VILLANOVA, Pa.- UConn women's lacrosse was defeated by Villanova University by a score of 16-10 in the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinal on Thursday evening.
Villanova struck twice early in the first two minutes, with Elena Torres and Jillian Vaught finding the back of the net for the Wildcats. Ava Plata (Orchard Park, N.Y.) scored the first goal of the game for the Huskies to cut the 'Nova lead in half. Rayea Davis (Henrietta, N.Y.) responded to a Villanova goal with her 48th goal of the season. Vaught rebuilt the multi-goal lead for the Wildcats, with her second of the quarter to put the hosts up 4-2. Grace Winkler (Syracuse, N.Y.) capitalized on a Villanova green card, scoring her second career goal on the free position to close the gap to 4-3 at the end of the first quarter.
The second-seeded Wildcats came out strong in the second, scoring three goals to increase their advantage to 7-3 with eight minutes left in the second half. Meg O'Brien (Morris Plains, N.J.) scored the next two goals of the game to bring the Huskies within two as Villanova took a 7-5 lead into the break.
Vaught completed the hat-trick in the first minute of the third quarter to extend the Wildcat lead to 8-5. Bella Piselli converted on a feed from Vaught for her 16th goal of the season and Elena Torres scored on the free-position to give Villanova their largest lead of the afternoon at 10-5. Anna Magennis (Ashland, Mass.) got UConn on the board in the second half with her 6th goal of her freshman year to get the Huskies within four. Villanova responded, with goals from Sydney Pappas and Sami Carey to go ahead 12-6 entering the fourth quarter.
Villanova's Leslie Iorio scored her second goal of the game to build the Wildcat lead to 13-6 in the fourth. Kelsey Neary (Arlington Heights, Ill.) found the back of the net in the fourth with seven minutes left in the quarter as the Huskies attempted to mount a comeback. Eliza Bowman (Darien, Conn.) scored her 40th and 41st goals of the season late in the quarter and Emma Dacey (Hopkinton, Mass.) tallied one to cut the 'Nova lead to 16-10. The late Husky effort would not be enough, as Villanova won the first BIG EAST Tournament game in program history, defeating UConn 16-10.
Of Note:
- Riley Daly (Ipswich, Mass.) eclipsed 100 draw controls on the season, joining Sydney Watson and Madelyn George as the only Huskies to accomplish the feat.
- Meghan Lane (Wilton, Conn.) notched her 200th career ground ball.
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