PROVIDENCE HITS THE ROAD FOR SEASON OPENER… The Friars will open the 2026 season on the road at Holy Cross on Saturday, Jan. 31. The game will be moved inside due to weather-related field conditions and WILL NOT be open to fans/spectators. Faceoff is set for 4:30 p.m. and will be available to watch on YouTube.
LIVE STATS AND STREAM… The game will be broadcast live on YouTube. Links to the broadcast, in addition to live stats, can be found on Friars.com by navigating to the men’s lacrosse schedule.
SERIES BREAKDOWN… Saturday’s game between Providence and Holy Cross will mark the 37th meeting between the two programs all-time. Providence leads the series 19-17. Providence has earned victories in each of the last 10 meetings between the two teams. Holy Cross is Providence’s most frequent opponent with 36 games played against Crusaders (Siena – 31 and Brown – 30).
MOST RECENT MEETING… The two teams last met in the 2025 season opener in Providence, R.I. The Friars defeated Holy Cross, 15-8. Richie Joseph led the Friars’ offense with a career-high eight goals.
RICHIE JOSEPH MOVING UP ALL-TIME CAREER SCORING AND GOALS LIST… Senior Richie Joseph is currently 17th on the Friars’ all-time scoring list and tied for 10th on the all-time career goals list. He enters the 2026 season with 122 career points on 90 goals and 32 assists.
100-GOAL MILESTONE… Richie Joseph enters Saturday’s game with 90 career goals. He needs 10 to eclipse the 100-goal milestone in his career. Should he achive the feat, he will become the seventh player in program history to do so.
TWO FRIARS EARN PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST HONORS… Attackers Richie Joseph and Rhett Chambers have been named to the 2026 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Joseph, who earned Preseason All-BIG EAST recognition for the second-straight year, also was named Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Joseph was one of nine unanimous selections on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Last season, Joseph earned First-Team All-BIG EAST and BIG EAST All-Tournament Team honors.
RICHIE JOSEPH BECOMES SECOND FRIAR ALL-TIME TO BE NAMED PRESEASON BIG EAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR… A Friar has earned Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year honors for the second-consecutive season. Richie Joseph earned the honor heading into the 2026 campaign, while Ryan Bell was recognized last season (2025). The two players are the only players in Providence College men’s lacrosse history to earn Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, since the league began sponsoring men’s lacrosse in 2010.
HOW THE FRIARS FARED IN 2025… Providence College posted a 7-8 overall record in 2025, including a 3-2 mark in the BIG EAST. The Friars earned the No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament and fell to No. 2 Villanova, 14-13, in the semifinals. The Friars compiled a 4-2 record at home on Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium and were 3-5 on the road. One of the season highlights was a 10-6 victory over No. 16 Denver in Denver, Colo. The victory helped Providence clinch a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament with one game remaining on the schedule. It also marked the Friars’ first win over Denver all-time, snapping a 15-game winless streak to the Pioneers. Providence faced six nationally-ranked opponents during the 2025 season and compiled a 1-5 record.
MEET THE STAFF… Providence enters its fourth season under Head Coach Bobby Benson. He is the first coach in program history to guide the Friars to a BIG EAST berth in three-straight seasons (2023, 2024, 2025). Prior to Providence, Benson spent two seasons at Maryland as the offensive coordinator during the Terps’ run to the NCAA title in 2022. Maryland registered a 33-1 record during Benson’s tenure, earned two Big Ten Championships and made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Championship game. Casey Brodersen, who spent 12 seasons as the Associate Head Coach at Bryant, was hired by Bobby Benson to serve as Associate Head Coach at Providence in 2023. He helped the Bulldogs to six NEC titles and five NCAA Tournament appearances. Carroll Kennedy joined the Friars as an Assistant Coach in 2023. Kennedy worked alongside Benson at Maryland during the 2022 season and was previously named USILA Assistant Coach of the Year while at Limestone University in 2015. Shawn Ewert joined the staff for the 2024 season as an Assistant Coach. Before joining the Providence staff, Ewert spent the previous two seasons at Florida Southern, where he served as assistant coach and offensive coordinator. During his tenure, he helped guide Florida Southern to a 25-11 record.
KEY RETURNERS… The Friars are bringing back three out of their top five point scorers from last season. Richie Joseph returns for his senior season after finishing second on the team in goals (37) and assists (11), and third in points (48). Joseph was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team and the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team. Junior Rhett Chambers will look to build on his successful 2025 campaign. He finished fourth on the team in points (26), goals (18), and assists (eight), all of which marked career bests. Chambers was recognized with NEILA Division I All-New England Second Team honors. Jay Wilkerson will return for his sophomore year after finishing his rookie campaign fifth on the team in scoring with 15 points on 12 goals and three assists.
Senior Dean Metzger will anchor the Providence defense. Metzger started all 15 games for the Friars last season and recorded seven caused turnovers and 20 ground balls. Senior Ian Olenik will provide defensive support at midfield as a long stick midfielder. Olenik registered a team-best 16 caused turnovers and added 25 ground balls last season.
WELCOME TO FRIARTOWN… The Friars welcomed 12 freshmen to the men’s lacrosse program in the fall of 2025. The incoming freshmen include Cooper Anderson (Minneapolis, Minn.), Jack Bonello (Great Falls, Va.), Sam Clark (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), Aiden Eriksen (Tampa, Fla.), Brady Garcia (Baldwinsville, N.Y.), Luke Jaeger (Southlake, Texas), Cannon Ridinger (Charlotte, N.C.), Nate Smith (Avon Lake, Ohio), Ben Stone (Greenwood Village, Colo.), Cam Wheelans (Oshawa, Ont.), Robby White (Whitby, Ont.) and Trent Yelton (Liberty Township, Ohio).
Additionally, three transfer joined the Friars roster in the fall of 2025. The transfers include junior Chris Esposito (Gloucester, Mass.) from Stony Brook, junior Matt Lazzaro (Franklin, Mass.) from Penn State and junior Cam Mesh (Spencerport, N.Y.) form SUNY Brockport.
FRIARS PICKED TO FINISH FIFTH IN BIG EAST PRESEASON POLL… Providence was picked to finish fifth in the 2026 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll (11 points). Georgetown was picked to win the league, having collected five first-place votes and 25 points overall. Villanova (21 points) was second and Denver (16 points) was selected third. Marquette was selected fourth (12 points). Rounding out the conference standings was St. John’s (five points).
SCOUTING HOLY CROSS… The Crusaders closed out the 2025 season with a 4-11 overall record and a 1-7 mark in the Patriot Leauge. They averaged 8.33 goals on 36.5 shots per game and generated 8.67 caused turnovers per game. Holy Cross was picked to finish ninth in the Patriot League Preseason Coaches’ Poll (nine points).
CRUSADERS TO WATCH… Holy Cross returns its top two goal scorers from last season. Junior midfield Jude Lynch and senior attack/midfield Will Messineo each scored 20 goals last season for the Crusaders.
The Crusaders return their leaders on defense for the 2026 season. Seniors long stick midfield/defender Michael Rincon recorded a team-high 25 caused turnovers and added 34 ground balls. Senior Julian Jenkins registered 24 caused turnovers and a team-best 35 groundballs.
WHAT’S NEXT… Providence College will return to Providence, R.I. to host Bryant on Saturday, Feb. 7 in its home opener on Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium. The game is scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on Friars Live.