Sept. 1, 2007
Final Stats
Freshman Meg Ryan collected four goals and two assists to lead Villanova past Siena in Villanova, Pa. Saturday morning. Six other Wildcats found the back of the cage, and the home team held Siena to a single shot.
Ryan scored three of Villanova's first four goals of the game. Senior Stephanie Campbell generated the initial attack by lifting the ball from the backfield onto the stick of sophomore forward Jenn Nazarethian.
Nazarethian then slipped the ball over to Ryan who beat Siena goalkeeper Jennifer Tesak to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
20 seconds later, Campbell fired a shot on goal that Ryan collected off of Tesak's pads to find the back of the cage and extend the lead to two. Senior Catherine Somits chipped in on Ryan's third goal of the first half as she sailed a shot from the left side of the goal that Ryan was able to redirect past Tesak. Freshman Lauren Wuzzardo and junior Sam Coveleski also added goals for the Wildcats.
With a 5-0 lead heading into the second half, the Wildcats continued their offensive momentum collecting two more scores in the first 10 minutes of play off redirected shots. Junior Allison Boris got her stick on the ball right before it reached Siena goalkeeper Sara Rizzo, who subbed in at the start of the second half. Sophomore Emily Donaldson followed Boris' lead to score her own goal off a straight shot from Coveleski. Campbell fired another shot off of a Wildcat penalty corner that sailed past newly-subbed Saints goalkeeper Renne Clavette as the Wildcats took a commanding 8-0 lead. Somits and Ryan rounded out the scoring for Villanova in the final 20 minutes of play to put the game out of reach.
Not only did Villanova produce on the offensive end, but a solid defensive performance controlled the Saints' attack. The Wildcats held Siena to only one shot (by senior Traci Baldwin) and one corner, while posting 26 total shots and creating 11 penalty corners. Redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Maura McCormick made one save for the day and secured her first career and season shutout between the pipes.
The Saints have a week off before returning to action next Saturday at Rhode Island.
