CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. – The Fairfield University field hockey team made a valiant effort to come back from a three-goal deficit but ended up falling one goal short in a 4-3 setback against Villanova University. The Stags scored a pair of fourth-quarter goal but ran out of time before they were able to complete the come-from-behind bid.

The Wildcats scored a goal in both the first and second quarters to account for all of the first-half offense. Emma Schwarz was the first Villanova student-athlete in the scoring column, poking home a shot in the 13^th minute of the game. In the 21^st minute, Villanova earned a penalty stroke which was converted by Sabine de Ruijter to move the score to 2-0.

Fairfield worked its way onto the scoreboard in the third quarter, scoring on its only shot of the period. Catalina Ness set up the goal with a pass that found Rylee LaLoup in open space. The junior was able to flick the ball past the goalkeeper to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Villanova responded with a pair of goals of its own, netting both over a span of just four minutes. Meghan Mitchell tallied the first of those goals, accepting a pass from de Ruijter and pushing a shot into the corner for a 3-1 Villanova edge. Ava Borkowski was next on the scoring list for the home team, tallying her sixth goal of the year off an assist from Anne Drabbe.

In the fourth quarter, Fairfield turned up the offensive pressure which resulted in more scoring chances inside the circle. The Stags accounted for four of their six shots in the game during the fourth quarter. Two of those attempts found the back of the cage, beginning with Agustina Casteluchi. The goal was set up off a penalty corner with Alice Pifferi and Konni Hofmann.

Fairfield made things even closer when Camile Perlov was able to post the team's third goal off a pass from Madison Milhous with 8:28 remaining in the game. The Stags were able to get one more penalty corner which came with five minutes on the clock, but Pilar Mengotti's shot was blocked.

The Stags will return to the pitch on Friday when they host their final regular-season home game of the year as Stonehill College comes to University Field. Game time is 3 pm. The regular-season comes to an end on Sunday, November 3 with the Stags traveling to the University of Delaware for a 1 pm match.