April 21, 2001

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Junior Cecily Pierce (New Canaan, Conn.) netted four goals to spark the Villanova Wildcats to a 12-9 Patriot League victory over the Colgate Red Raiders. With the win, Villanova (6-9 overall, 3-2 Patriot League) clinched a spot in next weekend's Patriot League Tournament at Lafayette.

Sophomore Jackie Higgins (Manhasset, N.Y.) and Sarah DePeters (Rochester, N.Y.) each added three goals for the Wildcats. Lauren Moll (Berwyn, Pa.) scored four goals in her return to her native area for Colgate (7-8 overall, 2-3 Patriot League).

Villanova got off to a strong start in the first half. Pierce scored just 48 seconds into the first half and sophomore Meghan Carolan (Hicksville, N.Y.) scored again at the 26:40 mark to give Villanova a 2-0 cushion. Moll answered with a goal for Colgate at the 25:55 mark but sophomore Caitlin Cocks responded with a goal for Villanova just 39 seconds later to make it 3-1. Heather Smith scored two goals to knot matters at three. But Villanova scored the next three goals and took a 7-5 advantage into the intermission.

Meghan O'Neill scored for Colgate at the 28:50 mark to narrow the Villanova lead to 7-6. Higgins answered with a goal for the Wildcats before Samantha Didrikson scored for the Red Raiders to make it 8-7. However, Villanova came up with two goals from DePeters and another from Pierce to build an 11-7 advantage. Colgate got goals from Elizabeth Brown and Smith to cut the lead to 11-9 with 1:52 left but a Pierce goal with 19 seconds left put the game away for the Wildcats.

Villanova has one more regular season outing, this Monday at Rutgers. Game time is 7:00 p.m. The Patriot League semifinal game will take place next Saturday afternoon in Easton, Pa.