SAN DIEGO – After trailing by five goals through much of the first period, Villanova could only get back within as much as three goals, falling to No. 15 UC San Diego 16-6 in its Aztec Invitational finale at the Aztec Aquaplex.
Villanova (10-10) could not stop No. 15 UC San Diego (7-13) from scoring early and often, facing three scoring runs of four goals or more throughout the loss. The Tritons had 14 goal scorers compared to five from the Wildcats.
Emily McKenzie led the Blue and White with two goals.
The Tritons needed nearly two and a half minutes to build a 2-0 lead on goals from Caroline Christl and Courtney Okumura.
Isabel Foley was whistled with a penalty at the 3:43 mark, setting UC San Diego up for a five-meter attempt that Lucia Doak connected on to make it a 3-0 advantage. Almost 20 seconds later, the Tritons extended their lead with a Kendall Thomas goal before Maja Layden added another goal for a 5-0 lead.
Lauren Picard ended the scoring run with a powerplay goal with 10 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 5-1 through the first.
Annika Arroyo scored the first goal of the second within the first two minutes of the period to push the UC San Diego lead back out to five.
Allie Hansen quickly netted an answer at the 5:59 mark to make it a 6-2 game. McKenzie cut the Tritons' lead in half with a goal halfway through the second, but Abby Moll and Grayson Mix scored back-to-back chances to get back up to an 8-3 lead. Layden connected on a chance with five seconds left, pushing the UC San Diego advantage to 9-3 at the break.
UC San Diego's scoring run continued as the third period began, moving it to a 4-0 sprint that was ended by McKenzie at the 2:57 mark to make it a 10-4 score. Okumura netted a powerplay chance that was followed by an
Adrienne Grimes powerplay goal in the final minute for an 11-5 contest ahead of the fourth.
It took just 52 seconds into the fourth for UC San Diego to tack on a goal from Maddie Solares, pushing the lead out to seven goals at 12-5.
Emily Morrissey retaliated 11 seconds later for the 'Cats to get within six at 12-6, but the Tritons closed the game on a 4-0 run.
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play opens for Villanova next weekend at Wagner. The 'Cats take on LIU and VMI on March 18 before facing the hosting Seahawks on March 19.
