CINCINNATI – No. 4 seed Villanova fell to No. 1 seed Denver 19-7 in BIG EAST Semifinal action on Thursday at Corcoran Field.
Sami Carey and
Juliet Walls were named to the All-BIG EAST Tournament Team for their play in the game, with Carey netting three tallies while Walls picked up three ground balls and caused a turnover.
Villanova (7-9) faced a trio of scoring runs of at least three goals by Denver (14-3) throughout the afternoon, including a pair of 6-0 runs that allowed the Pioneers to create distance. Three Wildcats had multi-goal days led by a three-goal effort for Carey.
Mary Moore and
Ashlyn Hickey each posted two goals in the loss.
Denver grabbed momentum early when Ryan Dineen found Sloane Kipp in front of the net for a bouncer that put the Pioneers up 1-0 in the first two minutes. Carey netted a major answer on a man-up opportunity nearly a minute and a half later, weaving past a pair of defenders to circle around the net for an unassisted goal.
That goal was followed by one of Denver's substantial scoring blitzes.
Dineen kicked off a 6-0 Pioneer run through the rest of the frame with back-to-back goals before Caroline Colimore tacked on another to make it a 4-1 Denver advantage with 8:21 to go in the first period. The Pioneers had a chance to score on a steal and breakaway, but
Makenzie Fisher came up with a big save to keep the deficit at three. Jane Earley and Julia Gilbert expanded the run with Earley closing the frame on a goal in the final 15 seconds, making it a 7-1 Denver lead after one.
The 'Cats ended the run with a free position opportunity early in the second period that Hickey ripped into the back right of the net, making it a 7-2 game. Denver netted two after that from Gilbert and Kipp, both with an assist from Olivia Penoyer, to push its lead to 9-2. Villanova was awarded another free position that Carey took on, scoring on an open net to cut the lead to 9-3 with 8:28 left in the half. Gilbert retaliated with a hat trick goal a little later, followed by another from Colimore and Penoyer's first goal of the day for a 3-0 Denver run. Carey stopped the run in the final minute with a hat trick of her own. She sprinted toward the right of the goal on a free position and sent a shot in low for the final goal of the half with Villanova trailing at the break, 12-4.
Denver held a 30-8 shot advantage through the first half with Fisher saving eight of those chances to match her previous season-high. She finished the day with 11. The 'Cats were perfect on all three of their free position chances in the first half.
The Blue and White struck first in the second half with BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Moore getting a shot just in on the right side of the net after a pass from
Sophia Corretjer in the first 3 minutes. Denver was quick with a response on an unassisted goal from Kipp to make it 13-5. Moore pocketed another with under three minutes left in the frame, this time from Hickey. Denver closed the third with back-to-back goals from Gilbert and Kipp, pushing its lead to 15-6.
Denver's scoring run continued into the fourth period with opening goals from Kipp and Gilbert to make it a 17-6 game with 12:28 to play. Penoyer and Dineen's free position goal matched Denver's largest run of the day at 6-0 spanning the final two frames for a 19-6 lead with just over five minutes remaining. Villanova found itself with a free position chance in the final minute of the contest. Hickey sent a launch lying past Denver's Emelia Bohi and into the back right of the net for the final 19-7 tally.
Villanova was outshot 44-20 in the contest with Moore leading the team with five attempts. Denver's Kipp and Gilbert led all scorers with five each while Penoyer tacked on a game-high eight assists.
For all of the latest news and updates surrounding the women's lacrosse program, follow the team on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram at NovaWLax.
