VILLANOVA, Pa. — The Villanova field hockey team will head to State College, Pa. to take on Penn State on Friday, September 4 at 3 p.m. ET from Char Morrett-Curtiss Field. The Wildcats will then return home to face New Haven on Sunday, September 6 at 12 p.m. from Snell Field Hockey Field at Ursinus.
The 'Cats are coming off an opening weekend where the team finished 2-0 with victories over Delaware and LaSalle. Against the Blue Hens, it was Ava Borkowski and Colleen Finnan who led VU to the 2-1 victory for the first win of the season. Friday's win was followed by a 7-0 win over the Explorers on Sunday, highlighted by Gemma Lysaght's 10 point performance that included four goals and two assists as well as Maddi Sear's shutout win.
The performance by Lysaght over the weekend earned her BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week while Sear's performance earned her BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week along with NFHCA Defensive Player of the Week Honorable Mention.
Villanova will meet with the Nittany Lions for the first time since 2019 and the sixth time in program history. The latest head-to-head meeting saw VU fall, 8-2, but the team will look to grab their first win against Penn State in their two sides' history.
Penn State enters the match up with a 1-1 record after a 4-3 overtime loss to No. 5 Virginia on Friday followed by a 8-0 win over Lock Haven. The win against the Bald Eagles marked the first win for first year head coach Hannah Prince.
Offensively, the Nittany Lions are evenly balanced with five players having at least four points on the young season including Big Ten Field Hockey Watchlist members Sienna Dunn and Ella Gaitan. In goal for the blue and white is junior Aby Deverka, who has played over 600 minutes each of the last two seasons while recording 65 or more saves during those years.
As for the Chargers, Sunday's contest marks the first contest between both teams in each of their histories. The game will also serve as the home opener for Villanova. Last season, the 'Cats went 3-4 in games at home including a win over then-No. 15 Saint Joseph's while the Chargers were 0-10 in road action.
New Haven enters the contest with a 1-1 record to start the season that saw the team fall to Colgate, 5-0, however bounced back with a 4-0 win over St. Thomas Aquinas.
The Chargers offensively are spread out with four different players having a goal so far this season while defensively the team returns Rae Kline who played every minute for the Chargers in net this season.
Friday's match will be streamed on Big Ten+ while Sunday's match will be streamed on YouTube.
