s uniform. The senior finished just ten saves off his career high of 27 while still a member of St. Michael’s College. Villanova finished with a 44-32 shot advantage, including a 27-18 lead in shots that found the target. The 44 shots by the Wildcats are the second-most surrendered by the Johnnies this season, finishing only one behind the 45 fired by North Carolina. Penalties proved to be a large factor in the game, with both sides assessed multiple infractions. St. John’s converted on two of its five chances in the contest, capped off by a perfect third quarter, while Villanova tallied three of its seven opportunities. Turnovers also loomed large for both teams in the tilt, as the Red Storm committed 14 for the third most this year and the Wildcats turned it over eight times. In a high-paced affair to start, St. John’s finally got off to the start it wanted by striking for the game’s opening goal. DeBenedictis was able to escape from his defender and find Swartwood camped alone along the right side of the cage. There, the junior rocked a shot along the short side for an early 1-0 lead. The goal marked the first time since March 17 vs. Dartmouth that the Johnnies have taken a 1-0 lead in the contest. After Villanova answered just over three minutes later, Joe Madsen restored the advantage for the hosts with his 27th goal of the season. Schaeffer found Madsen, who one-timed a shot from nearly the same spot that Swartwood scored from, for a 2-1 lead with 9:06 to play in the first. Both teams had looks over the next few minutes, but the keepers stood tall to keep the score stagnant. Hanley made a great save immediately off the faceoff before Michael Toomey made a stop from distance on DeBenedictis with just over five to play in the frame. Kirst tied the game for the Wildcats with a beautiful top-shelf shot to bring the score level at two, and the visitors continued to grab momentum when the Johnnies were assessed a pair of penalties on the same play. With a pair of players in the box, both with non-releasable infractions, Villanova tallied twice on the extra-man opportunities to quickly turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead after 15 minutes of play. The Red Storm had an opportunity to cut the deficit in half early in the second quarter, earning its first man-up chance just seconds into the stanza; however, a turnover early in the opportunity allowed for an easy kill by the Wildcats. After returning to full strength, Villanova added a fifth goal when Cuccinello found Danny Seibel for his 27th strike of the season with 12:57 to play in the second. Swartwood snapped the run with his second tally of the game at the midway mark of the period. The junior blistered a shot through a screen and into the top corner to cut the lead down to 5-3 with still over six minutes to play in the half. St. John’s had multiple looks over the next few minutes to bring the deficit down to one, but Toomey made a save on Joe Madsen and the Johnnies had a pair of shots blocked by the defense. Villanova struck late in the second quarter to carry a 6-3 lead into the halftime break. The deficit marks the eighth time this season the Red Storm has trailed after 30 minutes and is 1-6 over that span. Both teams struggled to take care of the ball coming out of halftime, with multiple turnovers creating opportunities at either end. Hanley perfectly read a pass intended for behind the net to intercept the ball and push play the other way; however, Luke Roediger was denied in the offensive zone. On the next possession, Villanova gained the game’s first four-goal lead as Cuccinello added his second tally of the contest for a 7-3 advantage with 12:19 to play in the third. Moments later, Duffy emerged from a scrum with the ball and fired a no-look pass to Joe Madsen who was left unmarked at the side of the cage. The sophomore then made a pair of sweet moves in front of the net to beat the goalkeeper and quickly cut into the Villanova lead. St. John’s continued to battle back over the next minutes of the third, forcing another penalty on the Wildcats to send the Johnnies back to the extra man. On the man-up opportunity, DeBenedictis received a perfect pass from Oehl and the senior went low-to-high from his favorite spot on the field to bring the deficit down to 7-5 with plenty of time remaining. Off the ensuing faceoff, Roediger had a golden look at goal as the junior saw a free lane towards the net, but was robbed by the stick of Toomey. After a Hanley save on the other end, Swartwood took his defender one-on-one and fired a shot over the long stick and the goalkeeper to complete the hat trick and bring the deficit down to 7-6 with 5:02 to play in the third period. Following back-to-back stops by Toomey, Villanova rebuilt its lead with a late goal in the stanza and an early goal to begin the fourth for a 9-6 cushion. The Wildcats threw the kitchen sink at Hanley over the next few minutes to try and put the game out of reach, but the senior goaltender and his defense earned a stop to try and provide a spark on the other end. With momentum shifting towards the hosts, St. John’s fired the game’s next seven shots towards goal, hitting the post twice and having another pair stopped by Toomey. Villanova added a tenth goal of the game with 3:50 to play, but the Johnnies quickly answered eight seconds later when Corpolongo won a faceoff cleanly and found Joe Madsen for sophomore’s fifth hat trick of the season. DeBenedictis brought the lead down to 10-8 with the senior’s second goal of the game, but time ran out on the hosts as the Wildcats held on for the two-goal triumph. St. John’s will close out the regular season next Saturday when the Johnnies host Georgetown at DaSilva Memorial Field. Faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. and can be seen live on the BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN) presented by SoFi.