Fairfield, Conn.- The Villanova Wildcats defeated the Fairfield Stags on Saturday afternoon by a final of 12-8. The Wildcats scored four goals in the final quarter and kept the Stags scoreless to secure the win.
Villanova and Fairfield were tied six different times throughout the game including 4-4 at the half.
Corey McManus tied the game up at one,
Eric Overbay made the game 2-2, while
Michael Ubriaco made it 3-3- midway though the second. McManus gave Villanova their first lead of the game, 4-3, at the 6:39 mark in the second but Fairfield tied it before halftime.
The Stags netted the first goal of the third and
Keegan Khan tied this up once again with a goal a minute later to make it 5-5. Fairfield then scored back-to-back goals to take their biggest lead before
Connor Kirst brought the Wildcats within one. Taylor Strough scored his second goal of the game with 3:45 to go in the third quarter to give the Stags a 8-6 lead; this would be Fairfield's final goal of the game.
Villanova closed out the game on a six goal run that started with 48 seconds to go in the third. McManus completed a hat-trick and Khan scored his second with just five seconds to go in the quarter to tie the game at 8-8.
Kirst gave the Wildcats the lead just 40 seconds into the final quarter on a pass from
Matt Campbell. Ubriaco netted his second goal of the game on a dish from
Jack Kinnear at the 7:04 mark. McManus scored his fourth goal in the closing minutes while Kirst netted the final at the 1:46 mark on a pass from Khan.
Zack Ornstein had success at the faceoff X against the Stags going 12-for-15 with four ground balls.
TJ Comizio had a game high seven ground balls and caused two turnovers. Fellow SSDM
Chris Donovan also caused two turnovers while the team had 10.
Will Vitton had a career high 14 saves on Saturday including four in the final quarter to keep Fairfield scoreless.
The Wildcats will take on Brown Monday afternoon in Providence, Rhode Island. On Saturday the Bears lost to UMass on the road by a final of 14-7. Game time on Monday is set for 3:00 P.M. and can be seen on ESPN+.
