Philly Phour Phocus: Dubs

Villanova made it to the NCAA Sweet 16 on Sunday. The other teams, well, they'll have to watch it.

Or they can watch local college lacrosse, which is a great segway to this week's edition of the Philly Phour Phocus, which is properly spelled for the occasion. In case you're just following along, we're following all four Philly teams as the season goes on and updating their chances of repping the great city in this year's Final Four. Have I mentioned that it's going to be in Philly? Well, I have for the past two weeks, and I will say it again, the Final Four is in Philly this year.

Last time we left you, all four teams were getting ready to play games where they could probably all get wins. Did they all get wins? To this week's Table, Sponsored by Overbrook. Overbrook: It's where Wilt Chamberlain and Will Smith went to high school:

Drexel:

The Dragons took care of St. John's at home on Saturday, 13-4. Cole Shafer scored four goals, while Robert Frazee had a hat-trick. Sophomore Will Manganiello (who went to Penncrest) had a pair of scores, while goalie Jimmy Joe Granito made 16 saves on 20 shots on goal. Drexel got off to a 7-2 halftime lead and cruised to the win.

Then yesterday, the Dragons played Binghamton and didn't do so well, falling to the Bearcats 10-7. The Dragons kept it close at 7-6 at the end of the third quarter, but the Bearcats managed to get a big final stanza to pull away late. Matthew Varian had two goals in the game while Jacob O'Donnell got a goal and an assist. Granito made 11 saves in the losing effort. Drexel takes on Mercer Saturday before starting CAA play.

Current Big Dance Chance: 5%. It's a decrease to 7% after the loss to Binghamton, and the St. John's win isn't that good. Elsewhere in the CAA, Hofstra lost and looks to be struggling, while UMass looks to be improving. It looks like Drexel will have to compete with Fairfield and Delaware for that fourth spot in the CAA Tournament.

Penn:

The Quakers had a big game in New Jersey, as they took on archrival Princeton in each of their Ivy League openers. Penn doubled up on Princeton 20-10, and the Quakers were HOT on offense. Sophomore Kevin McGeary (who went to Malvern Prep) and Freshman Simon Mathias each had five goals, while McGeary added two assists and Mathias added a helper of his own. Doktor Nick Nick Doktor successfully completed another surgery, as he scored a goal, but assisted on six others. The Dok was sharing the wealth on Saturday. Pat Berkery and Alex Roesner each had hat-tricks, while freshman goaltender Reed Junkin made 10 stops. They'll play Cornell this Saturday.

Current Big Dance Chance: 10%. They're a better team than Drexel (sorry Drexel), but getting that early Ivy League win against Princeton, who is also looking for that 4th spot in the Ivy League tournament, was huge. Cornell is also looking for that 4th spot as well, so a win against them would help their chances in the Ivy League dance. Still have to beat Yale, Brown, and/or Harvard as well.

St. Joe's:

The basketball Hawk almost died, but got saved at the buzzer against Cincinnati, but then died after a poor game against Oregon. The refs were *trash emoji* in that game.

Meanwhile, the lacrosse Hawks soared for the second straight week as they defeated fellow bird mascot Delaware and the Blue Hens 12-7. The Hawk defense, led by Shane Taggert and his game-high three caused turnovers, limited the Blue Hens to only two second half goals. Junior Mike Rastivo and sophomore Chris Blewitt each had hat-tricks, while Hayes McGinley and Kevin Forster (who went to my alma mater La Salle College High School) each scored a pair of goals. T.J. Jones made 14 stops in the win. The Hawks open NEC play on the road against Hobart, who was ranked 3rd in the NEC preseason rankings.

Current Big Dance Chance: 60%. Shoutout to Bryant to losing to Drexel last week, as they should have won that game. The Hawks went undefeated in NEC play the past two seasons and hosted the NEC Tournament. Each year, they took one small step forward, and hope to win the NEC Championship this year. A win against Hobart greatly increases their Big Dance Chances.

Villanova:

The Wildcats had the weekend off after defeating Bucknell 12-8 in a midweek clash on the road last Tuesday. High-scoring junior Jake Froccaro was held to just one goal on 13 shots, but the rest of the team picked up the slack on offense. Devin McNamara and Johnny Gallaway each scored hat-tricks, while Jack Curran and Christian Cuccinello each had a goal along with three assists. But the big story was the 12 caused turnovers the Wildcats forced, including three by the elder Froccaro. Junior goalkeeper Dan Willis recorded a season-high 11 saves in the win while defenseman John Moderski (who went to Penn Charter) scooped up a career-high eight ground balls. The 'Cats take on Fairfield on Saturday, followed by a home game against Brown on Tuesday.

Current Big Dance Chance: 75%. Nova keeps winning, which obviously helps with their Big Dance Chances. They're also still in the top 10 in all of the polls. One concern is the lack of a quality win. They fell to Harvard in overtime in the first game of the season, but crushed then-15th ranked Penn State by 10 goals. They're now unranked. They can get a resume building win on Tuesday against Brown. That will really help.

And now, let's dance!