COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. — The Villanova field hockey team fell at home to Drexel, 2-0, on Sunday, September 20, to fall to 5-3 overall.
Drexel held the slight advantage in the first quarter that was mainly a defensive battle. The Dragons got started early with a quick shot by Cato Nackaerts followed immediately by their first penalty corner of the game. The penalty corner did not garner a shot, however, two minutes later Maddi Sears collected her first save of the afternoon on a shot by Fleur Hamers. Drexel only gathered one more shot in the quarter while the 'Cats were held to none.
The second quarter started much like the first did, where it was the Dragons, tallying two penalty corners and four shots within the first five minutes of the action. The first penalty corner saw Drexel fire off three shots. One high, one blocked by VU's defense and the final was blocked by Maddi Sears. Sears once again stopped the only shot on the following penalty corner to keep the game scoreless. After no chances for either side for nearly seven minutes, Drexel got back on the attack forcing three more shots before the end of the frame. Two were saved by Sears while the other was blocked. Both teams went into the half scoreless.
Drexel broke open the scoring just 48 seconds into the frame with a goal by Nackarts, her third of the season. Following the goal, Villanova received a player advantage from a green card on Florienne Bosdijk. On the man advantage, it was Ava Borkowski who drove into the defense and earned the team its first shot of the afternoon but the shot went high. That would be the lone shot of the player advantage by VU. The rest of the quarter saw only one shot by either team which resulted in a save by Maddi Sears.
In the fourth, both sides were able to find opportunities early, each tallying a shot. Nackaerts for Drexel had her shot blocked as well as Colleen Finnan's shot off a breakaway for the senior. Seeing the score deficit, Villanova decided to pull its goalie to try and gain an extra player offensively. Unfortunately, Drexel intercepted a pass and turned the breakaway chance into a goal by Pili Lemoine and added to its lead, 2-0. Despite the score deficit, Villanova didn't go down without a fight, tallying two penalty corners and four shots late. Each of the four shots were turned away to keep VU off the scoreboard and give Drexel the 2-0 win.
Up Next: Villanova will continue its homestand with its BIG EAST opener against Temple on Friday, September 25, at 12 p.m. at Snell Field from Ursinus. The Wildcats will celebrate its Parent and Family day as well as hosting a Whiteout.
