PHILADELPHIA – The Wildcats jumped out to an 8-4 first-half lead and never trailed as the Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team fell to Villanova, 13-9, on Wednesday evening on Sweeney Field. Freshman midfielder Dana Garbinski scored her first three collegiate goals to earn her first collegiate hat trick en route to leading all Hawks in scoring.

Villanova (3-4) scored its first three goals within 1:31 to jump out to a 3-0 lead at the 24:11 mark.

Saint Joseph's senior midfielder Julia Falcone got the Hawks on the board with an unassisted score at 23:56, but Villanova's Kelsey Denihan netted her first of the game with 18:56 left to play in the first to extend the Wildcats' lead back out to three, 4-1.

Garbinski scored her first collegiate goal at the 15:12 mark to put the Hawks back to within two, but Villanova tallied back-to-back goals just 22 seconds apart (14:22, 14:00) to take a 6-2 advantage heading into the final 14:00 of the first half.

The Hawks gained some momentum on a pair of scores separated by just 28 seconds by Falcone (11:51), assisted by freshman defender Aly Gormley, and sophomore attack Nora McCallion (11:23), to close SJU's deficit to two, 6-4.

However, Villanova tacked on two more goals (8:29, 4:57) to take an 8-4 edge heading into the halftime break.

Saint Joseph's and Villanova would exchange a pair of goals in the opening ten minutes of the second half, sparked on the Hawks' side by sophomore midfielder Sarah Smith. Smith netted a free position shot at the 27:39 mark and, after Villanova responded at 24:43, assisted on Garbinski's second goal at with 23:08 to play. A follow-up Wildcats free position goal would give Villanova a 10-6 lead heading into the final 20:51.

A pair of SJU rookies put together another back-to-back scoring opportunity for the Crimson and Gray as freshman attack Rena Carabases scored on a dish from McCallion at the 18:47 mark and Gormley tallied an unassisted score to bring the Hawks to within two, 10-8, with 12:26 remaining in regulation.

The Wildcats, however, would tear off on a 3-0 run on a pair of FPS and a Jessica Mucci goal at 5:37 to extend Villanova's lead out to five, its largest of the game.

Gormley would find Garbinski for the rookie's team-leading third goal of the night with 3:15 left to play, but that 13-9 score would stand as time expired.

For the game, Villanova owned a 26-15 advantage in shots, including a 16-7 first half, and 11-8 edge in ground balls. The Wildcats also won 17 of the game's 25 draw controls and converted on 3-of-4 free position opportunities. Falcone (4) and Smith (3) combined for seven shots while junior defender Caroline Hagan scooped up two ground balls and added two caused turnovers.

Senior goalkeeper Nora McGeever (3-4) made nine saves in a full-game effort.

Saint Joseph's returns to action this Saturday, March 21 against Stetson. Start time on Sweeney Field is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.