VILLANOVA, Pa. -- It was a tale of two games for the Virginia Military Institute women's water polo team Saturday at the Villanova Swim Complex. In the opener, the Keydets fell to perennial powerhouse Wagner College 24-7 but bounced back for a close game with the host for the Weekend, VIllanova University, dropping a 10-9 decision.
The pair of games were part of a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference weekend, hosted in the Philadelphia Suburb.
In the first game, Celine Lazzaro extended her goal-scoring streak to 10 games, tying a career best and a program record. The sophomore captain notched two goals against the Seahawks, who have finished second in the MAAC each of the last two seasons.
Freshman Caitlyn Jackson ratcheted another hat trick while Heather Magill and Emily Cait Farsakian each scored once. Between the pipes, freshman Molly Watkins stopped five Seahawk shots.
The Keydets' second game was a much closer affair, with another two goals from the hand of Lazzaro, her 11th-consecutive game with a goal, breaking the program record set by Mackenzie Perkins last season. Lazzaro tied the mark earlier in the day.
Fellow sophomore Justina Dunne tucked away two goals while Farsakian, Jackson, Perkins, Elise Reed, and Amanda Berrios all logged one goal. In the net, Watkins came up with eight saves and an additional five steals to help keep the Keydets in the fight.
Villanova jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on the Keydets, but VMI answered back with two goals of its own, once from Reed during a Wildcat exclusion and the second from Berrios. They Keydets struck another pair of back-to-back goals to build a 4-2 lead on Dunne and Perkins markers.
But once again, things were tied 4-4 after two unanswered goals from Villanova. The Keydets regained a two-goal advantage, 6-4. The advantage was short-lived as the Wildcats tied the game for a third time. Dunne broke the tie and gave VMI a 7-6 lead, but the WIldcats pulled back for a 7-7 tie.
After Villanova took an 8-7 lead with 2:31 left in the third, VMI answered with two strikes of its own, including one from Lazzaro with seven seconds left in the stanza. VIllanova rallied and scored the final two goals of the game to seal the 10-9 victory. VMI had a chance late in the game, thanks to a five-meter penalty shot save from Watkins, but the Keydets final chance on offense went wide of the goal.
VMI is idle until next Saturday when the Keydets take on George Washington University in a neutral site game at Princeton University. Game time is slated for 4 p.m. at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool. VMI will take on George Washington as a tune up before a MAAC weekend at St. Francis College Brooklyn on Sunday.
