The Villanova women's lacrosse team will have a new teammate on the sidelines for tonight's game against Georgetown.

Standing at 34.5 inches, 2-year-old attack Lilly Ibbotson (Hatboro, Pa.) is the newest Wildcat on the 2017 roster. She is joining Villanova on the sideline tonight through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation's Adopt-A-Child Program.

The Hopewell Junction, N.Y. based charity helps improve the quality of life for children battling pediatric brain tumors and other childhood cancers and to raise awareness. They pair children and their siblings with local high school and college sports teams, campus clubs, and arts programs in their community.

Lilly was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma just over a year ago, in March of 2016. Neuroblastoma is a type of cancer that starts in early forms of nerve cells, according to cancer.org.

As an infant, Lilly often experienced respiratory issues. Doctors thought that Lilly would eventually grow out it, claiming it could be asthma. Lilly's mother, Nicole, kept taking Lilly to different specialists to see if she would get a second opinion on her daughter's troubles.

"I knew it was time to take a more aggressive route to get answers," explained Nicole. "After Lilly appeared to be in respiratory distress, I rushed her to a local Emergency Room where they transferred her to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). From there, Lilly was diagnosed with cancer".

When doctors discovered the mass, it was approximately three quarters the size of her chest. Doctors immediately performed surgery to extract it.

The surgery was unsuccessful.

To breathe, doctors installed a ventilator into Lilly's windpipe to help her breathe and medically induced her into a coma.

The coma lasted for weeks.

In the intensive care unit, doctors implanted a port under Lilly's skin to administer the chemotherapy treatments in order to save her life. A few weeks later, she was discharged from CHOP.

"We had not seen a smile on her face in weeks," continued Nicole.

"The first thing she did when she seen the sun when we pulled out of the parking garage was smile and laugh. She was so happy to be out of the hospital."

Lilly continued chemotherapy treatments throughout this past summer. Even while going through difficult and draining treatments, she still managed to have fun.

"She often got sick and lost her hair but that didn't stop her from running around everywhere," Nicole noted.

Since the summer, Lilly has had several surgeries, transfusions, and scans. While the mass has shrunk significantly, it remains active and still causes Lilly respiratory troubles. Doctors continue to monitor activity in the mass every three months.

"It's just a pure coincidence with Kathleen O'Connor's battle with cancer and Lilly joining our team during the same season," said Villanova head coach Julie Young. "This is an opportunity for us to support Lilly and her family during her treatments. She's only two-years old, but I think she will remember this experience. We're excited to have her on the team and hopefully she'll be a part of our program for years to come. We look forward to supporting her and help her through her journey."

The players have really enjoyed Lilly's company and have noticed an improvement in her health and in her spirit.

"When we first met Lilly in December, she was pretty shy and overwhelmed by the size of the team," explained senior Sam Scarfogliero. "But when we saw her a few weeks ago, she was running all over the locker room and playing one-on-one with players. We had lunch and gave her a locker and she looked so happy.We noticed she was bigger and her hair was back so that was exciting to see."

Villanova assistant coach Rachel Vallarelli has been involved with the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation since her time as a student-athlete at UMass-Amherst. The Minutewomen `adopted' Lexi and she was a apart of the UMass women's lacrosse program until she was a senior in high school.

"The organization as a whole is about giving kids an opportunity to have a support system," said Vallarelli about FOJ. "They would not usually get that opportunity since they are usually at the hospital getting treatments.

The adopt-a-child program helps to give the kids something to look forward to. The kids are a apart of the teams and it means a great deal to both the child and the family."

For updates on Lilly's journey, `like' her Facebook page.