VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team fell in heartbreaking fashion, conceding a goal with eight seconds remaining to Villanova in a 14-13 defeat on Sunday afternoon.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Falling in a quick 2-0 hole, the Hawks responded with a first goal of her career by Sarah Groark, followed by Maddie Yoder's first strike of the day.
• Villanova would score the next three goals, leading the Hawks 5-2 heading into the second quarter.
• Within four minutes, goals by Riley Evans and Yoder would get the Hawks back within striking distance. A Villanova goal was sandwiched by two more goals from Evans, tallying a first half hat trick. The Wildcats would get one back to take a 7-6 lead at half.
• Evans scored her fourth of the day on the other end of the break before a hat trick from Yoder gave the Hawks their first and only lead of the game at 8-7. Five-straight goals from Villanova were finally cut into by Bella Miceli's strike with three minutes remaining.
• Evans scored her fifth of the game to cut the deficit to 12-10 at the end of three frames.
• Trailing 13-10, the Hawks would chip at the lead over the course of the final six minutes started by Maggie Davidson's second goal of the season. Bonnie Yu converted with a hesitation move and finish off a free position opportunity, Emma O'Neill grabbing the equalizer with just a minute remaining in the match.
• Despite a near minute of great defense, it took just one instant for the Wildcats' Caroline Curnal to score her fifth of the game with just eight seconds remaining en route to a 14-13 Wildcat win.

 
GAME NOTES

• Riley Evans set a new career-high with five goals in the defeat.
• Maddie Yoder added three goals, her fourth hat trick of her career. The sophomore is at eight goals after three games, scoring a total of 21 in her rookie season.
• Sarah Groark and Bella Miceli each scored their first goals of their careers.
• Jorden Concordia had nine saves on the afternoon.
• Villanova outshot the Hawks 35-22, but only narrowly edged SJU in shots on goal (23-19).
• The Hawks have dropped its last two games by a single goal.

 
UP NEXT

• The Hawks travel up to Connecticut next weekend to take on UConn in a 1 p.m. matchup on Saturday, February 25.