Box Score

Villanova, Pa. -

The Villanova women's lacrosse team (2-3) gave the No. 19 Delaware Blue Hens (5-2) their first road loss of the 2015 campaign as won with a score of 11-9. The victory this evening marks the first time in the series record that the Wildcats have walked away with the win.

"Coming into tonight's game we were really focused," said Head Coach Julie Young. "We knew we had the opportunity to take down a team that was not only playing well but was ranked. We played Delaware last year and it was such a close game that we had the confidence that we could make it a quick game again ... For people who saw the first half it was obvious that we had that hunger to win; it was the best first half I have seen us play all season. We dominated and scoring with one second left in the first half really gave us a lot of momentum ... All week we have been focusing on executing and getting that win so it feels great to have this victory."

The Wildcats without a doubt had their best defensive showing of the season. Keeping the Hens to only 24 shots compared to their average 30 and causing seven turnovers; the Nova back line kept Delaware at bay for a majority of the game.

Junior Jacklyn Fraum finally had her night in the light posting 10 saves and only two allowed goals against an aggressive Delaware offense whose shot on goal percentage before tonight was .858.

The Wildcats took a quick 2-0 lead over the Blue Hens as juniors Kelsey Denihan and Meghan Breen each found the back of the net off passes from sophomore Shannon Galvin and senior Jessica Mucci, respectively.

Ten minutes into the first half, after Villanova forced UD into a timeout, the Hens found the back of the net for their first goal.

However senior co-captain Jackie Froccaro quickly returned the favor and scored her first goal of the night off a pass from Breen.

For ten minutes the game became a battle of the defenses as both teams traded shots and turnovers as the Wildcat back line seemed to develop a virtual wall in front of Fraum forcing the Hens to spend great lengths of time developing their offensive strikes.

The Blue Hens eventually put the ball behind Fraum one more time in the half which caused the Wildcats to respond with three unanswered goals within roughly four minutes including an unassisted Mucci goal with one second remaining in the half to take Nova into the locker room with soaring spirits.

At the end of the half the Wildcats had posted 12 shots with seven on goal, three assists (Galvin, Mucci and Breen) four caused turnovers and six groundballs (three of which came from freshman Elizabeth Armstrong).

The Hens kicked off the half with a goal five minutes which the Wildcats responded with a barrage of goals as four separate `Cats scored four goals in the matter of four minutes.

With a 9-3 lead with twenty minutes remaining in the game, the Wildcats continued to bear down on defense; causing three turnovers and picking up six draw controls in the second half.

Delaware, however, would not go down quietly. The Hens spread five goals over a ten-minute period to slowly creep up onto a Wildcat offense that was desperately attempting to hold on to its lead.

In the 2014 match up between these two teams, the Wildcats had also sent the Hens into the locker room down but Delaware was able to come back with an 11-8 victory.

With 3:19 remaining in the game, the senior co-captain Mucci who has spent so much of her senior season so far distributing to her teammates logged her third goal of the game (second unassisted) to widen the gap to 11-8.

The Wildcats claimed their first victory against a ranked team and remain perfect at home as the final whistle blew with the scoreboard in the `Cats favor: 11-9.

The Wildcats will be back in action Saturday as they take on hometown foe Drexel at 1 p.m.

For the best news and information on the team, be sure to follow @NovaWLax on Twitter and Instagram and like the Villanova Women's Lacrosse Facebook page.