‘Nova brought home a win and a loss from their recent road games against Lafayette and Delaware. On Sept. 3 the Villanova field hockey team defeated Lafayette 4-3 for its fourth consecutive victory over the team. The ‘Cats then fell to Delaware 4-3 on Sept. 7.

The loss against Delaware was the team’s second of the season bringing the ‘Cat’s record to an even 2-2. The women are not going to let the loss get them down though. “Delaware was a tough loss and that makes us want to come out and win the next game even more,” junior defender Vanessa Pizzulli said.

‘Nova took the lead over Delaware early in the game with a goal by freshman Megan Foster off of a corner shot. The Blue Hens fought back and came up with two goals to give them a 2-1 lead going into the second half.

Delaware scored its third goal just minutes into the second half. Foster and sophomore Rory Rogers came back for ‘Nova both scoring a goal within a one minute time span. These two Wildcat goals tied the game.

“We definitely at this point had Delaware on their heels and we were the threat,” head coach Joanie Milhous said.

But with five minutes left, Delaware scored the game winning goal off a corner shot.

Despite the loss ‘Nova’s defense still succeeded in shutting down All-American candidate Erica LaBar who consistently leads the Blue Hens. “Our defense shut down Erica Labar by tight marking,” Pizzulli said. “The idea was to not let her even touch the ball, therefore, she would not do anything. And the defense did a great job denying her the ball throughout the whole game.”

On Sept. 3, the women matched up against Lafayette coming out with a 4-3 victory. “The team played hard and gave 110 percent effort for the full 70 minutes,” Milhous said. “It was a great team effort.”

‘Nova got on the board first with a quick goal from Pizzulli assisted by Foster. Later in the half, Leah Lisausky followed through with a goal, giving the ‘Cats a 2-1 lead going into halftime. Coming out of the locker room Pizzulli knocked another one past Lafayette. ‘Nova’s lead quickly narrowed to a 3-3 tie after two more goals from Lafayette.

Sophomore Rory Rogers put away Lafayette for good when she scored the game-winning goal with five minutes remaining. Rogers is a consistent offensive leader for the ‘Cats. She has scored a goal in three consecutive games and leads the team with six goals including two game winning goals.

The ‘Cats played Drexel Wednesday, however, as of press time results were not available. “I know we have more talent, it is just a matter of proving that to Drexel,” Milhous said.

The game marked the first for Villanova in the 2003 City Six. The City Six is a group of Philly area schools including Drexel, La Salle, Temple, St. Joseph’s, Pennsylvania and Villanova. The ‘Cats went 3-1 against the local rivals last year with Temple being the only team they did not face.

‘Nova will go up against Virginia Commonwealth Sunday in Richmond and will play their first home game Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. against West Chester.