April 13, 2008

VILLANOVA, Pa. - In the second of its two home tournaments this season, Villanova (3-20, 0-6 MAAC) faced Siena and Wagner on Saturday at the Villanova Swim Center. The Wildcats were defeated in a morning match by Siena, 17-7, and fell to Wagner, 16-9, in the final competition of the day. Villanova wrapped up its home schedule with Saturday's league tournament and will be on the road for the final weekend of the regular season.

In the match against Siena, the Wildcats scored the game's first goal on a tally by senior Julie Ramaley (Old Greenwich, Conn.) with 6:18 left in the first quarter. That wound up being the only lead for Villanova in the contest, however, despite the game remaining close throughout the first half.

After the Saints scored three straight goals, the Wildcats closed to within 3-2 on a score by senior Carla Martinez (Caguas, Puerto Rico) with 48 seconds to play in the opening period. In the second quarter, Siena again scored three straight goals before Martinez scored her second goal with 2:14 to play in the frame and put Villanova within striking distance down 6-3 going into halftime.

The Saints finally managed to take control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Wildcats 7-2 in the period to stretch their lead to 13-5. In all, Siena notched 11 of its 17 goals in the second half to go on to the final margin of victory.

Martinez and freshman Kathleen Maloney (Chicago, Ill.) scored two goals apiece to lead Villanova. The Wildcats kept consistent offensive pressure on the Saints and fired 31 shots in the match. Sophomore Marissa Hermann (Pequannock, N.J.) and freshman Maria Apablasa (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) each had one goal.

Defensively, the tandem of Apablasa and Ramaley each came up with two drawn ejections and a blocked shot, while senior goalie Erin Foley (Chicago, Ill.) tallied seven steals and six saves in the net. Villanova scored a pair of man-up goals but allowed five man-down tallies in the game.

The evening contest against Wagner started similarly to the morning game but had somewhat of an opposite feel to it the remainder of the way. Just as she had against Siena in the morning, Ramaley opened the scoring against the Seahawks with a goal just one minute into play. Later in the first period, Maloney scored with 47 seconds to play to get the Wildcats to within 3-2, but Wager scored twice in the final 24 seconds of the frame and eventually built a 9-3 lead by halftime.

Villanova scored four of the first give goals of the second half to pull to within 10-7 on another Maloney goal with 4:06 left in the period, but that was as close as the Wildcats got in the second half.

Maloney and Martinez each scored three goals against the Seahawks and the Villanova offense remained a force as the team fired 29 shots at the Wagner goal. Apablasa and sophomore Andrea La Fevers (Boca Raton, Fla.) also notched goals for the Wildcats.

On the defensive end, Foley made nine saves and again had seven steals in goal, while Villanova drew nine ejections on the Seahawks compared to just six whistled against the Wildcats. Apablasa drew four ejections, Martinez three and Ramaley two, while Hermann recorded a blocked shot.

In the other matches played on Saturday at the Villanova pool, Iona defeated St. Francis (N.Y.) by a score of 12-7, while Marist defeated Wagner 16-7 and St. Francis by a 12-8 count.

Next weekend, the Wildcats play games at St. Francis on Saturday and at Wagner on Sunday. The competition at St. Francis includes matches against the host Terriers as well as Marist, while Villanova will face Siena and Iona on Sunday in Staten Island.