VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova women's lacrosse closed out a home-heavy first three weeks on Saturday at Villanova Stadium, falling 15-12 to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Mary Moore led the way for Villanova (2-2) with five points on four goals and an assist while Jillian Vaught contributed a hat trick. Elena Torres scored twice and Sophia Corretjer and Rose Christie each added a goal and two assists while Leslie Iorio totaled a pair of assists.

Allie Bell made her first career appearance between the pipes in the matchup, making four saves in three quarters of play. Katie Clark caused three turnovers in addition to five ground balls as Emma Verhoest controlled a team-high six draws on the day.

The first quarter saw a trio of Rutgers goals before Vaught got VU on the board, then two more RU tallies made it 5-1 after one.

The Scarlet Knights bookended the scoring in the second period so despite a 3-0 Villanova run featuring goals from Torres, Moore and Madison Freeman, it was a 10-4 advantage at the half for the visitors.

Vaught, Corretjer and Moore all scored to open the second half, and two more tallies followed a Rutgers goal to turn it into a 12-9 game after three.

The fourth quarter saw RU expand the edge to five before three VU tallies made it a two-goal game, but time ran out on the 'Cats in a 15-12 Rutgers victory.