INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Villanova women's lacrosse team defeated the Butler Bulldogs, 17-5 in a rainy BIG EAST Conference game on Saturday, Apr. 20 and clinched its ticket to the 2019 BIG EAST Women's Lacrosse Championship presented by Jeep. This will be Villanova's second appearance in program history.
No. 24 Georgetown and Marquette also joined Villanova this weekend in clinching a spot in the Tournament and the trio joins No. 15 Denver. The Pioneers also have clinched a share of the regular season title.
This year's championships will be held in Milwaukee, Wis. with the semifinal round on Thursday, May 2 and the final round on Saturday, May 4.
Villanova vs. Butler
Villanova scored eight of the game's first nine goals to pull away early, holding a 12-3 halftime advantage.
Comerford netted in two goals on assists from McDonough to start the contest.
Brittany Bruno then added to the lead with a goal on an
Ashley Lynch pass to put the 'Cats up 3-1 with only four minutes off the clock.
In the Wildcats 7-0 scoring run
Liz Trojan,
Carlye Maita and
Nicole Concannon scored in addition to Comerford and Bruno's goals.
Ashley Lynch assisted on three of the seven goals for a team high.
Butler broke up Villanova's run with two consecutive goals to cut the lead to 8-3.
Before the first half wrapped up, Villanova scored four more goals.
Christine Graziano scored her second of the season, Hassinger grabbed her 24
th, Trojan netted in her second of the game and 30
th of her junior season and
Maggie O'Neill scored her fourth career goal as a defender.
At the half, the Wildcats led 12-3 and led the Bulldogs in shots 22-5, ground balls 19-9 and draw controls 10-6.
The next 30 minutes of play was one for many firsts. Just four minutes into play, Bruno set
Sarah Kaval up with a pass in front of the net where she scored her first collegiate goal on a man-up possession. Freshman attack,
Olivia Piccirilli was also a Wildcat to tally her first collegiate goal in the contest which gave the 'Cats a 14-3 lead. Kaval later scored her second career goal after Butler was able to net one in for themselves.
Villanova received its last two goals of the contest from Graziano and
Haley Driscoll. Driscoll was the last of the team to score her first career goal and put them up 17-4.
Butler closed out the game with the last goal coming with only a few seconds left on the clock, but when the buzzer went off Villanova had clenched the 17-5 victory.
Comerford led the team with four goals while Lynch led with three assists leaving the both of them at the top of the team standings in assists and points.
Defensively Villanova caused 13 of Butler's 16 turnovers, Lee led the team with four and
Sydney Frank followed with three. Both
Alexa Moro and
Olivia Gonsalves shared time in the net for the 'Cats. Moro tallied one save in the first half which was her team's only save on the day.
Hassinger went to work again on the draw circle and won a season and career high 13 draw controls and now has a total of 122 on the year.
Looking Ahead
Villanova will close out the season with a conference game against No. 15 Denver on Friday, Apr. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Villanova Stadium. The Wildcats will also celebrate their 10 graduating seniors,
Julia Arrix,
Devon Brown,
Olivia Gonsalves,
Christine Graziano,
Devin Hassinger,
Nicole Lee,
Alexis Leighton,
Carlye Maita,
Maggie O'Neill and
Laura Persinski.
History
- The Wildcats are now 10-6 overall and 3-1 in conference play and captured their first 10-win season in Villanova Women's Lacrosse Program History.
- The 2019 BIG EAST Championship will be Villanova's second appearance in history. The Wildcats first appeared in the 2015 tournament held in Storrs, Conn. as a No. 4 seed. Villanova was defeated by the No. 1 seeded Florida 18-8 in the semifinals.
