VILLANOVA, Pa.- The Villanova Wildcats ( 11-5, 3-3 BE) took on the Marquette Golden Eagles (15-1, 5-0 BE), losing to Marquette 12-8 in a tight rally on their home turf. Despite suffering a loss, the Wildcats had plenty to celebrate. Seniors Catherine Field, Molly Dunphey, Kate Springer, Harriette Overend, Addie Fischer, Cara Moreau, Nina Mainello, Caroline Curnal, and Olivia Conquest were honored today for their relentless dedication to the women's lacrosse program. Every senior was able to start against the Golden Eagles except for Overend who suffered a knee injury. Curnal finished the match with two goals, one assist, and 12 draw controls, extending both her season draw control record and all-time career draw control record at 147 and 374 respectively. Conquest came up with seven big saves to keep the 'Cats in the game.

The game started off with an impressive behind-the-back goal from Captain Curnal, giving the Wildcats the momentum they needed. Five minutes later, Marquette's Lydia Foust put one on the board for the Golden Eagles. The score was only 1-1 for about nine minutes until sophomore Sydney Pappas took matters into her own hands and scored two back-to-back goals to give Villanova a two point lead. These were not the last goals of the period, however, as Marquette's Hannah Greving pushed one past Conquest to finish out the first quarter. The score was Villanova 3, Marquette 2 going into the second quarter. 

The second quarter was big for the Golden Eagles as they outscored the Wildcats 5-1. Foust kicked it off with her second goal of the game five minutes into the quarter. Just 20 seconds later, Meg Bireley ripped one from a Mary Schumar assist to give the Golden Eagles their first lead of the day. It took seven minutes to see another goal from either team and it came from Sami Carey who has earned a whopping 53 points so far this season, making her the second leading point scorer on the team behind Pappas. Unfortunately this momentum only lasted thirty seconds as Marquette's Shea Garcia scored two goals less than a minute apart. Foust finished out the half with her third goal of the day. The score going into the second half was Villanova 4, Marquette 7. 

The third quarter only saw three goals, with two of them coming from senior standouts Moreau and Curnal. Marquette's goal came from Schumar who earned five points in today's match. Even though it was a quiet scoring quarter, there was aggressive defense coming from both sides of the field which is highly reflective of the game as a whole. In total Villanova had 24 fouls and Marquette had 27, proving that both teams battled closely and left their hearts on the field. The score was Villanova 6, Marquette 8 going into the final 15 minutes. 

Pappas started the final quarter with her third goal of the day coming from Kayla Gulmi, who currently leads the team in assists with 30. Unsurprisingly, Pappas earned a hat trick in today's game. She almost had two more as well if it weren't for the post. Unfortunately her third goal did not close the gap for long because Marquette's Bireley scored two goals back-to-back, taking the Golden Eagles to a three point lead with six minutes to go. With five left, Jessie Lee finished a free-position shot to bring the Wildcats up to 8. Marquette's Emma Soccodato and Tess Osburn responded by scoring a goal a piece to finish out the game for the Golden Eagles. The final score was Villanova 8, Marquette 12. 

The Wildcats finished out conference play 3-3, qualifying themselves for the BIG EAST tournament which will begin May 5th.