This past weekend, Villanova’s field hockey team played two home games on Friday and Saturday against Rutgers and La Salle, respectively. Friday’s game ended in a 6-2 loss, and Sunday’s game ended in a 4-3 loss. However, both the team and head coach Joanie Milhous know that they were good games and have a plan for the season moving forward.
Friday’s game against Rutgers was back-and-forth, one that ultimately ended in a break of the Wildcats’ five-home-game winning streak. Going into the game, Rutgers was the favorite. Recently ranked 12th in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association’s top-25 poll, the team has consistently been a powerhouse.
That said, Villanova put up a consistent effort. In the first quarter, Rutgers took an early lead. Senior back Sabine de Ruijter scored her first goal of the season with a penalty corner to tie the score. The goal was assisted by junior midfield Raina Smolij and junior midfield/forward Emma Schwarz. Rutgers bounced back with another goal to end the first quarter, 2-1.
The second quarter was tough offensively for Villanova, as it couldn’t connect with the net. At the end of the half, Rutgers was up, 3-1.
In the third quarter, senior forward Amanda Middleman scored her fourth goal of the season, assisted by Schwarz and senior forward Meghan Mitchell. Rutgers responded with another two goals in the third, and a final one in the fourth.
When asked about Friday’s game, Milhous saw more than just the score.
“Our game against Rutgers was actually a pretty decent game,” Milhous said. “We were even in corners and we played them really well. Rutgers is a very strong team… but they capitalized on the mistakes that we made. But I was pretty happy with how we played. At the same time I know we can do more. We weren’t satisfied with that game because we know we had opportunities and we know that we didn’t capitalize. We didn’t give ourselves enough opportunities to score in that game.”
The team did not forget this dissatisfaction going into Sunday’s matchup.
“We were ready for LaSalle,” Milhous said.
Villanova came out strong in the first quarter, taking an early 2-1 lead. Mitchell, assisted by freshman midfielder/forward Maeve Boston and de Ruijter, scored off a corner to kick off the game. Less than a minute later, Schwarz, assisted by junior midfield/forward Anne Drabbe, gave Villanova another point on the board. This early lead would not last. La Salle responded with three unanswered goals in the second and third quarters. Mitchell scored to put Villanova ahead, but after a review, the goal was disallowed. Junior goalkeeper Emma Leppert saved a penalty stroke to keep the game even, but LaSalle fought to score.
This brought the Wildcats into the fourth quarter down 3-2. At 47:07, in a scramble in front of the net, Mitchell poked the ball in to tie the game. La Salle ended up connect- ing with the net to win the game.
Villanova had a four-game winning streak against the Explorers prior to Sunday’s matchup.
Penalty corners were a key factor in the game, with La Salle putting in efforts to defend against Villanova corners and the Wildcats only converting two out of 16, with four coming in the last three minutes.
When asked about the match-up against the Explorers, Milhous explained the change in their team.
“They are a completely different team than they have been in the past,” Milhous said. “They have recruited a whole bunch of international players … and they’ve got a lot more skill than they have ever had in that program. Again, though, we had a ton of opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on. We are seeing a trend there that we want to stop. That should have been a win. Without a doubt. Was LaSalle very strong? Yes. Did we need to capitalize on all the opportunities we had? One hundred percent.”
Although two losses are the first thing to see out of this weekend, the matchups show more growth than the simple scores. Notable players include Schwarz, who scored her second goal of the season, and Leppert, who finished the La Salle game with six saves.
The name that sticks out in everyone’s mind, however, is senior captain Mitchell, who now has a total of 14 points. Milhous has nothing but good things to say about the team’s lead scorer.
“[Mitchell] is absolutely incredible,” Milhouse said. “She competes one-hundred-and-ten percent literally all the time. There is not one game where I go ‘Wow, Meghan didn’t show effort.’ She is probably one of the hardest working players I have ever coached. Even after she scores a goal you will notice she is right back down to business. She has incredible leadership as captain [and] holds herself and her teammates accountable.”
With a new focus on capitalizing on goal opportunities and continual upward growth, the Wildcats are ready to enter Big East play, starting Friday, Sept. 15 at Georgetown.
