ITHACA, New York – Despite a strong offensive first half, the Wildcats (1-1) fell to Cornell (1-0) on the road Saturday afternoon.

It was a defensive battle early, with the first goal for either team coming over six minutes into the start of play.

Cornell went up by one early, but senior attack Katie Comerford scored the equalizer just 30 second later.

The goal was her fifth of the season and the hundredth of her collegiate career.

Goals from junior attack Brittany Bruno, senior attack Liz Trojan and senior midfielder Grainger Rosati put the Wildcats up 4-2 over the Big Red with less than 14 minutes remaining in the first half.

After cutting Villanova's lead down to 4-3, Cornell gave up back-to-back goals to Comerford.

Junior attack Julianne Puckette was the last Wildcat to strike before the end of the half, scoring off an assist from Bruno.

Villanova went into the break with a 7-6 advantage.

The Big Red started the second half with a bang, scoring three back-to-back goals to cut the Wildcat's lead down to 9-7.

Freshman Adeline Fischer stopped the scoring frenzy, scoring her first collegiate goal off an assist from senior midfielder Ashley Lynch.

Four minutes later, sophomore midfielder Caroline Curnal scored her first goal as a Wildcat, making the score even at nine for both teams.

Comerford and Puckette each scored another goal in the last nine minutes of play, but the Wildcat defense couldn't hold Cornell in the last five minutes.

The Big Red scored three unanswered goals to finish the game, completing the comeback. 

NOTABLES

• Sophomore goalkeeper Alexa Moro made seven saves in the game
• Villanova had a 29 to 27 shot advantage 
• Cornell won the draw control battle 16-10 and both teams tied with 15 ground balls a piece
• With her team-high four goals in the game, Comerford (182) is now just two points shy of breaking the Villanova school record for career points (183)
• Comerford is now one of just eight Wildcats who have scored 100 or more goals in their collegiate career

UP NEXT

The team travels to Annapolis, Maryland, on Saturday for a 12 p.m. matchup with Navy.