On Tuesday, March 17, Villanova women’s lacrosse fell (5-3),18-10 to Stony Brook at Villanova Stadium. The Wildcats are now 0-4 against Stony Brook, in their last matchup on Feb. 25, Villanova lost, 5-12.
Stony Brook is currently ranked at No.12, according to the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWCLA) Coaches Poll.
The Seawolves opened the game with a 2-0 lead in the first several minutes. Junior midfielder Rose Christie answered back with a goal off an assist from Sophia Corretjer. However, Stony Brook netted two more to go up 4-1 at the end of the first.
“I think one thing we could have done is start the game out a little faster,” head coach Jill Batcheller said. “We started out with a lot of turnovers in the first quarter.”
Villanova added one more in the second quarter, but Stony Brook went on a five-goal run to go up 9-2. Christie and redshirt junior midfielder Bella Piselli cut the deficit for Villanova, but the Seawolves were still up 10-4 heading into the locker room.
Coming out of the second quarter, we made some adjustments offensively,” Batcheller said. “That let us get some extra shots in the second quarter.”
Freshman midfielder Kathryn Monaco made it 10-5 at the beginning of the third and then netted another later to make the game, 11-6.
The ‘Cats struggled to make up ground against the Seawolves, as they added three straight in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter to go up 16-7. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Mary Moore added two more to make it 17-9 and completed her hat trick.
Villanova finished the game with a final score of 18-10.
Junior midfielder Emma Verhoest led Villanova with 14 draw controls. Junior defender Katie Clark caused four turnovers and Freshman goalkeeper Allie Bell had a career-high seven saves against Stony Brook.
“I think one of the biggest things we need to do is just take care of the ball,” Batcheller said. “We had a lot of turnovers today, so that’s gonna be a big focus for us moving forward.”
The Wildcats are now 5-3 overall this season. They sit at 2-2 at home and 3-1 away heading into Big East play. They recently completed a sucessful roadtrip, where the ‘Cats beat Binghamton, Siena and Vermont.
Villanova will return on Saturday, March 21, against Xavier (2-7) for its first conference game of the season as well as senior day. Start time is noon at Villanova Stadium.
Villanova’s all-time record against the Musketeers is 3-0, with its last win occurring in April 2025. The final score was 18-9.
