This season Vanessa Pizzulli and Megan Foster earned All-Conference first and second team selections. They were honored on Nov. 4 at the annual Big East Field Hockey banquet.

It is Pizzulli’s second consecutive year earning First-Team All-Big-East Honors. Pizzulli, the senior back, secured the defense this season, directing the Wildcats to four shutouts. Pizzulli tied Villanova’s record for career assists. She was also named the Big-East Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 11. Pizzulli made four defensive saves this season, which was the team high.

Megan Foster, a sophomore forward also earned All-Big East Honors. Foster recorded team highs in both number of goals and number of points this season. Foster scored 18 goals and earned 41 points. She was named the Big-East Offensive Player of the Week twice this season. The first honor was on Aug. 30 after scoring four goals in the team first two games. The second honor was on Oct. 11th when she scored four goals in the three games against Monmouth, Syracuse and Duke.

Head coach Joanie Milhous said, “I am very pleased that Vanessa and Megan’s accomplishments have been recognized by the Big East.”

The Wildcats traveled to the Big East Tournament last weekend held in Syracuse to compete against the Connecticut Huskies. The Wildcats, who only had two All-Big East selections, competed well against the Huskies, who had seven athletes named to the teams this season.

It was a close game. Connecticut had 14 shots on goal, while Villanova had 11. The Huskies also only had three more penalty corners than the Wildcats (five).

In the first half Sarah Francis scored after gaining possession from a Connecticut foul. Unfortunately the referees called back the goal because they claimed the ball should not have been in play when Francis took the shot.

The score was tied at the halftime 0-0. However the Huskies scored with less than two minutes into the second half of play. Megan Hoffman scored off of an assist from Laura Puddle. Hoffman and Puddle were both also All-Big-East selections.

Ten minutes later Megan Foster was fouled by Connecticut’s goalie, Melissa Bostwick. Villanova was awarded a penalty stroke. Sophomore Sarah Way scored on the stroke to tie the match 1-1.

Puddle sealed the victory for the Huskies less than two minutes later. Puddle lofted a shot into the air from the top of the circle.

The Wildcats struggled to score again. Forward Lauren Campanelli got a break away, but a UConn defender forced her to shoot from the baseline. Campanelli’s force shot hit the post. The Huskies held the Wildcats to 2-1. They advanced to the Big East Championship game against Boston College. They defeated BC 4-1.

The Wildcats fell to an 11-8 overall record for the 2004 season. They will lose senior defenders Vanessa Pizzulli and Simone Schunk due to graduation. However, they have strong junior and sophomore classes to fill the gaps next year.