April 9, 2006
Final Stats
VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Villanova Wildcats (3-12, 0-5 Patriot League) fell in their last home game of the 2006 season, 14-10, to the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers (5-8, 2-2 NEC). Villanova stuck to the basics relying on its senior leadership and captains, and witnessed its bright future with five underclassmen scoring.
The first half was incredibly even despite the Mount jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first minute. Villanova settled down and junior captain, Becky Gardner (Centerport, N.Y.), put two goals away to tie it up. Both goals were off of free position attempts. The Mountaineers were able to come back with three goals of their own, but again Villanova stepped up to the challenge. Freshman Taylor Lucy (Ocean View, Del.) tallied a score at 12:46, and classmate Shannon Sullivan (Park Ridge, Ill.) hit the back of the net soon after. Sophomore Amanda Carlson (Middle Island, N.Y.) capped off the youth movement with a goal at 0:35 to tie it up, 5-5, going into halftime.
Similar to the first half, the Mount scored two goals in the opening minutes of the second stanza to get some breathing room. Lucy snagged her second goal of the day at 25:57 off of a pass from Cindy Koza (Thornton, Pa.) to bring the `Cats within one. That would be the closest they came for the rest of the game, however, as Mount St. Mary's went on a 7-0 tear making the score 14-6 with ten minutes to play.
The Wildcats did not give up and went on a run of their own scoring four goals in the last eight minutes. Christina Bahrs (Oceanport, N.J.) started it off taking the helper from Gardner and Kathleen Kelly (Manhasset, N.Y.) followed suit to chip away at the deficit. Gardner then made it a hat trick with her goal at 0:20. With just seconds to go, freshman Stevie McFadden (Reisterstown, Md.) received a pass from Taylor McKenna (White Plains, N.Y.) to make the final score 14-10.
Both teams saw an unprecedented number of cards during the very physical game. Mount St. Mary's had two players get yellow cards and as many receive red cards. The Wildcats were called for three yellow cards and two red cards, all coming in the second half.
The game proved to be a shootout with both teams having 33 on the day. Jessica Brozena (West Long Branch, N.J.) had 13 saves to Mount's 16. Villanova was also able to pick up 45 groundballs while Mount St. Mary's had 29.
Villanova goes on the road for its final two games of the regular season. The Wildcats will travel to Lafayette next Saturday for a contest beginning at 1:00 p.m.
