VILLANOVA, Pa. The Villanova Wildcats (6-2) took on the Lafayette Leopards (1-8) on a windy afternoon today at Villanova stadium, clobbering the Leopards 15-1. Sophomore Sami Carey led the team in points with four goals and two assists, while junior Isabella Francati closely followed with four goals. Caroline Curnal had a hat trick and an assist which makes up four points for the fifth year captain. We saw a tremendous effort defensively today for the Wildcats who held the Leopards to only one goal and collected nine caused turnovers as a team. Kate Montalto, sophomore goalie who subbed in for Cate Gallagher, made four amazing saves to keep an insurmountable lead for the Wildcats. 

The whistle blew and the Wildcats took off, scoring three goals in just under two minutes of play from Curnal and Francati. About thirty seconds later Carey won a ground ball and passed it to Kayla Gulmi who got her name on the board by pushing one by goalie Lexi Coldiron. Just three minutes into the game Lafayette head coach Katie McConnell used her first and only time-out of the game. This regroup kept the Wildcats out of Coldiron's net for about three minutes until Carey scored her first goal of the game. What was remaining of the first quarter saw more goals from Curnal, Carey, and Francati. The Leopards kept the Wildcats to only two goals in the second quarter, both coming from standout Carey.  The score going into the second half was 10-0. 

Francati scored two of her four goals in the third quarter, one coming from a free position goal. Ashlyn Hickey kicked off the fourth quarter with her second goal of the season. Four minutes later Lafayette scored their first and only goal of the game from Katie Chiasson. With two minutes left in the game, Amber Derosa and Quinn McKiernan scored their first goals of their career as a Wildcat! 

When asked about today's performance, head coach Jill Batcheller says, "I was so proud of the fast start to the game today! Today's win was a full team effort from the starting 12 to the game changers who came in! Lafayette is a tough transition team so it was great that we were able to slow them down. We are starting to see a lot of confidence and cohesion on both sides of the field. That's exactly what we are hoping to see at this point halfway through our season!" 

For more of the Wildcats, tune in this Saturday, March 18th, at 10am as Villanova takes on Quinnipiac at home. 

Notes: Villanova's history with Lafayette is 8-9 in favor of Lafayette… Villanova has never played Quinnipiac before… Caroline Curnal is six draw controls away from 300 draw controls…