March 24, 2012

Box Score

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Villanova women's lacrosse squad (2-5) enjoyed an offensive explosion en route to defeating Manhattan 15-5 on Saturday night at Villanova Stadium.

The Wildcats used a balanced attack with eight players scoring in the game, led by senior Justine Donodeo with three goals. Juniors Annie Fallon and Arielle Urban, along with sophomore Ali Brandenburg and freshmen Jessica Mucci and Hannah Goforth all scored two goals for Villanova. Sophomore Caroline Guidera and freshman Elise Bendinelli netted one goal apiece.

Sophomore Christine O'Reilly and junior Shawn Giust won five and three draw controls, respectively.

Villanova got on the board first with back-to-back goals from Brandenburg and Donodeo to take a quick 2-0 lead in the game. Manhattan responded at the 18:01 mark with a goal from Donna Jo DiNorcia, but the Wildcats pushed back to score four unanswered goals for a 6-1 advantage with 6:56 remaining in the half.

The Jaspers scored two additional goals before the break, but Villanova's offense continued to attack as the squad headed into the break with an 8-3 advantage.

Gorforth scored quickly just 1:10 into the second half on an assist from Donodeo, who pressed and scored less than a minute later.

At the 23:04 mark DiNorcia found the net on an unassisted goal to pull within 11-4, but Villanova continued to press and scored four additional goals to extend its lead, 15-4. The Jaspers added on goal from Tara Convery with less than one minute in the game as the Wildcats went on to post a 15-5 victory.

Every Wildcat who was able to play saw action in the game on Saturday. Kerry Anderson picked up three ground balls in the game and won two draw controls.

In goal, junior Dani Wiedmeier earned her first win of the season. She played 46 minutes and tallied five saves. Classmate Amanda Hirschfeld played 13:54 and had two saves.

The Wildcats will be back in action on Tuesday, March 27 as they host Lehigh for a 6:00 p.m. tilt in Villanova Stadium.