PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team (1-1) will close its three-game, season-opening homestand against Villanova (0-3) this Wednesday, March 1. Opening draw is now slated for 3:00 p.m. on Sweeney Field; it had originally been scheduled for 4:00 p.m. but was moved up due to the poor weather forecast.
Live streaming ($) of all seven remaining regular-season home games will be available via a subscription to the Atlantic 10 Digital Network. To sign up, please click here. Live stats will also be provided via SJUHawks.com.
Wednesday's game will mark the 20th all-time meeting between Saint Joseph's and Villanova. Propelled by a 7-0 record from 2003-09, the Hawks own a 10-9 all-time series advantage. With the exception of five seasons from 2010-14, the Hawks and Wildcats have played each other every year since the beginning of SJU's women's lacrosse program in 1993. Villanova has won the most recent two meetings, edging the Hawks by a final score of 11-10 last season, despite a hat trick from Aly Gormley, and taking home a 13-9 win in 2015.
Saint Joseph's enters Wednesday's game coming off of a 14-13 heartbreaking loss to Temple last Wednesday. Senior attacker Nora McCallion (3g, 5a) and sophomore midfielder Rebecca Lane (5g, 2a) combined for eight goals and seven assists, while graduate student midfielder Mallory Grey had nine draw controls in the first half alone, but a 4-1 Temple run to open the second half would ultimately decide the game.
McCallion and Lane have combined for 28 points on 16 goals and 12 assists to go with 10 ground balls through two games. Junior midfielder Dana Garbinski and sophomore midfielder Hayley Sabol have each recorded four ground balls and four caused turnovers through two starts apiece, while graduate student goalkeeper Liz O'Sullivan (1-1) has made 22 stops through all 120:00.
Villanova is 0-3 after opening the season with losses against Bucknell, 10-6, then-#15 Cornell, 18-6, and, most recently, Navy, 17-5, last Wednesday. Katie Comerford leads the Wildacts in scoring with six points, which includes a team-high five goals, while goalkeeper Julia Michaels (0-3) owns a 17.68 goals against average and .319 save percentage through all three starts.
