Slipped Away: Villanova 19, Marquette 8

Through 21 minutes of play, it seemed like we were going to be in for a treat in the Valley. Villanova got off two goals in the first two minutes, but Marquette scored the next three, including two from Villanova transfer Nicole Gleason. Nova got the next two, MU retied it, VU retook the lead, and MU retied it on a goal from Hayley Baas with 8:42 left in the half.

Villanova scored their next two goals 13 seconds apart as they took off straight down the field off the draw control and scored the second one with almost no resistance from Marquette. The Wildcats got three more goals by the end of the half, including their 10th of the game from Jessica Mucci with just 20 seconds left in the half. MU would score first in the second half on a slick bit of passing by Emma Kern on a free position restart to find a cutting Margaret Kerr to cut the lead to just four with over 27 minutes to play.

VU took 10 minutes to score the next two goals of the game, effectively taking the wind out of Marquette's sails. At that point, there was just 17 minutes left and MU was down 12-6. Those two goals were the start of a 7-0 run by the Wildcats which eventually chased MU goalie Sarah Priem in favor of Emma Salter. MU would get two more goals, but Villanova matched each of them to keep the final margin at 11.

Baas had a hat trick and an assist to lead the Golden Eagles in points, goals, and assists, tying with three others with one helper each. Three different Wildcats recorded hat tricks in the game, led by Chelsea Henderson with four goals. Mucci and Maria Bowman both added one assist to their hat tricks to tie Henderson for the team high in points.

Up Next: Marquette gets right back at it tomorrow at noon down in the Valley against Rutgers.