CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa.-The Villanova Wildcats opened the 2022 season in fine fashion on Friday afternoon with a convincing 5-1 win over the visiting Long Island Sharks.
 
Junior Amanda Middleman was the story of the game for the Wildcats as she tallied her first career hat trick scoring a goal in the first, third and fourth quarters.
 
Junior Sabine de Ruijter got the Wildcats going early with a goal at the 4:39 mark of the opening quarter. Freshman Toni Minichello registered a fourth quarter goal to round out the Villanova scoring. Senior goalie Claire Borman earned the win for the Wildcats with two saves.
 
Joanie Milhous welcomed a win to kick off her 28^th season as head coach of the Wildcats and touched upon some of the great moments that made the team successful throughout the competition.
 
"I'm really excited we scored five goals because, that's been a focus of ours to get the ball in goal," Milhous said. "I think Amanda did a great job with her hat trick. I'm excited to see Toni as a freshmen come in and score one too."
 
Villanova owned a 24-9 advantage in shots and a 17-5 advantage in corners.
 
Although it was a great win for the Wildcats, Milhous believes there is more work ahead to continue on the success of the day throughout the season.
 
"We got more corners than shots on goal. So clearly, we need to produce more on our corners," Milhous said. "I thought LIU fought hard throughout the game. I think we just need to take advantage of our opportunities that we get a little bit more. But I did like the production from us."
 
Long Island's lone goal was scored late in the second quarter by Jules Kuzmich that sent the game to halftime with Villanova leading 2-1. Shark goalie Maggie Streichert was credited with 10 saves in the loss. 
 
Villanova returns to action on Sunday when the Fairfield Stags visit the Proving Grounds. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
 
 
Game Recap By Quarters
 
1^st Quarter
- #14 Sabine de Ruijter scored a goal (4:39) off a stroke
- #17 Amanda Middleman scored a goal (4:06) assisted by #14 Sabine de Ruijter and #31 Caitlin Van Goeverden
- Shots on goal 5-0 (VU-LIU)
-Corners 4-0 (VU-LIU)
- LIU goalie #00 Maggie Streichert had 3 saves
 
2^nd Quarter
-Villanova with a 2-1 shot advantage
-Villanova with a 2-1 advantage in corners
-LIU goalie #00 Maggie Streichert had 3 saves
-LIU goal scored late in the quarter by #3 Jules Kuzmich (0:55) assisted by #18 Meilin Liotard
 
3^rd Quarter
- Goal scored by #17 Amanda Middleman (13:25) assisted by #11 Meghan Mitchell and #10 Anne Drabbe
- Villanova held 4-2 advantage in corners, including the last four to end the quarter
- Villanova with a 3-1 shot advantage
 
4^th Quarter
-Goal scored by #17 Amanda Middleman (9:54) off a corner, assisted by #4 Emma Schwarz
-Goal scored by #2 Toni Minichello (5:58) assisted by #10 Anne Drabbe and #25 Raina Smolij
-The Wildcats had a 7-1 advantage in corners
-Villanova had eight shots compared to LIU with four