Feb. 11, 2001

Princeton, NJ - On February 10-11, the Villanova Wildcat water polo team traveled to Princeton University to participate in the 2001 Princeton University Water Polo Invitational. After the long weekend of action, the Wildcats returned to their Main Line campus with a 0-3 record. National powers, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Hartwick all were victorious over Villanova by the scores of 13-4, 14-7, and 15-8, respectively. The three losses drop Villanova's record to 0-4 on the season.

The Wildcats squared off first with Indiana University in Princeton's DeNunzio Pool. Villanova fell behind early 7-0 and could not recover from that point on. The Wildcats cut the Hoosier advantage to five early in the third quarter after a second quarter score by senior Katherine Kaufold and the third quarter tally by junior Erin Agee.

Trailing 7-2, the Wildcats allowed Indiana to record the next three goals before they scored their third goal of the match. Recording the goal for Villanova was Agee, who netted her second of the match and third of the season. The Hoosiers tallied three more times before the end of the match, while Villanova could manage one final goal from senior Carrie Boyle, her fifth of the season. Indiana was led by Kristin Carpenter's three goals.

Villanova had little time to think about their loss to Indiana, as they were back in action against Massachusetts later that day. Massachusetts tallied just 24 seconds into the game to take an early lead. Villanova freshman Jennifer Rosick struck back just two minutes later with her first career goal. The Wildcats fell behind over the next three minutes, allowing Massachusetts to record the next three goals. Again, Villanova responded when Carrie Boyle tallied her sixth goal of the season on a four-meter shot with no time remaining in the first quarter.

Trailing 4-2, Villanova could not keep the reigns on the Massachusetts' offense. The Minutewomen scored two times in the first minute to take a 6-2 lead. Again, another freshman stepped to the forefront netting their first career goal. This time it was Kelly Ganz and she didn't just score once, but twice in a minute span. Over the next minute, Massachusetts answered Villanova's challenge, tallying twice to push their lead back to four goals, 8-4. Villanova's Boyle got her second goal of the game and seventh of the season with 24 second remaining in the first half.

The second half was a different story as Massachusetts scored six of the next eight goals to secure the 14-7 victory. Tallying the last two goals for Villanova were Rosick and Boyle. For Rosick it was her second goal of the game and second of the season, while for Boyle it was her third of the game and eighth of the season.

In their final game of the invitational, Villanova did battle with Hartwick on Sunday morning, February 11th. Again, Villanova fell behind early as they saw Hartwick tally twice in the games' opening two minutes. Trailing early for the fourth time this season, Villanova saw their offensive leaders step to the forefront. Boyle tallied her first goal of the game and ninth of the season at the 2:37 mark of the first quarter to cut the Hartwick lead to 2-1. Hartwick answered the 'Cats goal with two of their own. Boyle's offensive counterpart and fellow captain, Agee, tallied her third goal of the season and first of the game midway through the second quarter to cut the deficit to 4-2. Hartwick managed one more goal before half to take a 5-2 advantage into the intermission.

In the second half, the teams traded goals until the end of the third quarter. Hartwick scored first, before Ganz connected on her first goal of the game and third of the season. Another Hartwick goal extended their lead back to four, 7-3. This time it was Agee who drilled home her second of the game to bring the Hartwick advantage back to three. Hartwick scored at the 3:29 mark of the third quarter and just 14 seconds later Boyle responded with her second score of the game and tenth of the season. Villanova scored the next goal as well when sophomore transfer Maria Greshock netted her first goal of the game and second of the season.

From that point, Villanova tallied only twice more, while Hartwick's offense prospered. They scored twice in the last two minutes of the third quarter and five times in the fourth to finish off Villanova 15-8. Scoring the final two goals for Villanova was Agee, who ended the game with a season-high four goals. Her four-goal effort brought her season goal total to seven.

Villanova will be in action next on February 17 at home when they host the Villanova Invitational. Opponents and times will be announced during the upcoming week.