Oct. 19, 2005

Box Score

VILLANOVA, PA - A pair of first half goals were enough to lift the 17th-ranked Villanova (13-4) field hockey team to a 2-0 victory over Saint Joseph's (9-7) at Villanova Stadium.

Senior Rory Roger had the Wildcats two goals while Megan Foster assisted on both.

VU got on the board in the 20th minute when Rogers fired the ball towards the cage. Hawk keeper, Rebecca Cunfer, got a piece of it but deflected the shot back into the net making the score 1-0.

Later in teh half with both teams threatening, Foster found a hole and dribbled the ball into the circle but was tripped up and forced to slide it to Rogers in the middle who froze Cunfer to make it 2-0.

The second half was evenly played as both team had opportunities to score. St. Joe's looked like it would score midway through the half as Nicole Antonini was able to draw Alex Whalen out of the goal, but Natalie Balthrop saw the open net and stepped in to knock the ball away for the defensive save.

Whalen gained the win for the Wildcats with five saves and her second shutout of the season, while Cunfer took the loss with seven saves. The `Cats had 12 shots to St. Joe's nine, but the Hawks held the advantage in penalty corners, 8-7.

SJU hosts Massachusetts in a pivotal Atlantic 10 Conference game on Friday at 4:00 PM.