Box Score VILLANOVA – Seven Wildcats found the back of the net in a 20-11 loss to No. 21 Harvard in the season opener on Saturday morning at the Villanova Swim Complex.
Stella Byles led Villanova (0-1) with three goals on her five shot attempts in the loss, giving her three points in the game.
Amanda Rice also tallied three points on a goal and two assists. In net,
Abigail Shelby saved seven Harvard (1-0) shots while tacking on two steals.
"Stella led the way," head coach
Larry Sanders said. "Played a solid game, leading scorer with three goals and a strong defensive effort. Doing the little things that don't always add up in the box scores."
Villanova grabbed its first lead at the 2:58 mark of the first quarter after back-to-back goals from
Stella Byles and
Sydney Bianchi. Harvard held a 4-3 advantage by the end of the first period. Both teams capitalized on all five powerplays seen in the frame with Villanova going 2-for-2.
By the halftime break, Villanova was trailing 9-6 after
Amanda Rice,
Emily McKenzie and
Lauren Picard tacked on goals in the second frame. One of Harvard's goals came on a penalty shot at the 7:26 mark of the second quarter after a penalty was called on Rice.
The 'Cats scored three goals for a third consecutive frame, two of those coming from Byles in a span of 40 seconds to cut the deficit to three at 11-8. Villanova was outscored 4-1 after those goals, facing a 15-9 score heading into the fourth.
Allie Hansen drew an exclusion early in the fourth to give Villanova a powerplay.
Isabel Herbst took the advantage with a goal assisted by Rice. The sides exchanged goals until the Crimson went on a 4-0 run to close the contest.
Villanova shot .379 in the loss, trailing in shots 37-29. Both Byles and Bianchi led the Wildcats with five attempts each.
Harvard's Grace Thawley led all players with five goals on seven shots. Both Dany Zapata and Kaity Greenwald added on four points each. Alexis Kieckhafer and Anne-Charlotte Gillard split time in net for Crimson, allowing six and five goals, respectively. Gillard led Harvard with six saves.
Villanova is back in the pool at 4 p.m. this afternoon to face Iona in the final contest of the day.
