Villanova field hockey forward Meghan Mitchell has grown to become a star and fan favorite in her four years as a Wildcat. Mitchell attended high school at Notre Dame de Namur in neighboring Radnor, just two-and-a-half miles from the center of Villanova’s campus. Villanova was an easy choice for Mitchell when it came time for her to take the next steps in her field hockey career.
“I definitely wanted to go to a school that I would go to regardless of if field hockey was in the picture or not,” Mitchell said. “I think that at Villanova, the academics are really good and I thought I would fit in well with the type of people that come to Villanova, so I think that was first and foremost.”
Mitchell said the chance to play in the Big East Conference was also an important factor in her decision to come to Villanova.
“It was an opportunity to play field hockey and play in the Big East,” Mitchell said. “I think it’s a competitive conference so I thought it would challenge me and I thought I would just be really happy here, so I am glad I chose it. Definitely one of the best decisions I’ve made.”
Mitchell started playing field hockey when she was in fifth grade, and started to get really serious about the sport in her early teenage years. By the time she was a sophomore in high school, her team had secured Inter-Ac league title and PAISAA state championship. Her club team, Main Line Mayhem, was named USA Field Hockey Festival champions. During this same era of her career, Mitchell was named USA Field Hockey Futures pick three years in a row, from 2016 to 2018. Her success as captain of her high school team also eased the transition to the Villanova field hockey family.
“Being a part of a team and learning how to work really well with other people, I think being a student-athlete is the best experience for that,” Mitchell said. “I know that when I am first starting out in my career there are going to be a lot of challenges. I’m not going to know a lot of things about my job when I’m just starting off, so just being able to learn quickly like I did playing field hockey is important. Field hockey also taught me to cherish a lot of the relationships I have built through the sport and I think in my career I want to make sure that I’m focusing on forming good relationships too.”
Being a student-athlete, especially at a school with both competitive academics and athletics, is challenging. Part of what helped Mitchell to find a healthy balance between her commitment to excellence in the classroom and on the field was having confidence in her ability and being able to accept challenges along the way.
“I learned just how important it is to believe in yourself,” Mitchell said. “College sports, and just being a student-athlete, there are going to be a lot of challenges and you’re going to not do well on a test or not do well on the field, not play as well as you wanted, and I think that if you just continue to believe in yourself I think that’s something that I really grew in throughout my four years and I think just having more confidence in myself.”
Mitchell was named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in five semesters and was a two-time Big East All-Academic Team selection. She did this while maintaining her status as the team’s leading scorer in each of her collegiate seasons. With 28 goals, 14 assists and 49 collegiate career starts, one point scored in 27 out of the 49 starts, Mitchell earned her place as team captain in her junior season with the ‘Cats. This position was maintained through her senior season when she played one of her most memorable games with the ‘Cats.
“There’s a bunch [of memorable games] but I would say beating Providence this year was huge,” Mitchell said. “It was a really close game and just being able to beat them on our field…. It was tied up in the fourth quarter and then we scored and it was just so much fun to be a part of that. The Quinnipiac game was a big game this season, being down, 3-0, and then being able to pull ourselves out of that to keep our Big East-hopes alive, that was really critical to start off the season that way.”
This season’s Sept. 22 Big East conference game between Villanova and Quinnipiac was a career highlight for Mitchell. She scored all four goals for the ‘Cats in a 4-3 come-from-behind victory, setting the tone for the team’s conference play for the remainder of the season.
“Meghan Mitchell had a four goal game which was outstanding,” head coach Joanie Milhous said after the Quinnipiac game. “It was her pure determination that really got a major job done for us considering how big of a game that was in the Big East. Her work rate is incredible. Just the determination to finish on her opportunities is fantastic. That is super rare.”
Coming off of an astounding season where she was named Big East offensive player of the year and was named to the NFHC senior team, Mitchell is not sure what the future will hold. Mitchell does have a fifth year of eligibility, due to the Covid season, but has not decided yet if she will use it.
“I may be coming back, I’m still figuring out a few things on my part,” Mitchell said. “We may not be giving up field hockey just quite yet.”
Regardless of what comes next, Mitchell will always cherish her time as a Wildcat at the Proving Grounds.
“The lessons and relationships that I’ve built through field hockey will carry me forward, and I’m definitely excited to discover new things about myself because field hockey has been such a critical part of my life, so I think being able to discover new things that I enjoy doing is exciting to me,” Mitchel said.
