March 19, 2003

Philadelphia, PA - The La Salle Explorer lacrosse team hosted the Villanova Wildcats on Wednesday afternoon for their first home game at McCarthy Stadium. The Explorers opened the season with three home games played at Temple's Geasey Field but hoped the return to 20th and Olney would make the difference. The Wildcats had other ideas as they handed La Salle a 12-7 loss, which was the identical score when the teams met a year ago.

In the first half, the teams traded goals early with the score sitting at 2-2, La Salle's Kate Henwood (Glen Mills, PA/Garnett Valley) scored on a pass from Amy Juhasz (Limerick, PA/Spring Ford) to put the Explorers on top 3-2 with 18:56 remaining in the half.

Villanova went on to score three unanswered goals with unassisted goals by Steph Haas (North Wales, PA/Gwynedd Mercy) and Meghan Carolan (Hicksville, NY/Hicksville) and with just under ten minutes to play in the half, Katie Mannix (Crofton, MD/Archbishop Spalding) netted a goal on a free position shot to give the Wildcats a 5-3 advantage.

Coming off the bench, La Salle's Becky Boudwin (Springfield, PA/Cardinal O'Hara) earned her first goal of the season on a pass from Kim Sheridan (Willow Grove, PA/Upper Moreland).

The Wildcats closed out the first half with a goal by Katie Komlo (Bryn Mawr, PA/Episcopal Academy) and with 2:57 remaining Bess Hanley (Lutherville, MD/Notre Dame Prep) scored on a pass from Rachel Damalouji (Huntingtown, MD/The Calverton School) to give Villanova a 7-4 halftime lead.

Villanova continued its run in the second half, scoring the first three goals of the half before Tracy Guenther (Willow Grove, PA/Upper Moreland) scored with 15:53 remaining, to close the gap to 10-5. The Wildcats' Elizabeth Firth (Chevy Chase, MD/Georgetown Visitation) scored with 14:24 left in the game and Hanley closed out the Villanova scoring with 9:06 remaining and Villanova holding a 12-5 lead.

La Salle's Nicole Sunderland (Lansdowne, PA/Upper Darby) drove in with 3:48 left to rally the Explorers. With 3:10 left, Guenther scored the final goal of the game on a free position shot.

Junior Lianne Dictor (Sea Cliff, NY/Northshore) tallied eight assists and faced 27 shots, while Villanova's Jess McGrattan (Rochester, NY/Mercy) posted nine saves on 27 shots. Defensively, the Explorers picked up 27 groundballs to Villanova's 19.

Villanova hits the road again this weekend with a visit to Massachusetts. The Wildcats face Holy Cross in Worcester at noon on Saturday afternoon and are at Boston College in Chestnut Hill on Sunday at noon.