Coming off of consecutive wins against Georgetown and Saint Francis, the Villanova field hockey team entered a weekend of games in Connecticut. The Wildcats defeated Quinnipiac, 4-3, but dropped a 2-1 decision to Fairfield.
On Friday, Sept. 22, senior forward Meghan Mitchell scored all four of Villanova’s goals against Quinnipiac in the first game of the weekend. With assists from junior midfielders Anne Drabbe and Raina Smolij, Mitchell helped the team maintain its undefeated conference status.
“[Mitchell’s] pure determination really got a major job done for us, considering how big of a game that was for the Big East,” head coach Joanie Milhous said. “Everybody had a part in it, but she was really determined to finish each of those plays off and her work rate is incredible, the determination to finish on her opportunities was fantastic, so that is super rare.”
The Wildcats came back from a challenging start with the Bobcats securing an early 3-0 lead through most of the first quarter. With just under a minute remaining, Mitchell scored the first goal for the Wildcats.
By halftime, Mitchell’s second goal closed the gap in the lead, and with 20 seconds left in the third quarter, the game was tied. Halfway through the final quarter, the Wildcats pushed ahead with a final goal to secure a 4-3 win.
“It was amazing,” Milhous said. “Our bench was incredible, they were so loud and they had such great energy. That’s why it was a total combined effort, everybody had a piece in that win, so it really was one of the best come-from-behind wins that we’ve had since that Louisville game way back, and especially great because it was a major Big East conference win.”
On Sunday, Sept. 24, the Wildcats played against Fairfield, but were unable to have the same success. The first quarter ended with no score, but senior forward Amanda Middleman opened the scoring with an assist from freshmen midfielder Maeve Boston, only five minutes into the second.
However, the Stags were quick to tie, scoring their first goal only 30 seconds into the third quarter. Junior goalkeeper Emma Leppert helped maintain the 1-1 tie through the rest of the quarter, and after an overturned goal on a penalty corner early in the fourth quarter, the regulation game ended in a tie, sending the game into overtime.
Leppert’s three stellar saves in the extra period forced a second period of overtime, but a goal by Fairfield four minutes in brought the game to a close, with a 2-1 loss for the Wildcats.
“Our one shortcoming was getting shots on goal, and that was a little frustrating because we did so many other great things all over the field,” Milhous said. “A little disappointing as far as getting shots on goal, but many great things to take away from that game… They literally shut us down numerous times, but we’re going to learn from that and come back even stronger for UConn. Our intensity was there, our focus was there, they just came out on the positive end of it, unfortunately.”
The Wildcats will be back in Conshohocken next weekend with a Big East matchup against UConn on Friday, Sept. 29, as well as a non-conference game against James Madison on Sunday, Oct. 1.
“I think the come-from-behind win from Friday is going to really help us for the remainder of the season,” Milhous said. “It’s going to show that we’re resilient and that we can always come back and never need to give up. We will never give up. We’ve got a lot of positive things ahead of us.”
