2015 Villanova Field Hockey Schedule

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Villanova field hockey head coach Joanie Milhous unveiled the upcoming 2015 schedule on Thursday, June 18th. The Wildcats are set to compete against some of the toughest competition in the nation as they look to return to the BIG EAST Tournament and NCAA Championship at the culmination of the regular season.

A strong out of conference slate awaits Villanova at the start of the year set to begin officially on Friday, August 28th. Following a warm-up scrimmage on their home turf on August 22nd, the Wildcats will host Sacred Heart (Aug. 28, 7pm), La Salle (Aug. 30, 12pm) and Ball State (Sept. 4, 4pm) at Villanova Stadium to begin the season.

Following their August home stint, Villanova will travel to Monmouth (Sept. 6, 1pm), Rutgers (Sept. 12, 1pm) and face Philadelphia-rival Penn (Sept. 16, 4pm) for a three game away stand at the start of September. Monmouth, the reigning MAAC champions, finished the 2014 season with a 13-8 overall record and is one of two teams Villanova will face in 2015 that advanced to the NCAA tournament just a year ago. September 16th contest against the Quakers will mark the 32nd overall meeting between the two schools where the all-time series currently stands at 14-15-2.

A pair of home games against Fairfield (Sept. 20, 12pm) and Siena (Sept. 25, 7pm) and an away match at Towson (Sept. 27, 12pm) round out the month of September and will mark the 4th all-time meeting for Villanova with all three schools. The Wildcats split the 2014 contests with Fairfield and Siena, posting a 4-2 loss against the Stags and a 2-1 win against the Saints. The Sept. 27th match against Towson marks the first time the Wildcats and Tigers will meet in over 17 years dating back to October 20th, 1998 where Villanova posted a 3-0 win at home.

Saturday, October 3rd begins the BIG EAST portion of Villanova's schedule as they start the first week of conference action with an away game against Connecticut (Oct. 3, 12pm), the reigning 2013 and 2014 National Champions. Just one day later, the Wildcats return home to Villanova Stadium to host St. Francis (Oct. 4, 1pm).

The remainder of Villanova's regular season features just one away match at Georgetown (Oct. 16, 1pm) while the Wildcats host Providence (Oct. 9, 7pm), Rider (Oct. 11, 12pm), Old Dominion (Oct. 23, 4pm) and Temple (Oct. 31, 12pm) to finish the regular season. BIG EAST foes ODU and Temple concluded the 2014 season ranked in the top-20 of the NFHCA national polls while the Wildcats game against the Owls will mark Senior Recognition Day for Villanova's six graduating upperclassmen.

The quest for the conference championship begins on November 6rd and concludes just two days later for the all-important automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Villanova will look to dethrone Connecticut as the 2013 and 2014 BIG EAST Champions for the automatic NCAA tournament invitation.

The Wildcats return 12 letterwinners from the 2014 squad that finished the season 4-14 overall and 1-5 in the BIG EAST. Villanova is set to welcome six newcomers to the team for the 2015 season while senior forward Kayla Kenney returns as the team's top point scorer with four goals and four assists last season.