On Saturday, April 25, Villanova’s women’s lacrosse team (9-6, 3-3 Big East) concluded its season with a decisive, 18-9, win against Butler (3-13, 0-6 Big East) at Varsity Field in Indianapolis, IN.
Despite the win, the Wildcats will not advance to the Big East Tournament in Denver, CO. The four teams set to compete are UConn, Georgetown, Denver and Marquette.
“Yesterday, I said to the team, I don’t think that game could’ve gone any better,” head coach Jill Batcheller said. “Our team played beautifully. Fourteen of our goals were assisted. It was our most goals of the season. Such beautiful lacrosse all around, offense to defense.”
In Saturday’s game, sophomore Mary Moore scored a career-best six goals and had two assists, for a season-high eight points for Villanova.
“Mary Moore had a really great game,” Batcheller said. “She was somebody who was showing up all over the field.”
Junior Elena Torres reached 100 career points on Saturday, contributing three assists to the score.
Sophomore Leslie Iorio added four goals, and junior Rose Christie posted five assists. Freshman Alex Maloney and sophomore Quinn McCarren had their first career goals, while sophomore Lauren Redfern scored her first points of the year, with a goal and an assist.
Heading into the game, the ‘Cats had a winning mindset.
“We knew we had to win that game in order for us to be a part of the three-way tie,” Batcheller said. “The team did a great job preparing and focusing on working on ourselves. When you get to this point in the season, it’s fun lacrosse.”
After the opening quarter, the Wildcats held a 4-0 lead, with junior Bella Piselli opening the scoring at 6:33. Then, junior Sophia Corretjer and Iorio added one each. Finally, Moore scored the final point of the first quarter.
At the start of the second quarter, Moore immediately struck to make the score 5-0. Butler scored the following three goals, but only two minutes after, Iorio, Corretjer and Moore added four to the Wildcats’ score. The Bulldogs scored the last two points of the half, putting the Wildcats in front, 9-5.
In the third quarter, Villanova was on the attack, with contributions from Moore, Piselli and Iorio. Butler called a timeout at the eight-goal edge. Moore scored again, before Maloney and McCarren scored their first career goals to make it a 16-6 game after three quarters.
In the final quarter, Butler earned the first two goals. Then, Redfern scored her first goal of the year and assisted Maloney for the final goal in the 18-9 win.
Batcheller reflected on the season as a whole. While Villanova will not advance to the Big East Tournament, the season was one of major achievements.
“This season was a hard one to swallow,” Batcheller said. “There were so many historic moments and accomplishments as a team: beating the No. 2 team, ranking for the first time, and we have our highest RPI ranking that we’ve ever had. There are a lot of really amazing things that have come out this year. At the same time, it’s hard to finish the season without going to the playoffs.”
The victory keeps Villanova undefeated all-time against Butler, moving the Wildcats to a 10-0 record against the Big East competitor.
Villanova women’s lacrosse will conclude its season with a final record of 9-6 overall and 3-3 in the Big East Conference and a fifth-place finish.
