Oct. 18, 2006

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Field hockey suffered a heartbreaking loss to #15 Villanova Wednesday evening as they fell in overtime, 4-3. The loss drops the Hawks' record to 9-6 and makes the Wildcats' 12-5.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle, with Saint Joseph's out-shooting Villanova 8-4 before the intermission. With under 10:00 minutes remaining in the half, the Wildcats notched the first goal of the game as Senior Lauren Campanelli knocked in the ball off a rebounded safe made by Rebecca Cunfer. The original shot, taken by Stephanie Campbell, occurred directly after a penalty corner, and was saved by Cunfer but bounced off her pads and Campanelli put it in.

The Hawks quickly responded with a goal of their own before the end of the half, as senior captain Nicole Antonini crossed the ball to co-captain Maureen Casserly who drilled it into the open cage.

The second half opened with increased intensity on both sides. The Wildcats scored eight minutes into the period off a pass from Megan Foster for a one-timer by Emily Donaldson into the top right corner of the cage. Six minutes later Donaldson scored again, this time knocking it in off a scrum in front of the goal. Two minutes later, the Hawks were able to capitalize on their offensive attempts as Casserly notched a second goal out of a scramble in front of the cage.

At 62:46, senior Lauren Luft tied up the game with a beautiful goal as she faked right, drawing out the goalie and then smacked into the left side of the net. SJU kept the pressure up and the ball in the offensive end up until the last seconds of regulation and time expired on a dramatic note as freshman Anne Schreuders got a shot of that went wide left with 30 seconds left.

The Hawks came our strong as overtime began, denying two shots by the wildcats in addition to a penalty corner opportunity. SJU quickly brought the ball down to the offensive end and Antonini tipped two dramatic shots that went just wide of the goal each time. Three minutes into the overtime, Villanova managed to bring the ball back down the field and Foster beat her defender and put one in the bottom left corner for the win.

Overall, the Hawks out-shot the Wildcats 17-10 and edged them in penalty corners 9-4. Rebecca Cunfer played all 70:00 minutes in goal and made 2 saves for the day along with some key plays coming out of the net to charge the ball. Junior Katie Young made a defensive save in overtime to keep the Hawks alive. Casserly had two goals for four points for the day, her fourth and fifth goal of the season. Antonini's assist ties her for first on the SJU Career history list with 26 assists. Luft follows close behind on that same list with 22 career assists.

The Hawks return to action Friday, October 20th as they take on Saint Louis in the first of three remaining conference match-ups. Game time is set for 4:00 pm and will be played at Finnesey Field.