This weekend, Villanova field hockey suffered a 5-0 loss to Liberty University (15-2, 7-0 Big East) in its last game of the regular season.
However, Villanova (5-12, 3-4 Big East) clinched the No. 4 seed in the Big East Tournament and will rematch Liberty in the semifinals. No. 7 Liberty, which is undefeated through conference play, enters the conference playoffs as the top seed.
“It wasn’t how I was expecting the game to go,” Villanova head coach Joanie Milhous said. “I do think that we have a lot more to show than what we did this past Friday. I thought there were some really good things we did, but we just didn’t have an attacking game, and Liberty played exceptionally well. I think we learned so much to be able to, and really excited to be able to have them again in the semi-final games of the Big East Tournament.”
In the first quarter, the Flames maintained possession, with two shots on goal and four shots total.
Four minutes into the game, Liberty got a penalty corner, but took a wide shot.
At 9:19, the Flames scored the first goal of the game. Continuing its control over the ball, Liberty took another shot on goal, but it was blocked by freshman goalie Sophie Volkel.
This was followed by another Liberty shot that was blocked by Villanova’s defense.
Volkel collected a career-high 12 saves and allowed five goals.
“She had some major saves,” Milhous said. “I think there were a couple of goals that she would like to have back, but she kept us somewhat in the game. It could have been a much different game if she weren’t in goal.”
The Flames entered the second quarter with a 1-0 advantage.
Throughout the second quarter, the Wildcats kept up offensively, balancing the possession time between both teams.
However, the Wildcats still struggleddefensively. At 25:25, the Flames scored another goal.
Even with another penalty corner and another shot, blocked by Volkel, Villanova locked in on defense for the rest of the half.
The second quarter ended with Liberty ahead, 2-0.
One minute into the third quarter, Liberty took another shot on goal that Villanova’s defense blocked. Barely two minutes later, Liberty went for the goal again, but Volkel recorded her third save of the game. The Flames got access to another penalty corner, but fumbled with no result.
On offense, freshman midfielder Erin Mitchell had the opportunity to shoot, but her attempt was blocked by Liberty’s defense.
Off an additional penalty corner, Liberty was able to take two shots, both of which were saved by Volkel.
Shortly after, the Flames got another penalty corner. Volkel was able to pick up her sixth save to deny Liberty another goal.
Under two minutes later, at 39:42, Liberty received a streak of four penalty corners in a row.
The Flames managed three shots off the penalty corner that were all unsuccessful, with two saved by Volkel and one going wide of the goal.
At 43:27, the Flames got their tenth penalty corner of the game, where they managed to score.
Liberty held a 3-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter started with a shot at 48:32 by the Flames that hit the post. A few minutes later, at 51:15, Liberty’s Caroline Richard was flagged with a green card and suspended from the game for two minutes.
At 52:22, the Flames managed another penalty corner, on which they scored their fourth goal of the game.
Just 24 seconds later, Villanova junior forward Colleen Finnan responded with a shot on goal that was blocked.
The Flames went on another run at 55:22, with four more penalty corners, bringing them to fifteen throughout the game. Off of these corners, Liberty was able to take six shots, with four blocked and two saved by Volkel.
Volkel made her 12th and final save of the game at 59:22.
However, the Flames were able to score their fifth and final goal at 59:27.
“We’ve got some kind of fun history [with Liberty],” Milhous said. “In 2023, it beat us in the regular season, 6-0. And then we played them in the semi-final game of the Big East tournament, and only lost by one. So it’s kind of the same thing all over again. And I think we’ve learned some valuable lessons, seeing them play live and on film.”
Villanova will now take on No. 1 seed Liberty again in the Big East Tournament at 1:00 p.m. on Nov. 7 in Lynchburg, VA. (ESPN+).
