Amanda Bochniak had a hat trick and an assist, but Marquette fell to Villanova back on Saturday afternoon by a final of 10-9. Claire Costanza also contributed four points on two goals on two assists.
Villanova won the game by scoring six unanswered goals across a 12 minute stretch that bridged halftime. The first goal came from Chelsey Henderson and put the Wildcats up 5-4, and Henderson also scored the final goal, putting her team up 10-4. That was also the last goal that VU would score in the game, as Marquette held them scoreless for the final 26:05.
I don't know if Villanova intentionally went into their shells at that point, because suddenly Marquette was unstoppable. Nicole Gleason scored 22 seconds after Henderson's last goal to break MU's scoreless drought, and she scored again on a pass from Costanza to make it 10-6. Then, it was Bochniak's turn, scoring two goals exactly four minutes apart to cut the lead to 10-8. Then, with 12:10 remaining, Bochniak found Hayley Baas so wide open that she was able to get Baas the ball so early in a run to the net that Bochniak didn't even get an assist when Baas popped it past VU goalie Jaclyn Fraum to make it a one goal game.
And that was it for scoring. Unlike MU's one goal loss to Connecticut last weekend, where they just didn't have enough time to punch past the Huskies after pulling within one with just under five minutes left, the Golden Eagles left themselves more than enough time on the clock here. MU only managed three shots for the rest of the game, and Villanova was able to control the ball for the final four minutes, essentially playing a gigantic game of keep away. MU committed two fouls in the fan during that stretch that resulted in free position shots that ended up as just simple restarts as Villanova elected to maintain possession instead of trying to score.
Emma Salter replaced Sarah Priem in net for Marquette following Villanova's ninth goal. While she did allow what ended up being the game winning goal on the first shot she faced, Salter made two outstanding saves that kept Marquette in the game during their comeback.
Marquette falls to 5-10 on the season and 1-5 in Big East play. Villanova moves to 8-7 and 3-3 in Big East games, which keeps them in contention for the fourth and final Big East tournament slot.
Up Next: Marquette wraps up the Big East schedule with a mid-week road trip. They'll be in Louisville to take on the Cardinals (12-3, 6-0 Big East) on Thursday afternoon. Louisville was ranked #19 in the country in last week's Brine Top 20 and they've won eight games in a row.