Sept. 19, 2006

Villanova, Pa. - The Villanova Wildcat field hockey team (6-3, 1-0 BIG EAST) jumped two spots in the weekly STX/NFHCA Coaches Poll to no. 18 for the week of Sept. 18.

Villanova went 2-0 last week, including a BIG EAST season-opening upset of then-no. 9 Connecticut 4-1 at Villanova Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 17.

The Wildcats used a precise offense and solid circle defense to upset the Huskies. `Nova totaled eight shots for the game, just six on goal, but scored on four of those shots. Meanwhile, Villanova allowed only nine shots on goal from the Huskies, blocking several of UConn's 16 total attempts. Villanova successfully defended against 11 of 12 penalty corners and scored on one of its own five corners.

`Nova is 2-1 in 2006 against ranked teams. On the weekend of Sept. 9-10, the Wildcats upset then-no. 14 Iowa 5-1 before falling to then-no. 4 North Carolina 7-1.

On Sept. 13, sophomore Allison Boris led the `Cats to a 6-1 victory over host West Chester University with a career-high nine-point effort (4g, 1a). VU out-shot WCU 12-1 and earned eight penalty corners to the Golden Rams' three.

Villanova leads the BIG EAST in goals (35/3.89 per game), assists (29/3.22 per) and points (99/11.00 per).

This weekend the Wildcats host conference foe Rutgers on Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. and Lehigh on Sept. 24 at 1p.m.