LYNCHBURG, Va.—Sophomore goalie
Claire Borman (West Chester, Pa.) had a career-high 11 saves and sophomore forward
Maggie Mick (Lake Forest, Ill.) notched her second career goal as Villanova (0-1, 0-1 BIG EAST) opened its season with a 7-1 loss to Liberty (2-0, 1-0 BIG EAST) at the Liberty Field Hockey Field on Saturday afternoon. Mick tallied the Wildcats first goal of the season in the fourth quarter.
Saturday's game was the first of two consecutive contests between Villanova and the Flames this weekend. The schedule format for the spring portion of the 2020 season includes BIG EAST opponents playing two games against each other at the same location during a weekend series.
Borman and the Wildcats defense mostly contained Liberty for the first 25 minutes of the contest. A goal in the second minute of the game gave the Flames an early 1-0 lead, but Villanova stayed within that one-goal margin until there was 4:25 left before halftime. Borman made two saves in the first quarter and five in the second period to thwart a number of scoring chances.
A pair of goals two minutes apart late in the second period sent Liberty into the intermission with a 3-0 lead and the Flames added two more tallies in both the second and third periods.
Mick notched the final tally of the game when she scored with 5:09 to play in the fourth quarter. She took a pass from senior midfielder
Riley Dolan (Broomall, Pa.) and then beat the Liberty keeper with a forehand shot from in close.
Senior forward
Emily Clarke (Garden City, N.Y.) led the Wildcats with two shots and junior midfielder
Katie Capalbo (Wallingford, Pa.) recorded a shot on goal.
VILLANOVA NOTES
- Borman's previous career high of eight saves was recorded twice last season, first in an overtime win against Bucknell and later in her first collegiate start versus Connecticut.
- Freshman forward Meghan Mitchell (Villanova, Pa.), freshman midfielder Jamie Pennington (Langhorne, Pa.) and freshman back Sabine de Ruijter (Huizen, Netherlands) all earned starts in their first collegiate games. Fellow freshmen Amanda Middleman (Berlin, N.J.) and Mia Coval (Orefield, Pa.) also made their Villanova debuts.
- Sunday's contest gets underway at 1 p.m. to complete the two-game weekend set.
