VILLANOVA, Pa.—Field hockey head coach Joanie Milhous has announced the Villanova schedule for the upcoming 2022 season and the Wildcats will open their 17-game slate with an afternoon home game against LIU on Friday, August 26. This year's schedule features 10 home dates at the Proving Grounds in nearby Conshohocken which has been the team's home facility since 2016.
 
A squad that will be led by several veteran performers will play 10 non-conference games during the season in addition to the seven-game regular season BIG EAST slate. Conference play begins on the road against Providence on Friday, September 16, while the BIG EAST home opener takes place one week later when Villanova hosts Temple at the Proving Grounds.
 
Among the highlights on the 2022 calendar are three different three-game homestands during the year. The first of those includes the first three games of the season when the Wildcats take on LIU, Fairfield (August 28) and Hofstra (September 2). Villanova will also play three straight home games midway through the season against Saint Francis (September 18), Temple and La Salle (September 25). Later in the year, each of the final three games of the regular season are at home against Davidson (October 16), Quinnipiac (October 21) and Georgetown (October 28).
 
The remainder of the non-conference schedule features road games against Ball State (September 4), Penn (September 11), Lehigh (October 3) and Towson (October 9).
 
Villanova will play four of its seven BIG EAST games at home against Temple, Liberty (October 7), Quinnipiac and Georgetown. The road conference schedule has trips to Providence, Old Dominion (September 30) and Connecticut (October 14). Following the regular season, the top four teams in the BIG EAST standings will qualify for the BIG EAST Championship which will be played this year at Old Dominion on November 4 and 6. The Wildcats have reached the conference tournament on 13 previous occasions.
 
Villanova won six games last season and will be led in 2022 by the veteran duo of juniors Meghan Mitchell (Villanova, Pa.) and Sabine de Ruijter (Huizen, Netherlands) who each earned All-BIG EAST honors for the 2021 campaign. Mitchell was a first team all-conference selection and went on to garner NFHCA Mid-Atlantic All-Region first team accolades. This summer she was selected to participate in the Senior NEXUS Championship in Virginia Beach, Va.