CINCINNATI – Taking on its second nationally-ranked team this season, Villanova fell to No. 24 Xavier 9-0 on Saturday at Corcoran Field.

The loss marks the first road loss since a 1-0 loss at Princeton on Sept. 11. The nine goals allowed by Villanova (6-5, 1-2 BIG EAST) are the most for the program since a 10-1 loss at Notre Dame on Nov. 2, 1996, also a conference game. With the loss, Villanova has dropped six straight against Xavier (7-2-2, 2-0-1 BIG EAST).

"I thought it was a great game first half. Great game," head coach Samar Azem said. "Second half, Xavier did a great job to create two of their goals and once that happened, I felt like our team kind of showed our youth. That's where we started to lose some of our discipline, lose some of the details of what we do and the game shifted completely out of our hands. We made a lot of substitutions, gave a lot of people rest because we know the rest of conference is up for the taking for us."

Hannah Curtin had a great look at scoring in the sixth minute on a breakaway. She created just enough separation to get past two Xavier defenders, but her shot was saved by a falling Maria Galley.

Xavier got on the board first in the 11^th minute with a strong one-timer from the top of the 18-yard box from Elin Hansson. After a pass from Samantha Erbach, Hansson's shot got past a diving Hannah Dickinson and into the bottom right of the net to make it a 1-0 Musketeer lead.

Hansson tacked on another goal in the 35^th minute this time close to the right post. Pennekamp sent an arching pass into the box that Erbach had a quick touch on. Hansson took control of the open ball and punched it in with a short shot, pushing Xavier's lead to 2-0 that it would hold heading into the break.
Villanova trailed 9-2 in shots through the first 45 minutes with Curtin landing both attempts on frame.

Hansson notched her hat trick in the 51^st minute. Emma Flick chased down the ball to get a pass over to Hansson that she needed one touch to send into the net for a 3-0 Xavier lead.

Xavier's fourth goal came in the 57^th minute, this time from Erbach. She stole the ball at the top of the 18-yard box and sent it in for a 4-0 advantage.

The Musketeers added three goals in the next 20 minutes of action with Brooklyn O'Brien, Erbach and Regan Dancer netting a goal each to push Xavier's lead out to 7-0. Sara Parker and Reese Sochacki scored the final two goals in the 83^rd and 87^th minutes, respectively.

All-told, Villanova was outshot 28-4 in the loss. Gabby Koluch and Avrie Nelsen accounted for the other two goals for the 'Cats in the second half. Dickinson made two saves in the 69 minutes she played with five goals getting past her. Allie Vincent entered for the remainder of the game with four goals scored.

Villanova continues its road swing with a trip to DePaul on Oct. 1. Kickoff from the Windy City is set for 5 p.m.