This past weekend started off well for Villanova field hockey as it beat UConn 2-1 for the first time in over a decade. The win also marked head coach Joanie Milhous’ 250th career win. The Wildcats continued their success this weekend with a second win over James Madison, 5-4 in overtime. The team is now 7-4 and 3-0 in the Big East.
“I was just so excited for our team to be able to beat UConn because that feeling is definitely a major memory for all of these girls,” Milhous said. “I think they’re so excited about the growth we’ve had this season and they see and feel the confidence. The morale is the best it’s ever been… we are watching this team grow.”
The Wildcats’ goals came from freshman forward Colleen Finnan and senior back Sabine de Ruijter. Finnan sank the first goal for the Wildcats off of a corner only five minutes into the game, with assists from freshman back Gemma Lysaght and junior midfielder Raina Smolij.
Villanova entered the second half tied 1-1, but an exciting third quarter ended with a second goal for the Wildcats with just under a minute remaining. With another assist from Smolij, de Ruijter took it off of a corner to put Villanova ahead. The Wildcats held off the Huskies for the last 15 minutes, walking away with another Big East win.
“I’m super proud of my team and how they played against UConn,” Milhous said. “I thought it was the best we’ve played overall in every area of the field… we really stepped up our game and it was such a huge conference win for us.”
Sunday’s matchup against James Madison proved to be a slow first half with only one goal scored for the Dukes. However, the slow first half was followed by an action packed second half of game play.
“Our assistant coach Corey Mayer graduated from [JMU] and played there, so we had some personal reasons to really work extra hard for that win and our girls were really giving extra,” Milhous said.
Coming off of an electric game last weekend, senior forward Megan Mitchell had the first goal for the Wildcats. Junior midfield/forward Emma Schwarz and freshman back Gemma Lysaght had two more in the third quarter. This was Lysaght’s first goal of the season.
Senior forward Amanda Middleman also added to the stat sheet, scoring with just over five minutes left in the game, to tie the game up 4-4.
Middleman’s late goal forced the game to overtime, but overtime was short lived, as Mitchell secured a Wildcat win just two minutes into extra time with assists from Middleman and junior midfield/forward Anne Drabbe. Mitchell’s successful weekend earned her her 100th point as a Wildcat. She is only the fifth Wildcat to reach this milestone.
“I know that they were still tired from Friday’s game because of everything they gave in that, so it was another great win for us,” Milhous said. “I think we gave up a little bit too many goals defensively. However, we responded every single time and just kept coming back on them, and we never gave up the fight at all, so I was really proud of them for that.”
The Wildcats will continue conference play with a match at Liberty on Friday, Oct. 6 and will celebrate their seniors at home against Penn on Sunday, Oct. 8.
“Liberty is the strongest team in the Big East right now, and that is 100% going to be a tough game for us, but I’m really excited,” Milhous said. “I think we’ve got the strongest team that we’ve had in a while and I’m excited to see what we can do against Liberty and Penn.”
