BURLINGTON, Vt. - Villanova women's lacrosse (5-2) earned a 14-12 victory over Vermont on Friday afternoon at Virtue Field in a back-and-forth battle. The contest was highlighted by a record-breaking performance from Emma Verhoest, who set a new program record with 19 draw controls in the game.
Kathryn Monaco opened the scoring early in the first quarter off a feed from Sophia Corretjer, and Corretjer followed with an unassisted goal of her own. Vermont responded late in the period to even the score at 2-2 heading into the second quarter.
Monaco netted her second goal of the day at the nine-minute mark of the second on a free-position shot, while Bella Piselli added her 11th goal of the season. The Catamounts answered back to send the teams into halftime tied at 4-4.
Villanova came out strong in the third quarter as Mary Moore scored just a minute into the frame to give the Wildcats the lead. Moore later set up Rose Christie for her first goal of the afternoon, and Corretjer connected with Leslie Iorio to tie the game at 7-7. Iorio contributed two turnovers and two ground balls on the day, while Christie scooped up three ground balls and caused a turnover.
Christie then regained the lead for Villanova with her second goal of the contest before Monaco completed her second hat trick of the season to make it 9-7. As time expired in the third quarter, Corretjer found the back of the net for her second goal of the day, giving the Wildcats their largest lead of the game at 10-7.
Jillian Vaught opened the fourth quarter scoring with her first goal of the day, also adding two ground balls in the contest. Moore later found Monaco for her fourth goal of the afternoon to keep the Wildcats ahead by three.
The Catamounts clawed back to tie the game at 12-12 with 4:30 remaining, but Christie recorded her first hat trick of the season with three minutes left to put Villanova back in front.
With just 40 seconds remaining, Madison Freeman connected with Moore for her second goal of the game to seal the 14-12 win for the Wildcats as Allie Bell got her first victory between the pipes after entering in the fourth quarter.
UP NEXT: Villanova has next weekend off before returning home to face Stony Brook on March 17 at 2 p.m. from Villanova Stadium.
