STORRS, Conn. – After facing a scoreless tie through the first half, Villanova allowed its first goal in three matches on Saturday night, ultimately falling 2-0 to UConn at Joseph. J. Morrone Stadium.
The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for Villanova (9-6, 4-3 BIG EAST). UConn (9-3-3, 5-1-2 BIG EAST) scored both of its goals in a span of six minutes early in the second half.
"There's a lot that our young team can take away from this and UConn capitalized on that and they capitalized on another moment where we were a little unfocused in how we defend," head coach
Samar Azem said. "Those are moments that chipped away at us. There's a lot we can learn from this. Really proud of this team, proud of what they're capable of. The good news is we've put ourselves in a driver's seat situation in the BIG EAST and we're going to use these lessons and we're going to keep pushing forward."
The Wildcat offense was outshot 19-8, 7-2 for shots on frame.
Bella Panaccione and
Alex Little both led the team with two attempts each.
Hannah Dickinson grabbed five saves in the loss.
UConn had a 9-3 shot advantage through the opening 45 with both sides only placing on shot on frame in a scoreless first half.
Villanova's best scoring chance in the opening half came in the 10
th minute when
Ire Omotayo sent a long cross into the box for a
Gabby Koluch header near the penalty spot that was grabbed in the air by UConn's Ava Yamas.
The Huskies' lone shot on frame in the first half came from Naia Ocio in the 29
th minute. She sent a turning look in from inside the box that Dickinson picked up near the right post for a save.
Panaccione had a strong chance to open the scoring in the 48
th minute with a shot from the top of the 18-yard box that was saved by a diving Yamas at the right post. A collision in the box during that play had a chance to give Villanova a penalty kick attempt but the subsequent review waved off that chance.
UConn broke the stalemate in the 51
st minute with a goal from Se-Hanna Mars. Chioma Okafor broke past a pair of Villanova defenders to get a touch to Mars who went one-on-one with Dickinson for a goal into the bottom left corner and a 1-0 lead.
The goal marked the first allowed by the Villanova defense since Sept. 27, halting its shutout streak at three games.
Dickinson came up with a huge fingertip stop in the 57
th minute on another Mars' shot, but she was able to connect on her second goal in a span of six minutes a few seconds later. Maree-Anne Van Doesburg delivered a short pass that Mars chipped in with an arching look for a 2-0 advantage.
Mars led all players with six shot attempts, four of those on frame.
Villanova takes one final road trip of the regular season as it heads to Georgetown Wednesday night. The match with the Hoyas kicks off at 7 p.m.
