VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova women's lacrosse picked up its first win of the 2024 campaign amid a snowy scene on Saturday afternoon, downing the Bucknell Bison 16-12 at Villanova Stadium.
Kayla Gulmi led the Wildcats with a five-point day of one goal and four assists, while Sydney Pappas contributed a four goal performance to pace Villanova (1-1).
Freshmen Mary Moore (first career hat trick, three ground balls) and Rose Christie (two goals, one assist) each provided a good deal of offense for the 'Cats, with Elena Torres (two goals) and Sami Carey (one goal, one assist) also adding multiple points. Mary Kate Conniff moved into the top 10 in program history in caused turnovers in the win.
Cate Gallagher totaled a .500 save percentage with 12 stuffs in the contest, freshman Emma Verhoest led the game with 14 draw controls and Juliet Walls tied for a game-high three caused turnovers.
"We really want to thank our facilities team for clearing the snow and helping to get this game in today," head coach Jill Batcheller said. "Pregame, we talked about the opportunity to play for something bigger than ourselves in celebrating Black History month. I was proud of the team for getting the win today. It is still early in the year and we have things to work through, but it was great to see the team come together to win down the stretch."
The Wildcats scored early and often in the first quarter, with the first two coming on the exact same situation in the opening 92 seconds as Christie found the net twice on extra-player opportunities with assists by Gulmi each time. Maddie Luer put home an unassisted tally before Torres fired in a free position shot to get the 'Cats up 4-0 after one.
Villanova started the second frame in the same way they did the first, going up by a touchdown with three goals in the opening minute of the quarter. Cara Moreau used a Gulmi feed to score just 14 seconds in, then Pappas and Carey converted within 40 ticks of each other to grant their side a 7-0 advantage.
Bucknell answered with two of their own to make it a five-goal affair before Katie Giordano extended VU's lead again with an unassisted effort. The Bison put one more home before the game reached halftime, making it 8-3 at the break.
The visitors kept up that momentum in the third period by tallying the first three scores of the stanza, pulling within a pair for the first time since the opening 90 seconds of the contest. Villanova finally took one back on a fast break chance as four passes eventually led to a Gulmi dunk.
Bucknell responded with a tally soon after and it was a freshman to freshman connection to get the 'Cats back up three as Moore put one past the keeper for the first goal of her career on an assist from Christie. But the Bison struck last in the stanza, making the scoreboard read 10-8 following 45 minutes of play.
BU brought it to a one-goal affair early in the fourth quarter, but the home side got their mojo back and proceeded to string together five in a row thanks to a Pappas takeover.
The junior attacker put one in off Gulmi's fourth helper, threw another past the keeper on a free position shot and contributed yet another unassisted tally to go up 15-9, with Moore and Torres' second goals also coming in that stretch to propel VU forward.
Moore made it a heck of a day a few minutes later, with the first-year midfielder beating the netminder on a free position shot at 2:48 in the fourth for her first career hat trick on the same day as her opening goal as a Wildcat.
The Bison added a trio of tallies in the final two and a half minutes, but it wasn't enough as the Wildcats had built up enough of an edge to pull out a 16-12 W.
With the victory, Villanova moves to 14-5 all-time against Bucknell with victories in each of the last three contests.
UP NEXT: The Wildcats will now travel into the city for their first road contest of the 2024 campaign, taking on the La Salle Explorers at 3 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon.
