MERION STATION, Pa. – The Villanova University field hockey team fell to No. 13-ranked Saint Joseph's, 6-2, on Friday (Sept. 13) at Ellen Ryan Field.
The Hawks (4-1) got on the board early with two first-quarter goals. Early in the second quarter, SJU's Manu Ghigliotti scored her second goal of the game to put Saint Joseph's on top by three.
Sabine de Ruijter put a shot on goal late in the second half, but a diving save by Hawks goalie Marith Bijkerk kept Villanova (2-3) off the board, and Saint Joseph's took a 3-0 lead into halftime.
Early in the second half,
Emma Schwarz scored off of a penalty corner that she inserted for her third goal of the season.
Gemma Lysaght and
Raina Smolij were credited with assists.
The Hawks answered with a pair of penalty-corner goals, taking a 5-1 lead into the fourth quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, de Ruijter fired a shot off a corner into the back of the net to narrow the margin to three goals. De Ruijter now has a team-best four goals on the season.
In the final minute of play, the Hawks scored another goal off of a penalty corner to seal a 6-2 win.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Maddi Sears made three saves on the day but fell to 2-3 on the season, while Bijkerk and the Hawks improved to 4-1.
Up next, the Wildcats will host La Salle on Monday (Sept. 16) at the Conshohocken Proving Grounds in Conshohocken, Pa. The game will start at 5 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on FloSports.
