Villanova field hockey finished its season off with a winning streak, beating Fairfield, 4-3, at home on Sunday, Oct. 27, and claiming a 3-2 victory over Providence on Friday, Nov. 1.
The senior day game against Fairfield started with an early lead from Villanova with a goal by senior midfield/forward Emma Schwarz off a wide shot attempt from fifth-year forward Sabine de Ruijter.
De Ruijter was fouled during the shot, allowing the ‘Cats to maintain possession. The ‘Cats added to their lead at the half with a successful shot on goal by de Ruijter off of a penalty stroke.
The Stags came out of the locker room strong, scoring their first goal less than a minute into the second half. However, a penalty corner from Schwarz created an opportunity for fifth-year forward Meghan Mitchell to respond less than two minutes later, scoring her seventh goal of the season with an assist from de Ruijter. Graduate forward Ava Borkowski scored Villanova’s final goal of the game at the end of the third period, sinking her sixth goal of the season with an assist from senior midfield/forward Anne Drabbe.
Despite two shots at the end of the third period and one in the game’s final five minutes, the ‘Cats did not get any more goals in the net. Fairfield put in two more goals in the fourth period, one off of a penalty stroke of their own and one off a foul against ‘Nova, but were still one goal short of catching up. This made for a successful senior night for the ‘Cats, walking away with a 4-3 win over the Stags.
“Our conversion rate on our corners was absolutely fantastic, so scoring off of open field goals we didn’t do a ton, but we started doing more of that in the last few games which was nice to see,” head coach Joaie Milhous said. “Our conversion rate on our corners, though, was probably the best it’s ever been, it’s pretty impressive, so that was exciting.”
Five days later, Villanova hit the road to face Providence for their final game of the season. The Friars started the game with an immediate shot on goal, giving them an early lead that lasted the remainder of the first half. A green card called on Villanova’s midfield/forward Anne Drabbe created an opportunity for a direct shot off of a corner, which the Friars capitalized on, putting them ahead, 2-0.
The ‘Cats attempted six shots on goal in the first half, all of which went wide or were blocked by the Friars defense, and came out of the locker room with an almost immediate yellow card on sophomore midfield/forward Maeve Boston.
However, a penalty corner from Schwarz in the first minute of the second half created an opportunity for de Ruijter to put Villanova on the board with an assist from senior midfielder Raina Smolij. Less than 10 minutes later, sophomore midfielder Jane Bresnehan brought the game to a tie with an unassisted goal off of a loose ball. Another penalty stroke by de Ruijter off of a penalty corner from Schwarz at the end of the third period, not only closed the gap in score, but put Villanova ahead.
After finishing the period with a yellow card on sophomore back Gemma Lysaght followed by another penalty corner from Schwarz, the ‘Cats were still able to hold the lead for the game’s final 15 minutes and walk away with a 3-2 win. This comeback broke a 22-game Villanova losing streak on Providence’s field and allowed Villanova to finish its season with its third win in a row.
“We never gave up, we never panicked, and it kind of just shows the strength and that never giving up attitude that we did have this year,” Milhous said. “To come from behind and win that game was just really good, especially because we broke a 22-game losing streak on Providence’s field. We normally win at home against them and they normally win at home against us so to break that was super special and such a nice way for our seniors and fifth years to end their careers on such a positive note.”
Following this win against Providence, and last week’s conference win over Temple, Villanova finished the season with a 4-3 record in the Big East. Only the top four teams in the conference play in the Big East tournament, and while they were tied for fourth place, its loss to Liberty earlier in the regular season gave them the fourth spot in the tournament.
This brought Villanova’s season to a close earlier than many would have anticipated and would have hoped, but does not negate the impressive effort they demonstrated all season long.
“It’s a great way to end our season,” Milhous said. “It just shows the strength of our team. Also our seniors and our fifth-years being able to end their careers on a win. I think we played really strong towards the end and finished on some key opportunities so I’m really happy for our players and for our team.”
