April 21, 2002

VILLANOVA, Pa. --- On the final day of the Southern Division Championships held at the Villanova swim center on Sunday, April 21, the #6 ranked Villanova Wildcats (7-19 overall) fell to the #5 ranked Bucknell Bison, 10-8, in the 5th place consolation game. With the loss, the 'Cats end the weekend with a 2-2 record while the Bison improve to 3-1 with the victory.

The Wildcats struck first to begin play when freshman Ellen Howe found the net just under two minutes into the game. The Bison would respond with three straight goals until Villanova's Aimee Corsiglia beat Bucknell goalie Lindsey Chesterfield to cut the Bison lead to one. However, Bucknell's Kelly Hofstetter would record her first goal of the game when she connected on a shot with just one second remaining on the clock to give the Bison a 4-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Villanova came out strong to begin the second quarter tallying three goals while holding the Bison scoreless. Trailing 5-4 to begin third quarter play, Bucknell tallied two straight scores before Howe recorded back to back goals to give the lead back to Villanova. With one second remaining on the clock, the Bison's Meredith Stevens then beat Villanova goalie Carly Sproul to even the score at 7-7 heading into the last seven minutes of play.

In the last quarter, the Bison jumped out to a two goal lead with 3:45 remaining on the clock and kept the Wildcats in check down the stretch as they held on for the 10-8 victory.

In the loss, the Wildcats were led by Howe who scored three goals while senior Erin Agee added two goals to tally her weekend total to fifteen.

Villanova will return on Friday, April 19 when they head to Princeton, N.J. for the Eastern Championships held at Princeton University. The Wildcat are one of six Southern Division teams (Michigan, Princeton, Indiana, George Washington and Bucknell) to participate. The Wildcats opponent and game times will be determined earlier this week.

In earlier action, the University of Michigan captured their first ever Southern Division championship title avenging last year's 11-5 loss to Princeton and defeating the Tigers 10-9 in the championship match. Sheetal Narsai and Jen Crisman each led the Wolverines with two goals apiece in the victory. In the consolation game between Indiana and George Washington, the Hoosiers cruised to the 16-7 victory behind three goals apiece from Ginger Wang and Sharna Nelson.

FINAL SOUTHERN CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Championship Game: #2 Michigan def. #1 Indiana, 10-9

Consolation Game: #3 Indiana def. #4 George Washington, 16-7

5th Place Game: #5 Bucknell def. #6 VILLANOVA, 10-8