March 22, 2008

Box Score

FARMVILLE, Va. - Villanova (2-5) scored the first four goals of the second half and held Longwood (4-6) scoreless for a stretch of over 30 minutes but a second-half rally by the Wildcats came up short in a 10-9 loss on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics Complex.

The host Lancers led 8-1 after a free-position goal with 9:32 to play in the opening period. Villanova, however, got into an offensive rhythm of its own and trimmed the deficit to 9-4 by the intermission. Junior Taryn McKenna (Dix Hills, N.Y.) scored consecutive goals just 49 seconds apart and freshman Rachel Lasda (Camillus, N.Y.) added the final tally of the opening period with 4:11 left before the intermission.

Longwood scored its ninth goal of the game with 6:11 remaining in the first half on a score by Joyce Haines. After that tally, though, the Lancers were held off the board until Cara O'Brien scored with 5:40 left in the game.

By that time, the Wildcats had closed to within 9-8 and the game wound up going down to the wire. McKenna opened the second half scoring with 23:39 left in the contest and freshman Rachael Ponge (Fayetteville, N.Y.) scored on a feed from senior Stevie McFadden (Reisterstown, Md.) just 11 seconds later.

Midway through the second half freshman Nora Wallace (Sea Girt, N.J.) scored two straight goals to pull Villanova to within 9-8 with 9:24 still remaining on the clock. After Longwood increased the lead back to two goals, the Wildcats struggled to keep the rally going and could only manage to get as close as 10-9 on a goal by senior Amanda Carlson (Middle Island, N.Y.) with 37 seconds to play.

Villanova owned a slim 21-19 shot advantage for the game, although the margin was 12-5 in the second half. McKenna scored three goals and Ponge and Wallace two apiece for the Wildcats. Senior Lauren Latchford (Morristown, N.J.) and freshman Maggie Langan (Potomac, Md.) split time in goal and combined for five saves.

The Lancers were led by O'Brien with four goals and Liz Sellmayer with two scores. Jennifer Holliday played the first 48 minutes in goal and made seven saves while allowing eight goals. Eliza Coughter allowed just one goal while playing the final 11-plus minutes in the net.

Next up for the Wildcats is a Friday night home game against Le Moyne at 7 p.m.