Feb. 12, 2005

PRINCETON, N.J.--The Villanova women's water polo squad ended day one of the Princeton Invitational with a loss to George Washington, 10-9, on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats fall to 0-2 on the season, as they were defeated by Princeton earlier in the day.

Junior Kim Pare (Grand Rapids, Mich.) opened the scoring versus the Colonials, but they came back early to tie the score. George Washington would then score next, however Aimee Corsiglia (Mountain View, Calif.) would tie it up for the `Cats on a score of her own. Pare would then give Villanova its first lead on a penalty shot. The Wildcats went into the half with a 6-5 advantage, and held the lead until 2:01 remaining in the third quarter when the Colonials would send the contest to another tie.

The Wildcats scored on an ejection early in the fourth quarter to take a 7-6 lead. The game went back to a tie with just under four minutes remaining and GW scored again to take the lead with 3:08 remaining. Senior Ellen Howe (San Diego, Calif.) tied the game with 2:45 remaining, on a natural goal.

The Colonials scored with 1:42 left. `Nova would miss a man-advantage opportunity with 1:17 left, but had a second chance by way of another kick-out with :23 seconds left in the game. Head Coach Paige Cull called a time-out, set up the goal, and newcomer Carla Martinez (Cagunas, Puerto Rico) scored to tie the game with :05 left. GW called a time-out and set up a play to get the ball into the hole where they drew a penalty shot with :01 left in the game. The Colonials scored their penalty shot to take the final lead and win the game, 10-9.

"This was a very exciting game," Cull stated. "We executed really well on the specific things that we talked about prior to the game. We showed a lot of poise and maturity and really stepped up for this game. While we were 1-11 on man-advantage goals this morning, we were 7-9 in the GW game. This was a big improvement."

Earlier on Saturday, the Wildcats fell to Princeton, 11-2. Pare and freshman Julie Ramaley (Old Greenwich, Conn.) provided the goals for Villanova in the loss. Pare ended the day on a total of 4-of-8 shooting and two assists. Howe added 2-of-5 shooting and another two assists, while goalie Jess Wells (Newport Beach, Calif.) came up with 12 saves versus GW and nine against Princeton.

The Wildcats wrap up the Princeton Invitational on Sunday, Feb. 13. They face Harvard at 9:40 a.m. and Wagner at 4:40 p.m.