Villanova women’s lacrosse is back in the win column after a decisive, 15–8 victory over Marquette University on Sunday, April 6.
It was Youth Day at Villanova Stadium, as Villanova (9–4 overall, 3–1 Big East) hosted Marquette (8–5, 2–2) for a morning game.
“We stressed on playing 60 minutes of Villanova lacrosse,” head coach Jill Batcheller said. Redshirt sophomore attacker Elena Torres led the way in scoring, with four goals and two assists for a total of six points. Senior attacker Sami Carey followed close behind with three.
Sophomore midfielders Rose Christie and Sophia Corretjer, as well as senior attacker Sydney Pappas, netted two goals each.
“Elena is just really competitive and like a spark on the field,” Batcheller said. “I think she is going to be somebody down the line that’s going to be really important for our team.”
Marquette struck first with an early goal in the opening period.
Villanova answered back five minutes later with a woman-up goal from Christie, assisted by Carey. With three minutes and 42 seconds left in the first period, Christie netted a second goal, also assisted by Carey. The Wildcats went on to score two more goals in the quarter while holding the Golden Eagles to just one.
“Having multiple threats on offense has been a really big part of our growth this year,” Batcheller said. “I think that it makes us a really dynamic offense.”
Torres netted a free-position shot in the opening two minutes of the second period. Villanova tallied five goals across the period while forcing six Marquette turnovers in just 10 minutes.
The Golden Eagles managed to net one more goal to end the half with Wildcats still ahead by a considerable margin, 9–2.
Torres once again sparked Villanova’s scoring in the third period. She netted her second goal of the day within the opening two minutes of the period. Pappas and Carey added two more goals, and the ‘Cats headed into the fourth quarter up, 14–7.
Both offenses were mostly quiet through the final 15 minutes.
Pappas netted one last goal for Villanova just 19 seconds into the fourth period. Marquette also added on one more with 11 minutes remaining for the final goal of the game.
“I think the defense has been playing really united,” Batcheller said. “Their performance all over has allowed for our offense to take a lot of risks.”
Villanova will next travel to Cincinnati, OH to face Xavier University (1–10, 0–3 Big East) on Saturday, April 12 (noon).
