March 15, 2001

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Kim Maron's goal with 3:59 left in the second half lifted Lafayette to an 8-7 victory over the Villanova Wildcats in the Patriot League opener for both teams on a rainy afternoon at Villanova Stadium.

The contest was tight throughout and there were seven lead changes. The Wildcats cracked the scoring column first when sophomore Jackie Higgins scored at the 16:44 mark of the first half. Heather McLelland scored the next two goals for the Leopards to give Lafayette a 2-1 edge at the 12:35 mark. But Meghan Carolan and Cecily Pierce each scored for Villanova within two minutes near the end of the first period. Jill Marvin tied it for Lafayette at the 1:22 mark. Each team scored again before intermission to make it 4-4 at halftime.

Erin Gallagher thrust Lafayette (1-1 overall, 1-0 Patriot League) back into the lead at the 26:06 mark of the second half. But freshman Rachel Damalouji scored her first career goal for the 'Cats at the 23:44 mark to even matters at five. Pierce's second of the day made it 6-5 Villanova before Gallagher and McLelland scored in succession to give the Leopards a 7-6 advantage. Pierce scored for a third time at 7:32 to knot the contest at seven, which set the stage for Maron's dramatic score from directly in front of Villanova goalkeeper Brandy Grenier.

Villanova (1-2 overall, 0-1 Patriot League) travels to La Salle to meet the Explorers this Saturday at noon.