VILLANOVA, Pa. - Villanova women's lacrosse defeated No. 2 Stanford 9-8 on Saturday afternoon at Villanova Stadium in the team's non-conference finale. According to available records, this is the first top five victory in VU program history, and marks the fourth win ever over a top 25 team. 

The day was highlighted by Emma Verhoest breaking the program's all-time record for draw controls despite only being a junior. The Massachusetts native recorded three DCs on the day, now with 384 in her career.

The game started slow as neither team found the back of the net until the 11-minute mark when Stanford converted on a free-position opportunity for the game's first goal. The Cardinal added another with 30 seconds remaining in the first quarter to take a 2-0 lead after the opening period.

Mary Moore put Villanova (7-3) on the board early in the second quarter, finishing a feed from Rose Christie. Stanford responded with its third goal before Bella Piselli found Ashlyn Hickey for her first of the day to cut the deficit to 3-2. The Cardinal added another to make it 4-2, but Jillian Vaught set up Piselli's goal to bring the 'Cats back within one. Moore later connected with Kathryn Monaco to even the score at four apiece heading into halftime.

Leslie Iorio opened the third quarter with a goal off an assist from Piselli, giving the Wildcats their first lead of the day. Hickey's unassisted goal and Moore's second score off Corretjer's assist pushed the Villanova lead to 7-4. Stanford answered with three straight goals to tie it at seven with four minutes left in the quarter but Christie closed out the period by assisting Moore for a hat trick, her fourth of the season.

Vaught scored off an assist from Elena Torres to get a 9-7 lead to start the fourth quarter then despite a Stanford score at 7:34 of the quarter, Villanova's defense shut the Cardinal down to secure the 9-8 win and perhaps the top victory in program history.

Kate O'Neill led the contest with four caused turnovers while Moore and Cailin Harrington each had three ground balls.

UP NEXT: The Wildcats will hit the road for a pair of BIG EAST matchups, taking on UConn on April 1 at 3 p.m. before heading to Marquette on April 4 at 1 p.m ET.