VILLANOVA, Pa. – After battling to a one-goal lead at the halftime break, Villanova saw its advantage erased by a five-goal run by Mount St. Mary's, falling 13-10 on Saturday's Senior Day at the Villanova Swim Complex.
Villanova (14-17, 4-7 MAAC) celebrated
Emily Morrissey,
Lauren Picard and
Allie Hansen ahead of Saturday's game with Mount St. Mary's (14-9, 6-5 MAAC). Morrissey and Hansen accounted for five of the team's 13 points in the loss with Morrissey netting a hat trick and Hansen grabbing a goal and an assist.
Amelia Baca also had a three-goal outing while
Stella Byles led the team with four points on a pair of goals and assists.
Morrissey and Byles opened the scoring to give Villanova a 3-0 advantage with Morrissey capping the run with a powerplay goal. The Mountaineers needed just 20 seconds after that goal to answer with one of their own as Ana Luisa Cotta cut the lead down to two.
Anna Painter put the lead back out to three, but Rebecca Valentine countered, making it a 4-2 game through the first period.
The Mount opened the second quarter with two more goals, this time from Mara Davis and Heather Lock to level the game at 4-4. Baca found the back of the net a short time after Lock's goal, but an exclusion on
Isabel Foley gave Mount St. Mary's a chance to tie it again. Annefleuer Ten Bloemendal moved the twine just over halfway through the powerplay to get it to five-all. It took seven combined shot attempts before either side was able to connect on a look with Baca making the break off of a look from Byles to take back the lead ahead of the halftime break, 6-5.
Sarah Shaw took over in net for the 'Cats coming out of halftime, ending freshman
Gracin Kerry's day at six saves and three steals. She allowed just one powerplay goal in her 16 minutes of action.
Byles delivered a massive attempt that loudly bounced off the body of Mountaineer's keeper Samantha Bright before another attempt from Baca went wide. Villanova's one-goal lead stayed intact until the 3:11 mark of the third when Lock tied the contest at six. Emily Van Kerckhove was whistled for an exclusion over half a minute later, paving the way for Morrissey's hat trick to go back ahead by one at 7-6. Ana Luisa Cotta scored back-to-back goals in the final minute of the third, including a lob a shot that sails past Shaw to take control at 8-7 heading into the fourth.
The momentum stayed on Mount St. Mary's side to start the final stanza, scoring three in a row to push its lead out to 11-7 with just over five minutes remaining. Hansen sent a pass across the mouth of the net to Byles that she scored from the left side, ending the 5-0 Mountaineer run. Lock got a goal back for The Mount with 2:22 to play before Hansen scored another chance in the final two minutes, cutting the deficit to 12-9. Cotta scored her fifth and final goal of the day coming out of a Mount St. Mary's timeout, making it a four-goal game at 13-9. Villanova picked up another player-up advantage in the final 20 seconds that Baca quickly capitalized on for the final 13-10 tally.
The regular season comes to a close next weekend as the Wildcats head to Brooklyn, N.Y. for a two-game set on April 15. The day starts against Wagner at 10 a.m. before facing La Salle at 4 p.m.
