This past weekend, Villanova’s women’s water polo team traveled to New Jersey for the Princeton Invitational, and went 2-1 at the DeNunzio Pool.

On Saturday, February 25, the ‘Cats took on St. Francis College Brooklyn, where they faced their only weekend loss with a score of 12-8. Sophomore Emily McKenzie led the team in goals with a hat trick, while junior Stella Byles and senior Lauren Picard each scored two.

The team started off being down, 3-0, in the first period, and got on the board with just 16 seconds left with a goal by Picard.

A quick goal from Byles put the team up within the fi rst minute of the second period, but St. Francis fi nished the quarter up, 9-4.

Despite a strong second half performance, the Wildcats were unable to break through, as the game ended in St. Francis’ favor.

Sunday, February 26 was the most successful day of the tournament for the ‘Cats, with a 21-5 win against Chapman University and a 13-7 win against Bucknell to close out the weekend. Success against Chapman marked the highest-scoring lead for Villanova in the last two years.

Much of this scoring success came from a shutout in the first half to put the Wildcats up, 9-0, at the break.

Freshman Gracin Kerry contributed to the success in net, making seven saves in the first half, four of which were made during Chapman power plays.

Villanova went on a 12-0 run to start the Chapman game, and another 5-0 run in the third period.

As for their second game of the day, the Wildcats were hoping for a revenge win over Bucknell after having lost to them, 10-9, in their last tournament. The rematch was a successful one for Villanova, as it pulled away with a 13-7 victory over the Bison.

Sophomore Sarah Shaw started the game for Villanova, and Kerry took their place in the second half, with each goalkeeper making six saves.

Bucknell kicked off with a 2-0 lead three minutes into the first period, but Villanova responded with McKenzie and freshman Coco Jones, who each scored a goal to make it 2-2 going into the second period.

Villanova had the lead in the third period, being up, 10-6, holding Bucknell off from having a breakthrough moment as the Bison only scored one more goal off a power-play, with less than five minutes left in the game. This tournament pushed the Wildcats’ record to 4-7, with a shooting percentage of .364 on the season.

Looking forward to their competition over Spring Break, Villanova will travel to Claremont, CA and Los Angeles, CA from March 3 to March 11 for the Convergence Tournament, and then it will head to San Diego, CA for the Aztec Invitational.