April 24, 2010
Final Stats
BALTIMORE, Md. - No. 13 Loyola staved off a furious rally by Villanova in the latter stages of the second half and held on for a 17-15 victory in a BIG EAST women's lacrosse match played here this afternoon. Loyola improved to 11-5 overall, 5-2 in the BIG EAST while the Wildcats fell to 7-7 overall, 0-6 in the BIG EAST.
The Greyhounds scored six of the game's first seven goals over the first 14:05 of the first half to build what seemed to be a commanding advantage. But the Wildcats were relentless in their pursuit and kept the pressure on. Senior Erica Rybinski scored three first half goals with juniors Rachel Lasda and Carly Miller also scoring in the first 30 minutes to draw Villanova to within 9-5 at intermission.
Mary Heneberry opened the second half scoring with a goal for Loyola to make it 10-4 before the Wildcats bounced back with three consecutive goals off the sticks of senior Sarah Berger, Lasda and Maria Bowman to narrow the deficit to 10-8 with 23:04 left in regulation.
A pair of free position goals by Loyola, including one from Grace Gavin who would score six goals on the day, made it 12-8 in favor of the Greyhounds. Bowman got one back for Villanova with her 15th goal of the campaign with 16:19 to go before Loyola picked up two more scores to stretch the lead to 14-9 with 14:57 left.
Sophomore Justine Donodeo scored the first of her five goals with 13:40 left to pull VU to within four. A pair of Grace goals made it 16-10 before Rybinski netted a score for the `Cats with 7:00 left. Grace scored again at 5:26 to give Loyola its final goal of the game before Donodeo scored four straight, the last coming with 39 seconds left, to get the Wildcats close.
However, Loyola was able to hold on in the final minute for the win.
Loyola owned a 33-29 edge in shots and a 24-18 advantage in ground balls.
Junior Maggie Langan made nine saves in net for Villanova.
The Wildcats return to the Main Line for the final two home games of the regular season next weekend at Villanova Stadium. Villanova hosts Cincinnati at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and then closes out the campaign on Sunday afternoon against Louisville at 12:30 p.m.
CLINIC CANCELLED: The Villanova Lacrosse Clinic scheduled for Sunday, April 25 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. has been postponed due to a weather forecast calling for heavy rain.
