VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova Field Hockey welcomed Penn Friday afternoon for a 4 p.m. matchup. The Wildcats were defeated 2-1 despite strong effort through all 70 minutes of action.

Villanova was first to score after earning a corner opportunity early in the first. Lydia Sydnor was the first to shoot off the insert, but her shot was saved by Penn's goalie Ava Rosati. With 5:45 on the board, Emma McLaughlin was able to convert the rebound from Rosati's save and put the 'Cats on the board while also scoring her first goal of the season.

Villanova was able to hold Penn off for about seven minutes before they tied things up. The Quakers earned two corners between from the time the Wildcats scored to the time they scored. The second penalty is when Penn was able to take advantage of the opportunity and net one in. Erin Kelly inserted the corner for the Quakers and received a pass back from Alexa Schneck to make the score 1-1.

The rest of the first half remained scoreless as each team fought to hold one another off and gain the lead. The Wildcats took five shots for the remaining 29 minutes after their first goal while the Quakers took two after their goal with 22 minutes remaining.

The story was the same for a majority of the second half. For 29 minutes, neither the Wildcats or Quakers could score. Throughout this time Penn made eight shot attempts which required Villanova to stay back heavily on defense.

In the remaining five and a half minutes Penn was able to score. Paige Meily passed her blocked shot off to Rachel Mirkin and the Quakers grabbed the late 2-1 lead.

The Wildcats made 8 shot attempts in the second half. Fighting to send the contest into overtime, four of the 'Cats shot attempts came quickly after one another, all within the last five minutes.

As the clock ran out Villanova was able to earn two penalty corners. Lydia Sydnor was able to get a shot during each corner but was ultimately blocked in the first one and just wide on the second.

Despite the Wildcats leading in shots, saves and corners they were unable to capitalize on those opportunities. The 'Cats recorded 15 shots, seven saves and nine corners on the evening while Penn tallied 13 shots, five saves and seven corners. Erika Miller recorded six of the seven saves for VU and Kiwi Comizio recorded a defensive save.

Villanova looks to get back on the right track with a trip to New Haven, Conn. on Sunday, Sept. 9 when they face Sacred Heart (4-1) at 4 p.m. The contest will be played at Johnson Field at Yale University.