The Villanova women’s lacrosse team (3-6, 0-3 Patriot League) let an early lead slide in a Saturday afternoon home game against American University (4-5, 3-0 Patriot League). The 11-4 loss extended the Wildcats’ search for a conference victory for another day.

Sophomore midfielder Alex Garvey started the scoring for the ‘Cats with an unassisted goal just under ten minutes into the first half. Villanova would strike again almost eight minutes later. Cindy Koza connected with Shannon Sullivan to knock in the second goal of the game. Sullivan’s goal proved to be the last for the Wildcats prior to the Eagles’ scoring streak. American scored four goals before halftime and added two in the second before ‘Nova would light up the scoreboard again.

Becky Gardner broke the American streak with an unassisted goal at the 26:17 mark in the second half, cutting the goal deficit to half. The Eagles scored three more times before the ‘Cats struck again. Freshman Taryn McKenna netted the final goal of the game for the Wildcats with nearly 11 minutes left in the game, but American countered with two goals of their own before the final buzzer, bringing the final score to 11-4.

“Saturday’s game against American was far from playing our best,” Sullivan said. “We physically worked very hard throughout the entire game, but could not get back into it.”

Jessica Brozena posted nine saves in the match en route to suffering her fifth loss of the season. American led the game in shots (25-22), although Villanova was dominant in ground balls (20-12).

The Wildcats will take to the road with their next two games being played away. Villanova takes on Lehigh Saturday at noon before playing Marist Tuesday at 7:30.