On Saturday, April 9, the Villanova women’s lacrosse team was defeated by Marquette in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 19-14. This drops the Wildcats to 4-9 overall and 0-2 in the Big East. 

The leading scorer for the Wildcats was freshman attacker Sydney Pappas, who scored four goals, and not far behind her was senior attacker Caroline Curnal, who recorded a hat trick on a season-high seven shots on goal. In addition, freshman attacker Sami Carey and senior midfielder Libby McKenna each scored a pair of goals. Junior midfielder Addie Fischer, senior attacker Olivia Piccirilli and freshman midfielder Megan Reily all contributed individual goals. The leading scorers for the Golden Eagles were Kyra Lamonte and Meg Bireley who scored four goals each.

At the start of the first quarter, the Golden Eagles went on the attack first, scoring the game’s first three goals within five minutes of the start. The Golden Eagles went on to score two more goals before the Wildcats responded with 6:47 left in the quarter as Carey put her team on the scoreboard on a free position shot. After the Golden Eagles picked up another goal, McKenna answered with the Wildcats’ second goal of the game off a free position shot, but the Golden Eagles secured another point, giving them a 7-2 advantage at the end of the first quarter. 

The Wildcats tried to claw their way back in the second quarter with a goal from Curnal. The Golden Eagles got their lead back to five a minute later as they got the ball past senior goalkeeper Alexa Moro, who played a season-high 67 minutes. Nevertheless, Pappas and Carey proved to be a tough duo to guard as the freshman assisted the senior for two back-to-back goals, cutting the lead to 5-8. The Golden Eagles were not fazed by this and for the rest of the half proceeded to go on a 3-0 run that was not stopped until Piccirilli secured a goal from a free position shot. Then, the Golden Eagles scored another goal to send the Wildcats back to the locker room trailing 6-12. During the first half, the Golden Eagles held a 17-10 edge in shots and a 13-7 advantage on draw controls. 

Within the first two minutes of the second half, each team had scored a goal. However, the rest of the quarter remained stagnant for the Wildcats as the Golden Eagles picked up two more goals, which gave them a lead of eight, their largest of the game. 

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Wildcats were still fighting and trying to rally. Sophomore attacker Kayla Gulmi provided an early assist for Curnal. Marquette responded with a goal, but the Wildcats followed with a 3-0 scoring run in an attempt to close their deficit. The first goal was from Pappas, who earned her hat trick. The second was scored by Fischer, who received an assist from senior midfielder Alexa Tsahalis, and the third was by Curnal, who secured her 31st goal of the season. The Golden Eagles were quick to score again, but the Wildcats were able to cut their deficit to four with 2:42 minutes remaining thanks to goals by Reilly and McKenna. After their timeout, the Golden Eagles regrouped and scored two more goals all within about a minute. The Wildcats tried to come back as Curnal earned her hat trick, but it was too late as the Golden Eagles celebrated their home win. 

The Wildcats will travel to Storrs, Connecticut, on April 16 to face off against UConn. The last time the Wildcats faced the Huskies was on April 18, 2021, when they won, 13-12, on a game-winning goal during overtime. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m., and the action can be streamed on FloSports.